Jacquetta of Luxembourg - Second Marriage

Second Marriage

Sir Richard Woodville, son of Sir Richard Wydevill who had served as the late Duke's chamberlain, was commissioned by Henry VI of England to bring the young widow to England. During the journey, the couple fell in love and married in secret (before 23 March 1436/1437), without seeking the king's permission. Jacquetta had been granted dower lands following her first husband's death on condition that she did not re-marry without a royal licence. On learning of the marriage, Henry VI refused to see them but was mollified by the payment of a fine of £1000. The marriage was long and very fruitful: Jacquetta and Richard had fourteen children, including the future Queen consort Elizabeth Woodville. She lost her first born son Lewis to a fever when he was 12 years old.

By the mid-1440s, the Woodvilles were in ascendancy. Jacquetta was related to both King Henry and Queen Margaret. Her sister, Isabelle de Saint Pol, married Margaret's uncle Charles de Maine of Anjou while Jacquetta was the widow of Henry VI's uncle. As royalty, she outranked all ladies at Court, with the exception of the Queen. As a personal favourite and close relative of the Queen, she also enjoyed special privileges and influence at court. Margaret influenced Henry to create Richard Woodville Baron Rivers in 1448, and he was a prominent partisan of the House of Lancaster as the Wars of the Roses began.