| Katherine Woodville | |
| Duchess of Buckingham Duchess of Bedford Countess of Pembroke | |
| Spouse: | Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford Sir Richard Wingfield |
| Issue: | Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex Henry Stafford, 1st Earl of Wiltshire Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon |
| Father: | Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers |
| Mother: | Jacquetta of Luxembourg |
| Noble Family: | Woodville |
| Birth Place: | Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire, Kingdom of England |
| Death Date: | 18 May |
Katherine Woodville (also spelled Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile[1]) (c. 1458[2] – 18 May 1497[3]) was the Duchess of Buckingham and a medieval English noblewoman.
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.
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. However, the couple had four children:
In 1483, Buckingham first allied himself to the Duke of Gloucester, helping him succeed to the throne as King Richard III, and then to Henry Tudor, leading an unsuccessful rebellion in his name. Buckingham was executed for treason on 2 November 1483.
After Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Katherine married the new king's uncle Jasper Tudor on 7 November 1485.[4]
After Jasper's death in December 1495, Katherine married – not later than 24 February 1496 – Sir Richard Wingfield, who outlived her.
Katherine is the main protagonist in Susan Higginbotham's 2010 historical novel The Stolen Crown. She is briefly mentioned in Philippa Gregory's historical novels The White Queen (2009), The Red Queen (2010), and The White Princess (2013).