Descendants of EDWARD IV PLANTAGENET King of England
First Generation 
1. Edward IV PLANTAGENET King of England, son of Richard PLANTAGENET Duke of York and Lady Cicely NEVILL, was born on April 28, 1442 in Rouen, , Haute-Normandie, France,1 died on April 9, 1483 in London, , Greater London, England aged 40, and was buried in London, Winsor Castle, , England.
Edward of York was born on April 28, 1442, at Rouen in France, the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York (a leading claimant to the throne of England) and Cecily Neville. York's challenge to the ruling family marked the beginning of the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. When his father was killed in 1460, at the Battle of Wakefield, pressing his claim against the Lancastrian king, Henry VI of England, Edward inherited his claim.
With the support of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick ("The Kingmaker"), Edward, already showing great promise as a leader of men, defeated the Lancastrians in a succession of battles. While Henry and his militant queen, Margaret of Anjou, were campaigning in the north, Warwick gained control of the capital and had Edward declared king in London in 1461. Edward strengthened his claim with a decisive victory at the Battle of Towton in the same year, in the course of which the Lancastrian army was virtually wiped out.
Edward was tall, strong, handsome, affable (even with subjects), generous, and popular. Warwick, believing that he could continue to rule through him, pressed him to enter into a marital alliance with a major European power. Edward, who had appeared to go along with the wishes of his mentor, then alienated Warwick by secretly marrying a widow, Elizabeth Woodville (possibly having previously married another widow, Lady Eleanor Talbot, even more secretly). Elizabeth had a large group of relatively poor but very ambitious, and until the Battle of Towton, Lancastrian relations. While it is true that these relations did dominate the marriage market and were given numerous titles, they were given little land which was the true source of power and thus were not a threat to Warwick's own power. However, Warwick resented the influence they had over the King and was angry at the emergence of a rival group for the King's favour, so with the aid of Edward's disaffected younger brother George, Duke of Clarence, the Earl led an army against Edward.
The main part of the king's army (without Edward) was defeated at the Battle of Edgecote Moor, and Edward was subsequently captured at Olney. Warwick attempted to rule in Edward's name, but the nobility, many of whom owed their preferments to the king, were restive. With the emergence of a rebellion, Warwick was forced to release Edward. Edward did not seek to destroy either Warwick or Clarence, instead seeking reconciliation with them. However, shortly afterwards Warwick and Clarence rebelled again. After a failed rebellion in 1470, Warwick and Clarence were forced to flee to France. There, they made an alliance with the wife of Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, and he agreed to restore Henry VI in return for French support in an invasion which took place in 1470. This time, Edward was forced to flee when he learned Warwick's brother, John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu, had also switched to the Lancastrian side, making his military position untenable.
Henry VI was briefly restored to the throne in an act known as the Readeption of Henry VI, and Edward took refuge in Burgundy. The rulers of Burgundy were his brother-in-law Charles, Duke of Burgundy and his sister Margaret of Burgundy. Despite the fact that Charles was initially unwilling to help Edward, the French declared war on Burgundy and so Charles decided to give his aid to Edward, and from there he raised an army to win back his kingdom.
When he returned to England with a relatively small force he avoided capture by potentially hostile forces by stating his claim, just as Henry Bolingbroke had done seventy years earlier, that he merely desired to reclaim his dukedom. The city of York however closed its gates to him, but as he marched southwards he began to gather support, and Clarence (who had realised that his fortunes would be better off as brother to a king than under Henry VI) reunited with him. Edward defeated Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. With Warwick dead, he eliminated the remaining Lancastrian resistance at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. The Lancastrian heir, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, was killed either on the battlefield or shortly afterwards, and a few days later, on the night that Edward re-entered London, Henry VI, who was being held prisoner, was murdered in order to completely remove the Lancastrian opposition.
Edward's two younger brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later King Richard III of England) were married to Isabella Neville and Anne Neville. They were both daughters of Warwick by Anne Beauchamp and rival heirs to the considerable inheritance of their still-living mother. Clarence and Gloucester were at loggerheads for much of the rest of his reign. Clarence was eventually found guilty of plotting against Edward and was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was "privately executed" (later tradition states he drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine) on February 18, 1478.
Edward did not face any further rebellions after his restoration, as the Lancastrian line had virtually been extinguished, and the only rival left was Henry Tudor, who was living in exile. Edward declared war on France in 1475, and came to terms with the Treaty of Picquigny which provided him with an immediate payment of 75,000 crowns and a yearly pension thereafter of 50,000 crowns. Edward backed an attempt by Alexander, Duke of Albany, brother of the Scottish king James III to take the throne in 1482, and despite the fact that when Gloucester invaded he was able to capture Edinburgh and James III, Albany reneged on his agreement with Edward, and Gloucester decided to withdraw from his position of strength in Edinburgh. However, Gloucester did acquire the recovery of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Edward fell ill at Easter 1483, but lingered on long enough to add some codicils to his will, the most important being his naming of his brother Gloucester as Protector after his death. He died on 9 April 1483 and is buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. He was succeeded by his twelve-year-old son, Edward V of England. Although his son was quickly barred from the throne and succeeded by Richard of Gloucester, Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York, later became the Queen consort of Henry VII of England.
He had ten legitimate children by Elizabeth Woodville though only seven survived him:
Edward married Elizabeth WOODVILLE, daughter of Richard WOODVILLE Earl Rivers and Jacquetta OF LUXEMBOURG zu St. Pol, on May 1, 1864 in Grafton Regis, , Northampton, England. Elizabeth was born in 1438 in Grafton Regis, , Northampton, England1 and died on June 8, 1492 in London, , Greater London, England1 aged 54. Another name for Elizabeth was WYDEVILLE.
Children from this marriage were:
2 F i. Elizabeth PLANTAGENET of York was born on February 11, 14662 and died on February 11, 15032 aged 37.
Elizabeth married Henry VII TUDOR King of England, son of Edmund TUDOR 1st Earl of Richmond and Margaret BEAUFORT Countess of Richmond, on January 18, 1486 in Westminster, London, , England. Henry was born on January 28, 1457 in Pembroke Castle, , Pembroke, Wales, died on April 21, 1509 aged 52, and was buried in Westminster Abby, London, Middlesex, England.
3 F ii. Mary PLANTAGENET of York was born in August 14672 and died on May 23, 14822 aged 14.
+ 4 F iii. * Cicely PLANTAGENET of York, Viscountess Welles was born on March 20, 1468 in London, , Greater London, England1,3,4 and died on August 24, 1507 in Quarr Abbey, , Isle of Wight, England1 aged 39.
5 M iv. Edward V PLANTAGENET of England was born on November 4, 1470 in Westminster, London, , England2 and died in 1493 in , , , England2 aged 23. The cause of his death was Possibly murdered in the Tower of London.
6 F v. Margaret PLANTAGENET of York was born on April 10, 1472 in Winchester, , Hampshire, England2 and died on December 11, 1472 in Westminster, London, , England.2
7 M vi. Richard of Shrewsbury PLANTAGENET 1st Duke of York was born on August 17, 1473 in Winchester, , Hampshire, England2 and died in 1493 in , , , England2 aged 20. The cause of his death was Possibly murdered in the Tower of London.
Richard married Anne de MOWBRAY 8th Countess of Norfolk, daughter of John de MOWBRAY 4th Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth de MOWBRAY Dutchess of Norfolk, on January 15, 1478 in Westminster, London, , England. Anne was born on December 10, 1472 in Framlingham, , Suffolk, England and died in November 1481 in Greenwich, , Kent, England aged 8.
8 F vii. Ann PLANTAGENET of York was born on November 2, 1475 in Westminster, London, , England2 and died on November 23, 15112 aged 36.
Ann married Thomas HOWARD 3rd Duke of Norfolk, son of Thomas HOWARD 2nd Duke of Norfolk, on February 4, 1495 in Westminster Abby, London, Middlesex, England. Thomas was born in 1473 and died on August 25, 1554 aged 81.
9 M viii. George PLANTAGENET 1st Duke of Bedford was born in March 1477 in Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England2 and died in March 1479 in Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England2 aged 2.
10 F ix. Catherine PLANTAGENET of York was born on August 14, 1479 in Eltham, , Kent, England2 and died on November 15, 15272 aged 48.
Catherine married William COURTENAY Earl of Devon, son of Edward COURTENAY and Elizabeth COURTENAY, in 1511 in , , , England. William was born in 1475.
11 F x. Bridget PLANTAGENET of York was born on November 10, 1480 in Eltham, , Kent, England2 and died in 15172 aged 37. She had no relationships and no children.
|
