Royal Enfield is has a vast market in India with 180 dealers all over the nation and around 100 authorised service centres. Their business is already spreading in all our global like USA, Japan, UAE, Germany, UK, France and many others. Royal Enfield franchise provide great returns to Investors. We have already shared Start Mahindra First. The Flying Flea: 1948 Royal Enfield RE125 The Flying Flea, the Royal Enfield RE125 was a two-stroke single that was very important to the British military during World War II. By Philip Koenen November/December 2012. Philip Koenen's classic Flying Flea Royal Enfield. Photo by Philip Koenen.
Public Listed Company | |
Industry | Motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers, cars |
---|---|
Fate | Defunct |
Founded | 1901 |
Founder | Albert Eadie and Robert Walker Smith |
Defunct | 1971 |
Headquarters | Redditch, Worcestershire |
| |
Products | Royal Enfield Clipper, Crusader, Bullet, Interceptor, WD/RE, Super Meteor |
Website | (none) |
Royal Enfield was a brand name under which The Enfield Cycle Company Limited of Redditch, Worcestershire[1] sold motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stationary engines which they had manufactured. Enfield Cycle Company also used the brand name Enfield without Royal.
The first Royal Enfield motorcycle was built in 1901. The Enfield Cycle Company is responsible for the design and original production of the Royal Enfield Bullet, the longest-lived motorcycle design in history.
Enfield's remaining motorcycle business became part of Norton Villiers in 1967 with the business closing in 1978.
- 3Products
History[edit]
George Townsend set up a business in 1851 in Redditch making sewing needles. In 1882 his son, also named George, started making components for cycle manufacturers including saddles and forks. By 1886 complete bicycles were being sold under the names Townsend and Ecossais. This business suffered a financial collapse in 1891.[2][3] Albert Eadie, sales manager of Birmingham's Perry & Co Ltd, pen makers who had begun to supply components for cycles, and Robert Walker Smith, an engineer from D. Rudge & Co[4], were chosen by Townsend's bankers to run the business. Then, in 1892, the firm was re-incorporated and named Eadie Manufacturing Company Limited; it was based in Snow Hill, Birmingham.[5][6] Later, in 1907, after serious losses from their newly floated Enfield Autocar business, Eadie Manufacturing and its pedal-cycle component business was absorbed by Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA).[7] Years later, the BSA chairman was to tell shareholders that the acquisition had 'done wonders for the cycle department'.[8] Eadie still retained a separate identity when Raleigh bought BSA's cycle interests in 1957.[9]
Enfield[edit]
Share of 'The New Enfield Cycle Company', issued 11. January 1897
Eadie had won contracts to supply precision parts for fire arms to the government's long-established Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, Middlesex, now the London Borough of Enfield with its offshoot in Sparkbrook and had assumed the brand name Royal Enfield.[citation needed] In 1896 they also incorporated a new subsidiary company, The New Enfield Cycle Company Limited,[note 1] to handle much of the cycle work and in 1897 Enfield making complete cycles as well parts for other assemblers took all the cycle assembly work from Eadie.
Enfield diversified into motor cycles, 1901 and motor cars, 1902. The motor department was put into a separate subsidiary, Enfield Autocar Company Limited incorporated in 1906 and established in new works at Hunt End, Redditch.[10] However Enfield Autocar after just 19 months reported a substantial loss and, aside from Eadie himself, shareholders were unwilling to provide more capital so in early 1907 Eadie sold his control of Eadie Manufacturing to BSA. Albert Eadie and Robert Walker Smith had been appointed directors of BSA before the proposed sale had been put to shareholders. The new combined BSA and Eadie business manufactured 'military and sporting rifles, (pedal) cycle and cycle components, motor-cars etc.'[11] 'BSA and Eadie cycle specialities'.[12] But there were still minority Eadie shareholders alongside BSA in 1957.
The business of Enfield Autocar, that is to say the plant and stock, was sold to Birmingham's Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering.[13] Enfield Cycle Company took over the Hunt End premises.
In 1955, Enfield Cycle Company partnered with Madras Motors in India in forming Enfield of India, based in Chennai, and started assembling the 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle in Madras. The first machines were assembled from components imported from England. Starting in 1957, Enfield of India acquired the machines necessary to build components in India, and by 1962 all components were made in India.
Frank Walker Smith (1888-1962), eldest son of Robert Walker Smith, joined Enfield Cycle Company in 1909. Appointed joint (with his father) managing director in 1914 he took over the full responsibility when his father died in 1933.[14] After his death Enfield was bought by investors E & H P Smith who sold Enfield for £82,500 to Norton Villiers in 1967.[15] While Norton Villiers acquired 33 per cent of Enfield India the assets of Enfield's diesel engine division and pedal cycle and spares divisions were not picked up.[16]
Royal Enfield produced bicycles at its Redditch factory until it closed in early 1967. The company's last new bicycle was the 'Revelation' small wheeler, released in 1965.[17][better source needed] Production of motorcycles ceased in 1970 and the original Redditch, Worcestershire-based company was dissolved in 1971.[18]
Enfield of India continued producing the 'Bullet', and began branding its motorcycles 'Royal Enfield' in 1999. A lawsuit over the use of 'Royal', brought by trademark owner David Holder, was judged in favour of Enfield of India, who now produce motorcycles under the Royal Enfield name.[19] The models produced and marketed in India include Cafe Racers, Cruisers, Retros and Adventure Tourers.
Products[edit]
Royal Enfield Quadricycle
By 1899, Royal Enfield were producing a quadricycle – a bicycle modified by adding a wrap-around four-wheeled frame, retaining a rear rider-saddle with handlebars – having a front-mounted passenger seat, driven by a rear-mounted De Dion engine.[20]
After experimenting with a heavy bicycle frame fitted with a Minerva engine clamped to the front downtube, Enfield built their first motorcycle in 1901 with a 239 cc engine.
1907 Enfield 15
A light car was introduced in 1903 powered by either a French Ader V-twin or De Dion single cylinder engine. In 1906 car production was transferred to a new company, the Enfield Autocar Co Ltd with premises in Hunt End, Redditch. The independent company only lasted until 1908 when it was purchased by Alldays & Onions.[6]
In 1907, Enfield merged with the Alldays & Onions Pneumatic Engineering Co. of Birmingham, and began manufacturing the Enfield-Allday automobile.
By 1910, Royal Enfield was using direct belt drive 297 cc Swiss MotosacocheV-Twin engines which were enlarged to 344cc for 1911 with the advent of chain drive and the Enfield 2 speed gear. Enfield hired Bert Colver from Matchless and competed in the 1911 Isle of Man lightweight TT.
1913 Enfield 425cc
In 1912, the Royal Enfield Model 180 sidecar combination was introduced with a 770 cc V-twin JAP engine which was raced successfully in the Isle of Man TT and at Brooklands. Enfield developed a prototype for the soon to arrive 1913 425cc model 140. The prototype was Enfield's first in house manufactured V twin, also at 344cc, being of overhead inlet, side exhaust layout.
First World War (1914–1918)[edit]
In 1914 Enfield supplied large numbers of motorcycles to the British War Department and also won a motorcycle contract for the Imperial Russian Government. Enfield used its own 225 cc two-stroke single and 425 cc V-twin engines.[21] They also produced an 8 hp motorcycle sidecar model fitted with a Vickers machine gun.
Inter-war years (1921–1939)[edit]
1923 Royal Enfield 225cc
In 1921, Enfield developed a new 976 cc twin, and in 1924 launched the first Enfield four-stroke 350 cc single using a Prestwich Industries engine.In 1928, Royal Enfield began using the bulbous 'saddle' tanks and centre-spring girder front forks, one of the first companies to do so. Even though it was trading at a loss in the depression years of the 1930s, the company was able to rely on reserves to keep going.In 1931, Albert Eadie, one of the founders of the company, died and his partner R.W. Smith died soon afterwards in 1933.
Second World War (1939–1945)[edit]
Royal Enfield 250 cc, type 11F
During World War II, The Enfield Cycle Company was called upon by the British authorities to develop and manufacture military motorcycles. The models produced for the military were the WD/C 350 cc sidevalve, WD/CO 350 cc OHV, WD/D 250 cc SV, WD/G 350 cc OHV and WD/L 570 cc SV. One of the most well-known Enfields was the Royal Enfield WD/RE, designed to be dropped by parachute with airborne troops.
In order to establish a facility not vulnerable to the wartime bombing of the Midlands, an underground factory was set up, starting in 1942, in a disused Bath stone quarry at Westwood, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. Many staff were transferred from Redditch and an estate of 'prefabs' was built in Westwood to house them.
As well as motorcycle manufacture, it built other equipment for the war effort such as mechanical 'predictors' for anti-aircraft gunnery: the manufacture of such high precision equipment was helped by the constant temperature underground. After the war the factory continued, concentrating on engine manufacture and high precision machining. After production of Royal Enfield motorcycles ceased, the precision engineering activities continued until the final demise of the company.
Postwar Model G and Model J and ex-military C and CO (1946–1954)[edit]
Postwar, Royal Enfield resumed production of the single cylinder ohv 350cc model G and 500cc Model J, with rigid rear frame and telescopic front forks. These were ride-to-work basic models, in a world hungry for transport. A large number of factory reconditioned ex-military sv Model C and ohv Model CO singles were also offered for sale, as they were sold off as surplus by various military services.[22]
In 1948, a groundbreaking development in the form of rear suspension springing was developed, initially for competition model 'trials' models (modern enduro type machines), but this was soon offered on the roadgoing Model Bullet 350cc, a single cylinder OHV. This was a very popular seller, offering a comfortable ride. A 500cc version appeared shortly after. A mid 1950s version of the Bullet manufacturing rights and jigs, dies and tools was sold to India for manufacture there, and where developed versions continue to this day.[22]
500 Twins, Meteors, Super Meteors and Constellations 1949–1963[edit]
In 1949, Royal Enfields version of the now popular selling parallel twins appeared. This 500cc version was the forerunner of a range of Royal Enfield Meteors, 700cc Super Meteors and 700cc Constellations. Offering good performance at modest cost, these sold widely, if somewhat quietly in reputation. The 700cc Royal Enfield Constellation Twin has been described as the first superbike.[23]
250 cc models[edit]
The 250cc class was important in the UK as it was the largest engine which a 'learner' could ride without passing a test. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Royal Enfield produced a number of 250 cc machines, including a racer, the 'GP'[24] and a Scrambler, the 'Moto-X', which used a modified Crusader frame, leading link forks and a Villiers Starmaker engine.[25][26] The Clipper was a base-model tourer with the biggest-seller being the Crusader, a 248 cc pushrod OHV single producing 18 bhp (13 kW).
RE GT with flyscreen
RE GT with Avon Speedflow nosecone fairing
In 1965, a 21 bhp (16 kW) variant called the Continental GT, with red GRP tank, five-speed gearbox (which was also an option on the Crusader), clip-on handlebars, rearset footrests, swept pipe and hump-backed seat was launched. It sold well with its race-styling including a fly-screen resembling a race number plate which doubled as a front number plate mount.[27]
RE Turbo Twin
The Avon 'Speedflow' full sports fairing was available as an extra in complementary factory colours of red and white.[28]
Other variants were the Olympic[25] and 250 Super 5, notable for use of leading-link front suspension (all the other 250 road models had conventional telescopic forks) and the 250 'Turbo Twin', fitted with the Villiers 247 cc twin cylinder two-stroke engine.
The Royal Enfield GP production-volume racer was first raced in the Manx Grand Prix in September, 1964. Developed in conjunction with Royal Enfield Racing Manager Geoff Duke[24] the first public appearance was at Earls Court Show in November, 1964. Using a duplex-tube frame, leading link forks and one-piece tank and seat unit, the 250cc two-stroke single engine was similar to other small capacity race machines offered from rivals Greeves, Cotton, DMW and particularly Villiers,[29][30] which provided the engines for these marques and many other manufacturers and bike-builders including the 'Starmaker' competition engine used for the Scorpion racer and Sprite scrambler.[25]
Royal Enfield Interceptor[edit]
Royal Enfield Interceptor motorcycle
During the onslaught of the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers in the late sixties and early seventies, the English factories made a final attempt with the 692cc Interceptor[31] in 1960[32][not in citation given] –1961[33][not in citation given] followed in 1962–1968 [34][not in citation given] by the 736cc Series I and Series II Interceptors. Made largely for the US market, it sported lots of chrome and strong performance, completing the quarter mile in less than 13 seconds at speeds well above 175 km/h (105 mph).[35] It became very popular in the US, but the classic mistake of not being able to supply this demand added to the demise of this last English-made Royal Enfield.[36]
The Redditch factory ceased production in 1967 and the Bradford-on-Avon factory closed in 1970, which meant the end of the British Royal Enfield. After the factory closed a little over two hundred Series II Interceptor engines were stranded at the dock in 1970. These engines had been on their way to Floyd Clymer in the US; but Clymer had just died and his export agents, Mitchell's of Birmingham, were left to dispose of the engines. They approached the Rickman brothers for a frame. The main problem of the Rickman brothers had always been engine supplies, so a limited run of Rickman Interceptors were promptly built.[37]
As far as the motorcycle brand goes, though, it would appear that Royal Enfield is the only motorcycle brand to span three centuries, and still going, with continuous production. A few of the original Redditch factory buildings remain (2009) and are part of the Enfield Industrial Estate.
Royal Enfield Bullet 350 in front with license plate from Delhi, India
Enfield Indians[edit]
From 1955 to 1959, Royal Enfields were painted red, and marketed in the US as Indian Motorcycles by the Brockhouse Corporation, who had control of the Indian Sales Corporation (and therefore Indian Motorcycles) and had stopped manufacturing all American Indians in the Springfield factory in 1953. But Americans were not impressed by the badge engineering, and the marketing agreement ended in 1960, and from 1961, Royal Enfields were available in the US under their own name. The largest Enfield 'Indian' was a 700 cc twin named the Chief, like its American predecessors.[38]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^From 1896 to 1897 known as 'The New Enfield Cycle Company Limited'
References[edit]
- ^Royal Enfield. The Times, Wednesday, Oct 02, 1912; pg. 27; Issue 40019
- ^'2017 Royal Enfield Himalayan – Taking It Easy'. Motorcycle alliance.
- ^'Royal Enfield Background'. Natur Freundejugend. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017.
- ^W.F. Grew. The cycle industry, its origin, history and latest developments. Sir Isaac Pitman, London, 1921
- ^The Irish Times 17 July 1897: 11
- ^ abWorthington-Williams, Michael (September 1989). 'The Enfield-Allday story'. The Automobile. 7: 10–13.
- ^The Motor Industry. The Times, Friday, Sep 02, 1910; pg. 8; Issue 39367
- ^Birmingham Small Arms. The Times, Tuesday, Sep 30, 1913; pg. 16; Issue 40330
- ^Business Changes. The Times, Friday, Jul 12, 1957; pg. 16; Issue 53891
- ^Prospectus. The Times, Wednesday, Mar 07, 1906; pg. 15; Issue 37961
- ^Important Cycle Trade Amalgamation. The Times, Wednesday, Feb 13, 1907; pg. 12; Issue 38255
- ^B.S.A. display advertisement. The Times, Wednesday, Oct 02, 1912; pg. 26; Issue 40019
- ^Enfield Autocar Limited. The Manchester Guardian 18 Jan 1908: 11
- ^'Major F. W. Smith.' The Times 27 Apr. 1962: 13.
- ^WCycle Company Sold. Daily Telegraph, 9 Mar. 1967, p. 2.
- ^The Guardian, 09 Mar 1967: 12.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Royal Enfield Revelation (retrieved 26 August 2013)[better source needed]
- ^Millers's Classic Motorcycles Price Guide 1995 Volume II, p.78. Judith and Martin Miller, general Editor Valerie Lewis.
- ^Trade mark decision, Patent Office, UK Government. Retrieved 12 March 2016
- ^[1] Grace's Industrial Guide 1900 advertisement Retrieved 2013-12-31
- ^'The History of the Marque'. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- ^ ab'Royal Enfield By Miles the Best' book by Gordon May
- ^'Royal Enfield By Miles the Best', Gordon May
- ^ abMotor Cycle, 9 September 1965. p.371 SLIM and LOW by David Dixon. Track test at Oulton Park of RE GP with Racing Manager Geoff Duke. Accessed 2013-08-18
- ^ abcMotor Cycle, 19 November 1964. 'Earls Court Show Guide'. p.847 'Geoff Duke demonstrates the riding position of the new Royal Enfield racer...' and p.860. [images]:caption:' Britain's newest racing two-fifties, the Scorpion and...Royal Enfield'. [Royal Enfield stand] 'The preliminary range announcement brought an interesting newcomer in the leading-link fork Olympic sportster....a highly potent super-sports (the Continental GT) and a very tough looking Starmaker scrambler....off came the dust sheets and there stood a two-fifty production racer with a Redditch-built power unit!'. Accessed 2013-08-18
- ^Motor Cycle, 5 November 1964, pp.770-771. A flourish for the GT. About the bike—and a Moto–crosser'. Accessed and added 2014-12-23
- ^Motor Cycle, 19 November 1964. 'Brighton Show Guide'. p.17. Royal Enfield 'The new Continental GT' full-page factory advertisement. Accessed 2013-08-18
- ^Motorcycle Mechanics, August 1966 p.48 'Fancy a Fairing?' [image]caption: 'This is the new 'Speedflow' shell from Mitchenall Bros.; it is finished in red and white. Produced for the Royal Enfield GT, it retails complete at £26'.
- ^Royal Enfield 250GP at Bonhams Retrieved 2014-04-20
- ^Motor Cycle, 19 November 1964. 'Earls Court Show Guide'. p.880 'Show Snips'. [image]'...Starmaker-powered road racer displayed on the Villiers stand: the machine is—completely—a Villiers and will be factory-sponsored in next year's short-circuit meetings; rider, probably, will be Pater Inchley' '..the Starmaker itself in its various forms can be supplied to owners of machines at present using other Villiers engines. Orders can be placed direct with the factory, or through dealers.' Accessed 2013-08-18
- ^'VAX Interceptor'. The Gun. Royal Enfield Owners Club. June–July 2012.
- ^'1960 Royal Enfield Advertisement for 692cc Interceptor'.[not in citation given]
- ^'1961 Advertisement for Royal Enfield Interceptor'.[not in citation given]
- ^[2] 736 cc Interceptor model (retrieved 22 October 2006).[not in citation given]
- ^Robert Smith (May – June 2009). '1968 Royal Enfield Interceptor: England's Forgotten Twin'. Motorcycle Classics. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
- ^[3] Is-it-a-lemon Enfield review (retrieved 22 October 2006).
- ^Gary Ilminen (January – February 2010). '1971 Rickman-Enfield Interceptor'. Motorcycle Classics. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^Post 1953 Indian Motorcycle History - The Floyd Clymer IndianArchived 4 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2014-09-10
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal Enfield motorcycles. |
- Royal Enfield at Curlie
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Royal_Enfield&oldid=901500864'
- Known for: Mother of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England, consort of King Edward IV, and through her, ancestress of the Tudor rulers and subsequent rulers of England and Great Britain. And through Jacquetta, Elizabeth Woodville was descended from several English kings. Ancestor of Henry VIII and all following British and English rulers. Accused of using witchcraft to arrange her daughter's marriage.
- Dates: About 1415 to May 30, 1472
- Also known as: Jaquetta, Duchess of Bedford, Lady Rivers
More about Jacquetta's family is below the biography.
Jacquetta of Luxembourg Biography:
Jacquetta was the oldest child of her parents’ nine children; her uncle Louis, later to be a Bishop, was an ally of England’s King Henry VI in his claim to the crown of France. She probably lived in Brienne in her childhood, though little record of that part of her life survives.
First Marriage
Jacquetta’s noble heritage made her a fitting wife for the brother of England’s King Henry VI, John of Bedford. John was 43 years old and had lost his wife of nine years to the plague the year before he married the 17-year-old Jacquetta in a ceremony in France, the ceremony presided over by Jacquetta’s uncle.
John had served for a time as regent for the young Henry VI when Henry V died in 1422. John, often known as Bedford, fought against the French to try to press Henry’s claims to the French crown. He is known for arranging the trial and execution of Joan of Arc, who had turned the tide of the war against the English, and for also arranging for Henry VI to be crowned as the French king.
This was a fine marriage for Jacquetta. She and her husband went to England a few months after their marriage, and she lived both at her husband’s home in Warwickshire and in London. She was admitted to the prestigious Order of the Garter in 1434. Soon after that, the couple returned to France, probably lived in Rouen at the castle there. But John died at his castle a week before the end of negotiations for a treaty between diplomats representing England, France, and Burgundy. They had been married for less than two and a half years.
After John’s death, Henry VI sent for Jacquetta to come to England. Henry asked his late brother’s chamberlain, Sir Richard Woodville (also spelled Wydevill), to be in charge of her journey. She had dower rights to some of her husband’s lands and about one-third of the income from them and would be a marriage prize that Henry could use to advantage.
Second Marriage
Jacquetta and the rather poor Richard Woodville fell in love and married secretly in early 1437, thwarting any marriage plans King Henry may have had, and drawing Henry’s anger. Jacquetta was not supposed to be able to exercise her dower rights if she married without royal permission. Henry settled the affair, fining the couple a thousand pounds. She returned to the king’s favor, which had considerable advantages to the Woodville family. She returned to France several times in her first years of the second marriage, to fight for her dower rights there. Richard was also assigned to France a few times.
