Edmund, Earl of Rutland (17 May 1443 – 30 December 1460) was the fourth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and

Cecily Neville Cecily Neville (3 May 1415 – 31 May 1495) was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England— Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", beca ...

. He was a younger brother of Edward,

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales ( Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Mar ...

, the future King Edward IV who came to the throne in 1461, the year after Edmund's death. He was born in Rouen, then the capital of English-occupied France and his father held the office of Lieutenant of France. He was killed at the age of 17 either during or shortly after the Battle of Wakefield, during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

. He was created

Earl of Rutland Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

by King Henry VI probably at some time before 1454, aged about 11, as Edmund and his elder brother Edward signed a letter to their father on 14 June 1454 as "E. Rutland" and "E. Marche". No record of the creation survives.

Lord Chancellor of Ireland

In 1451, Edmund's father, who held the title of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, appointed Edmund as Lord Chancellor of Ireland. As Edmund was underage, the duties of the position were held by Deputy Chancellors. His first Deputy Chancellor was

Edmund Oldhall Edmund Oldhall (after 1390 – 1459) was an English-born cleric and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was Bishop of Meath and acting Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was a brother of the leading Yorkist statesman Sir William Oldhall. He wa ...

Bishop of Meath The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Unt ...

. His brother Sir

William Oldhall Sir William Oldhall (1390?–1460) was an English soldier and Yorkist supporter, who served as Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1450 and 1451. Life The eldest son and heir of two-time Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, Sir Edm ...

was Chamberlain to the Duke of York and was likely behind that appointment. He acted as de facto Chancellor until 1454. Oldhall was replaced by

John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 2nd Earl of Waterford, 8th Baron Talbot, KG (12 DEC 1413 – 10 July 1460) was an English nobleman and soldier. He was the son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot ...

, who also held the office of

Lord High Steward of Ireland The Lord High Steward of Ireland is a hereditary Great Officer of State in the United Kingdom, sometimes known as the Hereditary Great Seneschal. The Earls of Shrewsbury (Earls of Waterford in the Peerage of Ireland) have held the office since th ...

. He would continue serving as the de facto Chancellor until his death at the Battle of Northampton (10 July 1460). His appointment and those of his Deputies were acknowledged by the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two cham ...

which at this time first asserted its independence. The Parliament declared that Ireland held separate legislature from the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various History of Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, ...

and its subjects were only subject to the laws and statutes of "the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons of Ireland, freely admitted and accepted in their Parliaments and Great Councils". According to Parliamentary decisions during his term, the Irish subjects were only bound to answer

writ In common law, a writ (Anglo-Saxon ''gewrit'', Latin ''breve'') is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs, subpoenas, a ...

s by the Great Seal of Ireland, held by the Lord Chancellors. Any officer attempting to enforce the rule of decrees from England would lose all of his property in Ireland and be subject to a fine. The House of York in Ireland had won the support of

Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare Thomas FitzJohn FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare ( – 25 March 1477), was an Irish peer and statesman of the fifteenth century who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland. Background Kildare was the son of John Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, 6th ...

, and

James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond (d. 1462), called 'the Usurper', was a younger son of Gerald FitzGerald, 3rd Earl of Desmond, and Lady Eleanor, daughter of James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond. Life The younger brother of John FitzGerald, 4 ...

. Several allies of the FitzGeralds followed them in their loyalties. On the other hand, the House of Lancaster found its main Irish supporter in the person of

James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormonde James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire (24 November 1420 – 1 May 1461) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and soldier. Butler was a staunch Lancastrian and supporter of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses. H ...

Death

Edmund died at the age of seventeen either during or shortly after the Battle of Wakefield (30 December 1460) during the

. He had fought in the battle at the side of his father. After the tide of battle turned against his father he attempted to escape over Wakefield Bridge, but was overtaken and killed, possibly by the Lancastrian Lord Clifford, to avenge Clifford's father's death at the

First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisb ...

. By the account given by Roderick O'Flanagan in his 1870 biography of Edmund:

Urged by his tutor, a priest named Robert Aspell, he was no sooner aware that the field was lost than he sought safety by flight. Their movements were intercepted by the Lancastrians, and Lord Clifford made him prisoner, but did not then know his rank. Struck with the richness of his armour and equipment, Lord Clifford demanded his name. "Save him", implored the Chaplain; "for he is the Prince's son, and peradventure may do you good hereafter."
This was an impolitic appeal, for it denoted hopes of the House of York being again in the ascendant, which the Lancastrians, flushed with recent victory, regarded as impossible. The ruthless noble swore a solemn oath: "Thy father", said he, "slew mine; and so will I do thee and all thy kin;" and with these words he rushed on the hapless youth, and drove his dagger to the hilt in his heart. Thus fell, at the early age of seventeen, Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland, Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

However this story does not appear in any of the accounts of the battle written by the chroniclers of the time. Edmund was possibly executed on the orders of the Lancastrian Lord Clifford, or by some accounts, by Lord Clifford himself. His head was displayed spiked upon the gates of

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

along with those of his father and of his uncle, Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Edmund and his father were buried at

Pontefract Priory Pontefract Priory was a Cluniac monastery dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, founded about 1090 by Robert de Lacy, 2nd Baron of Pontefract, and located in Yorkshire, England. It existed until the dissolution of the monasteries. The Church and ...

. The bodies were reburied, with great pomp, in the family vault at

Fotheringhay Castle Fotheringhay Castle, also known as ''Fotheringay Castle'', was a High Middle Age Norman Motte-and-bailey castle in the village of Fotheringhay to the north of the market town of Oundle, Northamptonshire, England (). It was probably founde ...

on 29–30 July 1476.Charles Ross, ''Edward IV'', p. 271 Lord Clifford would himself be slain in March 1461 at the

Battle of Ferrybridge The Battle of Ferrybridge, 28 March 1461, was a preliminary engagement between the houses of York and Lancaster before the larger battle of Towton, during the period now known as the Wars of the Roses. Background After proclaiming himself k ...

In popular culture

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play, ''

Henry VI, Part 3 ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas '' 1 Henry VI'' deals with the loss of Eng ...

'', Rutland is portrayed as a young boy who is brutally murdered by Clifford after pleading for his life; the source appears to be

Edward Hall Edward Hall ( – ) was an English lawyer and historian, best known for his ''The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancastre and Yorke''—commonly known as ''Hall's Chronicle''—first published in 1548. He was also sever ...

's 1548 ''Chronicle'', which says, incorrectly, that Rutland is "scarce of the age of twelve years" at his death.

Arms

Ancestors

References

External links

*
The lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland, from the earliest times to the reign of Queen Victoria
London 1870 {{Authority control 1443 births 1460 deaths People from Rouen House of York House of Plantagenet People of the Wars of the Roses Lord chancellors of Ireland Burials at the Church of Saint Mary and All Saints, Fotheringhay Earls of Rutland Younger sons of dukes