Catherine Woodville - Definition and Overview

Catherine (or Katherine) Woodville (died about 1513) was an English medieval noblewomen, best known for marrying a number of influential husbands and producing several illustrious children. She owed her position largely to her sister, Elizabeth Woodville, the queen of King Edward IV of England.

Catherine and her sister were the daughters of Richard Woodville, 3rd Earl Rivers. Catherine's dates of birth and death are unknown, but she was born before 1458. Her first husband was Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who is thought to have been some years her junior; he was a boy of eleven when they married in February, 1466. It was not a successful marriage, even though they had four children, the first born in 1478. Following Buckingham's execution for treason, she married Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, who died in 1495. Her third and last husband was Sir Richard Wingfield, who outlived her.

She was mother to four children by her first husband:

1. Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
2. Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex
3. Henry Stafford, 3rd Earl of Wiltshire
4. Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon