Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales ( or 1476 9 April 1484), was the son and

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

of King

Richard III of England Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Bosw ...

by his wife

Anne Neville Anne Neville (11 June 1456 – 16 March 1485) was List of English royal consorts , Queen of England from 26 June 1483 until her death in 1485 as the wife of King Richard III. She was the younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Richard N ...

. He was Richard's only legitimate child and died aged seven or ten.

Birth and titles

Edward was born at Middleham Castle, a stronghold close to

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

that became

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

's principal base in northern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.Panton, p. 162-163 His birth date is usually given as around December 1473, but he may have been born as late as 1476. Professor Charles Ross wrote that the date 1473 "lacks authority. In fact, he was probably not born until 1476." The act of Parliament that settled the dispute between George of Clarence and Richard over Anne Beauchamp's inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead" was dated May 1474. The doubts cast by Clarence on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne. There were no provisions, however, for their heirs in case of this said divorce, which seems to confirm Richard and Anne had no children as of 1474. However, such provision was the province of the ruling king for those of royal blood, so would have been moot. Edward was mostly kept at Middleham, and was known to be a sickly child. In 1478, Edward was granted the title of Earl of Salisbury, previously held by the attainted

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the sixth child and third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He p ...

. The title became extinct on his death. His father became

King of England The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers Constitutional monarchy, regula ...

on 26 June 1483, deposing Edward's cousin

Edward V Edward V (2 November 1470 – ) was King of England from 9 April to 25 June 1483. He succeeded his father, Edward IV, upon the latter's death. Edward V was never crowned, and his brief reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and Lord ...

. Edward did not attend his parents' coronation, probably due to illness. He was created

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

and

Earl of Chester The Earldom of Chester () was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England, extending principally over the counties of Cheshire and Flintshire. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, ...

in a splendid ceremony in

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

on 8 September 1483, following his parents' royal progress across England.

Death

Edward died on 9 April 1484, the anniversary of the death of his uncle,

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

. The reasons for his sudden death are unknown. The ''

Croyland Chronicle The ''Croyland Chronicle'', also called ''Crowland Chronicle'', is an important primary source for English medieval history, particularly the late 15th century. It is named for its place of origin, the Benedictine Croyland Abbey, Abbey of Croyl ...

'' reads: Edward's sudden death left Richard without a legitimate child. Contemporary historian John Rous recorded that Richard declared his nephew Edward, Earl of Warwick, his heir-presumptive, but there is no other evidence of this, and seems unlikely as Richard's own claim was based on the attainting of Warwick's father. Similarly, John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln also seemed to have been designated as Richard's heir-presumptive, but was never publicly proclaimed as such. Richard's enemies were inclined to believe that Edward's sudden death was

divine retribution Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity imposed punishment on previous inhabitants of their land, causing th ...

for Richard's alleged involvement in the usurpation and subsequent disappearance of the sons of Edward IV, his nephews

Edward V of England Edward V (2 November 1470 – ) was King of England from 9 April to 25 June 1483. He succeeded his father, Edward IV, upon the latter's death. Edward V was never crowned, and his brief reign was dominated by the influence of his uncle and Lord ...

and Richard, Duke of York. It may have also emboldened them to renew hostilities.

Burial

The location of Edward's burial is unknown. A mutilated white alabaster

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

("empty tomb") in the Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire, with an effigy of a child, was long believed to represent Edward of Middleham, but is now thought to be an earlier work depicting one of the Neville family.

Titles, styles, and arms

Titles

*15 February 1478 onwards: Earl of Salisbury *26 June 1483 onwards: Duke of Cornwall *19 July 1483 onwards:

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

*8 September 1483 onwards: Prince of Wales and Earl of ChesterKendall P. M., ''Richard III'', 1955

Arms

From 1483 to 1484, Edward used the arms of his father, debruised with a label of three points Argent.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* * , - , - , - , - {{authority control 1470s births 1484 deaths English royalty House of York Princes of Wales English heirs apparent who never acceded 15th-century English nobility 15th-century Welsh people Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Children of Richard III of England People from Middleham Barons Monthermer Earls of Salisbury English royalty who died as children Sons of kings English princes Dukes of Cornwall