Katherine Stourton, Baroness Grey of Codnor

Katherine Stourton, Baroness Grey of Codnor (c. 1455 - 1521) was an English noblewoman. Her life reflects the turbulence of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries: her first husband was attainted for treason, and her third husband holds the record for the longest period of imprisonment in the Tower of London.

She was the daughter of William Stourton, 2nd Baron Stourton and Margaret Chidiock, daughter of Sir John Chidiock. Her father, although not he was not a leading political figure, enjoyed the confidence of Edward IV: in 1469 he sat on the commission of oyer and terminer which condemned Thomas Hungerford of Rowden and Henry Coutenay to death for treason.

About 1475 Katherine married Sir William Berkeley, son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Beverstone Castle, Gloucestershire; at about the same time her brother John married William's sister, another Katherine. William became a political figure of some importance at the court of Edward IV: he was constable of Southampton and Winchester, organised the entertainment of the King's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy on her visit to England in 1480, and played a considerable role at Edward IV's funeral.

Ross suggests that it was loyalty to Edward's children that led Berkeley, like other members of the royal household, to oppose Richard III. He was one of the leaders of Buckingham's revolt in October 1483. After the failure of the revolt, Berkeley, unlike many of the rebels, did not immediately flee the country, having some hope of a pardon. The Parliament of 1484 attainted him as a traitor, but in March he was pardoned, Katherine's brother John standing surety for his good behaviour. Soon after he abandoned the Yorkist cause for good and joined the future Henry VII in Brittany. After Henry's victory at the Battle of Bosworth the Berkeley lands were restored, and several court offices promised to William; but he was probably already a sick man (he made a codicil to his will in September 1485), and seems to have died early in 1486. He and Katherine had no children.

Before 1492 Katherine remarried as his third wife Henry Grey, 4th (7th) Baron Grey of Codnor. Henry, who was at least twenty years older than Katherine, was one of the principal magnates in Derby; despite a record of fomenting riot, which brought him before the Star Chamber, he enjoyed the trust of successive Kings, and was Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1478-79. Although the marriage was childless, it seems to have been happy and on his death in 1496 Grey provided generously for Katherine in his will.

Within a year of Grey's death Katherine made her third and most illustrious marriage, into the House of York: her husband was William de la Pole, a younger son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth, sister of Edward IV. Since William was more than 20 years younger than Katherine his motives for marrying were presumably largely financial, although the families had long been close, and William's sister married Katherine's brother William.

Henry VII did not have his son's ruthless determination to eliminate all the surviving Yorkist claimants, but he was deeply suspicious of the de la Poles, and not without good reason since William's eldest brother John had been killed at the Battle of Stoke Field, fighting for the pretender Lambert Simnel. In 1501 two of William's brothers Edmund and Richard de la Pole fled the country, after being accused, probably with good cause, of conspiracy. The fact that William did not flee with them might be seen as evidence of his innocence, but Henry was clearly taking no chances: William was arrested and spent the rest of his life in the Tower of London, dying there in 1539. Katherine died in London in November 1521.