In addition to the connection to Henry VI by her first marriage, Jacquetta also had a connection to Henry’s wife, Margaret of Anjou: her sister had married Margaret’s uncle. Even as the widow of Henry IV’s brother, Jacquetta had, by protocol, a higher rank at court than any other royal women except the queen herself.
Jacquetta was chosen, for her high rank and the connection by marriage to Henry VI’s family, to go to France with the party bringing the young Margaret of Anjou to England to marry Henry VI.
Jacquetta and Richard Woodville had a happy and long marriage. They bought a home in Grafton, Northamptonshire. Fourteen children were born to them. Only one – Lewis, the second eldest, who was also the eldest son – died in childhood, an unusually healthy record for the plague-ridden times.
Wars of the Roses
In the complex intrafamily feuds over succession, now called the Wars of the Roses, Jacquetta and her family were loyal Lancastrians. When Henry VI was in his extended isolation due to his mental breakdown, and Edward IV’s Yorkist army was at the gates of London in 1461, Jacquetta was asked to negotiate with Margaret of Anjou to keep the Yorkist army from vandalizing the city.
The husband of Jacquetta’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth Woodville, Sir John Grey, fought in the Second Battle of St. Albans with the Lancastrian army under the command of Margaret of Anjou. Though the Lancastrians won, Grey was among the casualties of the battle.
After the battle of Towton, won by the Yorkists, Jacquetta’s husband and her son Anthony, part of the losing side, were imprisoned in the Tower of London. Jacquetta’s family connections to the Duke of Burgundy, who had helped Edward win that battle, likely saved Jacquetta’s husband and son, and they were released after a few months.
Edward IV’s victory meant, among the other losses, that Jacquetta’s lands were confiscated by the new king. So were those of other families that had been on the Lancastrian side, including Jacquetta’s daughter, Elizabeth, who was left a widow with two young boys.
Elizabeth Woodville’s Second Marriage
Edward’s victory also represented an opportunity to marry the new king to a foreign princess who would bring wealth and allies to England. Edward’s mother, Cecily Neville, and his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (known as the Kingmaker), were shocked when Edward secretly and suddenly married the young Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Woodville, Jacquetta’s oldest daughter.
The king had met Elizabeth, according to what may be more legend than truth, when she positioned herself at the side of the road, with her two sons from her first marriage, to catch the king’s eye as he passed on a hunting trip, and beg him for the return of her lands and income. Some have alleged that Jacquetta arranged this encounter. The king was struck with Elizabeth, and, when she refused to become his mistress (so the story goes), he married her.
The wedding was held at Grafton on May 1, 1464, with only Edward, Elizabeth, Jacquetta, the priest and two women attendants present. It changed the fortunes of the Woodville family considerably after it was disclosed months later.
Royal Favor
The very large Woodville family benefited from their new status as relatives of the York king. In February after the wedding, Edward ordered Jacquetta’s dower rights restored, and thus her income. Edward appointed her husband the treasurer of England and Earl Rivers.
Several of Jacquetta’s other children found favorably marriages in this new environment. The most infamous was the marriage of her 20-year-old son, John, to Katherine Neville, Duchess of Norfolk. Katherine was the sister of Edward IV’s mother, as well as an aunt of Warwick the Kingmaker, and at least 65 years old when she married John. Katherine had outlived three husbands already, and, as it turned out, would outlive John as well.
Warwick’s Revenge
Warwick, who had been thwarted in his plans for Edward’s marriage, and who had been pushed out of favor by the Woodvilles, changed sides and decided to support Henry VI as fighting again broke out between the York and Lancaster sides in the complicated wars of succession. Elizabeth Woodville and her children had to seek sanctuary, along with Jacquetta. Elizabeth's son, Edward V, was probably born during that time.
At Kenilworth, Jacquetta’s husband, Earl Rivers, and their son, John (who had married Warwick’s elderly aunt) were captured by Warwick and he had them killed. Jacquetta, who had loved her husband, went into mourning, and her health suffered.
Jacquetta of Luxembourg, Duchess of Bedford, died on May 30, 1472. Neither her will nor her place of burial is known.
Was Jacquetta a Witch?
In 1470, one of Warwick’s men formally accused Jacquetta of practicing witchcraft by making images of Warwick, Edward IV and his queen, likely part of the strategy to further destroy the Woodvilles. She faced a trial but was cleared of all charges.
