Cecily Neville (3 May 1415 – 31 May 1495) was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two Kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. She was born at Raby Castle in Durham, and was known for her piety. Although she has been long known as "The Rose of Raby", this sobriquet has no historical basis, since its first mention is found in a late 18th century novel by Agnes Musgrave. She herself signed her name "Cecylle".
Cecily's husband, the Duke of York, was the leading contender for the throne of England from the House of York during the period of the Wars of the Roses until his death in 1460. Their son Edward actually assumed the throne as Edward IV in 1461, after the deposition of King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster. The Duchess of York thus narrowly missed becoming queen consort of England. Through Edward's daughter, Elizabeth of York, Cecily was the great-grandmother of Henry VIII and an ancestor of all subsequent English and British monarchs.
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Family
Cecily Neville was the youngest of the 22 children of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, by his second wife Joan Beaufort. Her paternal grandparents were John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby, and Maud Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy. Her maternal grandparents were John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and his third wife Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt was the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.
Cecily was the aunt of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, one of the leading peers and military commanders of his generation, a great-aunt of queen consort Anne Neville, who married her son Richard III, and a great-great-great-aunt of queen consort Catherine Parr, sixth wife of her great-grandson, King Henry VIII.
Duchess of York
In 1424, when Cecily was eight years old, she was betrothed by her father to his thirteen-year-old ward and her second cousin, Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York. Marriage between noble wards and their guardian's children was very common practice in late Medieval England.
Ralph Neville died in October 1425, bequeathing the wardship of Richard to his widow, Joan Beaufort. Cecily and Richard were married by October 1429. Their first child, Anne of York, was born in August 1439 in Northamptonshire. When Richard became a king's lieutenant and governor general of France in 1441 and moved to Rouen, Cecily moved with him. Their son Henry was born in February but died soon after.
Their next son, the future King Edward IV, was born in Rouen on 28 April 1442 and immediately baptised privately in a small side chapel. He would later be accused of illegitimacy by his cousin, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and by his own brother, George, Duke of Clarence, a common method of discrediting political enemies. George and Warwick were in dispute with Edward at the time and seeking to overthrow him as king. The claims would later be dismissed. Nonetheless, some modern historians give serious consideration to the question, and use Edward's date of birth as supporting evidence: assuming Edward was not premature (there being no evidence either way), Richard of York would have been several days' march from Cecily at the time of conception and the baby's baptism was a simple and private affair, unlike that of his younger brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, which was public and lavish. This is countered by other historians, however, who point out that Cecily's husband could easily, by the military conventions of the time, have returned briefly to Rouen, where Cecily was living at the time, while baptism conventions of the time meant that a low-key baptism would be more likely due to Richard of York's relatively low political standing at the time and fears for the baby's survival. If the difference in baptisms was to be taken as a disavowal of an otherwise acknowledged and cherished heir, it would not only be a humiliation of a wife Richard otherwise valued before and after Edward's birth, but also a personal and political humiliation. In any case, Richard acknowledged the baby as his own, which established legal paternity.
Around 1454, when Richard began to resent the influence of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (a first cousin of his wife), Cecily spoke with queen consort Margaret of Anjou on his behalf. When Henry VI suffered a nervous breakdown later in the year, Richard of York established himself as a Protector.
Mother of two kings, great-aunt of a queen, and grandmother of a queen
Cecily's eldest son Edward successfully continued the fight against the Lancastrians. When Cecily moved to Baynard's Castle in London, it became the Yorkist headquarters, and after Edward defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton and ascended the throne, she was honoured as the mother of the king.
During the beginning of Edward's reign, Cecily appeared beside him and maintained her influence. In 1461, she revised her coat of arms to include the royal arms of England, hinting that her husband had been a rightful king. When Edward married Elizabeth Woodville, he built new queen's quarters for her and let his mother remain in the queen's quarters in which she had been living.
In 1469, her nephew Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, father-in-law of her sons George and Richard, rebelled against Edward IV. She visited Sandwich, possibly trying to reconcile the parties. When the rebellion failed the first time, she invited Edward and George to London to reconcile them. Peace did not last long, and in the forthcoming war, she still tried to make peace between her sons.
Edward IV was briefly overthrown by Warwick and Margaret of Anjou, and for about six months (October 1470 – April 1471), Henry VI was restored to the throne. The breach between Edward and his brother George was apparently never really healed; indeed, George was executed for treason in the Tower of London on 18 February 1478. Edward IV died suddenly on 9 April 1483, leaving two sons aged 12 and 9, the elder one known to history as King Edward V. Cecily Neville's youngest son Richard, their uncle, was appointed their protector by Edward's will, but he had them placed in the Tower of London, as it was custom for Kings awaiting their coronation; their fate is still a matter of dispute. A subsequent enquiry found that Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid. The so-called Princes in the Tower were thus declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament in 1484 and their uncle Richard crowned Richard III on 6 July 1483.
Duchess Cecily was on good terms with Richard's wife Lady Anne Neville (her grandniece in addition to being her daughter-in-law), with whom she discussed religious works such as the writings of Mechtilde of Hackeborn.
Death and will
The Duchess died on 31 May 1495 and was buried in the tomb with her husband Richard and their son Edmund at the Church of St Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire, with a papal indulgence. All subsequent English and later British monarchs, beginning with Henry VIII, are descendants of Elizabeth of York, and therefore of Cecily Neville.
"Cecill wife unto the right noble Prince Richard late Duke of Yorke" made her will on 1 April 1495. It was proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 27 August of the same year.
Issue
Her twelve children with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, were as follows:
Anne of York (10 August 1439 – 14 January 1476), married firstly, Henry Holland, 3rd Duke of Exeter, and secondly, Sir Thomas St. Leger
Henry of York (10 February 1441 – 10 February 1441), died soon after birth
Edward IV of England (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483)
Edmund, Earl of Rutland (17 May 1443 – 30 December 1460), killed at the Battle of Wakefield
Elizabeth of York (22 April 1444 – possibly after January 1503), wife of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk
Margaret of York (3 May 1446 – 23 November 1503), married Charles I, Duke of Burgundy
William of York (7 July 1447 – died young)
John of York (7 November 1448 – died young)
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (21 October 1449 – 18 February 1478), executed by Edward IV
Thomas of York (1450/1451 – died young)
Richard III of England (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485), killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field
Ursula of York (22 July 1455 – died young)