Everything about Edward Of Westminster totally explained
Edward of Westminster, also known as
Edward of Lancaster (
13 October 1453 –
4 May 1471), was the only
Prince of Wales ever to die in battle. He was born in
Westminster,
London.
He was the son of King
Henry VI of England and his consort,
Margaret of Anjou. Their only child, he was born at the
Palace of Westminster. His father was at the time suffering from mental illness, and there were widespread rumours that the prince was the result of an affair between his mother and some unnamed lover. However, there's no evidence for this, and
Henry himself never doubted the boy's paternity. Edward was invested as Prince of Wales at
Windsor Castle in
1454.
When King Henry VI signed away his son's birthright by agreeing to make
Richard, Duke of York his heir, Queen Margaret immediately raised an army and attempted to fight the Yorkists. She and her young son went on the run, spending some time in both
Scotland and
Wales, before taking refuge in
France. After several years in exile, Margaret took the best opportunity that presented itself, and allied herself with the renegade
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and Prince Edward was married off to
Anne Neville, Warwick's younger daughter, in December
1470 -- although there's some doubt as to whether the marriage was ever
solemnised.
Warwick succeeded in putting King Henry VI back on the throne. However, by the time Margaret and her son and daughter-in-law arrived back in
England, a reversal of fortunes had taken place. Warwick had been defeated and killed at the
Battle of Barnet and
Edward IV was back on the throne. With little real hope of success, the inexperienced prince and his mother led the remnant of their forces at the
Battle of Tewkesbury, where Edward was killed in battle .
According to later Tudor legend Edward was taken prisoner by
Richard, Duke of Gloucester and brought before
Edward IV. When the young Edward insulted the Yorkist king,
Edward IV ordered his immediate murder.
He is buried at
Tewkesbury Abbey.
His widow, Anne Neville, married Richard Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded as
Richard III in 1483.
Reference
- R. A. Griffiths, The Reign of King Henry VI (1981), especially the Epilogue
Further Information
Get more info on 'Edward Of Westminster'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://edward_of_westminster.totallyexplained.com">Edward of Westminster Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |