English Ancestry of the Six Wives; descent from Edward I of England

The multiple descending lines from Edward I of England for the SIX wives of King Henry VIII:

The English descent of ALL SIX Queens consort's of Henry VIII

Yes, all six wives had English ancestry; some more than others. 

Would it surprise you to know that even Katherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves had Edward I in their pedigree? 

In fact, Katherine of Aragon descended from two wives of Prince John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, Titular King of Castile [the son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault]; Blanche of Lancaster AND Constanza of Castile, heir to the throne of Castile.

1. Katherine of Aragon - daughter of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile [2 times]

• By her mother, Isabella of Castile's paternal grandmother, Katherine of Lancaster, daughter of Prince John of Gaunt [son of Edward III] [and Constanza of Castile], she descended from Edward I and Eleanor of Castile.
  
• By Isabella of Castile's maternal great-grandmother, Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of Prince John of Gaunt [and Blanche of Lancaster], she descended from Edward I and Eleanor of Castile. [Hampton Court Pedigree shows this line from Edward I's son, Edward II, onwards]
  

     2.  Anne Boleyn - daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Howard [5 times]

• By both paternal great-great-grandparents, Sir James, 4th Earl of Ormonde and Joan Beauchamp; she descended from Edward and Eleanor's daughter Elizabeth of Rhuddlan.
  
• By her paternal great-grandmother, Anne Hankford, she descends from Elizabeth's elder sister, Joan of Acre.
  
• By her maternal [Howard] line she descended from Edward I and Eleanor; again by Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, by way of Lady Eleanor Fitzalan [wife of Sir Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk].
  
• By Sir Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, she descended from Edward I and Marguerite of France through their son, Thomas of Brotherton Plantagenet, Duke of Norfolk [Hampton Court Pedigree shows this line from Edward I's son, Thomas of Brotherton onwards]
  

     3.  Jane Seymour - daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth [twice]

• By her maternal great-grandmother, Hon. Margaret Clifford, whose father John Clifford, 7th Lord descended from Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile.
  
• By Margaret Clifford's mother, whose mother descended from Edward III of England by his second son, Lionel of Antwerp. [Hampton Court Pedigree shows this line from Edward I's son, Edward II, onward]

     4.  Anne of Cleves - daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves and Marie von Julich [twice]

• By both great-grandparents, Johan I of Cleves and Elizabeth of Nevers; who were great-grandchildren of Marguerite of Dampierre, suo jure Countess of Flanders. Marguerite was the great-granddaughter of Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant; daughter of Edward I and Eleanor. [Hampton Court Pedigree shows the lineage of Johan I of Cleves from Edward's daughter, Margaret of England]
  

     5.  Katherine Howard - daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Jocasa Culpepper [3 times]

• Like Anne Boleyn, by her paternal line [Howard] she descended from Edward I and Eleanor by, Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, by way of Lady Eleanor Fitzalan [wife of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk].
  
• By Sir Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, she descended from Edward I and Marguerite of France through their son, Thomas of Brotherton Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Norfolk [Hampton Court Pedigree shows this line from Edward I's son, Thomas of Brotherton onwards]
• By her maternal great-great-grandfather, Sir William Ferrers, 5th Baron Groby, she descends from Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor.

     6.  Katherine Parr - daughter of Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal and Maud Greene [6 times]

• By her paternal great-great-grandfather, Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury; she descends from Edward I and Eleanor by their son Edward II of England. [Hampton Court Pedigree comes from this line coming from Edward I's son, Edward II onwards]
  
• By her paternal great-great-grandmother, Alice Montacute, suo jure Countess of Salisbury [wife of Sir Richard], by Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor; and Edmund of Woodstock, son of Edward I and Marguerite of France.
• By her maternal great-great-grandfather, Sir Thomas Greene, Sheriff of Northamptonshire she descended from Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor. His wife, Lady Philippa de Ferrers also descended from Elizabeth's elder sister, Princess Joan of Acre, TWICE.
  

For more on their pedigrees, featuring the windows from Hampton Court Palace -- see also -- 

The Hampton Court Pedigrees

The more distinguished ancestry of Catherine [Katherine] Parr

Sir Thomas Parr was of a more distinguished ancestry than either Sir Thomas Boleyn (father of Queen Anne Boleyn) or Sir John Seymour (Queen Jane Seymour). From the marriage of his Norman progenitor Ivo Taillebois with Lucy of Bolingbroke came the Barony of Kendal. Ivo de Tallebois was the first Baron of Kendal and maintained the state of a petty sovereign in the north. His male line is thought to have failed with William de Lancaster II, the seventh in descent. Therefore the honour and estates of that mighty family passed to his sole heiress, Helwise of Lancaster who married Gilbert FitzRichard. Their granddaughter, Margaret, by Helwise de Lancaster and Peter le Brus (kin to Robert de Brus, King of Scotland) married the younger son of Robert, Lord Roos of Hamlake and Werks by Isabella, the illegitimate daughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland and his mistress, the daughter of Richard Avenel. Their grandson, Sir Thomas de Roos married Katharine, the daughter of Sir Thomas Strickland of Sizergh Castle in Westmorland, now Cumbria. The fruit of this union was an only daughter Elizabeth who brought Kendal Castle and a rich inheritance into queen Katharine's paternal house by Elizabeth's marriage with Sir William Parr. Sir William Parr, the grandson of this pair, was made knight of the Garter and married Lady Elizabeth, one of the co-heiresses of the Lord Fitzhugh, by Lady Alice Neville, daughter of Sir Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland and Lady Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmorland, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Roet. Alice Neville was a niece to King Henry VIII's great-grandmother Cicely Neville, Duchess of York and through this connection, Catharine Parr was Henry's maternal third cousin, once removed and by his father's descent from John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset a fourth cousin, once removed.

The Parr's were also descended from King John of England.

Courtesy of jmc4 - Church Explore

By her mother's side, the Greene's of Greens Norton, she directly descended from King Fergus of Galloway and many nobles and Kings of England which included Henry I of England, Edward I of England, and Henry II of England through her connections with the Ferrers of Groby, Talbot, Despencer, FitzAlan, De Clare, and other noble families. They were also cousins to Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort to Edward IV.

Source:
*Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham, Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families. Genealogical Publishing Com, 2005. pg 701.

© Meg McGath

18 May 2011