Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset (21 February 1499 – 19 June 1500) was an English prince, and the sixth child of King

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort ...

and his wife,

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which ma ...

. He was styled from birth

Duke of Somerset Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

, but never formally created a peer.

Early life

Edmund Tudor was born on 21 February 1499, at

Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, Kent. He was baptised in the Church of the Observant Friars on 24 February 1499.Alison Weir, ''Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy'' (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 152 The festivities for the christening were considered very splendid. The child was named Edmund after his paternal grandfather,

Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond ( – 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 Catherin ...

, father of

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufo ...

.Stephen, Leslie
''Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 36'' pp. 397–400
MacMillan: London, 1893 His

godparents In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelon ...

were his paternal grandmother

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant of ...

Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (3 February 1478 – 17 May 1521) was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Katherine Woodville, and nephew of Elizabeth Woodville and King Edward IV. Thu ...

and

Richard Foxe Richard Foxe (sometimes Richard Fox) ( 1448 – 5 October 1528) was an English churchman, the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was successively Bishop of Exeter, Bath and Wells, Durham, and Winchester, and became also Lo ...

gave the child a gift of £100 and rewarded the midwife and nurses.
The Life and Death of Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset
', The Freelance History Writer, Retrieved 25/04 2020 Edmund spent some time in the royal nursery of

Eltham Palace Eltham Palace is a large house at Eltham ( ) in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The house consists of the medieval great hall of a former royal residence, to which an Art Deco extension was added in the 1930s. ...

with his elder sisters

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

and

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

and his brother the Duke of York (afterwards

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

). The eldest sibling,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

, did not reside in the nursery with his siblings, as he had his own household. Edmund was present with his elder siblings Margaret, Mary and Henry when

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

and

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

visited the royal nursery at Eltham Palace in September 1499. The seven-month-old Edmund was held in the arms of his nurse during the visit.Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (editor). ''Burke's Guide to the Royal Family'', Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, p. 204.

Duke of Somerset

Edmund is said to have been created Duke of Somerset, but no enrolment of a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

of such creation is to be found. It seems likely that, although he may have been styled Duke of Somerset, he died before he was so created. His elder brother Henry, afterwards

King Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

, was not created Duke of York until he was above 3 years of age.

Death

Edmund died on 19 June 1500, at the Old Palace, Hatfield, Herts, aged 15 months. The cause of Edmund's death is unknown, and he could have died of a number of childhood diseases; at the time of his death, however, it is known that the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

was rampant. King Henry and Queen Elizabeth had travelled to

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and stayed for 40 days. The royal children were removed from

to the more remote

Hatfield House Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house, a leading example of the prodigy house, was built in 1611 by Robert Ceci ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

for isolation. On 16 June, as the plague abated, Henry and Elizabeth sailed to

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

. It was either during their return or upon their arrival that they received the news of Edmund's death at Hatfield.

Funeral

Edmund was given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, and records indicate that the king gave over £242 for the burial of Edmund.Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses, Sarah Gristwood, (New York: Basic Books, 2013), 242. He was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

on 22 June 1500. He is buried near his sisters,

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

and, three years later, Katherine Tudor, who also both died young.

References

External links

* {{cite book , last1=Hutchinson , first1=John , title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen , date=1892 , publisher=Cross & Jackman , location=Canterbury , pages=42–43 , edition=Subscription , chapter= Prince Edmund Dukes of Somerset House of Tudor 15th-century English nobility 16th-century English nobility 1499 births 1500 deaths Burials at Westminster Abbey Children of Henry VII of England Royalty and nobility who died as children Sons of kings