Facial Reconstructions of Elizabeth Woodville & King Edward IV - What did they really look like?

hello everyone and welcome back to royalty now where we bring you face to face with figures from the past today's subject is King Edward ivth the man who was a Victor in one of the most complex political situations ever recorded the wars of the Roses nearly 100 Years of scheming backstabbing and betrayals between the descendants of Two Brothers culminated with Edward ivth and the York family's White Rose wearing the crown the wars of the Roses would later become the inspiration for George RR Martin's legendary series A Game of Thrones if you would like to see our full video on the subject you can click the link in the description below today we'll not only talk about the appearance of Edward IV but also his wife of legendary Beauty Elizabeth Woodville who some claimed was a witch that put a spell on the king so what did Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville really look like currently they there are no contemporary portraits of either Edward or Elizabeth so what we are left with are copies made from Originals we do have some pretty good descriptions of them both which I'll be using to inform my Recreations alongside the portraits let's start with Edward we know that he was a very tall man Edward's remains were exed in 1789 and they measured almost 64 which was gigantic for this time this examination also revealed some long brown hair which matches his portraits Edward was considered extremely handsome in his youth although it was remarked upon that his looks faded quickly because of his hard partying lifestyle Sir Thomas Moore says that Edward was of body Mighty but in his latter days with over liberal diet somewhat corpulent and Burly but nevertheless not uncomely regardless of his looks Edward was always considered likable and charismatic As We Know from the history this really worked to his political Advantage because King Henry V 6 was seen as so weak these were the kings that actually fought and won their crowns in battle so Edward's height and strength were huge advantages for Edward's Recreation I'm going to use this portrait which is generally agreed upon to be the most accurate and shows him in his early 30s now let's move on to Elizabeth Woodville as I said no contemporary portraits of Elizabeth exist outside of some stained glass images and some manuscript illustrations I've used this famous portrait of Elizabeth there are several versions of this image and they're all thought to have been made from the same lost [Music] original we can see her blonde hair peeking out from her headdress and beautiful light brown eyes some historians even believe she may have had light gray or even light green eyes which have darkened with the varnish on this [Music] image now Elizabeth's story has been quite romanticized obviously she must have been stunningly beautiful to convince the king to marry her as a woman far below his rank but based on descriptions from her life she probably was very beautiful according to the beauty standards of the period a Burgundian chronicler called Elizabeth the most beautiful woman in England saying that the king had chosen her because of this very great Beauty there's also a quote that she had heavy LED eyes like those of a dragon which is an amazing description but may not have been written at the time she was alive what's really cool about this main portrait of Elizabeth is that it shows a collision of fashion trends from all over Europe she's wearing a style of gowns similar to those of The Burgundian Court which was her sister-in-law's residence and one of the most famously influential courts of the time in terms of Politics as well as fashion the style of her gown is referred to as a transitional dress meaning it Bridges the gap between the v-neck Burgundian gowns and the square necked gowns we see later on the tutors Elizabeth is also wearing a variation of the henin headdress henin were this pretty crazy style of headdress popular during this time they would use wire to shape a giant Veil over the head and they could take many shapes we also see a trend all the way from Florence Italy which was now booming during the Italian Renaissance Elizabeth's hairline in this portrait has been plucked or shaved back so let's take a look at the faces of king Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville [Music] [Music] now [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you so much for watching and we'll see see you for the next video

Channel: Royalty Now Studios

Views: 473,925

Keywords: real face of, what historical figures would look like, true face of, true faces of, real faces of historical figures, true faces of historical figures, what historical figures would look like today, royalty now, roylaty now, history documentary, history, biography, facts, elizabeth woodville, elizabeth woodville real face, king edward iv, king edward iv real face, war of the roses real faces, wars of the roses, wars of the roses real faces, real face of elizabeth

Id: 2ShN5OGwUyc

Length: 7min 9sec (429 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 20 2023