Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers (1453 – 6 March 1491) succeeded his brother,

Anthony Woodville Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers (c. 144025 June 1483), was an English nobleman, courtier, bibliophile and writer. He was the brother of Queen Elizabeth Woodville who married King Edward IV. He was one of the leading members of the Woodvi ...

, as the third

Earl Rivers Earl Rivers was an English title, which has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was held in succession by the families of Woodville (or Wydeville), Darcy and Savage. History The first creation was made for Richard Woodville, 1s ...

. He was the son 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 ...

. Richard was the brother of the English queen

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

Youth

Richard was born in 1453. During the

Readeption of Henry VI The Readeption was the restoration of Henry VI of England to the throne of England in 1470. Edward, Duke of York, had taken the throne as Edward IV in 1461. Henry had fled with some Lancastrian supporters and spent much of the next few years in ...

in 1470, he might have accommodated himself to the short-lived restoration of the Lancastrian regime, as Richard was pardoned by King Edward IV, the husband of his sister Elizabeth, on his return to power in 1471.Schofield, Cora, ''The Life and Reign of Edward IV'', Routledge, 2005. Unlike his older brother Anthony, however, he was not given any special favours under Edward. J. R. Lander states that he was employed in a minor capacity on "various embassies and commissions".

As Earl Rivers

When Richard III executed Richard's brother Anthony and seized the throne, Richard Woodville became Earl Rivers. The king confiscated Richard's lands but did not otherwise persecute him. Richard seems to have participated in some way in

Buckingham's rebellion Buckingham's rebellion was a failed but significant uprising, or collection of uprisings, of October 1483 in England and parts of Wales against Richard III of England. To the extent that these local risings had a central coordination, the plo ...

in 1483, as he was attainted in that year. However, he was later pardoned. It is not known whether or not he joined Henry Tudor in 1485, but after Henry's victory, his estates were restored. He served in a local capacity in Hereford, Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire, but never held any major office. Richard Woodville was the last of his family to hold the title of Earl Rivers. He died unmarried and the earldom became extinct. The estates attached to the earldom reverted to the crown.Michael Van Cleave Alexander, ''The First of the Tudors: A Study of Henry VII and His Reign'', Croom Helm, 1981, p. 74. His personal lands were bequeathed to his nephew

Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, 1st Earl of Huntingdon, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, (145520 September 1501) was an English nobleman, courtier and the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband Sir John Grey of Groby. Her secon ...

References

External links

Susan Higginbotham on Richard Woodville
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Earls Rivers Woodville family 15th-century English people People of the Tudor period Date of birth unknown 1453 births Rivers, Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl