The House of Yorks

On 25 February 1525, Richard was killed, fighting in the French army at

the Battle of Pavia. The Duke of Bourbon was one of the chief mourners at

his funeral.

Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, 1446–1503

Born at Fotheringhay, Margaret, the third daughter of Richard, Duke of

York, and Cicely Neville, was an intelligent, charming, and accomplished

woman. Prior to the announcement of Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth

Woodville, she had acted as the first lady of the court.

A prestigious marriage was arranged for her to Charles the Bold, Duke of

Burgundy, who was many years her senior. She had no children by him and

survived him by many years. After Charles’ death, Margaret maintained a

close friendship with her Charles’ only daughter Mary. The respect in which

she was held in her adopted country enabled her to play an active

supporting role for the Yorkist cause on many occasions. After the death of

her brother Richard III, she continued her efforts, backing both Lambert

Simnel and later Perkin Warbeck. She died at Malines and is buried in the

church of Cordйliers.

The arms of Burgundy, shown impaling France modern and England quarterly

on her arms were: Quarterly, first and fourth, azure, three fleurs de lys

or within a bordure gobony argent and gules; second, per pale, Bendy of six

or and azure within a bordure gules and sable, a lion rampant or; third,

per pale, Bendy of six or and azure, within a bordure gules and argent, a

lion rampant gules crowned or; over all an inescutcheon, or, a lion rampant

sable.

George of York, Duke of Clarence, 1449–1478

Born in Dublin, George was the sixth son of Richard, Duke of York, and

Cicely Neville. He was created Duke of Clarence in the first year of Edward

IV’sreign. Until Elizabeth Woodville finally bore Edward a son in 1470,

Clarence was the heir presumptive ,and it was soon clear to the Earl of

Warwick that he was discontented and ambitious. On 11 July 1469, George

married Isobel Neville, Warwick’s elder daughter, against the wishes of his

brother, cementing an alliance against the king. When Warwick reconciled

with Margaret of Anjou, however, and his younger daughter, Anne, was

betrothed to the Lancastrian heir, George realized that he was not to be

made king in Edward’s place. At the last minute, he returned to the Yorkist

fold and was reconciled with Edward and his younger brother Richard. After

Warwick’s death at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, George laid claim to his

vast estates, and although eventually forced to share them when Richard of

Gloucester married the now-widowed Anne Neville, he remained a rich and

powerful prince. He continued to flout Edward’s authority, however, and was

put in the Tower. In 1478 a Bill of Attainder passed the death sentence on

Clarence and he died in the Tower, the exact manner of his death being

unknown. Clarence and Isobel had four children, of whom two, Margaret and

Edward, survived.

Clarence’s arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, over all a

label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; his crest

was On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned

or, charged on the breast with a label as in the arms; his badges were A

bull passant sable armed unguled and membered or, gorged with a label of

three points argent each charged with a canton gules, and A silver gorget

of chain, edged and clasped with gold and lined with red.

Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, 1473–1541

Margaret was the eldest child of George, Duke of Clarence and Isobel

Neville, she married Sir Richard Pole, K.G. in 1491. They had four sons and

a daughter. During the fifth year of the reign of Henry VIII, Margaret, as

heiress to the titles of Warwick and Salisbury, petitioned the king and was

restored to the title of Countess of Salisbury. She was appointed governess

to the Princess Mary and remained in favor until Anne Boleyn became the

Queen. Her loyalty to Princess Mary caused her to be dismissed from court.

After the downfall of Anne Boleyn, Margaret returned to court. She did

not remain in favor for long. Because of the letter her son, Cardinal

Reginal Pole, wrote to the King, and of the betrayal of her son Geoffrey,

the Countess was arrested and put into the Tower in March 1539. She was

kept in the Tower under close confinement for two years and was executed

without trial. She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1886.

Her arms were: Quarterly, first, Quarterly, France modern and England, a

label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; second,

gules, a saltire argent, a label of three points gobony argent and azure

impaling Gules, a fess between six crosses crosslet or; third, Chequy or

and azure, a chevron ermine impaling Argent, three lozenges conjoined in

fess gules; fourth, Or, an eagle displayed vert impaling Quarterly, I and

IV, Or, three chevrons gules; II and III, Quarterly, Argent, and gules, a

fret or, overall a bendlet sable.

Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, 1492–1539

The eldest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was knighted by Henry VIII in

1513 during Henry’s French campaign. He was a ember of the royal household

and was allowed his own livery. In 1520, he attended Henry VIII at the

Field of the Cloth of Gold. He was one of the peers who convicted Anne

Boleyn.

As a Roman Catholic, Pole did not approve of Henry’s destroying Church

property and the anti-Catholic feeling in England. Henry was fully of

Montagu’s feelings, and through his betrayal of his brother Geoffrey Pole,

the king now had the evidence he needed to have Montagu arrested in put

into the Tower. Pole was tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers. He

went to the block on December 9 1539.

He married Jane, daughter of George Neville, Lord Bergavenny, in 1513.

They had three children. His only son may have been attainted with his

father and died in the Tower.

Geoffrey Pole, 1502?-1558

The second son of Margaret Plantagenet, little is known of his early

life. In 1529, he was knighted by Henry VIII at York Place. A devout Roman

Catholic, he greatly disapproved of Henry VIII’s divorce proceedings from

Katherine of Aragon. Although he was appointeed one of the servitors at

Anne Boleyn’s coronation, his loyalties were with Princess Mary and the

former Queen Katherine. He then visited the imprial ambassador Chapuys and

assured him that if the Holy Roman Emperor were to invade England to

redress the wrong that had been done to Queen Katherine, that the English

people would favor him.

Unfortunately, his words reached the ears of the king and he was arrested

and sent to the Tower on August 1538. He was persuaded to talk and he

revelaed the names of secret Papists at court, including his own brother,

Henry Lord Montagu. Geoffrey was pardoned as a result of his betrayal and

the others he mention, including his brother, were executed.

Having felt guilty at betraying his brother and friends, Geoffrey tried

to commit suicide while he was in the Tower. In 1540, he left his family

behind and fled to Europe, where he remained until the reign of Queen Mary.

He returned to England and died in 1558.

He married Constance, the elder of two daughter and heirs of Sir John

Pakenham. They had five sons and six daughters.

Arthur Pole, 1502-1535

Third son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was sentenced to death in the reign

of Elizabeth I, being implicated in a plot to release Mary, Queen of Scots.

Because of his royal blood, the Queen spared him from execution but not

imprisonment.

In 1526, he married Jane Lewknor. It is not known if there were any

children from this marriage.

Reginald Pole, 1500-1558

The youngest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he graduated from Magdelan

College, Oxford. He was sent to Italy to complete his education and lived

there for five years. Reginald was another Pole family member who did not

approve of Henry’s divorce from Queen katherine. The King was well aware of

this and several times tried to get Pole on his side. At the urging of the

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Pole wrote Henry a letter, in which he

attacked Henry’s policy of royal supremacy and defended the spiritual

authority of the Pope. It was at this time that he was created a cardinal

by Pope Paul III. Henry then put a price on the new cardinal’s head and

arrested and executed many members of the pole family, including his mother

and his oldest brother Henry Lord Montagu.

When Henry’s daughter Mary became Queen, he was commission as a papal

Legate. He landed in England in 1554 and began to reorganize the country

back into the Church of Rome. Two years later he was ordained as a priest

and the following year became the Archbishop of Canterbury.

For the next two years, Cardinal Pole help Queen Mary with her

persecution of English Protestants. Disapproving of Pole’s methods, Pope

Paul IV cancelled his legatine authority and denounced him as a heretic.

Shortly afterwards, he fell ill and died twelve hours after Queen Mary on

November 17 1558.

Ursula Pole, ? -1570

Ursula was the only daughter of Margaret Plantagenet. In 1518, she

married Henry Stafford, first Baron Stafford. Very little is known of her.

It is believed that she had at least thrteen children before her death in

1570.

Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, 1474–1499

The son of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isobel Neville, he may have

suffered from some form of mental impairment. He lived in the royal

apartments in the Tower under the reign of his uncle Richard III. Henry VII

kept him in the Tower, but as a prisoner. When Perkin Warbeck was

imprisoned in the Tower, the two attempted to escape (possibly at the

instigation of Henry’s agents) and both were executed in 1499.

Edward IV, King of England, 1442–1483

By the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland

The eldest son of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville, Edward was

born in Rouen, France, on April 28, 1442. He was educated at Ludlow Castle,

along with his younger brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland. He inherited the

title of Earl of March. Edward. was raising forces in the Welsh borders for

the Yorkist cause when his father and younger brother Edmund were killed at

the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. Acting speedily and decisively, Edward

routed the Lancastrians at the battles of Mortimer’s Cross and Towton, and

claimed the throne. Henry VI was then acclaimed a usurper and a traitor.

Edward was crowned in June 1461. He was an extremely popular ruler,

although well-known for his licentious behaviour. During his reign,

printing and silk manufacturing were introduced into England.

Edward’s secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, a widow of a Lancastrian

knight, angeed the old nobility and alienated his cousin Richard Neville,

Earl of Warwick (also known as "The Kingmaker"), who had previously been a

major power during the early days of Edward’s reign. In 1469, Edward was

deposed by Warwick, and was drien out of England and to Burgundy. Warwick

reinstated Henry VI. Two years later, backed by his brother-in-law, Charles

("The Bold"), Duke of Burgundy, returned to England with a large army and

defeated the Lancastrians at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.

The remaining years of his reign were, for the most part, peaceful. There

was, however, a short war with France in 1475, after which Louis XI agreed

to pay Edward a yearly subsidy. Edward died on April 8 1483 and was buried

at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.

As King, Edward’s arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, and

his crest On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant

crowned or. As badges, he used the white rose of York, the sun in

splendour, and the white rose en soliel, as well as the lion, the bull and

the hart, the falcon and fetterlock of the dukes of York, and a white rose

incorporating red petals, a forerunner of the Tudor rose.

Elizabeth Woodville, 1437–1492, Queen of England

Elizabeth was the eldest child of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of

Luxembourg. She was maid of honor to Margaret of Anjou. She was married to

Sir John Grey of Groby, who was killed in battle in 1461, leaving her with

two small sons. Elizabeth married Edward IV secretly in April 1464 and was

crowned Queen in May 1465. She was also a patroness of Queens’ College,

Cambridge and gave the College its first Statues in 1475. Her ten brothers

and sisters, who were as avaricious and unpopular as herself, were raised

to high rank by the king. Elizabeth and Edward had three sons and seven

daughters.

Following her husband’s death in 1483, their marriage was declared

invalid by Parliament and their children illegitimate. In 1485, however,

Elizabeth’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, married Henry VII and

became Queen of England. Elizabeth Woodville was subsequently banished to

Bermondsey Abbey, where she died in 1492.

Elizabeth Woodville’s seal displayed a shield of her husband’s arms

impaling her own, which were Quartlerly, first argent, a lion rampant

double queued gules, crowned or (Luxemburg, her mother’s family), second

quarterly, I and IV, gules a star if eight points argent; II and III,

azure, semйe of fleurs de lys or; third, barry argent and azure, overall a

lion rampant gules; fourth, gules, three bendlets argent, on a chief of the

first, charged with a fillet in base or, a rose of the second; fifth, three

pallets vairy, on a chief or a label of five points azure, and sixth, a

fess and a canton conjoined gules (Woodville).

Children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville

Elizabeth of York, 1466–1503, Queen of England

Born 11 February, 1466 at Westminster Palace, Elizabeth was the first

born child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was betrothed to

George Neville, Duke of Bedford, and then engaged to the Charles, the

Dauphin of France (later Charles VIII). Elizabeth married Henry Tudor in

1486 and became Queen of England, thus uniting the Houses of York and

Lancaster. As. Queen, she was completely dominated by Henry VII and his

mother Margaret Beaufort.

She bore Henry eight children: (1) Arthur, Prince of Wales, b. 1486; (2)

Margaret (later Queen of Scotland) b. 1489; (3) Henry (later Henry VII) b.

1491; (4) Elizabeth b.1492; (5) Mary (later Queen of France and Duchess of

Suffolk) b. 1496; (6) Edmund (died young) 1499; (7) Edward (died young);

and (8) Katherine (died young) b. 1503. Elizabeth died in childbirth in on

her birthday in 1503, at the age of 37 years. She is buried beside her

husband in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

Mary of York, 1467-1482

Mary was the second daughter, born 11 August, 1467 at Windsor Castle. She

was promised in marriage to the King of Denmark, but died in 1482 before

the marriage could take place. She is buried in St. George’s Chapel,

Windsor.

Cicely of York, 1469–1507, Viscountess Welles

Cicely was born on 20 March 1469 at Westminster Palace. She was

originally promised in a marriage treaty to the heir of James III of

Scotland but instead married John, Lord Welles, by whom she had two

daughters Elizabeth and Anne, both of whom died without issue. By her

second marriage, to Thomas Kyme of Isle of Wight, she had Richard and

Margaret. She died at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight on 24 August 1507.

Edward V, 1470–?

The eldest son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, Edward was born in

sanctuary at Westminster on 4 November 1470. He was created Prince of

Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, March and Pembroke. As Prince of

wales, Edward was educated at Ludlow Castle by his uncle Anthony, Earl

Rivers.

Following his father’s death, he was brought to London to be crowned.

Parliament, however, declared him to be illegitimate and Richard of

Gloucester became king. Edward and his brother Richard lived in the Tower

of London during the summer of 1483. Their fate is unknown.

Edward’s arms as king were: Quarterly, France modern and England, and his

crest on his Great Seal; on a chapeau gules turned up ermine encircled by a

royal coronet, a lion statant guardant crowned or.

Margaret of York, b. and d. 1472

This child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville (not to be confused with

her aunt of the same name) was born 10 April 1472 at Windsor Castle and

died on 11 December of the same year. She is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Richard, Duke of York, 1473–?

Born at Shrewsbury, the second son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville,

Richard was created Duke of York in 1474. In 1478, at the age of four

years, Richard was married to six-year-old Anne Mowbray, who had inherited

the estates of her father John Lord Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk in 1475. They

married at St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster, but Anne Mowbray died while

still a child. When his brother, Edward V, was deposed, young Richard, who

had been in sanctuary with his mother, was taken by the Archbishop of

Canterbury to live with his brother in the Royal Apartments in the Tower of

London. Their fate remains a mystery, but many contemporary heads of state

including (in secret correspondance, but not publicly) the Spanish King and

Queen, believed the claimant Perkin Warbeck, executed by Henry VII, to be

Richard.

His arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, a label of three

points, argent on the first point a canton gules; his crest was On a

chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned or, gorged

with a label as in the arms, and his badge a falcon volant argent, membered

or, within a fetterlock unlocked gold.

George of York, Duke of Bedford, 1477-1479

The seventh child and third youngest son of Edward IV and Eizabeth

Woodville, he was created Duke of Bedford, but died very young. He is

buried at Windsor.

Anne of York, 1475-1510

Anne was married to Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk. She died in

1510 without surviving issue.

Catherine of York, 1479–1527

The sixth daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, Catherine

married William Courtenay, Earl of Devon, and had one child, Henry, who

succeeded his father as Earl. Despite being made Marquis of Exeter, Henry’s

Yorkist blood doomed him, and he was beheaded in 1538 for being implicated

in a plot with Cardinal Pole. Henry’s only son, Edward Courtenay, died

without issue, and the descendants of this family are from the younger

brother of an earlier generation.

The arms of Catherine were her husband’s arms impaling her own:

Quarterly, first and fourth, or, three torteaux; second and third, or a

lion rampant azure; impaling quarterly, first, quarterly, France modern and

England, second and third, de Burgh, and fourth Mortimer.

The arms of Henry Courtenay were: Quarterly, first, France and England

quarterly, within a bordure quarterly of England and France, second and

third, or, three torteaux; fourth, or a lion rampant azure,; and his crest,

out of a ducal coronet or, a plume of ostrich feathers four and three

argent.

Bridget of York, 1480-1513

The tenth and last child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, she became

a nun at Dartford and died in 1513.

Richard III 1452–1485

By the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland

Richard III was born on the 2 October, 1452 in Fotheringhay Castle during

the tumultuous period known as the Wars of the Roses. His personal motto of

Loyaulte Me Lie was a testament of his unswerving loyalty for his brother,

Edward IV.

In 1461, he was sent to Middleham Castle to begin his knightly training

under his cousin, Richard Neville, known as "The Kingmaker". In 1472, he

married the Lady Anne Neville and they retired to Middleham. As Lord of the

North, Richard spent the next twelve years bringing peace and order to an

otherwise troublesome area of England. Through his hard work and diligence,

he attracted the loyalty and trust of the northern gentry. His

fairmindedness and justice became his byword. He had a good working

reputation of the law, was an able administrator and was militarily

formidable. Under his leadership, he won a brilliant campaign against the

Scots that is diminished by our lack of understanding of the region in his

times.

He enjoyed a special relationship with the city of York and intervened on

its behalf on many occasions. Richard, known to be a pious man, was

instrumental in setting up no less than ten chantries and procured two

licenses to establish two colleges; one at Barnard Castle in County Durham

and the other at Middleham in Yorkshire. It is known that his favorite

castle was Middleham and he was especially generous to the church raising

it to the status of collegiate college. The statutes, written in English

rather than Latin, were drawn up under his supervision.

With the untimely death of his brother, Edward IV in 1483, he was

petitioned by the Lords and Commons of Parliament to accept the kingship of

England. During his brief reign, he passed the most enlightened laws on

record for the Fifteenth Century. He set up a council of advisors that

diplomatically included Lancastrian supporters, administered justice for

the poor as well as the rich, established a series of posting stations for

royal messengers between the North and London. He fostered the importation

of books, commanded laws be written in English instead of Latin so the

common people could understand their own laws. He outlawed benevolences,

started the system of bail and stopped the intimidation of juries. He re-

established the Council of the North in July of 1484 and it lasted for more

than a century and a half. He established the College of Arms that still

exists today. He donated money for the completion of St. George's Chapel at

Windsor and King's College in Cambridge. He modernized Barnard Castle,

built the great hall at Middleham and the great hall at Sudeley Castle. He

undertook extensive work at Windsor Castle and ordered the renovation of

apartments at one of the towers at Nottingham Castle.

In 1484, while Richard and Anne were at Nottingham, they received word

that their beloved son, Edward, who was at Middleham, died suddenly after a

brief illness. His wife, Anne, never recovered from the loss of her son and

died almost a year later. Her body was borne to Westminster Abbey and laid

to rest on the south side of St. Edward's Chapel. Richard wept openly at

her funeral and later shut himself off for three days.

In eighteen months, he lost brother, son and spouse. Throughout these

tragedies, he remained steadfast to his obligations. His reign showed great

promise, but amidst the intrigues and power struggles of his time, he found

himself on Bosworth Field. Richard III was 32 years old when he died at the

Battle of Bosworth and was the last English king to die in battle.

Arms as Duke of Gloucester: France and England modern, over all a 3-

pointed label ermine, on each point a conton gules.

Arms: Quarterly, France modern and England, and his crest on his Great

Seal; on a chapeau gules turned up ermine encircled by a royal coronet, a

lion statant guardant crowned or; special cognisant, a boar rampant argent,

armed and bristled or.

Anne Neville, Queen of England, 1456-1485

Anne Neville was born on 11 June 1456 at Warwick Castle, the younger

daughter of Richard Warwick ("The King Maker") and Anne Beauchamp, heiress

to the large Beauchamp estate. She spent her childhhod at warwick Castle

along with her older sister Isabel. In 1469, her father, no longer in favor

with Edward IV, fled to Calais, bringing his family with him. Shortly

afterwards, Warwick went over to the Lancastrians, and Anne was betrothed

to the Lancastrian Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. Her father and uuncle

John were killed at Barnet in April 1471. Edward of Lancaster died at

Tewkesbury a month later. She married Richard, Duke of Gloucester and they

spent most of their married life at Middleham Castle. They had only one

living child, Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1484, Prince Edward died. Anne

never recovered and died, probably of tuberculosis, in March 1485, just

five months before her husband Richard.

Her arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, impaling gules, a

saltire argent.

Edward, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester and Salisbury, 1473–1484

Edward was the only surviving child of Richard III and Queen Anne. He was

born at Middleham Castle, Yorkshire and was created Prince of Wales during

the first year of his father’s reign. Edward suddenly became ill with

abdominal pain in 1484 and quickly died, possibly of appendicitis. His

parents were distraught with grief and his death may have hastened Anne’s

decline.

Arms: Quarterly, France modern and England, a label of three points

argent.

John of Gloucester

John was Richard III’s illegitimate son. His mother is unknown. He was

also called John of Pomfret, his father appointed him Captain of Calais in

1485, calling him ‘our dear son’. After his father’s death, during the

reign of Henry VII, John was beheaded on the pretext of treasonable

activities in Ireland.

