Jacquetta of Luxembourg
Encyclopedia
Jacquetta of Luxembourg (1415/1416 – 30 May 1472) was the elder daughter of Peter I
Peter of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol
Peter of Luxembourg was a son of John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and his wife Marguerite of Enghien. His inheritance included the counties of Brienne, Conversano and Saint-Pol.- Family :...

, Count of St Pol, Conversano and Brienne and his wife Margaret de Baux
Margaret de Baux
Margaret de Baux, Countess of Saint-Pol, of Brienne, and of Conversano, sometimes known as Margherita del Balzo , was a member of the noble del Balzo family of the Kingdom of Naples, which had its origins in Provence dating back to the 11th Century...

 (Margherita del Balzo of Andria). She was the mother of Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

, queen consort of King Edward IV of England
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

.

Family and ancestry

Her father Peter I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol
Saint-Pol
Saint-Pol is part of the name of several communes in France:* Saint-Pol-de-Léon, in the Finistère département, named after Paul Aurelian, a Celtic saint* Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, in the Nord département...

 was also the hereditary Count of Brienne
County of Brienne
The County of Brienne was a medieval county in France centered on Brienne-le-Château.-Counts of Brienne:* Engelbert III* Engelbert IV* Walter I * Erard I * Walter II...

 from 1397 to his death in 1433.

Peter had succeeded his father John of Luxembourg, Lord of Beauvoir and mother Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite of Enghien
Marguerite d'Enghien, suo jure Countess of Brienne and of Conversano, suo jure Heiress of Enghien, and Lady of Beauvois , was a wealthy noblewoman from the County of Hainaut in her own right, having inherited the counties of Brienne and of Conversano, and the Lordship of Enghien from her father...

. They had co-reigned as Count and Countess of Brienne from 1394 to her death in 1397. John had been a fourth-generation descendant of Waleran I of Luxembourg, Lord of Ligny, second son of Henry V of Luxembourg
Henry V of Luxembourg
Henry V the Blond , called the Great, was the count of Luxembourg, Laroche and Arlon from 1247 to his death and the count of Namur between 1256 and 1264 as Henry III...

 and Margaret of Bar
Margaret of Bar
Margaret of Bar was a daughter of Henry II of Bar and his wife Philippa of Dreux. She was Countess of Luxembourg by her marriage to Henry V of Luxembourg. She is also known as Marguerite of Bar.- Family :...

. This cadet line of the House of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...

 reigned in Ligny-en-Barrois
Ligny-en-Barrois
Ligny-en-Barrois is a commune in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.The town is in the arrondissement of Bar-le-Duc, beside the canal that links the Rivers Rhine and Marne, fifteen kilometres to the south east of Bar le Duc: it is the administrative seat of the canton ...

.

Jacquetta's mother Margherita del Balzo was a daughter of Francois de Baux, Duke of Andria and Sueva Orsini
Orsini family
Orsini: the origin of learning.We love Mrs. Orsini forever! ~8F Social Studies 2011The Orsini family is an Italian noble family; it was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and renaissance Rome...

. Sueva was a daughter of Nicola Orsini, Count of Nola (27 August 1331 – 14 February 1399) and Jeanne de Sabran. Nicola Orsini himself was a son of Roberto Orsini, Count of Nola (1295–1345) and Sibilla del Balzo. Sibilla was a daughter of Hugh de Baux, Great Seneschal
Seneschal
A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...

 of the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...

. Roberto Orsini was a son of Romano Orsini, Royal Vicar of Rome and Anastasia de Montfort. Anastasia was the oldest daughter and heiress of Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola was the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England.He participated in the Battle of Evesham against the royalist forces of his uncle, King Henry III of England, and his cousin, Prince Edward...

 and Margherita Aldobrandeschi. Guy de Montfort was a son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...

 and Eleanor of England. Eleanor was the youngest child of John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 and his Queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême
Isabella of Angoulême was queen consort of England as the second wife of King John from 1200 until John's death in 1216. They had five children by the king including his heir, later Henry III...

.

Jacquetta herself was an eighth-generation descendant of John and thus distantly related to the Kings of England descending from him.

First marriage

On 22 April 1433 at 17 years of age, Jacquetta married John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....

 at Therouenne. The Duke was the third son of King Henry IV of England
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

 and Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun
Mary de Bohun was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V. Mary was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne.-Early life:...

.

Jacquetta was a cousin of Sigismund of Luxembourg
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...

, the reigning Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...

, and King of Bohemia and Hungary. The marriage was meant to strengthen the ties of the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 with the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 and to increase English influence in the affairs of Continental Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

The marriage was childless and the Duke died on 15 September 1435 at Rouen.

Second marriage

Sir Richard Woodville
Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....

, son of Sir Richard Wydevill who had served as the late Duke's chamberlain, was commissioned by Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

 to bring the young widow to England. During the journey, the couple fell in love and married in secret (before 23 March 1436/1437), without seeking the king's permission. Jacquetta had been granted dower lands following her first husband's death on condition that she did not re-marry without a royal licence. On learning of the marriage, Henry VI refused to see them but was mollified by the payment of a fine of £1000. The marriage was long and very fruitful: Jacquetta and Richard had sixteen children, including the future Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville.

By the mid-1440s, the Woodvilles were in ascendancy. Jacquetta was related to both King Henry and Queen Margaret
Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...

. Her sister, Isabelle de Saint Pol, married Margaret's uncle Charles de Maine of Anjou while Jacquetta was the widow of Henry VI's uncle. As royalty, she outranked all ladies at Court with the exception of the Queen. As a personal favourite and close relative of the Queen, she also enjoyed special privileges and influence at court. Margaret influenced Henry to create Richard Woodville Baron Rivers
Baron Rivers
Baron Rivers was a title that was created four times in British history, twice in the Peerage of England, once in the Peerage of Great Britain and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in 1299 when John Rivers was summoned to Parliament as Baron Rivers. The title became...

 in 1448, and he was a prominent partisan of the House of Lancaster
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

 as the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

 began.

Wars of the Roses

The Yorkists crushed the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton
Battle of Towton
In 1461, England was in the sixth year of the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster over the English throne. The Lancastrians backed the reigning King of England, Henry VI, an indecisive man who suffered bouts of madness...

 on 29 March 1461 and Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

, the first king from the House of York
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...

, took the throne. Elizabeth's husband Sir John Grey
John Grey of Groby
Sir John Grey, of Groby, Leicestershire was a Lancastrian knight, the great-great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey.-Titles:...

 had been killed a month before at the Second Battle of St. Albans which was commanded by Margaret of Anjou who secured a Lancastrian victory. At Towton, however, the tables had turned in favour of the Yorkists. Three years later in 1464, on Jacquetta's instructions, the beautiful, widowed Elizabeth and her two young sons accosted the young king, as he hunted in Whittlebury Forest near the Woodville manor. Elizabeth pleaded with the King for the estates confiscated from her husband to be restored to her sons. Thoroughly bewitched by Elizabeth, Edward offered to make her his mistress, but she held out for marriage . A desperate Edward married Elizabeth in secret, but the marriage was not disclosed for months. Once it became common knowledge, however, the alliance displeased the Earl of Warwick
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Richard Neville KG, jure uxoris 16th Earl of Warwick and suo jure 6th Earl of Salisbury and 8th and 5th Baron Montacute , known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander...

, the King's most trusted ally, and his friends.

With Elizabeth now Queen of England, the Woodvilles rose to great prominence and power. Richard was created Earl Rivers
Earl Rivers
Earl Rivers was an English title held in succession by the families of Woodville or Wydeville, Darcy and Savage. The first creation was made for Richard Woodville, 1st Baron Rivers in 1466 and remained in this family until 1491...

 and appointed Lord High Treasurer in March 1466. Jacquetta found rich and influential spouses for her children and helped her grandchildren achieve high posts. She arranged for her 20-year-old son, John Woodville, to marry the widowed and very rich dowager Duchess of Norfolk, Catherine Neville. The bride was at least 45 years older than the groom at the time of the wedding. The marriage caused a furor and earned the Woodvilles considerable unpopularity.

The rise of the Woodvilles created widespread hostility to them. They had deserted the Lancastrian side, and were now displacing longtime Yorkists in the King's favour, such as Warwick and the King's brothers George and Richard
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

.

In 1469, Warwick openly broke with Edward IV and temporarily deposed him. Earl Rivers and his son John Woodville
John Woodville
Sir John Woodville was the second son, and fourth child, of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg....

 were captured and executed by Warwick on 12 August at Kenilworth
Kenilworth
Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....

. Jacquetta, broken-hearted, survived her beloved husband by three years and died in 1472, at about 56 years of age.

Witchcraft accusations

In 1469, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, took Edward IV into custody and executed Jacquetta's husband. Shortly thereafter, Thomas Wake, a follower of the Earl of Warwick’s, accused Jacquetta of witchcraft. Wake brought to Warwick Castle a lead image “made like a man of arms . . . broken in the middle and made fast with a wire,“ and alleged that Jacquetta had fashioned it to use for witchcraft and sorcery. He claimed that John Daunger, a parish clerk in Northampton, could attest that Jacquetta had made two other images, one for the king and one for the queen. The case fell apart when Warwick released Edward IV from custody, and Jacquetta was cleared by the king’s great council of the charges on January 19, 1470. In 1484 Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

 in the act known as Titulus Regius
Titulus Regius
Titulus Regius is a statute of the Parliament of England, issued in 1484, by which the title of King of England was given to Richard III of England....

 revived the allegations of witchcraft against Jacquetta when he claimed that she and Elizabeth had procured Elizabeth's marriage to Edward IV through witchcraft; however, Richard never offered any proof to support his assertions.

Heritage

Through her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, Jacquetta was the grandmother of Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....

, Queen of Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

. As such, she is an ancestress of all subsequent English and British monarchs, including Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, and seven other present-day European monarchs.

Children of Jacquetta de Luxembourg and Richard Woodville

  1. Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville
    Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

     (c. 1437-1492), married Edward IV of England
    Edward IV of England
    Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...

    .
  2. Lewis Woodville (1438)
  3. Anne Woodville
    Anne Woodville
    Anne Woodville, Viscountess Bourchier was an English noblewoman. She was a younger sister of Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville to whom she served as a lady-in-waiting. Anne was married twice; first to William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier, and secondly to George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent...

     (1439–1489). Married first William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier, and second George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
    George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent
    George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent was the son of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent and Lady Katherine Percy. He was the Second Earl of Kent from 1490 to 1505....

    .
  4. Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers
    Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers
    Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers was an English nobleman, courtier, and writer.He was the eldest son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Like his father, he was originally a Lancastrian, fighting on that side at the Battle of Towton, but later became a Yorkist...

     (1442–1483), married Elizabeth Scales, 8th Baroness Scales
    Elizabeth Woodville, Countess Rivers
    Elizabeth Woodville, Countess Rivers and 8th Baroness Scales , born Elizabeth de Scales, was the sole heir of the 7th Baron Scales.-Family:Elizabeth first married Henry Bourchier, second son of the 1st Earl of Essex....

    .
  5. Mary Woodville
    Mary Woodville
    Mary Woodville was sister to Edward the Fourth's Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and to Anthony Woodville, the "Lord Rivers" of Shakespeare's Richard III.-Biography:...

     (1443–1481), married William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
    William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
    William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Devereux. His maternal grandparents were Walter Devereux, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Elizabeth Merbury....

    .
  6. Jacquetta Woodville (1444–1509), married John le Strange, 8th Baron Strange of Knockin.
  7. John Woodville
    John Woodville
    Sir John Woodville was the second son, and fourth child, of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg....

     (1445–1469), married Catherine Neville
    Lady Katherine Neville
    Katherine Neville or Catherine de Neville was the eldest daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Joan Beaufort , daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster by his mistress Catherine de Roet.Katherine was married firstly to John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk...

    , Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
  8. Lionel Woodville
    Lionel Woodville
    -Life:He was a younger son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg; his siblings included Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort from 1464 to 1483....

     (1447–1485), Bishop of Salisbury
    Bishop of Salisbury
    The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...

    .
  9. Martha Woodville (1450–1500), married Sir John Bromley.
  10. Eleanor Woodville (1452–1512), married Sir Anthony Grey.
  11. Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers succeeded his brother, Anthony Woodville, as the third Earl Rivers. He was the son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, and was the brother of Elizabeth Woodville, wife and Queen of King Edward IV of England.Richard Woodville was...

     (c. 1453-1491).
  12. Margaret Woodville (1454–1490), married Thomas Fitzalan, 17th Earl of Arundel
    Thomas FitzAlan, 17th Earl of Arundel
    Thomas FitzAlan, 17th Earl of Arundel, 7th Baron Maltravers was the son of William FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel and Joan Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu. He married Margaret Wydeville , who was a younger sister of Queen Elizabeth...

    .
  13. Edward Woodville (c. 1455-1488).
  14. Catherine Woodville (1458–1497), married first Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower...

    , second Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford.
  15. Agnes Woodville (d. 1506), married William Dormer.
  16. Thomas Woodville (died before 1491), married Anne Holland.

In fiction

Jacquetta is a main character in Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...

's 2009 novel The White Queen, a fictionalized account of the life of her eldest daughter Elizabeth
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...

. In the novel, Jacquetta is portrayed as having indeed dabbled quite a bit in witchcraft, displaying, what would seem to be, actual power. She is also the main protagonist in Philippa Gregory's 2011 novel The Lady of the Rivers.

Jacquetta is also an important character in Margaret Frazer
Margaret Frazer
Margaret Frazer is the pen name of an historical novelist known for more than twenty mystery novels and a variety of short stories. The pen name was originally used by Gail Frazer and Mary Monica Pulver Kuhfeld in their collaboration on The Novice's Tale, the first of the Sister Frevisse books...

's fifth "Player Joliffe" novel, A Play of Treachery (2009). The story is set in 1435-6, after the death of her first husband, John, Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....

. This historical novel tells a historically plausible tale regarding her marriage to Sir Richard Woodville
Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....

. There is no mention of witchcraft in this novel.

Ancestry

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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