3- Jacquetta Woodville- Two Dukes and a King

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Before proceeding further with Jacquetta’s journey, let us first have a look at three key people who will play a vital part in our protagonist’s life.

King Henry VI inherited the throne when he was only a nine-month old infant on 1st September 1422. Being French, his mother, Catherine of Valois, was viewed with some distrust. In fact, there was another reason for her subjects’ dislike towards her but that revelation is for another day! Coming back to our sovereign, King Henry VI was anything but like his father, the extremely valiant King Henry V (yes….the role essayed by Timotheé Chalamet in The King!) who won the decisive Battle of Agincourt against the French. Shy, timid and quite averse to the idea of violence, Henry VI was also rumoured to be mentally unstable, although not as much as his French royal predecessor and maternal grandfather, Charles VI ‘Charles The Mad’. But this supposed mental illness of Henry VI has disastrous consequences on the House of Lancaster as we will see in our later posts.

(Image courtesy: historytoday.com)


Henry VI’s uncle, John, Duke of Bedford (King Henry V’s brother) was next in line to the throne of England if the King passed on without leaving an heir. Fiercely loyal to his nephew, the Duke of Bedford was the Regent of France during his reign and defeated the French in many battles until he crossed paths with Joan of Arc. Bedford himself played no part in her trial, handing her fate over to an ecclesiastical court which resulted in her being burnt at the stake after being branded as a heretic. Bedford was married to Anne of Burgundy but it was his second marriage which is more of an interest to us….

(Image courtesy: Wikipedia)


Humphrey, the Duke of Gloucester, in my opinion, is the most fascinating person in this regal troika. Appointed Lord Protector due to the minority of his nephew, King Henry VI, Gloucester lost no time in accumulating some lucrative offices and amassed his wealth. Married initially to Jacqueline of Hainault, Gloucester lost no time in falling for her lady-in-waiting, Eleanor Cobham. The Duke eventually abandoned Jacqueline, annulling their marriage, and elevated Eleanor to the position of a Duchess, much to everyone’s consternation. But, eventually, Fortune’s Wheel turned against him and the manner of his and his Duchess’s downfall does make for an interesting read!

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