Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers (1405 – 12 August 1469), also Wydeville, was the father of

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 ...

and father-in-law of

Edward IV 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 Englan ...

Early life

Born at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Richard Woodville was the son of Richard Wydeville (Woodville), chamberlain to the

Duke of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...

, and Joan Bittlesgate (or Bedlisgate), the daughter of Thomas Bittlesgate of Knightstone"Woodville Family", http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/WOODVILLE.htm. Accessed on 10-4-2015. in the parish of

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, F ...

in Devon. He was also a grandson of John Wydeville who was Sheriff of Northamptonshire (in 1380, 1385, 1390).

Marriage and courtly career

Woodville followed his father into service with the Duke of Bedford. In 1433 the Duke had married the 17-year-old

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 ...

; she was the Duke's second wife and he was significantly older and in ill health. When the Duke died in 1435, Jacquetta was left a childless and wealthy widow. She was required to seek permission from King Henry VI before she could remarry, but in March 1437 it was revealed that she had secretly married Richard Woodville who was far below her in rank and not considered a suitable husband for the lady still honoured as the king's aunt. The couple were fined £1000, but this was remitted in October of the same year. Despite this inauspicious start, the married couple soon prospered, thanks mainly to Jacquetta's continuing prominence within the royal family. She retained her rank and dower as Duchess of Bedford, which initially provided an income of between £7000 and £8000 per year, though over the years this diminished as a result of territorial losses in France and collapsing royal finances in England. Richard Woodville was honoured with military ranks, in which he proved himself a capable soldier. Further honours for both came when Henry VI married

Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (french: link=no, Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England and nominally Queen of France by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Born in the Duchy of Lorrain ...

, whose uncle was Jacquetta's brother-in-law (Jacquetta's sister Isabelle married Margaret of Anjou's paternal uncle Charles du Maine). The Woodvilles were among those chosen to escort the bride to England, and the family benefited further through this double connection to the royal family. Sir Richard was raised to the rank of Baron Rivers in 1448. Therefore their children would grow up enjoying considerable privilege and material comfort.

Military career

Woodville was a captain in 1429, served in France in 1433 and was a knight of the regent Duke of Bedford in 1435. He was at Gerberoy in 1435 and served under William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, in 1435–36. He then fought under

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

and

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

in 1439 and the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was ...

in 1441–42, when he was made captain of Alençon and

knight banneret A knight banneret, sometimes known simply as banneret, was a medieval knight ("a commoner of rank") who led a company of troops during time of war under his own banner (which was square-shaped, in contrast to the tapering standard or the pen ...

. Woodville was created

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. History The first creation came in 1299 when John Riv ...

by Henry VI on 9 May 1448. Two years later, as Sir Richard, he was invested as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1450. He was appointed seneschal of

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part ...

in 1450 (but failed to reach it before its fall) then lieutenant of Calais in 1454–55. He was appointed Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1459 to defend Kent against invasion by the Yorkist earls (but was captured at Sandwich). In the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

, he was initially a Lancastrian, but he became a

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

when he thought that the Lancastrian cause was lost. He reconciled himself to the victorious Edward IV, his future son-in-law. On 1 May 1464, Edward married Rivers' daughter Elizabeth, widow of Sir

John Grey of Groby Sir John Grey, of Groby, Leicestershire (c. 1432Douglas Richardson. ''Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families,'' 2nd Edition, 2011. pg 161-164. – 17 February 1461) was a Lancastrian knight, the first husband of Elizabe ...

. Richard was created

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 ...

in 1466, appointed

Lord Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...

in March 1466 and

Constable of England The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. This office is now called out of abeyance only for coronations. The Lord High Constable w ...

on 24 August 1467.

Later career

The power of this new family was very distasteful to the old baronial party, and especially so to the

Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation ...

. Rivers was regarded as a social upstart, and in an ironical episode, his future son-in-law in 1460, while accepting his submission, had rebuked him for daring, given his lowly birth, to fight against the House of York. The

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

, in its horrified response to the King's marriage, said bluntly that Richard Woodville's low social standing in itself meant that the King must surely know "that Elizabeth was not the wife for him". Early in 1468, the Rivers estates were plundered by Warwick's partisans, and the open war of the following year was aimed at destroying the Woodvilles. After the Yorkist defeat at the

Battle of Edgecote The Battle of Edgcote (also known as the Battle of Banbury or the Battle of Danes Moor) took place on 24 July 1469, during the Wars of the Roses. It was fought between a Royal army, commanded by the earls of Pembroke and Devon, and a rebel forc ...

on 26 July 1469, Rivers and his second son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

were taken prisoners at

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the wester ...

. Following a hasty show trial, they were beheaded at

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

on 12 August 1469. Richard Woodville's eldest son

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

succeeded him in the earldom. Lord Rivers had a large family. His third son, Lionel (d. 1484) became the

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. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

. All his daughters made great marriages: Catherine Woodville, his eighth daughter, was the wife of

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 again ...

. "Woodville" is the modern spelling of the name: in their own time "Wydeville", "Wydville" and other variants were used.

