Royal: Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 1341-1402

The two warring factions of the Plantagenets, the Houses of York and Lancaster, would spring from two sons of Edward III and his wife, Philippa of Hainault.  Though Edmund of Langley was a staunch supporter of his older brother, John of Gaunt, the ancestor of the Lancastrians, Edmund's descendants would become the Yorkist side of the family.

As his name implies, Edmund was born at Langley Palace in Hertfordshire.  His godfather had been the Earl of Surrey, and on his death, Edmund inherited his estate, becoming a wealthy young man at an early age.  He saw his first service in France under his father at the age of 18 in 1359 and was made a Knight of the Garter in 1361.  Throughout the 1370's, he was part of several military campaigns in France, and also joined his brother John of Gaunt in Gaunt's attempts to claim the Castilian throne in light of his 2nd wife, Constance of Castile.  By this time, Edmund was married to Constance's sister, Isabella of Castile, by whom Edmund had 3 children.  As things turned out, Gaunt agreed to marry one of his daughters to another claimant of the Castilian throne, Henry III of Castile, and give up his Castilian ambitions. 

Edmund enjoyed the confidence of his young nephew, Richard II, who made him Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle.  Edmund also served as keeper of the realm when Richard was on campaign in Ireland, and later when Richard II was courting his 2nd wife, Isabella of Valois.  Edmund was created Duke of York in 1385..  Richard II considered making Edmund's son, Edward, his heir in the event he had no children.  Later, in 1399, while Richard was again away in Ireland, an army led by John of Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke invaded England, intent of seizing the crown.  Edmund initially rallied an army to oppose Henry, but later threw in his lot with him against Richard.  Edmund's defection was a factor in Richard's decision to surrender to the usurpers rather than fight any longer.  Richard would die in captivity in 1400.  Edmund would retire from public life and die in 1402.  His first wife Isabella had died and he had married again, a distant cousin with Plantagenet descent, Joan Holland.  The couple had no children. 

It is from Edmund's third son, Richard of Conisborough, that the York side of the dynasty descends.  Thus, through Richard, Edmund is an ancestor of every English king from Edward IV to the present time.  Edmund is also a character, as Duke of York, in Shakespeare's play, Richard II.   

Places: Pontefract Castle, Wakefield, West Yorkshire

If ever there was an award for most ill-fated castle in English history, Pontefract Castle near Wakefield, West Yorkshire would have to be a top contender.  Among other things, it saw the murder of a King and the beginning of the downfall of a doomed English Queen.

Construction on the castle began in 1070 by a Norman baron known as Ilbert de Lacy.  He'd been given the site as a reward by William the Conqueror as part of the Norman conquest and, as usual with such sites, the original structure was wood replaced with stone over time.  Ilbert's descendant, Robert de Lacy, failed to support King Henry I during a struggle within the Norman dynasty for the throne and the irate King confiscated the castle.  The Lacy family remained connected enough with it that Roger de Lacy paid King Richard 3,000 marks for the Honour of Pontefract, or the right to use the land.  The Castle itself remained in royal hands until John granted the Castle back to the Lacy family.  They built a large stone donjon or keep for the castle during their tenure.

The Castle passed by marriage under the control of a Plantagenet descendant, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and here is where the tragedies associated with this castle begin.  In 1322, Thomas became involved in a war against King Edward II's favorites, the Despenser father and son.  After a loss at the Battle of Boroughbridge, Thomas took refuge in the Castle.  Edward II besieged the Castle, tried his cousin for treason in the great hall, and ordered his execution.  Thomas is buried in Pontefract Priory and his tomb there became a minor shrine.  The Castle went to Henry, Duke of Lancaster, and later to the most famous Lancastrian Duke, John of Gaunt.  It became one of Gaunt's many personal residences and he spent a great deal of money on making the fortress a home.  After Gaunt's death, Richard II intended to give the Castle to one of his own favorites.  The prospect of losing this Castle in particular aroused the wrath of Gaunt's son, Henry of Bolingbroke, who'd been in exile when his father died.  Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspur and went right away to Pontefract Castle, making it his first base in England.

