This is an introduction to my newest book entitled "Jacquetta Woodville, Margaret of Anjou & Cecily Neville: Women Behind the Wars of the Roses". Enjoy it!
Jacquetta
Woodville, Margaret of Anjou and Cecily Neville are among the best-known female
figures during the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict that raged in England
from 1455 to 1485. Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Saint-Pol, married John
Plantagenet of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, and became one of the
highest-ranking women in England and France. After Bedford’s death, she married
Sir Richard Woodville, a mere knight and squire, with whom she produced a large
brood of children, including Elizabeth, the future Queen consort.
In
her lifetime, Jacquetta was best known as the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, a
commoner who married King Edward IV. In her afterlife, she is best known as the
heroine in Philippa Gregory’s bestselling novels of The Cousins’ War series, The Lady of the Rivers and The White Queen, wherein she is
depicted as an intelligent, strong woman with psychic abilities. Portrayed on
screen by Janet McTeer, Jacquetta became one of the most beloved characters in The White Queen.
Yet
the real Jacquetta, a woman who was the mother and grandmother of kings and
queens, is buried beneath a thick layer of myths. Was she really a witch, as
suggested by contemporary rumours and modern fiction? Did she have a sinister
influence of her son-in-law, Edward IV? Was she really a power-thirsty
individual who sought the advancement of her family at all costs? Jacquetta is
an elusive historical figure, but her importance cannot be emphasised enough.
Through the marriage of her daughter to Edward IV, she is the ancestress of entire
houses of royals: Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII, Margaret and Mary Tudor,
Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth Tudor and many, many more. Her blood flows
through the veins of modern royalty, and it’s only fitting that Jacquetta
should become the subject of a biography.
Jacquetta’s
story is inevitably linked to the lives of two other women: Margaret of Anjou,
Queen of England, and Cecily Neville, Duchess of York. In 1445, fifteen-year-old
Margaret of Anjou made the perilous sea journey from France to England, where
she married King Henry VI. Jacquetta was among the noble ladies selected to
welcome Margaret and escort her from France to England. Soon Jacquetta became
one of Margaret’s favourite ladies-in-waiting and chief confidante. The Queen’s
failure to provide a male heir, as well as her part in ceding French
territories to her husband’s political enemies, gained her many enemies among
the nobility and general populace. When she finally gave birth to a son in 1453,
her world came to a crashing halt.
In
1453, shortly before Margaret gave birth, Henry VI descended into a mysterious
mental illness. Richard, Duke of York, who had hitherto been denied an important
role in the government, seized the opportunity and became lord protector. But
this powerful lord’s ambitions clashed with Margaret of Anjou’s own plans. As
her husband rebelled against Henry VI, Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, found
herself in the position of queen-to-be. England slid into chaos and war.
Set
against the rich background of fifteenth-century court life are the interwoven
stories of these three women whose relationships were tested by the changing
loyalties of their husbands, sons and daughters.
