Person Page - 1326

     Katherine Neville or Catherine de Neville (born c. 1397 – died after 1483[1]) was the eldest daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1364 -1425) and Joan Beaufort (c. 1379-1440), daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster by his mistress (later, 3rd wife) Catherine de Roet[2]. Katherine was married firstly to John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (1392-1432). Their only known child was John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1415-1461). Katherine married secondly, Thomas Strangeways (c. 1395-before 1442) - they had 2 daughters. She married thirdly John, Viscount Beaumont, who was killed in 1460. Her fourth and last marriage was infamous, and known by contemporaries as the 'diabolical marriage'[1] - she married John Woodville, brother of Elizabeth Woodville, Edward IV's queen. He would have been barely twenty at the time of their marriage - she in her mid to late sixties. Yet she survived even him as he was executed in 1469 during the brief period of time that her nephew - Richard, Earl of Warwick (The 'Kingmaker') had usurped the authority of the crown. She was still alive in 1483, having survived all the descendents of her first marriage.[1]¹

     2nd Duke of Norfolk.

     John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (12 September 1415 – 6 November 1461) was an important player in the Wars of the Roses.

He was the son of John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Lady Katherine Neville. He held the office of Earl Marshal from 1432, when he inherited the title of 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

At the beginning of the War of the Roses in 1450 he supported Richard, Duke of York, the leader of the Yorkist faction. However, in 1459, he swore allegiance to the Lancastrian Henry VI. He then quickly changed sides back to the Yorkists. This sort of treachery was by no means unusual during the Wars of the Roses.

In February 1461 he fought for the defeated Yorkists in the Second Battle of St Albans. In March 1461 (Richard, Duke of York now being dead) he was one of those who asked the Duke’s son the Earl of March to become Edward IV and later that month his intervention at the Battle of Towton was decisive. The battle took place in a snow storm between 80,000 men. Neither side could get an advantage until about midday Norfolk entered the battle on the Yorkist’s right flank. The Lancastrians then began to slowly fall back. As Earl Marshal Mowbray then officiated at Edward IV’s coronation.

He married Eleanor Bourchier, daughter of William Bourchier, Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Buckingham. She was the sister of his successor as Justice in Eyre, Henry Bourchier. They had one child, John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk.¹ 3rd Duke of Norfolk.

     Viscount Beaumont.

     John Woodville (1444? – August 12, 1469) was the second son, and fourth child, of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg.

In January 1465, John's sister Elizabeth, Queen Consort to Edward IV, procured his marriage to Catherine Neville, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, who was aunt to the powerful Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. As the Duchess was about 68 years of age at the time and John was only 20, the marriage was seen by all, particularly Warwick, as an indecent grasp for money and power by the Woodville family.

In 1469, John and his father accompanied King Edward on a march north, to put down what was thought to be a minor rebellion supporting Edward's brother the Duke of Clarence as the legitimate king. Before they met the rebels both Clarence and Warwick had announced their support for the rebellion; by the time Edward met the rebels, the rebel force was far stronger than his. In a parley, the rebels told Edward that they had no fight with Edward but advised him to distance himself from the Woodvilles. In no position to argue, Edward sent the Woodville party away.

John and Rivers went first to the Rivers' house at Grafton and from there made their way westwards towards Wales. They were captured by Warwick's men on the western bank of the Severn and taken to Warwick in Coventry.

Before leaving Calais to support the uprising, Warwick had published a manifesto citing the Woodvilles in general, and the Earl and John specifically, as his reason for supporting Clarence against the king. The publication of this manifesto was deemed, by Warwick, to justify the execution of Rivers and his son. They were beheaded on August 12, and their heads placed on spikes above the gates of Coventry.

Unsurprisingly, there was no issue from the marriage of John Woodville and the Catherine Neville.¹

     3rd Earl of Northumberland.

     1st Earl of Kent.

     1st Baron Egremont.

     Bishop of Durham. Robert Neville (1408–1457) was a Bishop of Salisbury and a Bishop of Durham. He was also a Provost of Beverley. He was born at Raby Castle. His father was Ralph Neville and his mother was Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt. He was thus a highly-placed member of the English aristocracy

He was nominated Bishop of Salisbury on 9 July 1427, and consecrated on 26 October 1427. He was then translated to Durham on 27 January 1438.[1]

He died on 8 July 1457.[2]

Later in the century, George Neville, of the same great northern house of Neville, brother of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker" was archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England.¹

     William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent KG (c. 1410–1463) and jure uxoris 6th Baron Fauconberg, was an English nobleman and soldier.

