Jacquetta of Luxembourg
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| Jacquetta of Luxembourg |
We do not know the exact date of Jacquetta of Luxembourg's birth but historians have estimated that she was born either in the year 1415 or 1416. She was the eldest daughter of Peter I of Luxembourg and Margaret of Baux. As a member of the Royal House of Luxembourg, she would have been brought up with the belief that her family were the descendants of the ancient water nymph- Melusine. Her uncle John II of Luxembourg was also the man who sold Joan of Arc to the English! Apart these few facts, little is known about the childhood of Jacquetta.
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| Rouen Cathedral, France |
At the age of seventeen years, the young noblewoman married the third son of Henry IV- John, Duke of Bedford. Bedford was significantly older than his bride when they were married on 22nd April 1433, him being aged forty- three years old! Before the Duke of Bedford married Jacquetta, his previous wife had died as a result of the plague. The couple lived in France, from where Bedford performed his duty of being regent for his nephew- the young King Henry VI of England. Jacquetta had never left France before she was instructed by the king to come to England with her new husband in 1433, they returned to France in 1434. After a childless two years of marriage, Bedford died in Rouen, France. When Bedford died, he left most of his land, estates and titles to Jacquetta apart from a small section which went to his illegitimate son Richard.
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| Richard Woodville, 1st Earl of Rivers |
After her husband's sudden death, Jacquetta was escorted back to England by the young and dashing knight Sir Richard Woodville on the orders of the king. Woodville had been the late duke's chamberlain and would go on to father Jacquetta's many children! Having been in royal service in France since 1433, compared to the Dowager Duchess of Bedford, Sir Richard Woodville was only a mere commoner. When they married is unknown but it is known that they wed before 1437 because that was when Jacquetta gave birth to the couple's first born- a daughter, the future queen of England- Elizabeth Woodville. Woodville and Jacquetta married in secret, with the knowledge that if word leaked out that the daughter of the Count of Luxembourg was marrying a man of her choice, and an ordinary knight at that; then there would be a massive scandal! Sure enough, word got to the king about the marriage and he was furious. The Woodvilles were fined £1000, a huge amount in the Medieval era. In 1448, when Sir Richard was back in royal favour, he was granted the title Lord of Rivers. This was a crafty move by the king because it ensured that the Woodvilles would have to fight for the Lancastrian forces. This was because during their marriage, a violent feud now known as the Wars of the Roses but then known as the Cousin's War was occurring. It was between the Lancastrians (Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI) and the Yorkists (Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III), the long war ended with the Tudors (descended from the Lancastrians beating Richard III (York) at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485; after which he married Jacquetta and Sir Richard Woodville's granddaughter: Princess Elizabeth of York in order to unite the two royal houses.
Although, at first, illegal and shameful, Jacquetta and Richard's marriage proved long and provided fourteen children, twelve of which survived to adulthood! Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married King Edward IV (York), causing the Woodvilles to switch alliances, and two of their sons, John and Anthony, were beheaded- John by Richard, Earl of Warwick in a mutiny (in which Sir Richard Woodville was also unjustly beheaded) and Anthony by Richard III because he was basically an inconvenience to his attempt to snatch the crown from his nephew, Edward V (also York). Their eldest son- Lewis passed away aged only twelve as a result of a fatal fever.
Elizabeth (daughter number one)'s first husband was a Lancastrian knight. To him, she bore two sons but he died during a battle and she was left penniless, having had her sons' inheritance confiscated. When she met the new Yorkist king: Edward IV, they fell in love and Jacquetta's family's fate was decided there and then. The king married the widowed noblewoman in secret in 1464. At the wedding, it was reported that only the bride's mother and two ladies- in- waiting were there. When the marriage was found out, it spoiled the king's advisor, Richard, Earl of Warwick's plans for Edward to marry a French princess and the man went on to hate the Woodvilles.
At the discovery of her daughter's marriage, Jacquetta quickly began arranging marriages between her twelve children and her relatives and important members of the aristocracy so as to build a firm alliance around Elizabeth as she was queen. For instance: her son John was promised to Katherine Neville, a woman about forty- five years his senior (!), her youngest daughter Catherine (aged only seven) married the Duke of Buckingham (aged eleven) and a relative Charles of Burgundy married Edward IV's sister Margaret.
However, in 1471, the rebellious Earl of Warwick raised an army and led a mutiny against Edward IV. The king's father- in- law and brother- in- law John both went to fight the earl but he won the battle, and executed the two Woodvilles without a just trial, just his word. Edward was imprisoned. Warwick arrested Jacquetta after his follower Thomas Wake accused the woman of being a witch. People who were accusing her produced led figures, claiming that she used them to work her black magic. Warwick claimed that Jacquetta had inherited her magic from her so- called descendent Melusine, and that she used her powers in order to get Elizabeth to marry Edward. Thankfully Jacquetta was released by the king's council.
Jacquetta of Luxembourg died on 30th May 1472.
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