Jacquetta of Luxembourg: 2 Widowhood

At the death of her husband, John, duke of Bedford at Rouen in the early hours of 14 September 1435. he was buried in Rouen Cathedral, the spiritual home of his Norman ancestors, and was in fact buried beside the tomb of Henry II's eldest son, Henry 'the young king.' The tomb was a lavish one and even after the French had taken control of Rouen in 1436, the tomb was respected by successive monarchs. In 1562 the effigy on the tomb was smashed by Calvinists, but a plaque, with Bedford's arms, survived until the 18th century. The grave was dug up in 1860 to expose a large framed skeleton, which fits contemporary reports of Bedford's physique.

His will provided an estate of La Haye du Puits for his illegitimate son Richard but nothing for his daughter Mary. Perhaps he assumed that her marriage to Peter de Montferrand took care of everything. The rest of his vast estates were bequeathed to his widow, Jacquetta, for life.She ws also gifted the value of 12000 lives in moveable goods. This made her a wealthy woman.

The administration of his will proved more difficult in practice. The king's council granted Harcourt, one of the duchess's estates to Edmund, duke of Somerset. Some other estates were contested by Humphrey, duke of Gloucester. She was not, in any case, entitled to everything under English law. As a dowager she was entitled to one third of the estates, the other two estates normally going to the heir. In this case there was no heir and the duke's brother and cousins stepped in to fill that breach. She fought hard to retain her estates but in 1437 the duke of Somerset was able to secure Harcourt.

She was granted her dower rights by the King on 6 February 1436, with the proviso that she should not remarry without royal permission. This was a sensible precaution; a widow wth her lands was almost certain to be the target of another wealthy magnate who might significantly enlarge his wealth and power.

Her time during this period, between the duke's death in September 1435 and her secret marriage to Sir Richard Woodville before 23 March 1437, was almost certainly occupied with securing her estates. It is recorded that she sold some woods on the Harcourt estate and ordered the repair of mills at La Rivière Thibouville. There were also estates in England to attend to.

At some time in 1436 she began an affair with Sir Richard Woodville. He was the son of the duke's chamberlain, Richard Woodville, and was himself connected to the service of the duke. They probably knew each other before the duke's death, although there is no suggestion that there was any romance between them until 1436.

Against all expectation, and probably scandalously at the time, she secretly married Sir Richard leading to the rising influence of the Woodvilles in English politics for the next half century.