Antigone Plantagenet

Antigone Plantagenet was born about 1425 as the illegitimate daughter of Humphrey Plantagent, Duke of Gloucester (1390-1447), the younger brother of King Henry IV of England. The mother of Antigone is a mystery; she is sometimes listed as Eleanor Cobham (1400-52) who was his mistress at the time and later his wife, however her mother is also known simply as 'an unidentified Frenchwoman'. If her mother had been Eleanor Cobham, it would have been likely that after her parent's marriage she would have been legitimized.

Humphrey and Eleanor of Gloucester

Antigone was married to Henry Grey, Earl of Tankerville and Powys (1419-50) with whom she had three children; Richard (1436-66), Humphrey and Elizabeth (1440-1501).
After her husband died in 1450, leaving Antigone a widow at only 25 years old, she soon married again. However, her second husband was not a nobleman or landed gentry which would be expected of her as a member of the royal family. With both her husband and father dead, Antigone left England for France where she married Jean D'Amancy in 1451; he was the Esquire of the Horse for Charles VII of France. "An alliance utterly alien to her dead father's policy"(Beaucourt). The marriage occurred before June of that year as the King of France issued papers legitimising Antigone and declaring her already married for a second time. On the 9th November 1452 the King of France granted the castle of Rumilly-sous-Cornillon to Jean and his descendants, who held it until 1518. Jean D'Amancy died in 1459. It is unknown when Antigone died.

Chateau Rumilly-sous-Cornillon