(Redirected from Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York):''This article is about the son of King Edward IV who was imprisoned in the Tower of London. For the article about the father of King Edward IV and King Richard III see
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York.''
'Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York and 1st Duke of Norfolk' (
17 August 1473 –
1483?) was the sixth child and second son of
King Edward IV of
England and
Elizabeth Woodville. He was born in
Shrewsbury.
He was a younger brother of
Elizabeth of York,
Mary of York,
Cecily of York,
Edward V of England and
Margaret Plantagenet (Princess of York). He was also an older brother of
Anne of York,
George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford,
Catherine of York and
Bridget of York.
He was created
Duke of York in
1474. In January 15
1478, when he was about 4 years old, he married the 5-year-old
Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, who had inherited the vast Mowbray estates in
1476. Because York's father-in-law's dukedom had become extinct when Anne could not inherit it, he was created
Duke of Norfolk in
1481.
His father died on
9 April 1483. Thus his brother Edward, Prince of Wales, became King of England, and Richard his
Heir Presumptive. This was not to last.
Robert Stillington, the
Bishop of Bath and Wells, presented evidence that Edward IV had contracted a secret marriage to
Lady Eleanor Talbot in
1461. Talbot was still alive when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in
1464. The Regency council under
Richard Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Gloucester, concluded that this was a case of
bigamy, invalidating the second marriage and the legitimacy of all children of Edward IV by this marriage. Both Edward and Richard were declared illegitimate and removed from the line of succession on
25 June 1483. The Duke of Gloucester, as a surviving younger brother of Edward IV, became King Richard III.
The Duke of York was sent to the
Tower of London by King Richard in mid-1483. What happened to him and his brother—the
Princes in the Tower—after that has been the subject of much speculation and debate. In the
1490s,
Perkin Warbeck claimed to be Richard, Duke of York, but he was an imposter. Richard's might have been the smaller of two skeletons discovered in a chest in the Tower in
1674, but there is as yet no evidence one way or the other.
In popular culture
The comedy series ''
The Black Adder'' features an
alternative history where Richard succeeded his uncle to the throne as
King Richard IV of England (reigned
1485–
1498, though Richard has two grown up sons in ''The Black Adder'' in 1485, in reality he would have been twelve years old) before being poisoned and succeeded by
King Henry VII.
References
★
British Kings & Queens, Ashley, Mike, , , Carroll & Graf, 2002, ISBN 0-7867-1104-3 page 218
★
The Princes in the Tower, Weir, Alison, , , Ballantine Books., 1995, ISBN 0-3453-9178-0
See Also
★
Princes in the Tower
External links
★
The Peerage.com
★
The Princes in the Tower
★
stirnet.com