Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick( February 1475 – November 1499) was born to the father George Plantagenet who was the 1st Duke of Clarence. He was the most suitable claimer to the English throne which was then under the reigns of Richard III and his heir Henry VII. Edward has an older sister Margaret Pole who was the 8th Countess of Salisbury.
Life of Edward Plantagenet
Contents
Where and When was Edward Born?
Edward Plantagenet was born on 25th February 1475 at Warwick in England which is the family home of his mother. His mother was Lady Isabel Neville, the elder daughter of Richard Neville and the Duchess of Clarence. He was the eldest son of his parents.
Edwards mother died the year after giving birth to him in December 1476 because of consumption. In 1478, his father was attained plotting against King Edward IV and was executed later because of this treason. Edward by then was only three years old and he along with his sister became orphan. Following his father’s death, Edward was announced as the Earl of Warwick.
Why Edward Plantagenet Was Not Made the King Despite Being The True Heir?
In the year 1481, Edward became the ward of Thomas Grey, the son of King Edward IV by her first marriage with Elizabeth Woodville. Later in the year 1483, when King Edward IV became ill, he made his younger brother Richard Duke of Gloucester as the regent of his son Edward in case if he dies.
And in the same year, King died in the Palace of Westminster and his son Edward was made an heir to the throne and Richard Duke was the Lord Protector. However, he played such games which annulled the marriage of former King and Elizabeth Woodville and subsequently their children’s were also announced illegitimate. Hence King Edward could not be king furthermore.
Edward, the Earl of Warwick was now the legal heir to the throne but as his father was executed for treason, he was not made the king. Hence Lord protector Richard Duke was made the king and Edward was made the Knight of the York by Richard III.
King’s Richard only son Prince Edward of Middleham died in the year 1484 and subsequently on the influence of the Queen and Edward’s aunt Anne Neville, Edward Plantagenet was named an heir to the throne. In the year 1485, Queen Anne Neville who was the protector of Edward and his sister Margaret died. However, after her death, King Richard made John Pole, the Earl of Lincoln and his sister’s son as his heir instead of Warwick. He was then blamed to be a retarded child and hence unsuitable to the throne.
In the Battle of Bosworth that took place in 1485, King Richard III was defeated by the Henry Tudor who later proclaimed his throne and crowned himself as King Henry VII. The battle of Bosworth was a turning point in the war of Roses which was a lengthy war between the houses of York and Lancaster. He ordered to arrest 10 years old Edward and to be placed in the tower of London as he became the threat to the new king especially after the appearance of his pretender Lambert Simnel in 1487.
Fake Descendants to the Throne
Simnel was also supported by Earl of Lincoln and many other Yorkist allies in rebellion against King Henry VII. Their forces were destroyed and defeated at Stoke at the loss of Lincoln. Simnel was pardoned and offered a job in the royal kitchen.
Henry VII displayed the real Edward at St. Paul to prove that Simnel was trying to be fake. Despite these many incidents, Edward was continued to be imprisoned in the tower.
In the year 1490, Perkin Warbeck appeared and pretended to be Richard, Duke of York and the younger son of Edward IV to claim the throne. He also blamed himself to be allegedly murdered under the orders from the former King Richard III. This rebellion did not continue too long and the result was nothing from it. The fake pretender was arrested by 1497 and then was imprisoned in the London tower.
Death of Edward Plantagenet
It was reported to King Henry VII in the year 1499, that the fake pretender Warbeck and Warwick were plotting plans to escape from the prison. However, King Henry did not want to take any further chance and executed both these men.
Warwick was the last Plantagenet and after his death, the male heir of the Plantagenet family vanished. However, his sister lived until 1541 but was executed like his brother under the orders of Henry VIII.
Edward was one of the many innocents whose life was taken in the war of Roses. Many Historians states that the War of Roses ended officially after the execution of Edward Plantagenet.
