Francis Lovell, 1st Viscount Lovell

Francis Lovell, 9th Baron Lovell, 6th Baron Holand, later 1st Viscount Lovell KG (1456 – after 1488) was an English nobleman who was an ally of King Richard III of England. Sir William Catesby, Sir Richard Ratcliffe and he were Richard's closest supporters, famously called "the Cat, the Rat and Lovell our dog" in an anti-Ricardian squib. In addition to being an ally, Lovell was Richard's best friend.

A Yorkist loyalist, Lovell continued the Yorkist resistance into the early years of Henry VII's reign, but his fate is unknown after he disappeared following the final defeat of the Yorkists at the Battle of Stoke Field (1487).

Francis was the son of John Lovell, 8th Baron Lovell and Joan Beaumont, daughter of John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont. When his father died, the either seven- or nine-year-old Francis inherited the titles of Baron Lovell and Baron Holand. He became a ward of Edward IV of England, who gave him into the charge of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, where Edward's youngest brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester also spent some time. It was there that the two young men first formed their close association.

By 1466, he was married to Anne FitzHugh, daughter of Henry FitzHugh, 5th Baron FitzHugh. FitzHugh had married the Earl of Warwick's sister Alice Neville and supported Warwick's rebellion against Edward IV in 1470. As the pardon issued to Henry, Lord FitzHugh includes Francis Lovell it can be assumed that Francis lived with his father-in-law at this time. When Edward IV had re-established his rule in 1471, he granted the wardship of Francis Lovell, who was still underage, to his sister Elizabeth and her husband John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk.

...
Wikipedia