Katherine Woodville (also spelt Catherine Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile) (c. 1458 – 18 May 1497) was the Duchess of Buckingham and a medieval English noblewoman.
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Early life
Katherine was the daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. When her sister Elizabeth married Edward IV of England, the King elevated and promoted many members of the Woodville family. Elizabeth Woodville's household records for 1466/67 indicate that Katherine was being raised in the queen's household.
First marriage
Sometime before the coronation of Elizabeth in May 1465, Katherine was married to Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham; both were still children. A contemporary description of Elizabeth Woodville's coronation relates that Katherine and her husband were carried on squires' shoulders due to their youth. According to Dominic Mancini, Buckingham resented his marriage to a woman of inferior birth; though Katherine's sister Elizabeth had married the King of England. However, the couple had four children: