Eleanor Neville, Countess of Northumberland
Eleanor Neville was the second daughter of Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, by his second wife, Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, and Katherine Swynford. Her second husband and four of her sons were all killed in battles during the Wars of the Roses.
Marriage and children
Eleanor married firstly her second cousin Richard le Despenser, 4th Baron Burghersh, a grandson of John of Gaunt's younger brother Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York. He died aged 17, on 7 October 1414 and was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey.After her first husband's early death without issue, Eleanor married secondly Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. He was killed at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455.
Eleanor and Henry had ten children:
- John Percy.
- Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland.
- Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont.
- Lady Katherine Percy. She married Edmund Grey, 1st Earl of Kent.
- George Percy.
- Sir Ralph Percy.
- Sir Richard Percy.
- William Percy, Bishop of Carlisle.
- Joan Percy.
- Anne Percy. She was the second wife of William Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel.