Jacquetta of Luxembourg

Jacquetta of Luxembourg (1415/1416 – 30 May 1472) was a member of the House of Luxembourg and a prominent figure in the English civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Through her short-lived first marriage to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, brother of Henry V of England, she was initially firmly allied to the House of Lancaster. However, following the emphatic Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Towton, she and her second husband Richard Woodville defected and sided closely with the House of York. Three years after the battle and the accession of Edward IV of England, Jacquetta's eldest daughter Elizabeth Woodville married him and became queen consort of England. Jacquetta bore Woodville 14 children and later stood trial on charges of witchcraft, of which she was exonerated.

Family and ancestry

Jacquetta was the eldest daughter of Peter I of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Conversano and Brienne, and his wife Margaret of Baux (Margherita del Balzo of Andria). Her father was also the hereditary Count of Brienne from 1397 until his death in 1433.

First marriage

On 22 April 1433 at age 17, Jacquetta married John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, at Thérouanne. The Duke was the third son of King Henry IV of England and Mary de Bohun, and thus the grandson of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, himself the third son of King Edward III. The marriage was childless, and the Duke died on 15 September 1435 at Rouen. As was customary at the time, Jacquetta retained the title of her first husband after her second marriage and was always known as the Duchess of Bedford, this being a higher title than that of countess.