Born circa 1410, he was the second son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his second wife, Joan Beaufort.

His mother was the legitimised daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt was the third surviving son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. William was therefore a great-grandson of Edward III. However, the terms of the legitimisation of the Beaufort family specifically excluded them or their descendants from succession to the throne.

William was one of a number of the Neville sons to make a good match, marrying the Fauconberg heiress and taking the title Lord Fauconberg — just as his nephew Richard Neville (Warwick the Kingmaker) married the Warwick heiress and became Earl of Warwick. William's marriage took place at some point before 1422. His wife Joan was 4 years older than him, and was described as an idiot from birth. The Fauconberg estates were in North Yorkshire, a centre of power for other members of the Neville family.

He seemingly had a conventional military career during the earlier part of Henry VI's reign. Knighted in May 1426, he was serving on the Scottish Borders in 1435. In 1436 he was serving with Richard, Duke of York, in France — his first contact with a man who was later to receive his allegiance. By 1439 he was a field commander in France, with Lords Talbot and Scales. In 1440 he was made a Knight of the Garter.

By 1443 he was back in England, and on the 7 March he took custody of Roxburgh castle. He was granted £1,000 per annum (around £1,000,000 at 2005 prices) during peace, twice this if at war with Scotland, and until 1448, satisfactory payment was made. However, in 1449 he returned to France as part of a diplomatic mission, and in May 1449 he was captured at Pont l'Arche in Normandy. While in captivity in France, he spent 2 years of his own income supporting the upkeep of the castle. In spite of a grant from Parliament in 1449, by 1451 he was owed £4,109. He was forced to settle for less.

In 1453 he was ransomed (for 8,000 French ecus) and freed from captivity. He still had the custody of Roxburgh castle, but was impoverished by maintaining this and by his captivity in France. By now he was owed £1,000 by the government. He settled this by accepting a grant of 1,000 marks from the customs at Newcastle. Not only was this only worth about two-thirds of the original amount, there was no guarantee that he would ever get the money. As Griffths says

"What is so remarkable about his tale is that the Lancastrian crown could command [his] loyalty"

Until this point, he can be seen as a loyal member of the supporters of the House of Lancaster. However, at some time during the next two years, his allegiance began to change. He was a member of Richard, Duke of York's council during Henry VI's second period of madness. Although he was with the Lancastrian nobility at the first battle of St Albans (1455), after the battle he was appointed by York to be joint Constable of Windsor Castle.

We cannot know why he changed sides. Did York (short of support among the nobility) try to gain Fauconberg's allegiance? As a member of the Neville clan, Fauconberg had good family reasons for siding with York, who was after all, his brother-in-law. Warwick (Fauconberg's nephew) begins his rise to fame after 1455, and Fauconberg would be associated with Warwick for the next five years. His treatment over the custody of Roxburgh Castle must have rankled.

In the years 1455–1460, Fauconberg consolidated his position as a member of the Yorkist camp, and strengthened his position as an ally of Warwick. In 1457 he joined Warwick (appointed Captain of Calais) as his deputy. Warwick used Calais as a base for what was essentially piracy, and Fauconberg seems to have been happy to assist. He was in England in 1458, and in May he was briefly imprisoned in London — but he was bailed by Warwick and returned to Calais.

After the Yorkist disaster at Ludford, he helped Warwick regain control of Calais. In June 1460 he provided the springboard for the Yorkist invasion of England by capturing and holding Sandwich. This port was to be used as a bridgehead, and on 26 June he was joined there by Edward of March (eldest son of Richard of York, and the future Edward IV of England), Salisbury (his elder brother) and Warwick. By early July they were in London, and on 3 July the Yorkist forces, led by Fauconberg and numbering as many as 10,000 men, headed north, meeting Henry VI's army at Northampton on the 10th. As was traditional, the Yorkist army split into 3 “battles,” commanded by Fauconberg, Edward of March and Warwick. Fauconberg led the van (the leading army) and formed the right wing during the attack. Both his bravery and small stature were recorded in a Yorkist ballad — “little Lord Fauconberg, a knight of great reverence”.

After the victory at Northampton, and with Warwick remaining in England, Fauconberg returned to Calais as Lieutenant, thus missing the Yorkist disasters at Wakefield and the second battle of St Albans. Early in 1461 he returned to England, joining the newly crowned Edward IV in London. On 11 March he led the vanguard of the Yorkist army north, and as at Northampton was in the van at the battle of Towton on the 29th. Victory there established the Yorkist supremacy.

The rewards of victory followed. He was made a member of the King's Council, and appointed Lieutenant of the North. On the 1st November he was created Earl of Kent, and appointed Steward of the Royal Household. In July 1462 he was appointed Lord Admiral, and in August that year he was granted 46 manors in the west country.

Edward IV relied on him for both land and naval warfare. Following the victory at Towton, he took part in the gradual establishment of royal control in Northumberland, heading a garrison of 120 men at Newcastle in the summer of 1461, and taking part in the siege of Alnwick in November 1462. Between these dates he was back in Calais, raiding the Breton coast in August 1462, then burning le Conquet near Brest, and raiding the Ile de Re.

He died on 9 January 1463, and was buried at Guisborough Priory, in the heart of his Fauconberg lands. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1490 at the age of 84 (thus living through the reigns of all the kings of the 15th century). He had 3 daughters from his marriage, and one acknowledged illegitimate son, Thomas Neville. Known as the Bastard of Fauconberg, he was to lead a revolt later in Edward IV's reign.

William Nevill is an under-rated figure in the rise to power of the Yorkist regime. More successful as a military leader than the more famous Warwick, his reputation is summed up in Goodman's words:

"No other veteran of the Anglo-French Wars won such distinction in the Wars of the Roses."¹ 1st Earl of Kent.

     3rd Earl of Cambridge.

     4th Earl of March.

     Isabella of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon or Isabella of France (1313 – 26 July 1383), was a French noblewoman, and a daughter of Charles of Valois by his third wife Mahaut of Chatillon. She was the wife of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon. One of her daughters, Jeanne of Bourbon became the Queen consort of King Charles V of France, and through her, Isabella was the maternal grandmother of King Charles VI.

Her paternal grandparents were Philip IV of France and Isabella of Aragon. Her maternal grandparents were Guy IV, Count of Saint-Pol and Marie of Brittany.

She was a sister of Blanche of Valois, who married Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Blanche's daughter was Katharine of Bohemia. Isabella's other sister was Marie of Valois who married Charles, Duke of Calabria in 1323. Marie was the mother of Joan I of Naples. Isabella had a brother called Louis, he became Count of Chartres, but he died aged ten.

When her father died in 1325 all his titles went to Isabella's older half siblings by his first marriage to Marguerite of Anjou and Maine.

[edit] Marriage and issue
On 25 January 1336 Isabella married Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon and Mary of Avesnes. Peter and Isabella had only one son, Louis and seven daughters. Her husband died at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and Isabella never remarried. After her husband's death Isabella's son Louis became the Duke of Bourbon. In the same year 1356, Isabella arranged for her daughter Jeanne to marry Charles V of France; as he was at the time the Dauphin of France, Jeanne duly became Dauphine.[1]

Isabella outlived her eldest two daughters. Her husband suffered from madness, so this was passed on to their children. Jeanne and Louis were the only two of the seven children to suffer from the hereditary madness. Nobody realised that Jeanne suffered from insanity until she had a nervous breakdown shortly after the birth of her seventh child Louis I de Valois, Duke of Orléans. Isabella's grandson Charles VI of France is well known for suffering from the mental disorder. In 1361 Isabella's daughter Blanca was murdered on the orders of her husband Pedro because he had fallen in love with Maria de Padilla, the mother of his four illegitimate children including, Infanta Isabella of Castile and Infanta Constance of Castile, who both eventually married into the English royal family . Blanca was either shot by a crossbowman or she was poisoned. Isabella was grief-stricken when she was informed of the death of her second eldest daughter. She eventually became a nun at the Convent des Cordeliers du Faubourg, Saint-Marceau in Paris.[2]¹