Richard III resurrected the charge after the death of Edward IV, with Parliament’s assent, as part of the act declaring invalid the marriage of Edward to Elizabeth Woodville, and thus removing from succession Edward’s two sons (the Princes in the Tower Richard imprisoned and who were, after a while, never seen again). The main argument against the marriage was a supposed precontract that Edward had made with another woman, but the witchcraft charge was inserted to show that Jacquetta had worked with Elizabeth to enchant Edward, Richard’s brother.
Jacquetta of Luxembourg in Literature
Jacquetta appears often in historical fiction.
Philippa Gregory’s novel, The Lady of the Rivers, focuses on Jacquetta, and she is a major figure in both Gregory’s novel The White Queen and the 2013 television series by the same name.
Jacquetta’s first husband, John of Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford, is a character in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, parts 1 and 2, in Henry V, and in Henry VI part 1.
Background, Family
- Mother: Margaret of Baux (Margherita del Balzo), whose paternal ancestors were nobility of Naples, and whose mother, an Orsini, was a descendant of King John of England.
- Father: Peter (Pierre) of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Count of Brienne. Peter’s ancestors included King Henry III of England and his consort, Eleanor of Provence.
- Siblings:
- Louis of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol. Ancestor of Henry IV of France and Mary, Queen of Scots. Beheaded for treason against King Louis XI of France.
- Thibaud of Luxembourg, Count of Brienne, Bishop of Le Mans
- Jacques of Luxembourg
- Valeran of Luxembourg, died young
- Jean of Luxembourg
- Catherine of Luxembourg married Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
- Isabelle of Luxembourg, Countess of Guise, married Charles, Count of Maine
- For more details: Family Tree of Elizabeth Woodville (Jacquetta’s eldest child)
Marriage, Children
- Husband: John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1389 – 1435). Married April 22, 1433. John was the third son of Henry IV of England and his wife, Mary de Bohun; Henry IV was the son of John of Gaunt and his first wife, the Lancaster heiress, Blanche. John was thus the brother of King Henry V. He had previously been married to Anne of Burgundy from 1423 until her death in 1432. John of Lancaster died on September 15, 1435, in Rouen. Jacquetta retained the title for life of Duchess of Bedford, as it was a higher-ranking title than others she might later have been entitled to.
- No children
- Husband: Sir Richard Woodville, a chamberlain in her first husband’s household. Children:
- Elizabeth Woodville (1437 – 1492). Married Thomas Gray, then married Edward IV. Children by both husbands. Mother of Edward V and Elizabeth of York.
- Lewis Wydeville or Woodville. He died in childhood.
- Anne Woodville (1439 – 1489). Married William Bourchier, son of Henry Bourchier and Isabel of Cambridge. Married Edward Wingfield. Married George Grey, son of Edmund Grey and Katherine Percy.
- Anthony Woodville (1440-42 - 25 Jun 1483). Married Elizabeth de Scales, then married Mary Fitz-Lewis. Executed with his nephew Richard Grey by King Richard III.
- John Woodville (1444/45 - 12 Aug 1469). Married the much-older Katherine Neville, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, daughter of Ralph Neville and Joan Beaufort and sister of Cecily Neville, his sister Elizabeth’s mother-in-law.
- Jacquetta Woodville (1444/45 – 1509). Married John le Strange, son of Richard Le Strange and Elizabeth de Cobham.
- Lionel Woodville (1446 - about 23 Jun 1484). Bishop of Salisbury.
- Richard Woodville. (? - 06 Mar 1491).
- Martha Woodville (1450 – 1500). Married John Bromley.
- Eleanor Woodville (1452 - about 1512). Married Anthony Grey.
- Margaret Woodville (1455 – 1491). Married Thomas FitzAlan, son of William FitzAlan and Joan Neville.
- Edward Woodville. (? – 1488).
- Mary Woodville (1456 - ?). Married William Herbert, son of William Herbert and Anne Devereux.
- Catherine Woodville (1458 - 18 May 1497). Married Henry Stafford, son of Humphrey Stafford and Margaret Beaufort (a paternal first cousin of the Margaret Beaufort who married Edmund Tudor and was the mother of Henry VII). Married Jasper Tudor, Edmund Tudor’s brother, both sons of Owen Tudor and Catherine of Valois. Married Richard Wingfield, son of John Wingfield and Elizabeth FitzLewis.