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Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gwedi elwch (talk | contribs) at 18:57, 21 December 2020 (In the infobox altered '1st Earl of Richmond' to 'Earl of Richmond'. As the wikipedia entry for Earl of Richmon he was not the first earl - he was the first earl of the seventh creation of the title. The title of the entry is similarly misleading.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Edmund Tudor
Earl of Richmond
Tomb Effigy of Edmund Tudor
Tenure6 March 1452 – 1456
Born11 June 1430
Much Hadham Palace, Hertfordshire, England
Died3 November 1456(1456-11-03) (aged 26)
Carmarthen Castle
BuriedSt David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire
Spouse(s)Margaret Beaufort
IssueHenry VII of England
HouseTudor
FatherOwen Tudor
MotherCatherine of Valois
ReligionRoman Catholicism

Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond (Welsh: Edmwnd Tudur, 11 June 1430 – 3 November 1456, also known as Edmund of Hadham), was the father of King Henry VII of England and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, North Wales. Born to Owen Tudor and the dowager queen Catherine of Valois, Edmund was half-brother to Henry VI of England. Edmund was raised for several years by Katherine de la Pole and Henry took an interest in Edmund's upbringing, granting him a title and lands once he came of age. Both Edmund and his brother, Jasper, were made advisers to the King, as they were his closest remaining blood relatives.

The brothers were made senior earls in the royal court and had influential positions in the Parliament of England. Edmund was also granted Baynard's Castle, London, and ran a successful estate. He was married to Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, after her first marriage was annulled. Prior to the start of the Wars of the Roses, Edmund liaised with Richard of York and supported him when the King fell ill during 1453-1454. After war began in 1455, York sent Edmund to uphold the authority of the King in South Wales. While he was there, York was overthrown by the King and, in retaliation, Yorkist forces were sent to engage those of Tudor's in South Wales. Edmund was captured at Carmarthen Castle, where he died of the bubonic plague on 3 November 1456.

Birth and early life

Catherine of Valois gave birth to Edmund in secret, away from the Royal court

Following the death of Henry V of England, the Queen dowager Catherine of Valois married Owen Tudor. The marriage was in secret, and was not common knowledge until after Catherine's death. It is accepted that Catherine and Owen were married around 1429/30, as the Queen stopped living in the household of her son Henry VI, and Owen was granted the rights of an Englishman in the Parliament of May 1432.[1]

The children of Catherine and Owen were born away from court. Their first son, Edmund, was born at Much Hadham Palace, Hertfordshire. The manor house was owned by the Bishop of London. In 1436, his mother retired to Bermondsey Abbey, where she died on 3 January 1437. With Catherine dead, the Queen's enemies moved against Owen. He was called to London, but was acquitted by the Royal court of charges relating to the marriage. While en route to Wales, he was arrested and imprisoned in Newgate Prison. After he escaped in early 1438, he was recaptured and imprisoned once more in Windsor Castle.[2]

Following the death of their mother and the imprisonment of their father, Edmund and his brother Jasper were brought up in the care of Katherine de la Pole, the daughter of Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, with whom they remained till at least March 1442. Henry VI began to take notice of his half-brothers by that point. He ensured that they were placed in the care of priests who oversaw their teaching.[2] Edmund, along with his brother and father were taken into Henry's royal household. Henry was seemingly fond of his half brothers, and ennobled each of them with Edmund becoming Earl of Richmond on 15 December 1449, and Jasper Earl of Pembroke on 23 November 1452.[3]

Earl of Richmond

Coat of arms of Edmund Tudor, first Earl of Richmond

As Earls, and recognised by court as the King's half brothers, Edmund and Jasper had unparalleled precedence over the other laypersons in court with the exception of the Dukes. They were each given lands, although Jasper received a yearly stipend until Pembroke became available. After seven years of marriage to Margaret of Anjou, Henry was still without children. After the death of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the royal line was at risk and considerations were made about the Tudor brothers inheriting the throne. There were concerns that while they had descended from the French royal line through Catherine, they had no blood relation to the English throne.[3]

