Woodville, Elizabeth definition of Woodville, Elizabeth in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Woodville, Elizabeth, 1437–92, queen consort of Edward IV Edward IV, 1442–83, king of England (1461–70, 1471–83), son of Richard, duke of York . He succeeded to the leadership of the Yorkist party (see Roses, Wars of the ) after the death of his father in Wakefield in 1460.
..... Click the link for more information. of England. She was the daughter of Richard Woodville (later the 1st Earl Rivers 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).
..... Click the link for more information. ). Her first husband, Sir John Grey, was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the battle of St. Albans (1461) in the Wars of the Roses. By him she had two sons, Thomas, 1st marquess of Dorset, and Richard. Edward IV married her in secret in 1464, partly because the powerful Richard Neville, earl of Warwick Warwick, Richard Neville, earl of (nĕv`əl, wŏr`ĭk), 1428–71, English nobleman, called the Kingmaker.
..... Click the link for more information. , had other marriage plans for him and partly because of Elizabeth's Lancastrian connections. The marriage was soon made public, however, and Elizabeth's large family received numerous royal favors. At the death (1483) of Edward IV, Richard, duke of Gloucester (later Richard III Richard III, 1452–85, king of England (1483–85), younger brother of Edward IV . Created duke of Gloucester at Edward's coronation (1461), he served his brother faithfully during Edward's lifetime—fighting at Barnet and Tewkesbury and later invading
..... Click the link for more information. ), seized custody of the young Edward V Edward V, 1470–83?, king of England (1483), elder son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. His father's death (1483) left the boy king the pawn of the conflicting ambitions of his paternal uncle, the duke of Gloucester (later Richard III ) and his maternal
..... Click the link for more information. , Elizabeth's eldest son by the late king, and destroyed the power of the Woodvilles (Elizabeth's brother the 2d Earl Rivers and son Richard Grey were executed). The queen mother again took sanctuary in Westminster and soon surrendered her second son by Edward, Richard, duke of York, to Gloucester. He then placed both boys in the Tower of London and declared them illegitimate, asserting that Elizabeth's marriage to Edward was voided by a precontract of marriage on Edward's part. (The boys were subsequently murdered.) After Henry VII seized the throne from Richard, he married (1486) Elizabeth's eldest daughter, who was also named Elizabeth.