SIR THOMAS GREY
Thomas Grey, Lady Anne Neville, their son and retainers at their castle of Middleham.
Secondary titles: Earl of Salisbury (jure uxoris), Baron Ferrers of Groby, Lord Grey, Baron Monthermer (jure uxoris), Lord of Glamorgan (jure uxoris), Baron Astley.
Born 1453 (28)
Status: Married, to Lady Anne Neville, suo jure countess of Salisbury (1456).
Children: Edward Grey, Lord Montagu (born 1469), Elizabeth Grey (born 1473), Anne Grey (born 1483).
Traits and temperaments:
+1 Charisma.
+2 Wealth.
+1 Battles.
+2 Survival.
Supine:
- Amiable: This character is a pleasant person who tries very hard to get along with everyone s/he meets. Indeed, perhaps too hard, at that...they also tend to excessively seek validation from others, and at worst can be described as clingy ticks. +1 Charisma, -1 to duel rolls.
- Idealistic: This person is a strong believer in higher ideals and the innate goodness of man. On the one hand they tend to be inspiring and uplifting figures, on the other they can be taken advantage of by those who live well beneath their expectations. +1 Charisma, -1 to rout/assassination/escape rolls.
Melancholic:
- Meticulous: This character loves to analyze situations down to the last minutiae before acting. On one hand this means they'll probably have a clear picture going in, on the other their decision-making abilities could easily become paralyzed as they spend too much time analyzing and not enough acting. +1 detection rolls, -5% movement speed.
Biography:
The firstborn son of Elizabeth Woodville and her first husband, a Lancastrian knight, Sir John Grey. After fathering two sons from that marriage, Lady Elizabeth found herself a widow of little matter and meager resources. Surprisingly, she ended marrying in secret Edward of March, who later became King of England after the crushing defeat inflicted upon Lancaster in battle. However, Elizabeth was reduced to the status of royal mistress, for Edward had oddly married Margaret Percy. Time judged Elizabeth the victor, and after an one-sided trial, Woodville was declared the sole and rightful Queen of England, providing her husband with an ample offspring in the next years, including three sons: Edward, Richard and Edmund.
With Woodville’s newfound status as Queen honors were showered upon the young Thomas Grey, who was firstly raised to the peerage as Earl of Winchester and secondly got the hand in marriage of Lady Anne Neville, co-heiress of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury, head of the Nevill junior line. In his youth, the earl, later a marquis, was a foil for her mother’s ambitions, like all her extended family, being used as a tool to extend Elizabeth’s influence. She managed to wrestle Salisbury and several other lands that once belonged to Warwick from the Marquis of Montagu, whom she disgraced. Since, Grey has styled himself as Earl of Salisbury, first and foremost, considering the importance of the said title in the peerage, created long ago for William Montagu, Old King Edward’s closest companion. In those years Thomas was apparently close enough to his guardian, the King, for his firstborn was called Edward on his honor.
Thomas was almost unrecognizable to his mother the Queen at his return. During his absence, Elizabeth had spent dreamless nights in prayer, having erected several almshouses to thank God for her son’s recovery, one of which was built in Grafton Regis itself. Thomas, now an important part of Edward’s court, spent the few remaining years of his step-father’s reign consolidating his status and his influence, mostly thanks to the immense demesne of Lady Anne Neville. The apparently insignificant Anne, however, wasn’t a foreign to political ambition, and despite her tender appearance was as prideful and diligent in fulfilling her goals as her husband. Still, Anne has the gentlest soul in the kingdom, being fond of discussing theological matters, praying and engaging in charity, like a devout Christian. The marriage between Grey and Neville is apparently peaceful and harmonious, despite the rumors about Thomas’ lecherous behavior, including consorting with Jane Shore, long-time paramour and mistress of his own step-father.
In 1481, at the time of Edward IV’s death, he had inherited the barony Ferrers of Groby, after the death of his paternal grandmother, Lady Elizabeth Ferrers, whose husband had predeceased her in France. When she passed away, Grey was thus turned heir general of the long-extinguished tree of Quincy and Ferrers. The barony was just added to the already long list of titles Grey holds, including the baronies of Astley and Monthermer, the earldoms of Salisbury and Winchester and the lordship of Glamorgan. With his and his wife’s lands combined, his royal relations and his own reputation, Salisbury probably is one of the most powerful and rich landlords in all England. Still, he is no-where close to the wealth that once Richard Neville enjoyed in life, but he nevertheless strives to become a worthy heir to his father-in-law. Thomas adopted both the badges and heraldry of the long-dead magnate: now the ragged staff and the muffled bear share ground with the unicorn of Grey. All his numerous titles have an apparently fine successor in Edward Grey, his firsborn son, who is nowadays styled Lord Montagu, traditional title of courtesy for the heirs to the venerable earldom of Salisbury. Some say that title is just another way to spit on his wife's uncle, the marquis of Montagu.
| Family tree Grey-Woodville | FAMILY TREE:
Richard Woodville, Earl Rivers (1405-1467), married Jacquetta of Luxembourg (1415):
-Elizabeth Woodville (1437), married Sir John Grey (1) and Edward IV (2):1) Thomas Grey, Marquess of Winchester, Earl of Salisbury, Lord of Glamorgan, Baron Monthermer, Baron Astley (1453). Married Lady Anne Neville (1456): Edward Grey (1469), betrothed to Joan FitzAlan (1472).
Eleanor Grey (1471-1473).
Elizabeth Grey (1473).
Anne Grey (1483). 1) Richard Grey (1457), married Lady Cecily Bonville, Baroness Harington and Baroness Bonville (1460). Anthony Grey (1481).
Cecily Grey (1481). 2) Elizabeth of York (1465).
2) Edward of Grafton, Prince of Wales, Duke of Grafton, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, Earl of March (1467).
2) Richard of Westminster, Duke of York (1470).
2) Bridget of York (1472).
2) Edmund of York, Earl of Rutland (1473). -Lewis Woodwille, died in childhood.
-Anne Woodville (1439-1481). Married Roger Kyriell, Earl of Monmouth (1443):Elizabeth Kyriell (1470).
Cecily Kyriell (1472).
Catherine Kyriell (1473).
Gwyn Kyriell (1475).
Richard Kyriell (1476). -Anthony Woodville, 1st Duke of Bedford, 2nd Earl Rivers (1440), married Elizabeth Courtenay (1449).Anne Woodville (1472).
Anthony Woodville (1473).
Lionel Woodville (1474), married Isabel Bourchier, baroness Scales (1471).
Jacquetta Woodville (1478).
Humphrey Woodville (1481). -Mary Woodville (1443), married Sir Thomas Bourchier, 1st Baron Conington (1442).Richard Bourchier (1471-73).
Edward Bourchier (1473). -Jacquetta Woodville (1444), married Sir Edward Courtenay (1447).
-John Woodville (1445-1477), married Katherine Neville, duchess dowager of Norfolk (1400).
-Lionel Woodville (1447), bishop of Salisbury.
-Martha Woodville (1449), married Sir Laurence Grey, 1st Earl of Kent, baron Grey de Ruthyn.Francis Grey (1481). -Eleanor Woodville (1452), married Sir Thomas Stanley, Earl of Wiltshire, Lord of Mann, Baron Stanley (1437).Edmund Stanley (1471).
Jacquetta Stanley (1472). -Richard Woodville (1453), married to Elizabeth Grey (c.1465).
-Edward Woodville (1454).
-Margaret Woodville (1454-1478), married Sir Thomas Howard (1443).Thomas Howard (1472-1473).
Robert Howard (1474).
Charles Howard (1477). -Catherine Woodville (1457), married Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1454).Henry Stafford (1475).
Anne Stafford (1481) |
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Grey Estates
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