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Richard of Shrewsbury
Duke of York; Duke of Norfolk; Earl of Nottingham
Richard in stained glass, 1482–83, Burrell Collection
Born	17 August 1473 Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Died	c. mid-1483 (aged 9–10) Tower of London?
Burial	Unknown
Spouse	Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk ​ ​(m. 1478; died 1481)​
House	York
Father	Edward IV
Mother	Elizabeth Woodville

English Royalty
House of York
Arms of Plantagenet
Edward IV
Elizabeth, Queen of England Mary Cecily, Viscountess Welles Edward V, King of England Margaret Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke Anne, Lady Howard George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford Catherine, Countess of Devon Bridget
v t e

Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York (17 August 1473 – c. 1483), was the second son of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville. Richard and his older brother, who briefly reigned as King Edward V of England, mysteriously disappeared shortly after their uncle Richard III became king in 1483.

Early life

Richard was born in Shrewsbury on 17 August 1473, the sixth child and second son of reigning King of England Edward IV and his wife Elizabeth Woodville.

Prince Richard was created Duke of York on 28 May 1474 and was knighted on 18 April 1475. He was made a Knight of the Garter on 25 May 1475. From this time on, it became a tradition for the second son of the English sovereign to be Duke of York.

Marriage to Anne de Mowbray

In January 1476, John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, Earl of Nottingham and Warenne, died leaving his infant daughter Anne as his sole heir. Anne was quickly marked out as a bride for Richard. In anticipation of the marriage, Richard was created Earl of Nottingham on 12 June 1476, and was also given the titles of Duke of Norfolk and earl Warenne on 7 February 1477.

A papal dispensation for the marriage was obtained on 12 May 1477 because the children were too young to contract a valid marriage. Additionally they were "related in the third and fourth degrees of kindred". According to Medieval canon law, the minimum age for marriage was 14 for boys and 12 for girls, but it was not unknown for aristocratic children to be married much younger for political reasons. On 15 January 1478, in St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster, 4-year-old Richard married the 6-year-old Anne.

Anne de Mowbray died in Greenwich on 19 November 1481. Her estates should have passed to William, Viscount Berkeley and to John, Lord Howard, the co-heirs of the last duke's great-aunts. Edward IV was not willing to relinquish the wealthy Mowbray estates, and so in January 1483, Parliament passed an act that gave the Mowbray estates to Richard for his lifetime (and at his death to his heirs if he had any). The rights of the two co-heirs at law were extinguished; Viscount Berkeley had financial difficulties and King Edward IV paid off and forgave those debts. Berkeley then renounced his claims to the Mowbray estate before parliament in 1483. Nothing was done for Lord Howard.

Heir presumptive

Richard's father, King Edward IV, died on 9 April 1483. Thus his elder brother Edward, Prince of Wales, became King of England and was acclaimed as such, and Richard his heir presumptive. Fearing for her family's safety, the Queen Dowager arrived with her family to Westminster Abbey seeking sanctuary in April 1483. Her eldest son was taken by his regent, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to the Tower of London, allegedly to prepare for his coronation.

On 19 May 1483, Edward was lodged in the Tower. In June 1483, the Duke of Gloucester requested that Richard join his brother, King Edward V in the Tower and Queen Elizabeth was forced to hand over the young boy. Richard entered the Tower on 16 June.

A priest, now generally believed to have been Robert Stillington, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, testified that Edward IV had agreed to marry Lady Eleanor Talbot in 1461. Lady Eleanor was still alive when Edward married Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 and the Regency Council under the late King's brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, concluded that this was a case of bigamy. This invalidated the second marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and the legitimacy of all children of their union. Titulus Regius declared both Edward and Richard as illegitimate and removed from the line of succession on 25 June 1483. The Duke of Gloucester, as the only surviving brother of Edward IV, became King Richard III.

Possible fate

The Duke of York was sent to the Tower of London, then a royal residence, by King Richard III in mid-1483, where he was held with his brother. They were sometimes seen in the garden of the Tower, but there are no known sightings of them after the summer of 1483. What happened to the two of them—the Princes in the Tower—after their disappearance remains unknown. Tudor History was quick to blame his uncle, Richard.

Thomas More wrote that the princes were smothered to death with their pillows, and his account forms the basis of William Shakespeare's play Richard III, in which Tyrrell suborns Forrest and Dighton to murder the princes on Richard's orders. Subsequent re-evaluations of Richard III have questioned his guilt, beginning with William Cornwallis early in the 17th century. Historian D. E. Rhodes stated that the boys were both murdered, probably in August.

In the period before the boys' disappearance, Edward was regularly being visited by a doctor; historian David Baldwin extrapolates that contemporaries may have believed Edward had died either of an illness or as the result of attempts to cure him.

Bones reportedly belonging to two children were discovered in 1674 by workmen rebuilding a stairway in the Tower. On the orders of the reigning king Charles II, these were subsequently placed in Westminster Abbey, in an urn bearing the names of Edward and Richard.

The bones were re-examined in 1933 at which time it was discovered the skeletons were incomplete and had been interred with animal bones. It has never been proven that the bones belonged to the princes.

In 1789, workmen carrying out repairs in St George's Chapel, Windsor, rediscovered and accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Adjoining this was another vault, which was found to contain the coffins of two children. This tomb was inscribed with the names of two of Edward IV's children: George, Duke of Bedford, who had died at the age of two; and Mary of York who had died at the age of 14. Both had predeceased the King. However, the remains of these two children were later found elsewhere in the chapel, leaving the occupants of the children's coffins within the tomb unknown.

In 1486, Richard of Shrewsbury's eldest sister Elizabeth married Henry VII, thereby uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster.

Perkin Warbeck

In 1491, in Cork, Perkin Warbeck, a young man of Flemish origin was proclaimed by a variety of Yorkist supporters led by the Irish city's former Mayor John Atwater to be Richard. He claimed to have escaped from the Tower and spent the intervening years on the run. Over the next six years, Warbeck travelled across Europe, receiving recognition from a number of monarchs including Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and James IV of Scotland as "Richard IV" of England. This support included Margaret of York, the aunt of the real Richard. Following his capture after a failed invasion of England in 1497, Warbeck was held in the Tower of London. He confessed to being an impostor, and was later executed following an attempt to escape.

Arms

As son of the king, Richard was granted use of the arms of the kingdom, differentiated by a label argent, on the first point a canton gules.

See also

• List of people who disappeared

Ancestry

References

Notes

1. Anne was born on 10 December 1472.

Citations

1. "Edward V & Richard Duke of York". Westminster Abbey. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
2. ^ Gairdner, James (1896). "Richard (1472-1483)". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 185.
3. Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Family: the Complete Genealogy. Vintage Books. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-0995-3973-5.
4. ^ Watson & White 2016, p. 229.
5. ^ Ross 1974, p. 248. sfn error: no target: CITEREFRoss1974 (help)
6. Watson & White 2016, p. 230.
7. Ross 1974, pp. 248–249. sfn error: no target: CITEREFRoss1974 (help)
8.  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mowbray". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 948.
9. Watson & White 2016, p. 232.
10. ^ Rhodes 1962, p. 305.
11. Hancock 2011, pp. 40–43, 103.
12. Horrox, Rosemary. "Edward V of England". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 25 August 2013. (subscription required)
13. Kendall, P. M., Richard III, Aylesbury 1972, p. 427; in the Encomium of Richard III, dedicated to Sir John Donne.
14. Baldwin, David (2013) "The White Queen – What happened to the Princes in the Tower?", BBC History. Accessed 24 December 2022.
15. Steane, John (1993). The Archaeology of the Medieval English Monarchy (PDF). Routledge. p. 65.
16. Weir 1995.
17. Chapter Records XXIII to XXVI, The Chapter Library, St. George's Chapel, Windsor (Permission required)
18. William St. John Hope: "Windsor Castle: An Architectural History", pages 418–419. (1913). 3..Vetusta Monumenta, Volume III, p. 4 (1789).
19. 1.Chapter Records XXIII to XXVI, The Chapter Library, St. George's Chapel, Windsor (Permission required) 2.William St. John Hope: "Windsor Castle: An Architectural History", pp. 418–419. (1913). 3.Vetusta Monumenta, Volume III, p. 4 (1789).
20. Porter, Linda (2013). Crown of Thistles: The Fatal Inheritance of Mary, Queen of Scots. Pan Macmillan. pp. 96–122. ISBN 978-0-330-53437-6.
21. Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family

Sources

• Amin, Nathen (15 April 2021). Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck, and Warwick. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-7509-1.
• Arthurson, Ian (4 October 2009). The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-9563-7.
• Ashdown-Hill, John (5 January 2015). The Dublin King: The True Story of Edward Earl of Warwick, Lambert Simnel and the 'Princes in the Tower'. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-6316-9.
• Ashley, Mike (2002). British Kings & Queens. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1104-3. page 218
• Baldwin, David (2016). The Lost Prince: The Survival of Richard of York. History Press Limited. ISBN 978-0-7509-7856-9.
• Bennett, Michael (21 March 2024). Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke. History Press. ISBN 978-1-80399-723-0.
• Dodds, M. H. (24 November 1951). "The little princes in the Tower". Notes and Queries. CXCVI (nov24): 524. doi:10.1093/nq/CXCVI.nov24.524. ISSN 0029-3970.
• Hancock, Peter (2011). Richard III and the Murder in the Tower. History Press. ISBN 0752457977.
• Langley, Philippa (November 2023). The Princes in the Tower: Solving History's Greatest Cold Case. The History Press. ISBN 978-1-80399-541-0.
• Lewis, Matthew (11 September 2017). The Survival of the Princes in the Tower: Murder, Mystery and Myth. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-8528-4.
• Llewellyn Smith, Julia (17 November 2023). "'Historians said I was unhinged': Philippa Langley cracks mystery of princes in the tower". The Times. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
• Rhodes, D. E. (1962). "The Princes in the Tower and Their Doctor". The English Historical Review. 77 (303): 304–306. doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXVII.CCCIII.304. ISSN 0013-8266. JSTOR 561546.
• Ross, Charles (1974). Edward IV. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02781-7.
• Watson, Bruce; White, William (2016). "Anne Mowbray, Duchess of York: A 15th-century child burial from the abbey of St Clare, in the London Boroush of Tower Hamlets" (PDF). London and Middlesex Archaeological Society Transactions. 67: 227–260. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2021.
• Weir, Alison (1995) . The Princes in the Tower. Ballantine Books. ISBN 9781784700041.

v t e House of Plantagenet
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou Wife: Empress Matilda Henry II of England Geoffrey, Count of Nantes William FitzEmpress Illegitimate: Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey Emma of Anjou Mary of Shaftesbury
Henry II of England Wife: Eleanor of Aquitaine William IX, Count of Poitiers Henry the Young King Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony Richard I of England Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany Eleanor of England, Queen of Castile Joan of England, Queen of Sicily John, King of England Illegitimate: Geoffrey (archbishop of York) William de Longespée, Earl of Salisbury
Henry the Young King Wife: Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary William Plantagenet (died in infancy)
Richard I of England Wife: Berengaria of Navarre Illegitimate: Philip of Cognac
John, King of England Wife: Isabella of Angoulême Henry III of England Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Joan of England, Queen of Scotland Isabella of England Eleanor of England, Countess of Leicester Illegitimate: Joan, Lady of Wales Richard FitzRoy Oliver FitzRoy Geoffrey FitzRoy John FitzRoy Henry FitzRoy Osbert Gifford Eudes FitzRoy Bartholomew FitzRoy Maud FitzRoy Isabel FitzRoy Philip FitzRoy William de Forz
Henry III of England Wife: Eleanor of Provence Edward I of England Margaret of England Beatrice of England Edmund Crouchback Katherine of England
Edward I of England Wives: Eleanor of Castile Margaret of France, Queen of England Henry Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar Joan, Countess of Hertford and Gloucester Alphonso, Earl of Chester Margaret of England, Duchess of Brabant Mary of Woodstock Elizabeth of Rhuddlan Edward II of England Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent
Edward II of England Wife: Isabella of France Edward III of England John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall Eleanor of Woodstock Joan of the Tower Illegitimate: Adam
Edward III of England Wife: Philippa of Hainault Edward the Black Prince Isabella de Coucy Joan of England Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York Mary of Waltham Margaret, Countess of Pembroke Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester Illegitimate: John de Southeray Jane Northland Joan Skerne
Richard II of England Wives: Anne of Bohemia Isabella of Valois
Henry IV of England Wives: Mary de Bohun Joan of Navarre, Queen of England Henry V of England Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Blanche of England Philippa of England Illegitimate: Edmund Leboorde
Henry V of England Wife: Catherine of Valois Henry VI of England
Henry VI of England Wife: Margaret of Anjou Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales
Edward IV Wife: Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth of York Mary of York Cecily of York Edward V Margaret of York Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York Anne of York, Lady Howard George Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford Catherine of York Bridget of York Illegitimate: Elizabeth Plantagenet Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle Grace Plantagenet
Edward V no consort or issue
Richard III of England Wife: Anne Neville Edward of Middleham, Prince of Wales Illegitimate: John of Gloucester Katherine, Countess of Pembroke Richard of Eastwell
Category

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• 1480s missing person cases
• 15th-century English nobility
• Burials at Westminster Abbey
• Children of Edward IV
• Disappeared princes
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