Bridget of York

Bridget of York
Born	(1480-11-10)10 November 1480 Eltham Palace, London
Died	1517 (aged 37) Dartford Priory, Kent
House	York
Father	Edward IV of England
Mother	Elizabeth Woodville

Bridget of York (10 November 1480 – 1517) was an English princess, the tenth child and seventh daughter of Edward IV of England and Queen Elizabeth Woodville.

She was a younger sister of Elizabeth of York, Mary of York, Cecily of York, Edward V, Margaret of York, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, Anne of York, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford, and Catherine of York. She was also an aunt of Henry VIII of England.

Princess Bridget Plantagenet, Dedicated to the Nunnery at Dartford by James Northcote (1822)

She was born in Eltham, London on 10 November 1480, and was baptised by Edward Story, Bishop of Chichester on 11 November 1480. Her godmothers at the baptismal fount were her paternal grandmother, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, and her oldest sister, Elizabeth of York. Her godfather was William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester. Bridget's aunt Margaret, Lady Maltravers, served as her godmother at her confirmation.^[1] Bridget was likely named after St. Bridget of Sweden.^[2]

Her parents may have decided at the time of her birth that this daughter would be dedicated to a religious life, and Princess Bridget was entrusted to Dartford Priory, Dartford, Kent sometime between 1486 and 1492. She became a nun.^[3]

Bridget maintained correspondence throughout her life with her sister the queen, who also paid for her various minor expenses, as well as minor expenses of the orphaned Agnes of Eltham.^[4] After Bridget's sister, Elizabeth of York, married Henry VII, Elizabeth paid some of Bridget's expenses and kept in touch with her via messengers.^[5] Bridget is known to have left Dartford on at least one occasion, when she attended the funeral of her mother, Elizabeth Woodville, in 1492.^[6] She died about 1517.^[7]

Ancestry

References