Both Edmund and Jasper were among a small group of personal advisers to the King by 1452, representing the only blood relations in court.[4] However, neither was skilled at matters of state within England, and instead they were primarily given the task of ensuring the authority of the King within Wales.[5] This resulted in a long-held affection for the family in that country.[4] The formal investiture of the duo took place in the Tower of London on 5 January 1453. Later that year on 6 March, they took their seats in the Parliament of England as the head of all the Earls in the court. After a petition by the House of Commons of England, both Jasper and Edmund were recognised officially as legitimate half-brothers of the King and the statutory disabilities attributed with being considered Welsh were removed. Throughout 1452 and 1453, they were given large monetary grants from the King, while Edmund was also given property in Westmorland and Lancashire. Edmund ran a profitable estate and invested in the wool industry based out of Boston, Lincolnshire. The King also granted him the medieval palace of Baynard's Castle, near to the River Thames in London.[6]

Marriage and the Wars of the Roses

Edmund was given the wardship of the nine-year-old Margaret Beaufort, daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset on 24 March 1453. She was the only heir of Beaufort and a kinswoman of the King. She had descended from the House of Lancaster through the eldest of John of Gaunt's bastard sons, John Beaufort.[7] She had been previously married to John de la Pole, whose father, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk had intended to seek the claim to the throne of her and any children should Henry fail to produce any heirs.[8] William was murdered in 1450, and the marriage between Margaret and John was annulled in the first months of 1453 to enable her to be remarried to Edmund. It was this marriage on 1 November 1455 at Bletsoe Castle which enabled any offspring to lay claim to the English throne due to the inheritance of the Plantagenet blood through Margaret.[8]

The marriage was consummated, leaving a 13-year-old widow who was seven months pregnant with their child at the time of his death.

A crisis emerged during the summer of 1453, as Henry VI fell ill and remained so for over 17 months, leaving him incommunicado and needing to be carried from place to place. Several parties sought to take power during this period, including Richard of York. Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou, demanded to be declared Regent for the King, causing a division between her and the Tudor brothers who wished to lend assistance to York.[5] However, Edmund did not attend the Parliament of 3 April 1454 where York was named protector of the realm during Henry's ongoing illness. Edmund continued to attend the advisory council for Richard of York, although not as frequently as his brother Jasper. Both brothers were in attendance during a meeting in November of that year when a decision was made to reduce the size of the Royal Household. As a result, they each received an entourage of a chaplain, two esquires, two yeomen and two chamberlains.[9]

When the King recovered during the Christmas period of 1454, and dismissed York, with resultant hostility, it left both the Tudor brothers in a quandary. On 22 May 1455, Edmund was not present when the Wars of the Roses began with the First Battle of St Albans where Henry was captured by the forces of Richard of York.[9][10] Both brothers attended the following Parliament where York was once again named Protector of England. While York cancelled the majority of the grants Henry had made during his reign, those to Edmund and Jasper were exempt. Both brothers were absent from the second session of Parliament that year when it began on 12 November;[11] Edmund had been sent to Wales to ensure that the King's authority was enforced there after Gruffudd ap Nicolas had begun to move against other holdings.[12]

Capture, captivity and death

Tomb of Edmund Tudor, St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire

Gruffudd made war with the troops under Edmund, capturing the castles at Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Carreg Cennen by June 1456. The rebellion didn't last long, and by early August, Edmund's forces had retaken those castles although minor skirmishes continued for several months longer. While Edmund was in Wales, the King had deposed York. In retaliation, York sent 2,000 men under William Herbert on 10 August to take South Wales. When they arrived at Carmarthen Castle, they took the stronghold and captured Edmund Tudor.[13]

As Herbert's troops moved on to Aberystwyth,[13] Edmund was left behind, imprisoned in Carmarthen Castle. On 3 November 1456, Edmund became infected with the bubonic plague and died there. He was buried at the nearby Franciscan Church in Carmarthen. There were suspicions that Edmund may have been murdered, and so a trial was held several months later with several parties accused, but no one was found guilty. Edmund's remains were removed to the choir of St David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire, in 1539, due to the dissolution of the monasteries enacted by his grandson, King Henry VIII of England of the Royal House of Tudor.[14]

Lineage

Tudors of Penmynydd
Ednyfed Fychan
d. 1246
I[i][ii][iii][iv][v]Tudur ab EdnyfedGoronwy ab Ednyfed
d. 1268
II[i][ii][iii][iv][vi][v]Tudur Hen
(Tudur ap Goronwy)
d. 1311
III[i][ii][iv][vi][vii][v]Goronwy ap Tudur Hen
d. 1331		Tomos ap Llewelyn
d. 1343
IV[i][ii][iv][vi][viii][ix][v]Hywel ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1367		Tudur ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1367		Marged ferch TomosElen ferch Tomos
(mother of
Owain Glyndŵr)
V[i][ii][iv][viii][v]Goronwy ap Tudur
d. 1382		Rhys ap Tudur
ex. 1412		Ednyfed ap Tudur
d. 1382		Gwilym ap Tudur
d. 1413		Maredudd ap Tudur
d. 1406
VI[i][iv][viii][x][xi][v]Gwilym ap Griffith
(Griffiths of Penrhyn)		Morfydd ferch GoronwyTudur ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1400		Owen Tudor
(Owain Tudur)
(ca. 1400–1461)
VII[iv][x][xi][xii][v]Tudur FychanEdmund Tudor,
1st Earl of Richmond
(ca. 1430–1456)		Jasper Tudor,
Duke of Bedford
(1431–1495)		Owen Tudor
monk
VIII[i][iv][x][xi][xii][v]Owain Tudor
d. 1504/1505		Henry VII of England
(1457–1509)
IX[i][iv][xii]William Owen ap
Tudor Fychan		John Owen ap
Tudor Fychan		Richard Owen Theodor (I)
d. 1527(?)		Arthur
(1486–1502)		Henry VIII
(1491–1547)
X[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (II)
d. 1558(?)		William Pritchard
(William Bold)		Edward VI
(1537–1553)		Mary I
(1516–1558)		Elizabeth I
(1533–1603)
XI[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (III)David Owen
Theodor
d. 1624
XII[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (IV)
fl. 1645
XIII[i][iv][xii]Richard Owen Theodor (V)
fl. 1665
XIV[i][iv][xii]Richard Owen Theodor (VI)
fl. 1669
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m J. Williams (1869). "Penmynyth and the Tudors". Archaeologia Cambrensis. 15 (3rd ser): 278–294, 379–402.
  2. ^ a b c d e Glyn Roberts (1959). "EDNYFED FYCHAN ( EDNYFED ap CYNWRIG ) and his descendants". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  3. ^ a b Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 11". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glyn Roberts (1959). "Teulu Penwynydd". Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion: 17–37.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Burke, Bernard (1876). The Royal Families of England, Scotland (PDF). Pall Mall, London: Harrison. pp. 97–98.
  6. ^ a b c Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 12". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  7. ^ Peter Bartrum. "Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 05". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  8. ^ a b c Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 13". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  9. ^ Peter Bartrum. "Rhys ap Tewdwr 07". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  10. ^ a b c Glyn Roberts (1959). "GRIFFITH OF PENRHYN (Caerns.)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  11. ^ a b c Thomas Jones Pierce (1959). "OWAIN TUDOR ( c. 1400 - 1461 )". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  12. ^ a b c d e Thomas Jones Pierce (1959). "TUDOR family of Penmynydd , Anglesey — later members". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.

Notes

  1. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, pp. 28–29.
  2. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 32.
  3. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 33.
  4. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 39.
  5. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 40.
  6. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 34.
  7. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 35.
  8. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 37.
  9. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 41.
  10. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 42.
  11. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 43.
  12. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 44.
  13. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 45.
  14. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 46.

References

Peerage of England
New creation
Last held by John of Lancaster
 Earl of Richmond
1452–1456 		Succeeded by
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