Richard Wydeville Earl of Rivers 
Richard Wydeville Earl of was born in 1412 in Maidstone, Kent, England. Richard Wydeville Earl of's father was Richard Wydeville and his mother was Joan Bedlisgate. His paternal grandparents were John De Wydeville and Elizabeth De Lyons; his maternal grandparents were John Bedlisgate and Mary De Beauchamp. He had a sister named Joan. He was the older of the two children. He died at the age of 57 on August 12th, 1469 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England.General Notes
Woodville also spelled WYDEVILLE, WYDVILLE, or WYDEVILL. Father-in-law of the Yorkist king Edward IV of England (reigned 1461-70, 1471-83). Nobles opposed to Rivers initiated the uprising that temporarily drove Edward into exile in 1470.
Woodville fought with distinction during the last two decades of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against France and in about 1436 married the wealthy Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford. He was created Baron Rivers in 1448. In the opening years of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85), Rivers supported the Lancastrian king Henry VI against his Yorkist opponents. Rivers was present when the Lancastrian army was annihilated at Towton, Yorkshire, in March 1461; and he then shifted his allegiance to the newly crowned Yorkist monarch Edward IV.
On May 1, 1464, Rivers married his daughter Elizabeth to Edward. Through royal favour most of his five surviving sons and eight daughters were married into noble families. Rivers himself was created Earl Rivers in 1466 and constable of England in 1467. Meanwhile, the older nobility eyed the upstart Woodvilles with hatred. The destruction of the family's influence was one of the aims of the rebellion against Edward instigated by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, in 1469. After the defeat of Edward at Edgecote, Northamptonshire (July 1469), Rivers and one of his sons were captured and beheaded.
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Ancestor Pedigree Chart
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*There are earlier generations for the ancestor(s) indicated. See their page(s) for details (click name)
- b.1241 d.1327
- b.1288 d.1329
- b.1265 d.1349
- b.1320 d.1388
- b.1352 in La Mote, Maidstone, Kent, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1380 in Grafton, Northampton, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1268 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.1312
- b.1289 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.1356
- b.1267 in Great Oakley, Northamptonshire, England d.1323
- b.1324 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1270 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1300 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1360 in Warkworth, Northumberland, England d.UNKNOWN
- b.1412 in Maidstone, Kent, England d.12 Aug 1469 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, England
- b.1353 d.UNKNOWN
- b.1385 d.UNKNOWN
- b.1360 d.UNKNOWN
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They had two sons and seven daughters, named Anthony Wydeville Earl of, John, Elizabeth, Anne, Joan, Jacquetta, Margaret, Mary and Catherine.
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