Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth Woodville or Wydeville (circa 1437 – 8 June 1492) was the Queen consort of Edward IV, King of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was born circa 1437 at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and his wife, the former Jacquetta of Luxembourg, widow of John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford. Although spelling of the family name has sometimes been modernized to "Woodville", it was ... more

Elizabeth Woodville or Wydeville (circa 1437 – 8 June 1492) was the Queen consort of Edward IV, King of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was born circa 1437 at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and his wife, the former Jacquetta of Luxembourg, widow of John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford. Although spelling of the family name has sometimes been modernized to "Woodville", it was spelled "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton and as "Widvile" on Queen Elizabeth's tomb at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Through her mother, Elizabeth was a distant descendant of King John of England. She was a maid of honour to Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry VI in 1445, when she was about eight years of age. In about 1452, she married Sir John Grey of Groby, who was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461, fighting for the Lancastrian cause, which would become a source of irony as Edward IV was the Yorkist... less