Lady Catherine Plantagenet

Katherine was the illegitimate daughter of Richard III. Her mother is

unknown. In 1484, Katherine was married to William Herbert, Earl of

Huntingdon. Richard settled property worth 1,000 marks a year on the

couple. Katherine died young without producing any living children.

Some concrete facts about kings which had come frjm The House of York

Edward IV (1461-70, 1471-83 AD)

[pic]Edward IV, son of Richard, Duke of York and Cicely Neville, was born

in 1442. He married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464, the widow of the

Lancastrian Sir John Grey, who bore him ten children. He also entertained

many mistresses and had at least one illegitimate son.

Edward came to the throne through the efforts of his father; as Henry VI

became increasingly less effective, Richard pressed the claim of the York

family but was killed before he could ascend the throne: Edward deposed his

cousin Henry after defeating the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross in 1461.

Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, Earl of Warwick proclaimed Henry king once

again in 1470, but less than a year elapsed when Edward reclaimed the crown

and had Henry executed in 1471.

The rest of his reign was fairly uneventful. He revived the English claim

to the French throne and invaded the weakened France, extorting a non-

aggression treaty from Louis XI in 1475 which amounted to a lump payment of

75,000 crowns, and an annuity of 20,000. Edward had his brother, George,

Duke of Clarendon, judicially murdered in 1478 on a charge of treason. His

marriage to Elizabeth Woodville vexed his councilors, and he allowed many

of the great nobles (such as his brother Richard) to build

uncharacteristically large power bases in the provinces in return for their

support.

Edward died suddenly in 1483, leaving behind two sons aged twelve and

nine, five daughters, and a troubled legacy.

Edward began his reign in 1461 and ruled for eight years before Henry's

brief return. His reign is marked by two distinct periods, the first in

which he was chiefly engaged in suppressing the opposition to his throne,

and the second in which he enjoyed a period of relative peace and security.

Both periods were marked also by his extreme licentiousness; it is said

that his sexual excesses were the cause of his death (it may have been

typhoid), but he was praised highly for his military skills and his

charming personality. When Edward married Elizabeth Woodville, a commoner

of great beauty, but regarded as an unfit bride for a king, even Warwick

turned against him. We can understand Warwick's switch to Margaret and to

Edward's young brother, the Duke of Clarence, when we learn that he had

hoped the king would marry one of his own daughters.

Clarence continued his activities against his brother during the second

phase of Edward's reign; his involvement in a plot to depose the king got

him banished to the Tower where he mysteriously died (drowned in his bath).

Edward had meanwhile set up a council with extensive judicial and military

powers to deal with Wales and to govern the Marches. His brother, the Duke

of Gloucester headed a council in the north. He levied few subsidies,

invested his own considerable fortune in improving trade; freed himself

from involvement in France by accepting a pension from the French King; and

all in all, remained a popular monarch. He left two sons, Edward and

Richard, in the protection of Richard of Gloucester, with the results that

have forever blackened their guardian's name in English history.

Edward V (1483 AD)

Edward V, eldest son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, was born in

1470. He ascended the throne upon his father's death in April 1483, but

reigned only two months before being deposed by his uncle, Richard, Duke of

Gloucester. The entire episode is still shrouded in mystery. The Duke had

Edward and his younger brother, Richard, imprisoned in the Tower and

declared illegitimate and named himself rightful heir to the crown. The two

young boys never emerged from the Tower, apparently murdered by, or at

least on the orders of, their Uncle Richard. During renovations to the

Tower in 1674, the skeletons of two children were found, possibly the

murdered boys.

Richard III (1483-85)

[pic]Richard III, the eleventh child of Richard, Duke of York, and Cecily

Neville, was born in 1452. He was created third Duke of Gloucester at the

coronation of his brother, Edward IV. Richard had three children: one each

of an illegitimate son and daughter, and one son by his first wife, Anne

Neville, widow of Henry IV's son Edward.

Richard's reign gained an importance out of proportion to its length. He

was the last of the Plantagenet dynasty, which had ruled England since

1154; he was the last English king to die on the battlefield; his death in

1485 is generally accepted between the medieval and modern ages in England;

and he is credited with the responsibility for several murders: Henry VI ,

Henry's son Edward, his brother Clarence, and his nephews Edward and

Richard.

Richard's power was immense, and upon the death of Edward IV , he

positioned himself to seize the throne from the young Edward V . He feared

a continuance of internal feuding should Edward V, under the influence of

his mother's Woodville relatives, remain on the throne (most of this feared

conflict would have undoubtedly come from Richard). The old nobility, also

fearful of a strengthened Woodville clan, assembled and declared the

succession of Edward V as illegal, due to weak evidence suggesting that

Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was bigamous, thereby rendering

his sons illegitimate and ineligible as heirs to the crown. Edward V and

his younger brother, Richard of York, were imprisoned in the Tower of

London, never to again emerge alive. Richard of Gloucester was crowned

Richard III on July 6, 1483.

Four months into his reign he crushed a rebellion led by his former

assistant Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, who sought the installation

of Henry Tudor , a diluted Lancaster, to the throne. The rebellion was

crushed, but Tudor gathered troops and attacked Richard's forces on August

22, 1485, at the battle of Bosworth Field. The last major battle of the

Wars of the Roses, Bosworth Field became the death place of Richard III.

Historians have been noticeably unkind to Richard, based on purely

circumstantial evidence; Shakespeare portrays him as a complete monster in

his play, Richard III. One thing is for certain, however: Richard's defeat

and the cessation of the Wars of the Roses allowed the stability England

required to heal, consolidate, and push into the modern era.

Richard of Gloucester had grown rich and powerful during the reign of his

brother Edward IV, who had rewarded his loyalty with many northern estates

bordering the city of York. Edward had allowed Richard to govern that part

of the country, where he was known as "Lord of the North." The new king was

a minor and England was divided over whether Richard should govern as

Protector or merely as chief member of a Council. There were also fears

that he may use his influence to avenge the death of his brother Clarence

at the hands of the Queen's supporters. And Richard was supported by the

powerful Duke of Buckingham, who had married into the Woodville family

against his will.

Richard's competence and military ability was a threat to the throne and

the legitimate heir Edward V. After a series of skirmishes with the forces

of the widowed queen, anxious to restore her influence in the north,

Richard had the young prince of Wales placed in the Tower. He was never

seen again though his uncle kept up the pretence that Edward would be

safely guarded until his upcoming coronation. The queen herself took

sanctuary in Westminster Abbey, but Richard had her brother and father

killed.

Edward's coronation was set for June, 1483. Richard planned his coup.

First he divided the ruling Council, convincing his own followers of the

need to have Lord Hastings executed for treason. (It had been Hastings who

had informed him of the late King's death and the ambitions of the Queen's

party). He then had his other young nephew Richard join Edward in the

Tower. One day after that set for Edward's coronation, Richard was able to

pressure the assembled Lords and Commons in Parliament to petition him to

assume the kingship. After his immediate acceptance, he then rode to

Westminster and was duly crowned as Richard III. His rivals had been

defeated and the prospects for a long, stable reign looked promising. Then

it all unraveled for the treacherous King.

It is one thing to kill a rival in battle but it is another matter to

have your brother's children put to death. By being suspected of this evil

deed, Richard condemned himself. Though the new king busied himself

granting amnesty and largesse to all and sundry, he could never cleanse

himself of the suspicion surrounding the murder of the young princes. He

had his own son Edward invested as Prince of Wales, and thus heir to his

throne, but revulsion soon set in to destroy what, for all intents and

purposes, could have been a well-managed, competent royal administration.

It didn't help Richard much that even before he took the throne he had

denounced the Queen "and her blood adherents," impugned the legitimacy of

his own brother and his young nephews and stigmatized Henry Tudor's royal

blood as bastard. The rebellion against him started with the defection of

the Duke of Buckingham whose open support of the Lancastrian claimant

overseas, Henry Tudor, transformed a situation which had previously favored

Richard.

The king was defeated and killed at Bosworth Field in 1485, a battle that

was as momentous for the future of England as had been Hastings in 1066.

The battle ended the Wars of the Roses, and for all intents and purposes,

the victory of Henry Tudor and his accession to the throne conveniently

marks the end of the medieval and the beginning of England's modern period.

Sources:

1. www.britannia.com\history

2. www.numizmat.net

3. http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/Y/York-hou.html

4. http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs

5. www.hotbot.com

6. www.yahoo.com

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