Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of the Count of St Pol married John, duke of Bedford 20 april 1433. He was 44; she 17.
1433 was a momentous year for the Duke. His first wife Anne of Burgundy died at 2 am on November 14th 1432. She was only 29. She had borne no children during here marriage (at least none of record) but it seems that the couple were devoted to each other and Anne was pivotal to holding the alliance between England and Burgundy together against Charles, the Dauphin. Her funeral was held on January 8th 1433 in Paris at the church of the Célestines.
Not long after this political manoeuvres began to find a new wife for the widowed duke. These may not have been initiated by the duke himself but those around him who sought some advantage from the situation. It was Louis of Luxembourg, Bishop of Thérouanne, a close friend and confidante of the duke, who arranged for a meeting with his niece Jacquetta. At the age of only 17 she was undoubtedly very attractive. Contemporary reports describe her as pretty and lively. No contemporary image of her was made, or survives, but it seems reasonable to infer that she was very presentable.
Bedford therefore would have found nothing to object to in her appearance or personality. He may even have been smitten, but considerations of state ruled. The alliance with the duke of Burgundy against France was becoming less dependable, and with the death of Anne of Burgundy, had an uncertain future. A new alliance with Luxembourg would therefore help to shore up the English position in France. Against this was the knowledge that the Duke of Burgundy would be offended, but since relations were already strained to breaking point Bedford may have taken this factor into consideration when creating this new alliance.
Jacquetta had no say in the matter, nor would have expected to. Like almost all women of her class and upbringing an arranged political marriage was always going to be her destiny. Whether or not she accepted it with a good grace or not it is imposible to divine.
Accordingly the ceremony was performed at the Archbishop’s palace at Thérouanne, with the archbishop himself officiating. Bedford presented two bells to the Cathedral to celebrate the event.
The Duke of Burgundy was outraged, as anticipated and he had a list of supposed grievances. Luxembourg was a vassal state and should have sought permission. Bedford had openly disregarded the memory of his recently deceased wife, the duke’s sister. He was reminded that another woman from a vassal house, Jacqueline of Hainault, had married Bedford’s brother Humphrey, again without his consent. Efforts were made to mediate between the two dukes but without avail and the rift between them remained to the end of Bedford’s life.
On June 18 they sailed for England and reached London on June 23rd where they proceeded in state through the streets. It was a lukewarm reception; the triumphant progresses of his elder brother Henry V and Bedford himself during the previous decade were now tempered by a general war weariness. This latest round of the conflict with France had now extended almost 20 years. To compound this problem there was a political struggle for power between duke Humphrey of Gloucester, his youngest brother, and his uncle Cardinal Beaufort. Neither was winning this struggle and some economic mismanagement had left the Treasury empty.
Bedford's life work had been to maintain the French kingdom, which was trying to do against increasing hostility in France and with tepid support from home. His journey to England in 1433 was designed to build support for the French enterprise but the political situation in England required him to take charge of the government and it was not until July 1434 that the worsening situation in France compelled him to return.
In this period the young Jacquetta was more or less invisible. It is assumed, but by no means certain that she accompanied her husband as he shuttled back and forth between London and his seat at Flulbrook in Warwickshire, but there is no mention of her. So for this marriage there is almost nothing that can help us understand what went on. They married. She was widowed after two years and five months. There were no children.
Given Jacquetta's later fecundity this is surely worth comment. John did have two illegitimate children, a boy, Richard, who was alive in 1434, and a daughter Mary. She married Peter de Montserrat and died after 1458. He was unable to successfully father children by his first wife, Anne of Burgundy. He married her in 1423 and she died during childbirth (as did the infant) on 14 November 1432. It is quite possible that other unsuccessful pregnancies preceded this, but none were recorded. Jacquetta was young and strong and without doubt capable of bearing children. Yet there was no pregnancy of record during the more the two years of their marriage, and this is a puzzle. The duke was certainly in poor health at this time but in the previous year (1432) he was still potent. The couple were separated in age by 27 years; he was old enough to be her father. However he was a man past his prime and as it turned out very near to the end of his life. He had been worn down by his responsibilities in France and almost constant campaigning. He may have been at a stage in his life when he was no longer interested in the sexual act. That, together with his manifold responsibilities may have kept him and Jacquetta from enjoying a proper union. It is also possible that she had no appetite for him and they may have mutually agreed to not sharing the same bed, both content to maintain the outward show of the marriage for the diplomatic purposes behind the union.
When she and Bedford returned to France in July 1434, he was already in poor health and on 14 Sep 1435 he died.
Bedford’s career had not been easy. Since the death of his brother Henry V he had been Regent of France, a position which was by no means straightforward, complicated not only by intermittent attack from the Dauphin, based at Bourges, but by the unreliability of allies such as the Duke of Burgundy and the Duke of Brittany. Further, he was often undermined at home by his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort and his younger brother Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.
She was well provided for. Her dower income (one third of her former husband’s estates) amounted to £1133 even though she did not get everything her former husband had left. She was allowed to enter her estates in 6 Feb 1436 provided that she seek the king’s permission before she married. This was an opportunity for her. As a widow she would be expected to marry again and as a widow with large estates she was a target for any matchmaker on the make. She no doubt felt entitle to please herself the second time around and accordingly she did. She married for love.
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