Catherine Woodville (also spelled Wydville, Wydeville, or WidvileAlthough spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelled "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton and her tomb at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle is inscribed thus; "Edward IV and his Queen Elizabeth Widvile".) (c. 1458Her brother Richard's 1492 postmortem inquisition names her as being “34 or more”, placing her birthdate at about 1458. See Calendar of Inquisitions Post-Mortem, Henry VII, vol. I, No. 681 (Richard, Earl of Ryvers). – 18 May 1497) was the

Duchess of Buckingham {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Duchess of Buckingham is a title given to the wife of the Duke of Buckingham, an extinct title created several times, formerly in the Peerage of England and latterly in the Peerage of the Uni ...

and a medieval English

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

Early life

Catherine was the daughter of

Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers (1405 – 12 August 1469), also Wydeville, was the father of Elizabeth Woodville and father-in-law of Edward IV. Early life Born at Maidstone in Kent, Richard Woodville was the son of Richard Wydeville ( ...

, and

Jacquetta of Luxembourg Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Dowager Duchess of Bedford and Countess Rivers (1415 or 1416 – 30 May 1472) was a prominent, though often overlooked, figure in the Wars of the Roses. Through her short-lived first marriage to the Duke of Bedford, bro ...

. When her sister

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

married

Edward IV of England Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

, the King elevated and promoted many members of the Woodville family. Elizabeth Woodville's household records for 1466/67 indicate that Catherine was being raised in the queen's household.

First marriage

Sometime before the coronation of Elizabeth in May 1465, Catherine was married to

Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG (4 September 1455 – 2 November 1483) was an English nobleman known as the namesake of Buckingham's rebellion, a failed but significant collection of uprisings in England and parts of Wales agains ...

; both were still children. A contemporary description of Elizabeth Woodville's coronation relates that Catherine and her husband were carried on squires' shoulders due to their youth. According to

Dominic Mancini Dominic Mancini ( it, Domenico Mancini) was an Italian monk who visited England in 1482–3. He witnessed the events leading up to Richard III being offered the English crown. He left in 1483 and wrote a report of what he had witnessed. He calle ...

, Buckingham resented his marriage to a woman of inferior birth. However, the couple had four children: *

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (3 February 1478 – 17 May 1521) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, and nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Thu ...

(3 February 1478 – 17 May 1521) *

Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex Elizabeth Stafford (c. 1479 – 11 May 1532) was an English noblewoman. Family Elizabeth Stafford was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, by ...

(c. 1479 – 11 May 1532) *

Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire (c. 1479 – 6 April 1523) was an English peer. Family Henry Stafford, born c.1479, was the younger of two sons of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville, the daughter of R ...

(c. 1479 – 6 April 1523) *

Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon Anne Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (''née'' Lady Anne Stafford) (c. 1483–1544) was an English noble. She was the daughter of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Lady Catherine Woodville. She was first the wife of Sir Walter Herbe ...

(c. 1483–1544) In 1483, Buckingham first allied himself to the Duke of Gloucester, helping him succeed to the throne as

King Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Batt ...

, and then to Henry Tudor, leading an unsuccessful rebellion in his name. Buckingham was executed for treason on 2 November 1483.

Second marriage

After Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor at the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Augu ...

in 1485, Catherine married the new king's uncle

Jasper Tudor Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford (November 143121/26 December 1495), was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was from the noble Tudor family of Penmynydd i ...

on 7 November 1485.Richard Marius, ''Thomas More: A Biography'', (Harvard University Press, 1984), 119.

Third marriage

After Jasper's death in December 1495, Catherine married -- not later than 24 February 1496 -- Sir

Richard Wingfield Sir Richard Wingfield KG of Kimbolton Castle (c. 1469 – 22 July 1525) was an influential courtier and diplomat in the early years of the Tudor dynasty of England. Life He was born at Letheringham, Suffolk to Sir John Wingfield (c. 1428 &ndash ...

, who outlived her.

Depiction in fiction

Catherine is the main protagonist in

Susan Higginbotham Susan Higginbotham is an American historical fiction author and attorney. She has written on the Middle Ages and the Wars of the Roses. Personal life Susan Higginbotham earned her undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and ...

's 2010

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

''The Stolen Crown''. She is briefly mentioned in

Philippa Gregory Philippa Gregory (born 9 January 1954) is an English historical novelist who has been publishing since 1987. The best known of her works is ''The Other Boleyn Girl'' (2001), which in 2002 won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Roman ...

's historical novels '' The White Queen'' (2009), '' The Red Queen'' (2010), and ''

The White Princess ''The White Princess'' is a 2013 historical novel by Philippa Gregory, part of her series '' The Cousins' War''. It is the story of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville, and later wife of Henry VII and ...

'' (2013).

Notes

References

Sources

* (chart 806) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, Catherine Woodville, Duchess of 1458 births 1497 deaths

Catherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

Daughters of British earls Women of the Tudor period

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

15th-century English nobility 15th-century English women

Duchesses of Bedford Wives of knights