WILLIAM DE LA POLE, 4th EARL OF SUFFOLK (1396-1450). DUKE OF SUFFOLK from 1448. Succeeded Cardinal Beaufort as head of the Court Party. Friend of Queen Marguerite. Murdered May 2, 1450 on the gunwales of a boat, on his way to France.
ALICE CHAUCER, DUCHESS OF SUFFOLK (1404-1475), daughter of Thomas Chaucer and Matilda Burghersh, she was a granddaughter of Geoffrey Chaucer the poet. She was the mother-in-law of Cecylee’s daughter Beth.
JOHN DE LA POLE, 2nd DUKE OF SUFFOLK (born 1442, died circa 1492), son of William de la Pole, 4th Earl of Suffolk and 1st Duke of Suffolk, married Elizabeth “Beth” Plantagenet, Richard and Cecylee’s second daughter, in 1458. A loyal servant of King Henry VII, he died in bed of natural causes.
JOHN DE LA POLE, EARL OF LINCOLN (born circa 1462, died 1487), eldest son and heir of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and Elizabeth Plantagenet, he was one of Cecylee’s grandsons. On the death of Edward of Middleham in 1484, Richard III made him his heir. He was killed at the Battle of Stoke by Henry VII.
PHILIP III DUKE OF BURGUNDY “THE GOOD” (1396-1467). Cecylee sent her younger sons George and Richard to the Burgundian court for safekeeping during the siege of London in February 1461.
CHARLES OF CHAROLAIS, “CHARLES THE BOLD”, (1433-1477) DUKE OF BURGUNDY from 1467. The son of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and Isabel of Portugal he married, as his third wife, Cecylee’s daughter Margaret in 1468. They had no children. Charles was the father of Mary the Rich, Duchess of Burgundy.
MARY OF BURGUNDY “MARY THE RICH”, (1457-1482), DUCHESS OF BURGUNDY from January, 1477, she was the only child and heiress of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. She formed a close friendship with her stepmother Margaret of York, Cecylee’s youngest daughter. Besieged by suitors, including Cecylee’s son George, she married Maximilian of Austria in August, 1477.
MARGARET PLANTAGENET (1473-1541), COUNTESS OF SALISBURY from 1512, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville. In 1487, she was married to Sir Richard Pole, a cousin of Henry VII. Her descendants are the rightful heirs to the throne of England. She was executed by Henry VIII, the Tudor Bluebeard, for her continued adherence to the Catholic faith. But it probably didn’t help her cause that she was so close to the throne. She was one of Cecylee’s grand-daughters.
HENRY POLE (born circa 1492, died 1539), 1st BARON MONTAGU from 1514, he was the son of Margaret, Countess of Salisbury and Sir Richard Pole, and thus the grandson of George, Duke of Clarence. He was married to his distant cousin Jane Neville, daughter of George Neville, 4th Baron Bergavenny. They had five children. A great-grandson of Cecylee, one of his descendants is Mike Hastings, whom some say is the rightful Monarch of England.
EDWARD PLANTAGENET (1475-1499), 17th EARL OF WARWICK from 1478, the son and heir of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville, Countess of Warwick. One of Cecylee’s grandsons, he was thrown into the Tower of London in 1485 by Henry Tudor, and executed in 1499.
LADY ISABEL PLANTAGENET, (1409-1484), Richard’s sister and Cecylee’s sister-in-law, she was married to (a) Sir Thomas Grey and (b) Henry, Baron Bourchier.
THE LANCASTERS
JOHN PLANTAGENET DUKE OF LANCASTER, “JOHN OF GAUNT” (1340-1399). The third son of King Edward III, he married (a) Blanche of Lancaster, (b) Constance of Castile (c) Catrine de Roet (Lady Katherine Swynford). By his first wife Blanche, he was the father of King Henry IV of England. By his second wife Constance, he was the father to Queen Catherine of Castile. By his third wife Catrine, he was father to Joan de Beaufort and her three brothers. He was therefore Cecylee’s grandfather.
HENRY V, KING OF ENGLAND (1387-1422). Victor at Agincourt in 1415, he was a strong leader who died suddenly of dysentery. Father of Henry VI.
CATRINE DE VALOIS (1401-1437), daughter of Charles VI of France and Isabelle of Bavaria (the patroness of Christine de Pizan), Catrine married Henry V of England in 1420 as part of the peace settlement after Agincourt. She had one child with Henry V, a son who became Henry VI of England. After Henry V’s death in 1422, she had a relationship with Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudor, (known as Owen Tudor in England) and produced five children, including Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond and Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke. The Tudor Dynasty descends from Edmund Tudor.
