Cecily Neville, Duchess of York Mother of Kings

Cecily Neville was the great-granddaughter of one king, Edward III of England (and his wife Philippa of Hainault); the wife of a would-be king, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York; and the mother of two kings: Edward IV and Richard III, Through Elizabeth of York, she was the great-grandmother of Henry VIII and an ancestor to the Tudor rulers. Her maternal grandparents were John of Gaunt and Katherine Swynford.  See below for a list of her children and other family members. Wife of the Protector and Claimant to the Crown of England Cecily Nevilles husband was Richard, Duke of York, the heir to King Henry VI and protector of the young king in his minority and later during a bout of insanity. Richard was the descendant of two other sons of Edward III: Lionel of Antwerp and Edmund of Langley. Cecily was first betrothed to Richard when she was nine years old, and they married in 1429 when she was fourteen. Their first child, Anne, was born in 1439. A son who died shortly after birth was followed by the future Edward IV; much later, there were charges that Edward was illegitimate, including accusations by another Richard Neville, the Duke of Warwick, who was also Cecily Nevilles nephew, and by Edwards younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence. Although Edwards birth date and Cecilys husbands absence were timed in a way that raised suspicion, there was no record from the time of Edwards birth either of the birth being premature nor of her husband questioning paternity. Cecily and Richard had five more surviving child ren after Edward. When Henry VIs wife, Margaret of Anjou, gave birth to a son, this son supplanted Richard as the heir to the throne. When Henry recovered his sanity, the Duke of York fought to regain power, with Cecily Nevilles nephew, the Duke of Warwick, one of his strongest allies. Winning at St. Albans in 1455, losing in 1456 (by now to Margaret of Anjou leading the Lancastrian forces), Richard fled to Ireland in 1459 and was declared an outlaw. Cecily with her sons Richard and George were put in the care of Cecilys sister, Anne, the Duchess of Buckingham. Victorious again in 1460, Warwick and his cousin, Edward, Earl of March, the future Edward IV, won at Northampton, taking Henry VI prisoner. Richard, Duke of York, returned to claim the crown for himself. Margaret and Richard compromised, naming Richard protector and heir apparent to the throne. But Margaret continued to fight for the right of succession for her son, winning the battle of Wakefield. In this battle, Richard, Duke of York, was killed. His severed head was crowned with a paper crown. Edmund, the second son of Richard and Cecily, was also caught and killed in that battle. Edward IV In 1461, Cecily and Richards son, Edward, Earl of March, became King Edward IV. Cecily won the rights to her lands and continued to support religious houses and the college at Fotheringhay. Cecily was working with her nephew Warwick to find a wife for Edward IV, suitable for his status as the king. They were negotiating with the French king when Edward revealed that he had secretly married the commoner and widow, Elizabeth Woodville, in 1464. Both Cecily Neville and her brother reacted with anger. In 1469, Cecilys nephew, Warwick, and her son, George, changed sides and supported Henry VI after their initial support of Edward. Warwick married his elder daughter, Isabel Neville, to Cecilys son George, Duke of Clarence, and he married his other daughter, Anne Neville, to Henry VIs son, Edward, Prince of Wales (1470). There is some evidence that Cecily herself helped promote the rumor that began to circulate that Edward was illegitimate and that she promoted her son George as the rightful king. For herself, the Duchess of York used the title queen by right in recognition of her husbands claims to the crown. After Prince Edward was killed in a battle with Edward IVs forces, Warwick married the princes widow, Warwicks daughter Anne Neville, to Cecilys son and Edward IVs brother, Richard, in 1472, though not without opposition by Richards brother, George, who was already married to Annes sister, Isabel. In 1478, Edward sent his brother George to the tower, where he died or was murdered -- according to legend, drowned in a butt of malmsey wine. Cecily Neville left court and had little contact with her son Edward before his death in 1483. After Edwards death, Cecily supported the claim of her son, Richard III, to the crown, nullifying Edwards will and asserting that his sons were illegitimate. These sons, the Princes in the Tower, are generally believed to have been killed by Richard III or one of his supporters, or perhaps during the early part of Henry VIIs reign by Henry or his supporters. When Richard IIIs brief reign ended at Bosworth Field, and Henry VII (Henry Tudor) became king, Cecily retired from public life -- maybe. There is some evidence that she may have encouraged support for an attempt to dethrone Henry VII when Perkin Warbeck claimed to be one of the sons of Edward IV (Princes in the Tower). She died in 1495. Cecily Neville is believed to have owned a copy of The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pizan. Fictional Depiction Shakespeares Duchess of York: Cecily appears in a minor role as the Duchess of York in Shakespeares Richard III. Shakespeare uses the Duchess of York to stress the family losses and agonies involved in the War of the Roses. Shakespeare has compressed the historical timeline and has taken literary license with how events happened and the motivations involved. From Act II, Scene IV, on her husbands death and her sons shifting involvement in the War of the Roses: My husband lost his life to get the crown;And often up and down my sons were tossd,For me to joy and weep their gain and loss:And being seated, and domestic broilsClean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors.Make war upon themselves; blood against blood,Self against self: O, preposterousAnd frantic outrage, end thy damned spleen... Shakespeare has the Duchess understanding early the villainous character Richard is in the play: (Act II, Scene II): He is my son; yea, and therein my shame;Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit. And quickly after that, receiving news of her son Edwards death so soon after her son Clarences: But death hath snatchd my husband from mine arms,And pluckd two crutches from my feeble limbs,Edward and Clarence. O, what cause have I,Thine being but a moiety of my grief,To overgo thy plaints and drown thy cries! Parents of Cecily Neville: Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, and his second wife,Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Katherine Roà «t, known also by her earlier married name as  Katherine Swynford, whom John of Gaunt married after his childrens births. John of Gaunt was a son of Edward III of England. More Family of Cecily Neville Isabel Neville, married to George, Duke of Clarence, son of CecilyAnne Neville, married (or at least formally betrothed to) Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI, then married to Richard III, also a son of Cecily Children of Cecily Neville: Joan (1438-1438)Anne (1439-1475/76)Henry (1440/41-1450)Edward (King Edward IV of England) (1442-1483) - married Elizabeth WoodvilleEdmund (1443-1460)Elizabeth (1444-1502)Margaret (1445-1503) - married Charles, Duke of BurgundyWilliam (1447-1455?)John (1448-1455?)George (1449-1477/78) - married Isabel NevilleThomas (1450/51-1460?)Richard (King  Richard III of England) (1452-1485) - married  Anne NevilleUrsula (1454?-1460?)