Issue

Richard and Jacquetta had 15 children:Michael Hicks, 'Woodville , Richard, first Earl Rivers (d. 1469)', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, édition en ligne, septembre 2011. *

(c. 1437 – 1492), married first Sir

, and second

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 Englan ...

* Lewis Woodville (c. 1438–1450), died in childhood * Anne Woodville (1439–1489), married first William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier, and second George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent *

Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers 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 ...

(1442–1483), married Elizabeth Scales, 8th Baroness Scales *

Mary Woodville Mary Woodville, Countess of Pembroke (c. 1456–1481) was a sister of Edward IV's Queen consort, Elizabeth Woodville, and of Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers. She later became the first wife of William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, by whom ...

(1443–1481), married

William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (5 March 145116 July 1491) was an English nobleman and politician. Early life He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Devereux. His paternal grandparents were William ap Thomas an ...

* John Woodville (1445–1469), married Catherine Neville, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk *

Lionel Woodville Lionel Woodville (1447 – 23 June 1484) was a Bishop of Salisbury in England. Life Woodville was a fourth son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg; his siblings included Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort fr ...

(1447–1484),

* Martha Woodville (d. c. 1500), married Sir John Bromley of Baddington * Joan Woodville (1452–1512), married Sir Anthony Grey, son of Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent * Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers (1453–1491) * Margaret Woodville (1454–1490), married

Thomas FitzAlan, 17th Earl of Arundel Thomas Fitzalan otherwise Arundel, 10th Earl of Arundel, 7th Baron Maltravers KG (145025 October 1524) was the son of William Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel, and Joan Neville, eldest daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and Alice ...

Edward Woodville, Lord Scales Sir Edward Woodville (died 1488) was a member of the Woodville family during the Wars of the Roses. He survived the reign of Richard III in which several of his relatives were executed in a power struggle after the death of his brother-in-law Ed ...

(d. 1488), soldier and courtier * Catherine Woodville (c. 1458 – 1497), married first

, second

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford 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 ...

, she married third 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 ...

* John Woodville (died in Childhood) File:ElizabethWoodville.JPG, Elizabeth Woodville File:Rivers & Caxton Presenting book to Edward IV.JPG, Anthony Woodville (kneeling, second from left, wearing a

tabard A tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more develope ...

displaying his armorials) and

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage a ...

(dressed in black) presenting the first printed book in English ('' Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers'') to King

and Woodville's sister Queen Elizabeth.

Lambeth Palace Library Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the oppos ...

, London. File:Cardiff castle - Eingangshalle 1b Erkerfenster.jpg, Catherine Woodville (left) and her second husband

on stained glass windows in

Cardiff Castle Cardiff Castle ( cy, Castell Caerdydd) is a medieval castle and Victorian Gothic revival mansion located in the city centre of Cardiff, Wales. The original motte and bailey castle was built in the late 11th century by Norman invaders on top ...

. Robert Glover, Somerset Herald, noted another 'Richard' who would seem to have been born before Richard the 3rd Earl.Blair, C. H. Hunter, ed. ''Visitation of the North, Part III: A Visitation of the North of England Circa 1480-1500'', p. 58. A 'Richard Woodville, esquire for the body' was present at the christening of Prince Arthur (son of Elizabeth and Henry VII) on 24 September 1486 in Winchester Cathedral; Arthur's grandmother, Elizabeth Woodville, served as his Godmother, and her younger brother Edward was also present at the ceremony. The Visitation of Buckinghamshire of 1566 mentions the marriage of William Dormer of Wycombe (only later of

Ascott House Ascott House, sometimes referred to as simply Ascott, is a Grade II* listed building in the hamlet of Ascott near Wing in Buckinghamshire, England. It is set in a 32-acre / 13 hectare estate. Ascott House was originally a farm house, built in ...

) to "Agnes, da. of Sir Richard Woodvyle, Erle Ryvers" but does not say whether the father was the first or the third earl, who the mother was or whether Agnes was legitimate. Considering though that she is thought to be born about 1458 the more likely candidate is the senior Richard Woodville.

In fiction

Woodville is a primary character 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 Rom ...

's 2011 novel about Jacquetta of Luxembourg, ''

The Lady of the Rivers ''The Lady of the Rivers'' is a 2011 historical novel by Philippa Gregory, part of her series '' The Cousins' War''. The story is narrated by Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, and covers the reign of the Lancastrian King He ...

''. In '' The White Queen'' television series, he is portrayed by

Robert Pugh Robert Pugh (born 11 October 1950) is a Welsh actor, known for his many television appearances, including the role of Craster in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones''. Life and career Pugh was born in the Tynte, Mountain Ash and grew up in Cilf ...

Notes

References

* * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Richard Woodville, 1st Earl People of the Wars of the Roses Knights of the Garter Lord High Treasurers of England Woodville family Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports Earls Rivers 1405 births 1469 deaths People executed under the Yorkists Executed people from Kent People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation People from Maidstone Knights banneret of England