JOHN PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF BEDFORD (1389-1435) younger brother to Henry V of England, uncle to Henry VI. Negotiated marriage between Richard, Duke of York and Cecylee Neville.
HUMPHREY PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER (1390-1447), younger brother to King Henry V. Married (a) Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault and Holland, (b) Eleanor Cobham, his mistress. Negotiated marriage between Richard and Cecylee. Beloved mentor and friend to Richard of York. Head of the opposition to the Court Party.
ELEANOR COBHAM (born circa 1400, died between 1452 and 1454). She was the daughter of Reginald Cobham, 3rd Lord Cobham, and his first wife, Eleanor Culpeper. She was the mistress, then second wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. In 1441, she was convicted of trying to kill Henry VI by means of witchcraft, and imprisoned for the rest of her life.
HENRY VI “HENRY OF LANCASTER”(1421-1471), reigned as KING HENRY VI from 1422 to 1461, when he fled England. In July, 1465, he was captured, and brought to live in the Tower of London. In May 1471, after the Battle of Tewkesbury, he was murdered.
MARGUERITE D’ANJOU “BITCH OF ANJOU” (1429-1482), Queen of England from 1445 to 1461, she fled England. In 1471, she was captured by the Yorkists, and returned to France in 1475. She died in poverty in 1482.
ÉDOUARD, PRINCE OF WALES (1453-1471). Son to Marguerite d’Anjou, and possibly Henry VI of England or Edmund Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, he was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury in May, 1471.
EDMUND TUDOR, EARL OF RICHMOND (1430-1456), son of Owen Tudor and Catrine de Valois, he was married to Lady Margaret Beaufort and became the father of Henry, Earl of Richmond, later Henry VII, King of England. He died of the plague in 1456.
JASPER TUDOR, EARL OF PEMBROKE (born circa 1431, died 1495), son of Catrine de Valois and Owen Tudor, younger brother of Edmund Tudor. He was an adventurer who was loyal to the Lancastrian cause, and brought up his nephew Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. When Henry Tudor became king, he restored all of his uncle’s lands and titles. In 1485, Jasper was married to Catherine Woodville, formerly Duchess of Buckingham, who was a sister to Queen Ḗlisabeth Woodville.
HENRY TUDOR, EARL OF RICHMOND, (1457-1509), HENRY VII from 1485, he was the son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond and Lady Margaret Beaufort. He won the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, in which Richard III was killed. He married Edward IV’s heiress, Elizabeth of York in 1486, and founded the Tudor dynasty. He is the father of Henry VIII.
JOHN HOLLAND, 2nd DUKE OF EXETER (1385-1447), the second son of John Holland 1st Duke of Exeter, and Elizabeth of Lancaster, whose father was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1427, he was married to Lady Anne Stafford and became the father of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter.
ANNE STAFFORD, DUCHESS OF EXETER (died 1432), daughter of Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford. She was the first wife of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, and the mother of Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter.
BEATRIX OF PORTUGAL, DUCHESS OF EXETER (1386-1439) was the illegitimate daughter of John I of Portugal and Ines Pires. In 1432, she married John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter and became his second wife. She died in Bordeaux in 1439.
HENRY HOLLAND, 3rd DUKE OF EXETER (1430-1475), was married to Lady Anne Plantagenet, eldest daughter of Richard and Cecylee in 1447. During the Wars of the Roses, he was an enemy of the House of York despite his marriage to Richard and Cecylee’s daughter Nan. He was a commander at the great Lancastrian victory at Wakefield, where Richard, Duke of York was pulled off his horse and cut to pieces, where Cecylee’s eldest brother Salisbury was murdered, and where Cecylee and Richard’s 17-year-old son was murdered after the battle in cold blood. In 1475, he served on Edward's expedition to France. On the return voyage he fell overboard and drowned. Some say he was thrown overboard at the com
mand of Edward IV, his erstwhile brother-in-law.
THE NEVILLES
RALPH DE NEVILLE, 1st EARL OF WESTMORLAND (born circa 1363, died 1425). Cecylee’s father. Married (a) Margaret de Stafford (died circa 1395), and (b) Joan de Beaufort. His marriage with Countess Joan took place in November 1396.
SIR JOHN NEVILLE (died 1423), eldest son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his first wife Margaret Stafford.
SIR RALPH NEVILLE THE YOUNGER, 2nd EARL OF WESTMORLAND (born circa 1406, died circa 1484), son of Sir John Neville, and grandson of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
SIR RALPH NEVILLE THE OLDER (died 1458), younger son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and his first wife Margaret Stafford.
CATRINE DE NEVILLE “CATH”, DUCHESS OF NORFOLK (born circa 1397). Cecylee’s sister, married four times to (a) John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, (b) Sir Thomas Strangeways, (c) John, Viscount Beaumont, and (d) Sir John Woodville.
LADY JEHANE DE NEVILLE (born circa 1398). Cecylee’s sister, she was a nun at Barking Abbey in Essex.
RICHARD NEVILLE, BARON MONTACUTE “SALISBURY” (1400-1460) 5th EARL OF SALISBURY from 1428 . Eldest son of Joan de Beaufort and Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. Baron Montacute and Earl of Salisbury in right of his wife, Alice de Montacute, the wealthy heiress to the Salisbury title and lands. He was Cecylee’s eldest brother.
ALAINOR DE NEVILLE, COUNTESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND (born circa 1407). Cecylee’s sister, she was married to Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland at the age of seven.
WILLIAM NEVILLE, LORD FAUCONBERG (circa 1409-1463), 1st EARL OF KENT from 1461, was one of Cecylee’s brothers. He was Lord Fauconberg in right of his wife, and some historians think he is an underrated figure in the rise to power of the Yorkist, being a better general than his nephew Warwick “The Kingmaker”.
ANNE NEVILLE, DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM (born circa 1411, died 1480). Cecylee’s sister, she was married to Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, one of the commanders of the Lancastrian army. During 1459-1460, Cecylee was forced to live with her under house-arrest.
GEORGE NEVILLE, 1st BARON LATIMER (born circa 1414, died 1469), one of Cecylee’s brothers. He succeeded to the title on the death of his half-uncle John Neville in 1430.
EDWARD NEVILLE, LORD BERGAVENNY (born circa 1417). Youngest child of Joan de Beaufort and Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, Lord Bergavenny in right of his wife, Elizabeth de Beauchamp. He was one of Cecylee’s brothers.
JOHN DE MOWBRAY, 3rd DUKE OF NORFOLK (1415-1461). Son of John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Nofolk and Lady Catrine de Neville. One of Cecylee’s nephews, he was the premier peer of the realm. He switched sides many times during the Wars of the Roses, but his intervention in the Battle of Towton was decisive in winning it for Edward IV. He officiated at Edward IV’s coronation, and died in bed of natural causes.
HENRY PERCY, 2nd EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND (born circa 1392, died 1455), married to Alainor de Neville, Cecylee’s sister. Killed at the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455.
HENRY PERCY, 3rd EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND, (1421-1461), son of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland and Alainor de Neville, nephew to Cecylee. An important commander for the Lancastrian side during the Wars of the Roses, he was killed at the Battle of Towton, in March 1461.
HUMPHREY STAFFORD, 1st DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM (1402-1460), best known as a military commander during the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses, he was married to Cecylee’s sister Anne. He was killed at the Battle of Northampton, in 1460.
HENRY STAFFORD, 2nd DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM (1455-1483), son of Humphrey Stafford Earl Stafford, grandson of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Cecylee’s sister Anne. He was married to the Queen’s younger sister Catherine Woodville in April 1465, when he was around ten years old and she was seven. He was executed for treason by Cecylee’s son Richard III on November 2, 1483, because he supported Henry Tudor’s early bid for the throne.
RICHARD NEVILLE, 16th EARL OF WARWICK “WARWICK THE KINGMAKER”, (1428-1471), son and heir of Richard Neville 5th Earl of Salisbury, and one of Cecylee’s nephews. He was married to Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick in around 1449, becoming the 16th Earl in right of his wife. After turning against his cousin Edward IV, he was killed at the Battle of Barnet in April, 1471.
GEORGE NEVILLE (born circa 1432, died 1476) ARCHBISHOP OF YORK from 1465, CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND from 1460, was a younger brother to Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as “Warwick the Kingmaker”. He was one of Cecylee’s nephews.
ISABEL NEVILLE, DUCHESS OF CLARENCE, COUNTESS OF WARWICK and COUNTESS OF SALISBURY “BELLA” (1451-1476), elder daughter and heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Anne Beauchamp. She married George, Duke of Clarence. in 1469, and died from the effects of childbirth in 1476. Cecylee was her mother-in-law.
ANNE NEVILLE, PRINCESS OF WALES and DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER “NANETTE” (1456-1485), younger daughter and co-heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and Anne Beauchamp. Married (a) Edouard, Prince of Wales and (b) Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III. Cecylee was her mother-in-law. She died in March 1485, probably from tuberculosis, though there were rumors at the time that she’d been poisoned by Richard III, because he wanted to marry his niece Elizabeth of York “Lady Bessy” and sire more children.
THE BEAUFORTS
CATRINE DE ROET (1350-1404), also known as Lady Katherine Swynford. Cecylee’s grandmother, and Countess Joan’s mother. She married (a) Sir Hugh Swynford, and (b) John of Gaunt, third son of King Edward III.
HENRY, CARDINAL BEAUFORT (born circa 1381, died 1447), youngest son of John of Gaunt and Catrine de Roet. Head of the Court Party until his death. He was one of Cecylee’s uncles.
JOAN DE BEAUFORT, COUNTESS OF WESTMORLAND (born circa 1379, died 1440). Cecylee’s mother, and daughter of John of Gaunt and his third wife Catrine de Roet. Married (a) Robert Ferrers, 5th Baron Boteler of Wem (died circa 1395), and (b) Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
LADY MARY DE FERRERS (born 1394). Cecylee’s half-sister, younger daughter of Joan de Beaufort and Robert Ferrers, married to her stepbrother Sir Ralph Neville The Older, a younger son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Margaret Stafford.
LADY MARGARET BEAUFORT (1443-1509) daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset and Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe. She was married to: (a) John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk in 1450, when she was seven years old; (the marriage was dissolved in 1453), (b) Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond in 1455, when she was twelve years old; (c) Sir Henry Stafford, younger son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Anne Neville in 1462, when she was nineteen years old; (d) Thomas, Earl Stanley in 1472, when she was twenty-nine. Her only child was Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond (born when she was thirteen years old). He became King Henry VII after the Battle of Bosworth. Lady Margaret was Cecylee’s first cousin once removed. She seems not to have had children after the birth of her son, and died only two months after his death, in June 1509.
EDMUND BEAUFORT, 2nd DUKE OF SOMERSET (1406-1455), fourth son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and Margaret Holland. In 1436, he married in secret Lady Eleanor de Ros, née Beauchamp, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife Elizabeth de Berkeley. This unlicensed marriage was pardoned in 1438, and Edmund and Eleanor had ten children, including Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset. Edmund Beaufort succeeded Suffolk as head of the Court Party. He was possibly Queen Marguerite’s lover, and father of her son Édouard. Killed at the first Battle of St. Albans.
HENRY BEAUFORT (1436-1464), 3rd DUKE OF SOMERSET from 1455, son of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and Eleanor Beauchamp. He was the principal Lancastrian commander at the Lancastrian victories of the Battle of Wakefield (December 1460), and the Second Battle of St. Albans (February 1461). He was beheaded after the Battle of Hexham in May, 1464. He had no heirs.
THE BEAUCHAMPS
RICHARD DE BEAUCHAMP, 13
th EARL OF WARWICK (1382-1439), was the son of Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick and Margaret Ferrers. By the terms of Henry V’s will, he was made guardian to the infant King Henry VI. He married Elizabeth de Berkeley, with whom he had three daughters: Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury, Eleanor, Countess of Somerset and Elizabeth, Lady Latimer. By his second wife Isabel le Despencer, he had two children, Henry, who succeeded him as 14th Earl, and Anne, 16th Countess of Warwick who was married to Richard Neville, son and heir of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.
MARGARET BEAUCHAMP, COUNTESS OF SHREWSBURY (1404-1468), eldest daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and his first wife Elizabeth de Berkeley. In 1425, she was married to John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. They had five children, including Lady Eleanor Talbot, the first wife of Edward IV. In ONE SEED, she is portrayed as Cecylee’s dearest friend and confidante.
ELEANOR BEAUCHAMP, DUCHESS OF SOMERSET (1407-1467), second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley. She was the wife of Richard’s nemesis Edmund Beaufort 2nd Duke of Somerset, and seems to have been a great friend to Queen Marguerite.
ELIZABETH BEAUCHAMP, “LISETTE”, LADY LATIMER (born circa 1421, died 1480), youngest daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley. She was married to Cecylee’s brother George, Lord Latimer. In ONE SEED, she is portrayed as Cecylee’s enemy.
ISABEL LE DESPENCER, COUNTESS OF WORCESTER AND WARWICK (1400-1439), married (a) Richard de Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester and (b) Richard de Beauchamp 13th Earl of Warwick, and cousin to her first husband. She was Lady Lisbet’s mother.
ELIZABETH DE BEAUCHAMP. “LISBET”, LADY OF BERGAVENNY (born circa 1415), daughter of Isabel le Despencer, Countess of Worcester and Warwick and Richard de Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester. The wealthy Worcester heiress called “Lady of Bergavenny” was married to Cecylee’s brother Edward Neville, making him Lord of Bergavenny.
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