General Notes

Anthony Woodville, 2d Earl Rivers, 1442?-1483,accompanied Edward into exile (1470-71) and later served him in various capacities. In 1473 he was appointed guardian of Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward V). On Edward IV's death, however, Rivers was arrested by Richard, Duke of Gloucester (laterRichard III), and executed. A somewhat romantic and otherworldly figure, Rivers wrote translations of various French works. His"Dictes and Sayengis of the Philosophres" (1477) was the first dated book printed in England by William Caxton. [ColumbiaEncyclopedia, 6th Edition, 2001 - online]

EARLDOM OF RIVERS (II)

ANTHONY (WYDEVILL), EARL RIVERS, and BARON RIVERS, son and heir, born about 1440, was a Knight in January 1459/60, when captured with his father at Sandwich. He fought on the Lancastrian side at Towton, 29 March 1461. Having married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Thomas, Lord Scales, he was summoned to Parliament, 22 December 1462, as LORD SCALES. In that month he accompanied the King to Scotland and took part in the siege of Alnwick. J.P. in Norfolk in 1464. On 25 May 1465, cup-bearer at his sister's coronation. K.G. 1466(?). In November 1466, upon surrender by a previous grantee, he had a grant of the Isle of Wight, with Carisbrooke Castle. In June 1467 he fought the Bastard of Burgundy, whom he had challenged, in lists at Smithfield. He was a commissioner in September following to arrange the marriage ofthe King's sister Margaret with Charles, son of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and in November made keeper of Porchester Castle. In October 1468, captain of the King's armed power (armata) against France, which effected nothing. When the rebellion broke out in June, 1469, he was with the King in Norfolk. In June 1470, commissioner of array in Hants, and captain of the King's armed power, with which he baulked the designs of the Earl of Warwick. He was also appointed Lieutenant of Calais. When Edward, in his turn, was obliged to flee from England, in September 1470, Rivers attended him. He returned with him in March 1471, and fought with great valour, 14 April, at Barnet, where he waswounded. Left in charge of London, while Edward was fighting at Tewkesbury, he defeated the Bastard Fauconbridge's attempt to seize the city. In July he was among the Lords of Parliament (no Parliament was then sitting) who took the oath to maintain the right of the Prince of Wales, and was appointed on the Prince's council. In 1472, he sailed with a body of men to obtain the surrender of the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond from Brittany, and was chief commissioner to treat with the Duke. On 17 May 1473, Chief Butler of England for life; 10 November, Governor ofthe Prince of Wales. In August 1475 he took part in the King's expedition to France, and in 1476 was with the Duke of Burgundy at the siege of Morat; an arbitrator between England and France,January 1478/9. When Edward IV died, 9 April 1483, he was with the Prince at Ludlow; on their way to London the Duke ofGloucester procured his arrest, on a charge of attempting to usurp the government; he was imprisoned in Sheriff Hutton andPontefract Castles, Yorks, and beheaded at Pontefract, 25 June,without any regular trial.

He married, 1stly, before 22 December 1462, Elizabeth, widow ofSir Henry BOURCHIER, 2nd son of Henry (BOURCHIER), EARL OF ESSEX, and daughter and heir of Thomas, LORD SCALES (died July1460). She died s.p., 2 September 1473. In 1477 Edward proposed Lord Rivers as a husband for the young Duchess of Burgundy; in1479 considerable progress had been made with a proposal for a marriage with Margaret, sister of James III of Scotland. He married, 2ndly, before October 1480, Mary, daughter and heir ofSir Henry FITZLEWIS (died May 1480) of Horndon, Essex, by Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund (BEAUFORT), DUKE OF SOMERSET (g).He died s.p., as above, 25 June 1483. His widow married, 2ndly,Sir George NEVILLE. [Complete Peerage XI:22-4, (transcribed byDave Utzinger)]

(g) At the taking of her father's Inq.p.m., she was aged 15 (20Edward IV).

Note: Although CP states "dsp", Anthony actually was "dsplegit", according to Ancestral Roots, line 234-34, as well asseveral postings on soc.genealogy.medieval newgroup.
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Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anthony Rivers, 2nd Earl Rivers (1442? – June 25, 1483) was an English nobleman, courtier, and writer.

He was the eldest son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. Like his father, he was originally a Lancastrian, fighting on that side at the Battle of Towton, but later became a Yorkist. He succeeded his father in 1469.

Rivers became very influential at the royal court after his sister Elizabeth married Edward IV. He joined the king in his temporary exile in 1470, and returned with him the next year, where he was wounded at the Battle of Barnet.

He was married to Elizabeth de Scales, Baroness Scales in her own right, daughter of Thomas de Scales, 7th Baron Scales, and widow of Henry Bourchier, younger son of Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex.

In 1473 King Edward IV appointed Rivers Governor of the Prince of Wales' household, and Rivers went with the prince to Ludlow Castle. His duties included the administration of justice throughout the principality. When the king died in 1483, he accompanied the Prince, now King Edward V, on the way back to London. However, they were waylaid by the Duke of Gloucester, who imprisoned the Earl and then had him beheaded at Pontefract Castle on June 25, 1483 as part of his path toward becoming king (as Richard III).

After his wife's death in 1473, Anthony was summoned to Parliament in her right as Baron Scales. On his death in 1483 the peerage fell into abeyance.

Rivers was evidently quite learned. One of the first, if not the first, books printed in England was his translation from French of the Sayings of the Philosophers, printed by William Caxton in 1477. Lambeth Palace Library has an illustration showing Rivers presenting a copy of this book to Edward IV.

Anthony was succeeded by his brother, Richard, as Earl Rivers.