Courtesan: Elizabeth (Jane) Shore

Kings and nobleman have had mistresses for as long as there have been kings, noblemen and women willing to play the game.  In England, most kings tried to keep their affairs discreet.  While there were rumors connecting Plantagenet kings and certain women, for example Katherine Swynford, later Duchess of Lancaster, or Katherine Grandison, Countess of Salisbury, the idea that woman could make a living off being kept by a man wasn't a regular practice.  The courtly ideal was that a woman was off limits, admired but otherwise out of reach.  Once a woman became pregnant or the scandal came to light, she and her children were pensioned off and disappeared.

Not so Elizabeth "Jane" Lambert Shore (c 1445-c 1527), who managed to maintain a relationship with King Edward IV of England and two other high ranking noblemen with Plantagenet roots, emerging as a wealthy woman who made a respectable marriage and died a rich widow.  Elizabeth was born in London to a wealthy merchant and his wife.  She acquired the name Jane only after her death, when her real first name was forgotten for a time.  While working in her father's shop, Jane came into contact with wealthy and high-born women, and developed a taste for the manners and perks of that life.  Unusually for the time, she was educated and grew into an articulate and witty woman with a kind heart, the original hooker with the heart of gold.  She attracted the attention of William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, a friend of King Edward IV and became involved in a relationship with him.  Hastings would be he first of her conquests.

Jane's father wanted his daughter to have a respectable marriage and arranged a union with William Shore, a merchant and banker who was willing to look the other way regarding his wife's liaisons.  Their marriage eventually faltered, and in 1476, Jane petitioned for an annulment, claiming William was impotent and unable to father children.  Given her connections, she was given the annulment.  Her relationship with Edward began that same year.  Edward was fascinated with her, and did not tire of her as he had his other mistresses, perhaps because Jane didn't use her connections to enrich herself and was content to keep their private life discreet.  She was also friendly with and treated Edward's queen, Elizabeth Woodville, with the respect due her rank though not her birth.  The relationship between Edward and Jane continued until Edward's death in 1483, along with her connection to Hastings and Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, who was Edward's stepson.

Enter Richard III, who had his enemies long before rumor circulated of him doing away with his two young nephews in the tower.  Jane's continued connections to Hastings and Dorset, as well as her loyalty to Edward's widow Elizabeth Woodville put her on Richard's bad side.  He ordered Jane prosecuted for conspiracy, as well as immorality, and she avoided death by doing public penance for her sins.  This consisted of walking from her place of imprisonment in Ludgate to Paul's Cross dressed only in her kirtle and a sheet, carrying a lighted taper.  An attractive and charming woman, she attracted sympathy and the penance backfired on Richard, already unpopular.  Jane attracted the attention of the King's Solicitor General, Thomas Lynam, who expressed a desire to marry her.  Richard tried to interfere but ultimately the marriage went forward.

Lynom lost his solicitor's position when Henry VII became king after Bosworth in 1485, but Lynom continued in the Tudor service and was able to amass a comfortable living.  Jane lived on in London after her death.  Sir Thomas More visited her as an old woman and remarked that one could still see the traces of her beauty.