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Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantagenet by virtue of being a direct male-line descendant of Edmund of Langley, King Edward III's fourth surviving son. However, it was through his mother, Anne Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, that Richard inherited his strongest claim to the throne, as the opposing House of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of Edward III. He also inherited vast estates and served in various offices of state in Ireland, France and England, a country he ultimately governed as Lord Protector due to the mental instability of King Henry VI.
Richard's conflicts with Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou, and other members of Henry's court, such as Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and his competing claim to the throne, were leading factors in the political upheaval of mid-fifteenth-century England, and a major cause of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Richard eventually attempted to take the throne, but was dissuaded, although it was agreed that he would become king on Henry's death. However, within weeks of securing this agreement (the Act of Accord), he was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, alongside his son, Edmund. Two of his surviving sons later ascended the throne: Edward IV and Richard III.
Richard of York was born on 22 September 1411, the son of Richard, Earl of Cambridge (1385–1415), and his wife Anne Mortimer (1388–1411). Both his parents were descended from King Edward III of England (1312–1377): his father was son of Edmund, 1st Duke of York (founder of the House of York), fourth surviving son of Edward III, whereas his mother Anne Mortimer was a great-granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward's second son. After the death in 1425 of Anne's childless brother Edmund, Earl of March, this ancestry supplied her son Richard, of the House of York, with a claim to the English throne that was arguably superior to that of the reigning House of Lancaster, descended from John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward III.
Richard had an only sister, Isabel. Richard's mother, Anne Mortimer, died during or shortly after his birth, and his father the Earl of Cambridge was beheaded in 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against the Lancastrian King Henry V. Within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and so Richard inherited Edward's title and lands, becoming 3rd duke of York. The lesser title but greater estates of the Mortimer family, along with their claim to the throne, also descended to him on the death of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, in 1425.
Richard of York already held a strong claim to the English throne, being the heir general of Edward III while also related to the same king in a direct male line of descent. Once he inherited the vast Mortimer estates, he also became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the king himself. An account shows that York's net income from Welsh and marcher lands alone was £3,430 in the year 1443–44.
Upon the death of the Earl of Cambridge, Richard became a ward of the crown. As he was an orphan, his property was managed by royal officials. Despite his father's plot against the king, along with his provocative ancestry—one which had been used in the past as a rallying point by enemies of the House of Lancaster—Richard was allowed to inherit his family estates without any legal constraints. His considerable lands as duke of York meant that his wardship was a valuable gift of the crown, and in December 1423 this was sold to Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
Little is recorded of Richard's early life. As a royal ward, in 1416 he was placed under the guardianship of the Lancastrian retainer Robert Waterton, under whose tutelage he remained until 1423, in a low public profile. Then, as ward of the Earl of Westmorland, York was brought up in the Neville family hearth until his majority. The earl had fathered an enormous family, having had twenty-two children, and had many daughters needing husbands; as was his right, he betrothed the thirteen-year-old Richard to his nine-year-old daughter Cecily Neville in 1424. The marriage, which took place by October 1429, meant that Richard was now related to much of the English upper aristocracy, many of whose members had themselves married into the Neville family. In October 1425, when Ralph Neville died, he bequeathed the wardship of York to his widow, Joan Beaufort. By now the wardship was even more valuable, as Richard had inherited the vast Mortimer estates on the death of the Earl of March.
Over the next few years, York was drawn more closely into the circle around the young king. On 19 May 1426 he was knighted at Leicester by John, Duke of Bedford, the younger brother of King Henry V. He was present at the coronation of King Henry VI on 6 November 1429 in Westminster Abbey, and on 20 January 1430 he acted as Constable of England for a duel in the presence of the king at Smithfield. He then followed Henry to France, being present at his coronation as king of France in Notre-Dame in 1431. Finally, on 12 May 1432, he came into his inheritance and was granted full control of his estates. On 22 April 1433, York was admitted to the knightly Order of the Garter.
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Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York
Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantagenet by virtue of being a direct male-line descendant of Edmund of Langley, King Edward III's fourth surviving son. However, it was through his mother, Anne Mortimer, a descendant of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp, that Richard inherited his strongest claim to the throne, as the opposing House of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of Edward III. He also inherited vast estates and served in various offices of state in Ireland, France and England, a country he ultimately governed as Lord Protector due to the mental instability of King Henry VI.
Richard's conflicts with Henry's wife, Margaret of Anjou, and other members of Henry's court, such as Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and his competing claim to the throne, were leading factors in the political upheaval of mid-fifteenth-century England, and a major cause of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Richard eventually attempted to take the throne, but was dissuaded, although it was agreed that he would become king on Henry's death. However, within weeks of securing this agreement (the Act of Accord), he was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, alongside his son, Edmund. Two of his surviving sons later ascended the throne: Edward IV and Richard III.
Richard of York was born on 22 September 1411, the son of Richard, Earl of Cambridge (1385–1415), and his wife Anne Mortimer (1388–1411). Both his parents were descended from King Edward III of England (1312–1377): his father was son of Edmund, 1st Duke of York (founder of the House of York), fourth surviving son of Edward III, whereas his mother Anne Mortimer was a great-granddaughter of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward's second son. After the death in 1425 of Anne's childless brother Edmund, Earl of March, this ancestry supplied her son Richard, of the House of York, with a claim to the English throne that was arguably superior to that of the reigning House of Lancaster, descended from John of Gaunt, the third son of Edward III.
Richard had an only sister, Isabel. Richard's mother, Anne Mortimer, died during or shortly after his birth, and his father the Earl of Cambridge was beheaded in 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against the Lancastrian King Henry V. Within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and so Richard inherited Edward's title and lands, becoming 3rd duke of York. The lesser title but greater estates of the Mortimer family, along with their claim to the throne, also descended to him on the death of his maternal uncle Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, in 1425.
Richard of York already held a strong claim to the English throne, being the heir general of Edward III while also related to the same king in a direct male line of descent. Once he inherited the vast Mortimer estates, he also became the wealthiest and most powerful noble in England, second only to the king himself. An account shows that York's net income from Welsh and marcher lands alone was £3,430 in the year 1443–44.
Upon the death of the Earl of Cambridge, Richard became a ward of the crown. As he was an orphan, his property was managed by royal officials. Despite his father's plot against the king, along with his provocative ancestry—one which had been used in the past as a rallying point by enemies of the House of Lancaster—Richard was allowed to inherit his family estates without any legal constraints. His considerable lands as duke of York meant that his wardship was a valuable gift of the crown, and in December 1423 this was sold to Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.
Little is recorded of Richard's early life. As a royal ward, in 1416 he was placed under the guardianship of the Lancastrian retainer Robert Waterton, under whose tutelage he remained until 1423, in a low public profile. Then, as ward of the Earl of Westmorland, York was brought up in the Neville family hearth until his majority. The earl had fathered an enormous family, having had twenty-two children, and had many daughters needing husbands; as was his right, he betrothed the thirteen-year-old Richard to his nine-year-old daughter Cecily Neville in 1424. The marriage, which took place by October 1429, meant that Richard was now related to much of the English upper aristocracy, many of whose members had themselves married into the Neville family. In October 1425, when Ralph Neville died, he bequeathed the wardship of York to his widow, Joan Beaufort. By now the wardship was even more valuable, as Richard had inherited the vast Mortimer estates on the death of the Earl of March.
Over the next few years, York was drawn more closely into the circle around the young king. On 19 May 1426 he was knighted at Leicester by John, Duke of Bedford, the younger brother of King Henry V. He was present at the coronation of King Henry VI on 6 November 1429 in Westminster Abbey, and on 20 January 1430 he acted as Constable of England for a duel in the presence of the king at Smithfield. He then followed Henry to France, being present at his coronation as king of France in Notre-Dame in 1431. Finally, on 12 May 1432, he came into his inheritance and was granted full control of his estates. On 22 April 1433, York was admitted to the knightly Order of the Garter.