Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter

Anne of York
Duchess of Exeter
Anne with her second husband
Spouse	Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter Sir Thomas St. Leger
Issue
Anne Holland, Marchioness of Dorset Anne St. Leger, Baroness de Ros
House	House of York
Father	Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
Mother	Lady Cecily Neville
Born	10 August 1439(1439-08-10) Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire
Died	14 January 1476(1476-01-14) (aged 36)
Burial	1 February 1476 St. George's Chapel, Windsor

Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter (10 August 1439 – 14 January 1476) was the second child and eldest surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville.

She was an older sister of Edward IV of England, Edmund, Earl of Rutland, Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Richard III of England.

Marriages and issue

In 1447, Anne was married to Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter. They had one daughter:

• Anne Holland (c. 1455 – between 26 August 1467 and 6 June 1474), married Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset.

During the Wars of the Roses, Exeter sided with the House of Lancaster against the House of York despite Anne being a member of the latter. Exeter was a commander at the great Lancastrian victories at Wakefield and St Albans. He was also a commander at the Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Towton. He fled to the Kingdom of Scotland after the battle, and then joined Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI, in her exile in France.

On 4 March 1461, her younger brother was declared King Edward IV in London. Exeter was attainted but the king gave his estates to Anne, with remainder to their daughter Anne Holland. Anne and Exeter separated in 1464 and divorced in 1472.

Her daughter Anne, now a wealthy heiress, was married in October 1466 at Greenwich Palace to Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, son of Edward IV's queen Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband. She died sometime between 26 August 1467 and 6 June 1474 without having produced children.

The king had, in 1467, extended the remainder of most of the Exeter lands to Anne and any heirs of her body (that is, if she remarried any future children could inherit them).

During the Readeption of Henry VI, Anne remained loyal to her brother Edward, and, in what seems to have been her only intervention in politics, worked hard to persude her brother George, Duke of Clarence to abandon the Lancastrian cause. If not decisive, her arguments are agreed to have had some effect and so she played some part in Edward's restoration.

Anne married secondly in about 1474 Sir Thomas St. Leger, and died giving birth to their only daughter:

• Anne St. Leger (14 January 1476 – 21 April 1526)

Thus this daughter was heiress to the Exeter estates. She was contracted to marry Thomas Grey, grandson of the queen and son of the 1st Marquess of Dorset who had earlier been married to her half-sister.

In 1483 by act of parliament Anne St. Leger was declared heiress to the entire Exeter estate, except for a portion which was given to the queen's son Richard Grey. This act, by which the lands of the Exeter dukedom fell into the hands of the last duke's stepdaughter and his daughter's brother-in-law, along with a number of similar acts, is thought to be a cause of difficulty in maintaining noble support for the reign of Edward IV.

The marriage with Thomas Grey never happened, and Anne St. Leger later married George Manners, 12th Baron de Ros. Through this, Anne of Exeter is the ancestress of the (Manners) Earls and Dukes of Rutland, (Capel) Earls of Essex, (Russell) Dukes of Bedford - hence also the late Princess of Wales and her sons - (Ashley-Cooper) Earls of Shaftesbury.

Ancestors

English Royalty
House of York
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke
Anne, Duchess of Exeter
Edward IV
Edmund, Earl of Rutland
Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk
Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
Richard III

16. Edward III of England

8. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York

17. Philippa of Hainault

4. Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge

18. Peter of Castile

9. Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York

19. María de Padilla

2. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York

20. Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March

10. Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March

21. Philippa Plantagenet, 5th Countess of Ulster

5. Anne de Mortimer

22. Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent

11. Alianore Holland, Countess of March

23. Alice FitzAlan

1. Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter

24. Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby

12. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby

25. Alice de Audley

6. Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland

26. Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy

13. Maud Percy

27. Idoine de Clifford

3. Cecily Neville

28. = 16. Edward III of England

14. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster

29. = 17. Philippa of Hainault

7. Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland

30. Paen de Roet

15. Katherine Swynford

References

• Cawley, Charles (3 June 2011). "Earls of Kent [1352-1408, Holand"]. Medieval Lands. http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL.htm#_Toc254344903. Retrieved May 2010. 
• Ross, Charles (1997). Edward IV. Yale English monarchs (illustrated ed.). Yale University Press. pp. 336-337. ISBN 0300073720. 

External links

• Ladies of the Bower & Lords of the Tower A Medieval Re-enactment Society based in London, featuring members of the Neville/Plantagenet family.