In a strange irony, it was Richard II who found himself at Pontefract in 1400, a prisoner who'd been forced to relinquish his crown to Bolingbroke, now Henry IV.  Richard died at Pontefract, most likely murdered, though no one is sure exactly when or how.  The Darcy family became guardians of the Castle on behalf of the Royal Family, until 1536, when Thomas Darcy surrendered the Castle during the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt against Henry VIII.  Henry viewed the act as treason, and later had Darcy executed.  Henry and his fifth wife, Katherine Howard, stayed at the Castle in 1541 during their tour of Yorkshire.  There, Katherine had a tryst with Thomas Culpepper that would later prove to be her ruin.  In 1569, another woman doomed to the block, Mary Stuart, stayed briefly at the Castle.  The Castle was besieged three times by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War.  In 1649, the castle was slighted, or deliberately destroyed, to prevent future use as a base by Royalist supporters.  The remains of the Castle are still discernable today.

Prince: Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, 1373-1415

It's a memorable part of the play Henry V.  The King has just given his St. Crispin's Day speech and his cousin, Edward of Norwich, Duke of York, kneels to beg the honor of leading the English vanguard into action at Agincourt.  The King grants it and poor but lucky Edward goes off to immortality.  In fact, Shakespeare made use of Edward of York's character in two places, but we'll get there in due time.

Edward, 1373-1415, was the oldest son of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York and son of Edward III.  Most Plantagenet princes had two designations, the place where they were born, and their ducal titles.  On this basis, some have asserted that Edward bore the designation of Norwich, though that was likely a later addition to distinguish him from that other Edward of York, the future Edward IV.  Edward, of Norwich that is, would hold important posts in the reign of Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V.  Thus, by the time he came to his fate on the field Agincourt, he was a seasoned courtier, statesman and soldier of many years standing.

Under Richard II, his first cousin, he was Lord Admiral of England and a member of the King's Council.  He would later hold other positions such as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Constable of the Tower, and Keeper of the Channel Islands.  He was also created Duke of Aumale, part of the family's French possessions.  Edward remained loyal to Richard during the turbulent final portion of his reign, even leaving with him on a campaign to Ireland just as Henry of Bolingbroke landed in England at the head of an invasion fleet in 1399.  However close Edward felt personally toward Richard, self-preservation for himself and his family was paramount and he deserted to Bolingbroke's standard.  He was one of those who went to Flint Castle to prevail upon Richard II to abdicate.

Under the new Henry IV, yet another first cousin through John of Gaunt, Edward's situation was dicey at first.  Many still suspected him because of his long loyalty to Richard II.  For a time, he was stripped of his offices and imprisoned in Windsor Castle.  Henry IV finally relented and restored Edward to his seat on the Council and his position as Keeper of the Channel Islands.  He was eventually made Keeper of North Wales and Lieutenant of Aquitaine.  In 1402, Edmund of Langley died and Edward succeeded his father as Duke of York.  Trouble brewed in 1405, when Edward was implicated in a conspiracy with Welsh leader Owen Glendower and members of the Mortimer family and the Earl of Northumberland to wrest power from Henry IV and divide the kingdom up amongst this group of plotters.  Edward was imprisoned again, but back within Henry IV's favor months later.  He was lucky.  He could have been accused of treason and been yet another prince in a tower.  During the later parts of Henry IV's reign, Edward kept himself in France and stayed out of trouble.  He was master of Henry IV's hunting hounds and translated a French treatise on hunting, adding his own material, which later became known as The Master of Game.

Henry IV died in 1413 and his son, Henry V succeeded to the throne.  In France, Edward was part of the negotiations for the marriage between Henry V and Catherine of Valois.  As tensions with France escalated, Edward's younger brother, Richard of Conisborough was implicated in yet another plot against the King, the Southampton Plot.  Edward was implicated but departed for France just as his brother was arrested and later beheaded.  He was at the Siege of Harfleur before leading the English vanguard to the fateful meeting at Agincourt, where he was, in fact, the leader of the English right wing.  During the battle, Henry V had to go to the aid of his younger brother, Humphrey of Gloucester, another interesting character, and was at risk of being killed by one of the French commanders, Joan of Arc's supporter, the Duke of Alencon.  Edward of York put himself in Alencon's way to protect the King and sustained a head injury from which he died.  With the battle won and Edward having died a hero, the King could not deprive the Yorks of their property, though the next heir in line was Richard of Conisborough's son, the father of the future Edward IV and Richard III.  Young Richard succeeded to his uncle's title and became, through his granddaughter Elizabeth of York, the ancestor of every English King since Henry VIII.

