Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham ( – 13 February 1530), was the eldest daughter of

Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (c. 1449 – 28 April 1489) was an English aristocrat during the Wars of the Roses. After losing his title when his father was killed fighting the Yorkists, he later regained his position. He led the ...

, by his wife, Lady Maud Herbert, daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Eleanor Percy married Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521 on false charges of plotting to overthrow the king, Henry VIII. As a result, the Dukedom of Buckingham and estates were forfeited, and her children lost their inheritance.

Biography

Eleanor Percy was born about 1474 in

Leconfield Leconfield is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, about north-west of Beverley town centre on the A164 road. The civil parish consists of Leconfield, the village of Arram and the hamlet of Scorborough. The 2011 ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. On 14 December 1490, at about sixteen years of age, Eleanor married Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, who was five years old when his father, the rebellious 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was attainted and executed for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

. Edward Stafford's mother, Catherine Woodville, went on to marry Jasper Tudor, the first Duke of Bedford and thirdly,

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 ...

. Two years after his father's execution, when Henry VII ascended the throne, the

attainder In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditar ...

was reversed, and the title and estates of Edward's father were restored to him. At seven, Edward became the third Duke of Buckingham and also the ward of King Henry VII's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. After Edward's death, Eleanor remarried to John Audley. Her second marriage was childless.

Children

Eleanor Percy bore her first husband, Edward Stafford, four children: # Lady Elizabeth Stafford (1497 – 30 November 1558); married

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheade ...

and had issue. #Lady Catherine Stafford (born abt. 1499 – 14 May 1555); married Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland and had issue. #Lady Mary Stafford; married

George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny KG, PC (c.1469 – 1535), the family name often written Neville, was an English nobleman and courtier who held the office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Origins He was the son of George Nevill, 4th B ...

and had issue. #

Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford (18 September 1501 – 30 April 1563) was an English nobleman. After the execution for treason in 1521 and posthumous attainder of his father Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, with the forfeiture of al ...

(18 September 1501 – 30 April 1563); married Ursula Pole, Baroness Stafford, daughter of

Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), also called Margaret Pole, as a result of her marriage to Sir Richard Pole, was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, a brother ...

, and had issue.

Sources

* B.J.Harris, ''Edward Stafford, third duke of Buckingham'' (1986) * C.Rawcliffe, ''The Staffords, earls of Stafford and dukes of Buckingham, 1394-1521'', Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought, 3rd ser., 11 (1978) {{DEFAULTSORT:Buckingham, Eleanor Percy, Duchess of 1470s births 1530 deaths Year of birth uncertain English duchesses by marriage Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham Daughters of British earls 15th-century English people 16th-century English nobility 15th-century English women 16th-century English women Wives of knights