Lady Eleanor Neville

Eleanor Neville, born circa 1398, was the second daughter of Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, and his second wife, Joan Beaufort, who was the daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and Katherine Swynford. Eleanor’s noble lineage placed her within the influential circles of English nobility during the late medieval period.

Her first marriage was to Richard le Despenser, 4th Baron Burghersh, who was a grandson of John of Gaunt’s younger brother, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York. This marriage ended without issue upon Richard’s early death. She later married Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, with whom she had ten children. Henry Percy was killed at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, an event marking the beginning of the Wars of the Roses.