When Sir Richard Woodville secretly wed Jacquetta the dowager Duchess of Bedford in 1437 tongues clucked and eyebrows were raised at the audacity of the young couple. In an age where there were strict rules governing such things as a marriage involving a member of the royal family, the actions of Richard and Jacquetta predictably caused a stir. However what we have here is just another example, and they are numerous in history, of young people in love thumbing their noses at convention. We can only admire the pluckiness of Jacquetta, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg Count of St Pol, who willingly gave up her good reputation, not to mention all the financial and material incentives associated with her lofty position, in order to be with the man that she loved. Their actions resulted in a hefty fine of 1000 pounds because Jacquetta had received her dower on the condition that she not remarry without royal permission. The fine was paid by the wealthy Cardinal Beaufort in exchange for some of Jacquetta's country manors. Their disgrace was short-lived as they were pardoned later that same year and by 1448 Sir Richard was raised to the peerage as Baron Rivers.

It was into this setting that Elizabeth Woodville was born sometime in 1437. It seems astonishing that we don't know the exact date of her birth. One would think that after she became Queen that someone somewhere would have made a notation of any festivities held in honor of her birthday. Over the years there were many other blossoms in the garden of Richard and Jacquetta Woodville. Modern sources are sketchy at the best concerning the years in which Elizabeth's siblings were born. Two sources have been encountered that say the Woodvilles were parents of 16 children. Of those 16 children we can definitely say that 10 of them survived to adulthood and were part of the social scene of late 15th century England. Those, including Elizabeth, would be Anne, Margaret, Anthony, Mary, Jacquetta, John, Lionel, Edward and Katherine. Details of the remaining 6 are very sketchy, some of them having died in infancy. Their names have been given as Richard, another John, Lewis, Martha, Eleanor (sometimes referred to as Joan) and the last sibling is a prime example of the modern historians frustration with such things. One source gives the name as Thomas while another gives the name of Cecily. Confusion over the year in which someone was born is understandable but confusion over the sex of the child is quite another story. Regardless, in an age when infant mortality was high, the Woodvilles produced a big brood of healthy children. Later as Queen, Elizabeth may have looked upon her large family as a mixed blessing. On the one hand her parents fertility made it possible for her family to extend their power and influence through lucrative marriages and appointments to positions of power. On the other hand the large family only served up to intensify opposition among other, older aristocratic families who were jealous of their numerous acquisitions.

Elizabeth was the most famous of the Woodvilles as she married Edward IV. There are stories of how she and her mother Jacquetta used witchcraft to snare an unsuspecting King Edward. While these stories are untrue they do lend an amusing atmosphere to the legend of their courtship. Just like her mother's marriage Elizabeth's marriage was a love match. The only difference was that she was marrying a King and she did not need anyone's permission nor did she have to fear censure nor monetary fine. For Edward IV the marriage did two things. First he was not only able to wed the woman he loved but a real flesh and blood woman and not some falsely flattering portrait or exagerated description of some unknown foreign princess. His motives may have been questionable by the standards of the day since he did forfeit lucrative diplomatic and commercial gains by marrying Elizabeth. It is clear however that he would never have married anyone on a whim or out of desperation for a physical consumation. Elizabeth may have "held out" but just long enough to make Edward aware of his true feelings. The second thing that the marriage did was help pull Edward out from under the yoke of the meddlesome Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. With this marriage Edward asserted himself as "lord of the manor". Even though Edward continued to show favor to Warwick and his family, the marriage which humiliated Warwick unquestionably planted the seed of discontent that later grew into rebellion.

Among the other Woodville siblings Anthony, Lord Scales, was the most notable. He was well known as a scholar and an early patron of Caxton. His translations of "The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers" and the "Moral Proverbs" of Christine de Pisan were the earliest products of Caxton's printing press in England. He also traveled extensively through Europe and made pilgrimages to Rome and Compostella. He was also known to have worn a hair-shirt beneath his clothes which was a reflection of his asceticism. Added to this is the fact that he also had a reputation for his knightly feat of arms. Edward IV thought well enough of him to make him governor of the Prince of Wales in 1473. He didn't receive this powerful appointment just because he was the brother of the Queen but because he was an extraordinary and talented individual who made the perfect role model for the young prince. Unfortunately his life was cut short in the events of 1483 when he was maliciously and unjustly murdered by Richard III.