Sir John Woodville was the second son, and fourth child, of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers

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....

 and Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Jacquetta of Luxembourg was the elder daughter of Peter I, Count of St Pol, Conversano and Brienne and his wife Margaret de Baux...

.

In January 1465, John's sister 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...

, Queen Consort to Edward IV, procured his marriage to Catherine Neville, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk

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...

, who was aunt to the powerful Richard Neville

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...

, Earl of Warwick

Earl of Warwick

Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...

. As the Duchess was about 68 years of age at the time and John was only 20, the marriage was seen by all, particularly Warwick, as an indecent grasp for money and power by the Woodville family.

In 1469, John and his father accompanied King Edward on a march north, to put down what was thought to be a minor rebellion supporting Edward's brother the Duke of Clarence

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Warwick, KG was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the...

 as the legitimate king. Before they met the rebels both Clarence and Warwick had announced their support for the rebellion; by the time Edward met the rebels, the rebel force was far stronger than his. In a parley

Parley

Parley is a discussion or conference, especially one between enemies over terms of a truce or other matters. The root of the word parley is parler, which is the French verb "to speak"; specifically the conjugation parlez "you speak", whether as imperative or indicative.Beginning in the High Middle...

, the rebels told Edward that they had no fight with Edward but advised him to distance himself from the Woodvilles. In no position to argue, Edward sent the Woodville party away.

John and Rivers went first to the Rivers' house at Grafton and from there made their way westwards towards Wales. They were captured by Warwick's men on the western bank of the Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 and taken to Warwick in Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

.

Before leaving Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 to support the uprising, Warwick had published a manifesto citing the Woodvilles in general, and the Earl and John specifically, as his reason for supporting Clarence against the king. The publication of this manifesto was deemed, by Warwick, to justify the execution of Rivers and his son. They were beheaded on 12 August and their heads placed on spikes above the gates of Coventry.

Unsurprisingly, there was no issue from the marriage of John Woodville and the Catherine Neville.

Sources

• The Princes in the Tower by Elizabeth Jenkins
  Elizabeth Jenkins (author)
  Margaret Elizabeth Jenkins was an English novelist and biographer of Jane Austen, Henry Fielding, Lady Caroline Lamb, Joseph Lister and Elizabeth I.-Early life:...