House of York | |
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As descendants of King Edward III in the male line, the first three Dukes of York bore the arms of that King (adjusted for France modern) differenced by a label of three points argent each bearing three torteaux gules. The 4th Duke, later King Edward IV, abandoned his paternal arms in favour of new arms emphasising his descent via female lines from the royal line of Clarence/de Burgh/Mortimer, senior to that of the House of Lancaster | |
Parent house | House of Plantagenet |
Country | |
Founded | 1385; 639 years ago |
Founder | Edmund of Langley |
Current head | Lord Simon Abney-Hastings, 15th Earl of Loudoun I |
Final ruler | Richard III of England |
Titles | |
Dissolution | N/A |
Deposition | 1485 |
Cadet branches | Abney-Hastings |
The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III. In time, it also represented Edward III's senior line, when an heir of York married the heiress-descendant of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward III's second surviving son. It is based on these descents that they claimed the English crown. Compared with its rival, the House of Lancaster, it had a superior claim to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture, but an inferior claim according to agnatic primogeniture. The reign of this dynasty ended with the death of Richard III of England at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. It became extinct in the male line with the death of Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, in 1499. Thus forfeiting all historical claims.
The fourth surviving legitimate son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, was created earl of Cambridge in 1362 and the first duke of York in 1385. Edmund's first marriage was to Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York, daughter of Peter of Castile and María de Padilla, and sister of Constance of Castile, second wife of Edmund's older brother John of Gaunt. Through this marriage Edmund had two sons, Edward, 2nd duke of York and the younger Richard of Conisburgh. His second marriage was to Joan Holland, whose sister Alianore Holland was mother to Anne Mortimer, the great-great-granddaughter of Edward III via Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, second surviving son of Edward III, and the elder brother of John of Gaunt. Richard of Conisburgh married Anne Mortimer, the marriage producing two children, Isabel of Cambridge and Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York. It was through Anne Mortimer's lineage that the Yorkists derived their main claim to the throne.
Following Edmund of Langley's death in 1402, his son Edward succeeded to the dukedom but had no issue before he was killed at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. [1] His other son Richard had been executed for treason earlier in the same year following his involvement in the Southampton Plot to depose Henry V in favour of Edmund Mortimer, Richard's brother-in-law. The dukedom therefore passed to Richard's son, who became Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York. Being descended from Edward III in both the maternal and the paternal line gave Richard a significant claim to the throne if the Lancastrian line should fail, and by cognatic primogeniture arguably a superior claim. [2] He emphasised the point by being the first to assume the Plantagenet surname in 1448. Having inherited the March and Ulster titles, he became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the king himself. Richard married Cecily Neville, a granddaughter of John of Gaunt, and had thirteen or possibly fifteen children: [3]
Despite his elevated status, Richard Plantagenet was denied a position in government by the advisers of the weak Henry VI, particularly John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and the queen consort, Margaret of Anjou. Although he served as protector of the realm during Henry VI's period of incapacity in 1453–54, his reforms were reversed by Somerset's party once the king had recovered.
The Wars of the Roses began the following year, with the First Battle of St Albans. Initially, Richard aimed only to purge his Lancastrian political opponents from positions of influence over the king. It was not until October 1460 that he claimed the throne for the House of York. In that year the Yorkists had captured the king at the battle of Northampton, but victory was short-lived. Richard and his second son Edmund were killed at the battle of Wakefield on 30 December.
Richard's claim to the throne was inherited by his son Edward. With the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ("The Kingmaker"), Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou were campaigning in the north, Warwick gained control of the capital and had Edward declared king in London in 1461. Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out.
The early reign of Edward IV was marred by Lancastrian plotting and uprisings in favour of Henry VI. Warwick himself changed sides, and supported Margaret of Anjou and the king's jealous brother George, Duke of Clarence, in briefly restoring Henry in 1470–71. However, Edward regained his throne, and the House of Lancaster was wiped out with the death of Henry VI himself, in the Tower of London in 1471. In 1478, the continued trouble caused by Clarence led to his execution in the Tower of London; popularly he is thought to have been drowned in a butt of malmsey wine.
On Edward's death in 1483, the crown passed to his twelve-year-old son Edward V. Edward IV's younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was appointed Protector, and the young king, and his brother Richard, were accommodated into the Tower of London. The famous Princes in the Tower's fate remains a mystery. As today it is unknown whether they were killed or who might have killed them. Parliament declared, in the document Titulus Regius , that the two boys were illegitimate, on the grounds that Edward IV's marriage was invalid, and as such Richard was heir to the throne. He was crowned Richard III in July 1483.
Though the House of Lancaster's claimants were now the Royal Houses of Portugal and Castile through the Duke of Lancaster's two legitimate daughters, who had married into those houses, Henry Tudor, a descendant of the Beauforts, a legitimized branch of the House of Lancaster put forward his claim. Furthermore, some Edwardian loyalists were undeniably opposed to Richard, dividing his Yorkist power base. A coup attempt failed in late 1483, but in 1485 Richard met Henry Tudor at the battle of Bosworth Field. During the battle, some of Richard's important supporters switched sides or withheld their retainers from the field. Richard himself was killed. He was the last of the Plantagenet kings, as well as the last English king to die in battle.
Henry Tudor declared himself king, took Elizabeth of York, eldest child of Edward IV, as his wife, claiming to have united the surviving houses of York and Lancaster, and acceded to the throne as Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty which reigned until 1603.
At the point Henry VII of England seized the throne there were eighteen Plantagenet descendants who might today be thought to have a stronger hereditary claim. By 1510 this number increased with the birth of sixteen Yorkist children. [5] However, Henry VII married Elizabeth of York the eldest daughter of Edward IV. This made their children his cognatic heirs. [6] Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy —Edward's sister and Elizabeth's aunt—and members of the de la Pole family—children of Edward's sister Elizabeth and John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk — continued in attempts to restore a Yorkist line. [7] Margaret's nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick, the son of her brother George, was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but in 1487 Margaret financed a rebellion led by Lambert Simnel pretending to be Warwick, or "Edward VI". John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln, joined the revolt and was killed in the suppression of the uprising at the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487. [8] Warwick was implicated in further failed invasions supported by Margaret by Perkin Warbeck claiming to be Edward IV's son Richard of Shrewsbury and executed on 28 November 1499. With this both the houses of Plantagenet and York went extinct in the legitimate male line. [9]
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Duke | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
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Edmund of Langley (House of York founder) 1385–1402 | 5 June 1341 Kings Langley son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault | Isabella of Castile 1372 3 children Joan de Holland c. 4 November 1393 no children | 1 August 1402 Kings Langley age 61 | |
Edward of Norwich 1402–1415 | 1373 Norwich son of Edmund of Langley and Isabella of Castile | Philippa de Mohun c. 1397 no children | 25 October 1415 Agincourt age 42 | |
Richard Plantagenet 1415–1460 | 21 September 1411 son of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne de Mortimer | Cecily Neville 1437 12 children | 30 December 1460 Wakefield age 49 | |
Edward Plantagenet 1460–1461 | 28 April 1442 Rouen son of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily Neville | Elizabeth Woodville 1 May 1464 10 children | 9 April 1483 Westminster age 40 |
Edward Plantagenet became Edward IV in 1461, thus merging the title of Duke of York with the crown.
Name | Portrait | Birth | Marriage(s) | Death |
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Edward IV 4 March 1461 – 3 October 1470 11 April 1471–1483 [10] [11] | 28 April 1442 Rouen son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville{ [12] | Elizabeth Woodville Grafton Regis 1 May 1464 10 children [10] | 9 April 1483 Westminster Palace age 40 [13] | |
Edward V 9 April–25 June 1483 [14] | 2 November 1470 Westminster son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville< [15] | unmarried | c. 1483 London age about 12 (presumed murdered) [16] | |
Richard III 26 June 1483–1485 [17] | 2 October 1452 Fotheringhay Castle son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville [18] | Anne Neville Westminster Abbey 12 July 1472 1 son [19] | 22 August 1485 Bosworth Field age 32 (killed in battle) [20] |
Henry VII, also known as Henry Tudor, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor.
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England fought between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions between 1455 and 1487.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, landowner of the House of Neville fortune and military commander. The eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, he became Earl of Warwick through marriage, and was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, with political connections that went beyond the country's borders. One of the leaders in the Wars of the Roses, originally on the Yorkist side but later switching to the Lancastrian side, he was instrumental in the deposition of two kings, which led to his epithet of "Kingmaker".
