Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter

Infobox British Royalty|royal
name =Anne of York
title =Duchess of Exeter


imgw = 180px
spouse =Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter
Sir Thomas St. Leger
issue =Anne Holland
Anne St. Leger
titles =The Duchess of Exeter
royal house =House of York
father =Richard, 3rd Duke of York
mother =Cecily Neville
date of birth = birth date|1439|8|10|df=yes
place of birth = Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire
date of death = 14 January 1476
date of burial = 1 February 1476
place of burial = St. George's Chapel, Windsor|

Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter (August 10, 1439, Fotheringhay – January 14, 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, Duchess of Suffolk, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, George, Duke of Clarence and Richard III of England.

In 1447, Anne was married to Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter. They had one daughter:
*Anne Holland (c. 1455 – 1475), married Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset.

In 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. He 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, Queen consort of Henry VI of England in her exile in France.

On March 4, 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. They were separated in 1464 and divorced in 1472.

The daughter, now a wealthy heiress, was married off (as mentioned above) to the king's stepson the Marquess of Dorset. The younger Anne, however died soon afterwards without 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).

Anne married secondly Sir Thomas St. Leger c. 1474. She died giving birth to their only daughter:

*Anne St. Leger (January 14, 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. [for this and the previous paragraphs regarding the Exeter inheritance see "Edward IV" by Charles Ross, ISBN 0300073720, pp. 336-337] [The proper heir, if the usual inheritance customs had been adhered to, would have been Ralph Neville, 3rd Earl of Westmorland.]

The marriage with Thomas Grey never happened, and Anne St. Leger later married George Manners, 12th Baron de Ros.

Ancestors

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1= 1. Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter
2= 2. Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
3= 3. Cecily Neville
4= 4. Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge
5= 5. Anne de Mortimer
6= 6. Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland
7= 7. Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland
8= 8. Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York
9= 9. Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York
10= 10. Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March
11= 11. Alianore de Holland
12= 12. John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby
13= 13. Maud Percy
14= 14. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
15= 15. Katherine Swynford
16= 16. Edward III of England
17= 17. Philippa of Hainault
18= 18. Peter of Castile
19= 19. María de Padilla
20= 20. Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March
21= 21. Philippa Plantagenet, 5th Countess of Ulster
22= 22. Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent
23= 23. Alice FitzAlan
24= 24. Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby
25= 25. Alice de Audley
26= 26. Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy
27= 27. Idoine de Clifford
28= 28. = 16. Edward III of England
29= 29. = 17. Philippa of Hainault
30= 30. Paen de Roet

References

External links