Edmund (York) of York (1443 - 1460)

Born 17 May 1443 in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France

Ancestors

Died 30 Dec 1460 at age 17 in Sandal Magna, Yorkshire, England

Biography

Edmund (York) of York is a member of the House of York.

Edmund of York, Earl of Rutland (17? May 1443 – 30 Dec 1460) was the fifth child and second surviving son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville.

Edmund was born at Rouen in May 1443 while his father Richard Duke of York was serving as Lieutenant Governor there. ^[1] and baptised in a lavish ceremony at Rouen Cathedral. ^[2] When the family returned to England by 1445, he was raised with his elder brother Edward in their own household, possibly at Ludlow in the Welsh Marches. At some point by 1454 he was given the title Earl of Rutland, previously held by his father, probably when his brother Edward was given the title Earl of March. ^[3] At some point, sources not in agreement, he was appointed Chancellor of Ireland by his father, then Lieutenant Governor.

By 1459, when his father was actively at war with the forces of Queen Margaret, Edmund was in arms alongside him, and after the rout of the Yorkist forces at the Battle of Ludford Bridge, fled with him to Ireland to regroup. ^[4] He was killed at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, and his head displayed on the Micklegate Bar of the city of York. ^[1] He was buried in the church of the Friars Preachers, Pontefract, Yorkshire, but, in 1476, his body was removed to Fotheringhay, Northampshire, along with that of his father, for reburial. In 1573, Queen Elizabeth I, seeing the ruins of the tombs of her ancestors, had them removed to the parish church of St Mary and All Saints. Richard, Duke of York and Cicely Neville lie north of the high altar, and Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and Edward, Duke of York to the south. ^[5]

Titles, styles, honours and arms

• Edmund of York used the arms of the kingdom, differentiated by a label argent per pale lions purpure (for his grandmother, Isabel of Castile and León) and torteaux (presumably three each) gules (for York).

• Escutcheon: Quarterly, 1st, quarterly, 1st and 4th, France ancien, 2nd and 3rd England, with a label of five points Argent the two dexter points charged with lions rampant purpure and three sinister points each with three torteaux, 2nd and 3rd de Burgh, 4th Mortimer.[6][7]

• Symbolism: Both Edward (later King Edward IV) and Edmund quartered the arms of de Burgh and Mortimer, emphasizing descent from Lionel of Antwerp to boost the Yorkist claim to the throne.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Complete Peerage, Vol. XI, p. 252. London: 1949. Rutland
2. ↑ Crawford, Anne. The Yorkists, p. 4. Continuum, 2007.
3. ↑ Ross, Charles. Edward IV, pp. 7 & 14. Yale University Press, 1997.
4. ↑ Ross, p. 21.
5. ↑ Fotheringhay - The Mausoleum of the House of York Mausoleum

See Also:

• Royal Ancestry D. Richardson 2013 Vol. V p. 457
• Royal Tombs of Medieval England M. Duffy 2003 p. 241-242
• Wikipedia: Edmund, Earl of Rutland
• Wikipedia: Battle of Wakefield
• Plantagenet, Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Academic.com