530 years ago, on April 9th 1483, King Edward IV died. Barely 41 his death was sudden and unexpected. The cause of his death has been attributed to, amongst other things, pneumonia, thyphoid and appendictis. It was to prove a disaster for his immediate family and for the House of York - three months later his son had been dethroned and replaced by the deceased King's brother as King Richard III. Little more than two years later he was defeated and killed at Bosworth, and it was the marriage of Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of King Edward IV, to King Henry VII which ensured that descendents of both branches of the plantagents would occupy the throne.
As King Edward he had been a man determined, indeed ruthless, in fighting to hold on to, or regain, the crown he had to seized in 1461, and was an effective soldier up to his victory at the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Therafter he tended towards enjoying the pleasures of success, notably those of the flesh, putting on weight and increasingly engaged with his wife's family the Woodvilles, a family who were far from popular, and noticeably rapacious even by fifteenth century standards. I have posted about them in Woodvilles and Boleyns and in Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth Woodville.
In these years the King appears to have become rather more like his grandson King Henry VIII at a similar age both in physique and temperament.
King Edward IV
A portrait of circa 1520 from an original of
1470-75
Image: Wikipedia
In recent years there has been some discussion as to his legitimacy as can be seen in this online biography and in, for example, these blog posts, Was King
Edward IV illegitimate?, Edward IV: A Question of Legitimacy, Was Edward IV illigitimate? and Was King Edward IV Illegitimate? (1442)
What should be remembered is that it is not King Edward's legitimacy or otherwise which might affect the present line of succession - that derives from King Henry VII, and the Beaufort claim, legitimated, not from Elizabeth of York.
King Edward IV
Canterbury Cathedral glass of circa 1482
Image:paradoxplace.com
King Edward IV and Queen Elizabeth Woodville
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Image: Sacred Destinations
Antony Earl Rivers and William Caxton presenting a book to King Edward IV,
Queen Elizabeth and Edward Prince of Wales, later King Edward V.
Queen Elizabeth and Edward Prince of Wales, later King Edward V.
The figures between the King and Earl Rivers may be the Duke of Buckingham and Cardinal Bourchier of Canterbury.
Image: Luminarium.org
Image: Luminarium.org
King Edward IV was buried in St George's Chapel Windsor - what is left of his tomb can still be seen there.
The tomb of King Edward IV in St George's Chapel Windsor
Image: St George's Windsor/Unofficial Royalty
King Edward IV and Bishop Richard Beauchamp of Salisbury (d.1481)
kneel before the Cross Neith (Groes Gnedd)
Boss in the south choir aisle St George's Chapel Windsor
Image: St George's Windsor
He had initiated the rebuilding of the chapel a few years earlier, and it remains as his legacy, although not completed until 1528 by his grandson. Within the chapel he concentrated on its relic collection - not only those of St George, but also those of John Schorne and the ancient Welsh treasure of the Cross Neith:
King Edward IV and Bishop Richard Beauchamp of Salisbury (d.1481)
kneel before the Cross Neith (Groes Gnedd)
Boss in the south choir aisle St George's Chapel Windsor
Image: St George's Windsor
were is edward IV wife with him in the tomb? Can you go see it?
ReplyDeleteI think Queen Elizabeth was buried with King Edward IV in the tomb at St George's in Windsor. The tomb today is not as it was designed and may have suffered damage during the Civil War period - when King Henry VIII's tomb appears to have been reduced to the marble sarcophagus (which now holds Nelson in St Pauls)
ReplyDeleteThe gates survive of King Edward's chantry, and amarble slab over his bone s- this is an eighteenth century arrangement, and it was when that work was done that his bones were examined.
so are they together in the tomb? why were his bones examined, and what was the result of that exmaination.
DeleteI'm not sure this information is accurate I'm think Edward 4th is entombed at Westminster?
ReplyDeleteActually I'm sorry St GEORGE'S Cathedral to be exact Windsor he died in Westminster Castle
ReplyDeleteIt's not true the present monarch derives legitimacy from "the Beaufort claim - not from Elizabeth of York." If Richard of York's claim that he descended from the Earl of March is true, then Elizabeth had precedence over any descendent of John of Gaunt, not to mention that the Beauforts were barred from the succession by an act of Parliament.
ReplyDeleteI beg to disagree. There was no clear order of succession in 1399, and the Lords and Commons had to come up with a solution - offering the crown to Henry of Lancaster. As King in 1406 he legislated to secure his four sons and added the exclusion of the Beauforts ( which they could potentially appeal as compromising their legitimacy as established a decade earlier ). There were unsuccessful, and often half-hearted attempts to stake the Mortimer claim in the early Lancastrian period. By 1450 York was claiming to be next in line as descendant of Duke Edmund the younger brother of John of Gaunt. Only in 1460 did he disastrously claim using his Clarence-Mortimer ancestry. This clearly shocked the political elite.
DeleteThe other male figure in the painting is more likely to be Richard of Gloucester than Buckingham, since he was definitely there at Caxton's workshop. No mention that Buckingham was.
ReplyDeleteGloucester was in the north in this period. The image does not show Caxton’s workshop but a stylised view of a scene at Court.
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