Anne Neville was Queen of England from 26 June 1483 until her death in 1485 as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp. Before her marriage to Richard, she had been Princess of Wales as the wife of Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, the only son and heir apparent of King Henry VI.
The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on Saturday 4 May 1471, was one of the most decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses in England.
The Battle of Wakefield took place in Sandal Magna near Wakefield in northern England, on 30 December 1460. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing forces were an army led by nobles loyal to the captive King Henry VI of the House of Lancaster and his Queen Margaret of Anjou on one side, and the army of Richard, Duke of York, the rival claimant to the throne, on the other.
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantagenet by virtue of being a direct male-line descendant of Edmund of Langley, King Edward III's fourth surviving son. However, it was through his mother, Anne Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, that Richard inherited his strongest claim to the throne, as the opposing House of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of Edward III. He also inherited vast estates and served in various offices of state in Ireland, France and England, a country he ultimately governed as Lord Protector due to the mental instability of King Henry VI.
The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the house was named—for his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267. Edmund had already been created Earl of Leicester in 1265 and was granted the lands and privileges of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, after de Montfort's death and attainder at the end of the Second Barons' War. When Edmund's son Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, inherited his father-in-law's estates and title of Earl of Lincoln he became at a stroke the most powerful nobleman in England, with lands throughout the kingdom and the ability to raise vast private armies to wield power at national and local levels. This brought him—and Henry, his younger brother—into conflict with their cousin King Edward II, leading to Thomas's execution. Henry inherited Thomas's titles and he and his son, who was also called Henry, gave loyal service to Edward's son King Edward III.
Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and a leading architect of his nephew's successful accession to the throne in 1485. He was a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd.
Cecily Neville was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", because she was born at Raby Castle in Durham, and "Proud Cis", because of her pride and a temper that went with it, although she was also known for her piety. She herself signed her name "Cecylle".
Edward of Westminster, also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only child of Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury.
Edmund Beaufort, styled 4th Duke of Somerset, 6th Earl of Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, 3rd Earl of Dorset, was an English nobleman, and a military commander during the Wars of the Roses, in which he supported the Lancastrian king Henry VI.
John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln was a leading figure in the Yorkist aristocracy during the Wars of the Roses.
The House of Plantagenet was a royal house which originated in the French County of Anjou. The name Plantagenet is used by modern historians to identify four distinct royal houses: the Angevins, who were also counts of Anjou; the main line of the Plantagenets following the loss of Anjou; and the Houses of Lancaster and York, two of the Plantagenets cadet branches. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, when Richard III died.
King Edward III of England and his wife, Philippa of Hainault, had eight sons and five daughters. The Wars of the Roses were fought between the different factions of Edward III's descendants. The following list outlines the genealogy supporting male heirs ascendant to the throne during the conflict, and the roles of their cousins. However to mobilise arms and wealth, significant major protagonists were Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, and Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, and their families. A less powerful but determining role was played by Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and Elizabeth Woodville and their families.
Anne of York, Duchess of Exeter, aka Anne Plantagenet, was the first child of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. She was thus the eldest sister of kings Edward IV (1461–1483) and Richard III (1483–1485) and their siblings Edmund, Earl of Rutland; Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk; Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy; and George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence.
Events from the 1460s in England.
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The wars were fought between supporters of the House of Lancaster and House of York, two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflict resulted in the end of Lancaster's male line in 1471, leaving the Tudor family to inherit their claim to the throne through the female line. Conflict was largely brought to an end upon the union of the two houses through marriage, creating the Tudor dynasty that would subsequently rule England.
The Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461 during the Wars of the Roses in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
The siege of the Tower of London was an episode of the Wars of the Roses, in which adherents of the rival Plantagenet houses of Lancaster and York were pitted against each other. In June 1460, several Yorkist nobles, who had unsuccessfully rebelled against King Henry VI the year before and had fled to Calais, invaded the south east of England at Sandwich. They enjoyed widespread support through popular discontent with the ruling court among the populace of Kent and the merchants of London, and were greeted by enthusiastic crowds when they entered London on 2 July.