Edward was married twice, once to a Portuguese princess, Beatrice, and secondly to Philippa, the daughter of John, Baron de Mohun.  Neither of these marriages produced children.  Edward's body was brought back and buried in the church at Fotheringhay, which still stands even though the namesake castle no longer exists.  A monument to Edward of York dates from the Elizabethan era.  Meanwhile, in addition to his heroism in Henry V, Shakespeare also used Edward's character in Richard II as the Duke of Aumale. 

Double Feature: Isabella and Catherine of Valois, Sisters and Queens

Women of royal families began their official lives young, betrothed and then married to foreign suitors.  And, if died, these young brides were quickly recycled, the word choice is deliberate, put back on the marriage market again, and sometimes again.  Only rarely were they allowed to chart their own destinies.  Two of the daughters of Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria illustrate this contract perfectly.

Isabeau of Bavaria had 5 daughters, two of whom became Queens of England, another the Duchess of Britanny, another Duchess of Burgundy and one a nun.  This was a good dynastic record for that generation of the Capet family.  Two of their daughters married Plantagenet kings.  The first up was Isabella, 1389-1409.  Isabella was just seven years old in 1396 when she married the widowed Richard II, who was 22 years her senior.  Not surprisingly, they didn't live together as husband and wife.  Richard took care of his child bride, providing for her safety by sending her to Porchester Castle while he left to campaign in Ireland.  Her tenure as Queen of England was short-lived.  Richard was deposed in 1399 and dead by 1400.  The incoming King, Henry IV, ordered young Isabella to move out of Windsor Castle, but had no intention of returning her to France.  She was too valuable a prize to waste.  He wanted to marry her to his own son, he future Henry V.  Isabella, however, still only 11 years old, stood her ground.  She intended to remain in mourning for the husband who had treated her so well and wanted to return to her French family.  Henry IV eventually let her go.  Isabella would ultimately marry her cousin, the Duke of Orleans, give birth to a daughter, Joan, but die in childbirth at the age of 19.

But the Plantagenets hadn't given up on a Valois bride for Henry V.  Isabella's younger sister Catherine, 1401-1437, would be 18 years old when she married Prince Henry in 1420.  Henry was already the victor of Agincourt and quite a catch.  Catherine was crowned with him in 1421 and quickly became pregnant with a son.  Henry returned to France to resume fighting the final stages of the Hundred Years War.  Catherine gave birth to a son, the future Henry VI.  Henry V died during the Siege of Meaux in 1422.  His son was King of England at the ripe age of 8 months, and Catherine was a young Queen Dowager.  There was no going home for her.  She was now the mother of a Plantagenet lion and had a royal legacy to protect. 

Catherine was still young and marriageable.  There was talk of her marrying a powerful English noble, perhaps a member of the royal family.  To control this, Parliament passed a law requiring anyone marrying the Queen Dowager to have the King's consent, only after Henry VI had attained the age of majority.  As he was still a school-age child, the nobles thought they'd put a lid on this problem for now.  They had reckoned without Catherine's heart and her basic need for human companionship.  She fell in love with a member of her household, Own Tudor, and by 1431 gave birth to their first child, Edmund.  Parliament at first was lenient with Owen Tudor, granting him the rights of an Englishman.  Owen and Margaret would have six children, four of whom would live to grown up.  Edmund, Jasper, Owen, Jr., and Margaret, who would later become a nun. 

On January 3, 1437, Catherine died at Bermondsey Abbey, shortly after her last childbirth.  She had gone to the Abbey seeking a cure for a condition otherwise unspecified.  At the time of her death, her eldest son Henry VI was 15, considered an adult by the standards of the time, though a young one and still vulnerable, particularly given his mental issues.  Owen Tudor had only Henry's goodwill toward himself and his children to stand between him and the wrath of the nobles.  Henry's Council summoned Owen to appear before them on charges of having broken the law by marrying Catherine.  There was no proof of any marriage and nothing in the law preventing Catherine from having had a sexual relationship without the King's permission.  Owen couldn't be charged with a crime, but he was separated from his children and placed in Newgate Prison, but later moved to Windsor Castle.  Later, he would be reunited with his sons under the care of Katherine de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk.  Henry VI took an interest in his two younger brothers.  Edmund became Duke of Richmond and Jasper became Duke of Bedford.

Edmund later married Margaret Beaufort, a wealthy heiress and Plantagenet by descent with a claim to the throne in her own right.  She bore him Henry Tudor, the future Henry VII.  The Tudors would claim the throne through Margaret's biological rights, and legally as heirs to Henry VI through a fictional marriage to Catherine of Valois.  This was pure smokescreen, as Catherine couldn't have transmitted any royal rights to her possibly illegitimate Tudor offspring, and Henry had to cement his claim with a marriage to Elizabeth of York, but propaganda is usually built on alternative facts, anyway.  Meanwhile, Catherine's tomb in Westminster Abbey was inadvertently destroyed during renovations by Henry VII.  Perhaps not wanting to call attention to her off-the-record 2nd marriage/relationship, he didn't have the tomb repaired.  The lid of the coffin exposed the body and-here we go with another creepy story about corpses, yuck!.  The corpse became a tourist attraction.  In 1699, diarist Samuel Pepys visited the Abbey and was able to both embrace "had the upper body in my hands" and kiss, "I did kiss a Queen."  Victoria did Catherine a favor and had the tomb repaired, with the body out of sight and out of reach!

King: Richard II of England

Questions surround Richard II and his reign.  Was he the cruel, irresponsible despot of Shakespeare or a typical Plantagenet king who didn't put up with any nonsense?  Was he crazy or was there a method to his madness?  Was he a poor king or just unlucky?  And, how did he die?

Richard (1367-1400) grew up surrounded by some of the most legendary men in his family.  His grandfather was Edward III, one of the longest-reigning kings in English history.  Lawgiver, military commander, patriarch of an impressive family that included both John of Gaunt and Edward the Black Prince.  Little Richard was born in Aquitaine.  Originally, he wasn't meant to be king.  His older brother, Edward of Angouleme, died in 1371, bumping Richard up a step in the succession.  The Black Prince had been a successful military commander, but he was slowly succumbing to the chronic dysentery which eventually killed him in 1376, when Richard was nine years old.  Edward III knew that he had to counteract the possibility of his older sons swooping in on the inheritance of a mere boy and quickly invested Richard as Prince of Wales.  Then Edward III died in 1377 and none of that mattered anymore.  Richard was king.

In an effort to keep Richard's uncles, particularly John of Gaunt at bay, it was decided that instead of single Regent, the government would be in the hands of a council.  John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham were still powerful, but their power was counterbalanced by that of other lords, which kept Richard safe for the time being.  He was described throughout his life as tall (he grew to six feet), articulate and intelligent.  Coming from a long line of military men, there was hope for him to follow in the family tradition.  Richard enjoyed tournaments and seemed headed that way.  He had inherited a realm weakened by repeated waves of famine and plague.  Edward III's regime had passed repressive measures aimed at raising revenue and keeping peasants working the land.  This boiled over into the Peasants Revolt of 1381.  Bands of peasants led by Wat Tyler, John Ball and Jack Straw marched on London.  For the first time, Richard began to make his views known, opting for mercy and negotiation.  He agreed to meet the peasants face to face.  With the death of Tyler the mob grew unruly.  Rather than flee or turn his armies on the people, Richard rode forward at 14 years old and told them, "I am your captain.  Follow me!"  He was able to keep the crowd in order until they agreed to disburse.

But neither Richard nor his advisers had any intention of keeping their promises.  Richard later rode with armies tasked with putting down the last embers of the revolt.  In 1382, Richard married Anne of Bohemia.  The couple would come to fall deeply in love and she would be a steady support to her husband.  He would need it.  Richard, like his great-grandfather Edward II, had a habit of trusting his government to favorites.  He made one favorite, Michael de la Pole, Chancellor.  Though the de la Poles later became quite prominent, at the time they were a wealthy merchant family, sure to make the other royals and nobles jealous.  Another favorite was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who was of noble blood, but still considered an upstart.  While the usual allegations of homosexuality surfaced against Richard, there was another possible reason for his trusting favorites over his own relatives and other nobles.  Favorites were dependent on the king alone and more easily controlled than over-powerful uncles, cousins and other subjects. 

Matters came to a head in 1386, with the demands of Parliament that in exchange for more taxation, the King must give up de la Pole and de Vere.  Richard stated that he wouldn't dismiss so much as a scullion out of his kitchen for Parliament's sake.  Thomas of Woodstock, Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and other nobles brought an appeal, or accusations of treason against de Vere and de la Pole.  They were joined by Henry of Bolingbroke, Gaunt's son and Richard's eventual nemesis, and Thomas de Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham.  They force de Vere to flee for his life into exile.  De la Pole was arrested and ultimately executed for treason.  Richard would not forget this insult.  Plantagenets, too, paid their debts. 

John of Gaunt stepped forward to mediate a peace and provide a steadying influence just as the Scots invaded the North of England, forcing the King and his nobles to put their differences aside to meet the threat.  Richard dealt with the Scots and negotiated a peace with France.  He also achieved some military and diplomatic success in Ireland.  These triumphs may have made Richard feel that he had more political capital than he actually did.  He had several of the Lords Appellant, including Gloucester, Warwick and Arundel arrested for treason.  Arundel was tried and executed.  Gloucester, himself a Plantagenet, died under mysterious circumstances in prison and it was rumored that Richard ordered him poisoned to spare the public shame of executing a member of the blood royal.  With John of Gaunt's intercession, men loyal to Richard were created dukes, compensated with property of those lords who were, or would shortly be, condemned.  John of Gaunt and his son, Henry of Bolingbroke posed a serious personal threat to Richard, who was still childless despite two marriages.  When John died in 1399, any restraint against deposing King Richard died with him.

As Richard continued to focus on settling old scores, Henry of Bolingbroke was in France, amassing an invading army.  He landed in Yorkshire in June, 1399 and marched virtually unopposed toward London.  Edmund of Langley, uncle to both Richard and Henry, sided with Henry.  On August 19, 1399, Richard surrendered to Henry at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life were spared.  He was brought to London and imprisoned in the Tower.  But Henry of Bolingbroke, now King Henry IV, wasn't entirely safe.  There were other adult members of the Plantagenet family more senior in the succession than he.  Henry claimed the right of kingship as the oldest son of a surviving son (John of Gaunt) from Edward III and was crowned King of England, thus kicking off the Wars of the Roses.

Richard was transferred to Pontefract Castle.  Meanwhile, some lords had remained loyal to Richard and were planning to rescue him and depose Henry.  Henry couldn't allow Richard to live, but couldn't put to death an anointed king of his own blood either.  Richard died approximately February 14, 1400, from being starved to death, though there's no proof of exactly how he died.  He wouldn't be the first, or the last, Plantagenet male to die under mysterious circumstances in prison.  Being a prince/king in the tower was a family tradition.  His body was displayed at Old St. Paul's Cathedral before being buried in King's Langley Church.  Later, his body was reinterred next to Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey. 

Richard would be known as a patron of the arts.  He sponsored painters, writers such as Chaucer and Gower, and sponsored architectural achievements like the rebuilding of Westminster Hall with an ornate hammer-beam roof.  He also introduced more elaborate court etiquette, being the first king to be addressed as majesty, rather than as highness.  In the end, although Richard had his strong points, his reliance on personal favorites and his focus on settling scores and indulging in intrigue was his undoing. 

What is it: The Pardoner

Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written in the 1380's while Chaucer was an official in the service of Richard II, are to the Plantagenet era what Shakespeare is to the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.  This complex and impressive set of stories set in poetry are important for two other reasons.  Many words are first attested in the English language because they appeared in the Tales.  They are also an important slice of medieval life, shedding light on Medieval people and customs that would otherwise be lost. 

One of the tellers of tales is called a Pardoner.  A pardoner was a member of the clergy, usually a deacon, licensed to sale Papal indulgences.  For a sum of money donated to the Church, according to the beliefs of the time, one could spring a soul (sometimes one's own soul), out of Purgatory or get a pass straight to Heaven.  Even in the pre-Reformation era, Pardoners were looked upon much as used car salesmen are today, not very honest.  Chaucer gives us this viewpoint in his description of the pardoner, a member of the clergy who wears his hair long, has much knowledge of the world and sexual experience, and isn't above supplementing his own income through his employment despite a vow of poverty.  Some pardoners, indeed some priests, trafficked in the sale of fake relics, charged for hearing confessions or dispensing sacraments and engaged in other fleecing practices.  However, because of their role in Medieval society, they were a necessary evil.