June 23, 1356: Death of Margaret II of Avesnes, Countess of Hainault and Holland, Holy Roman Empress

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Countess of Hainault and Holland, Edward III of England, Holy Roman Empress, Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Margaret II of Avesnes, Philippa of Hainault

Margaret II of Avesnes (1311 – June 23, 1356) was Countess of Hainault and Countess of Holland (as Margaret I) from 1345 to 1356. She was Holy Roman Empress and Queen of Germany by marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV of Bavaria.

Margaret was the daughter of William I, Count of Hainault, and Joan of Valois, the daughter of Charles, Count of Valois, who was the third son of King Philippe III of France. She spent her childhood in Hainaut (also known as Hainault or Henegouwen) and also frequently visited France with her French mother.

On February 26, 1324, in Cologne, she married Ludwig of Bavaria, thereby becoming Queen of Germany. On January 17,01328, she was crowned Holy Roman Empress alongside her spouse in Rome.

First reign

In 1345 she succeeded her brother William II, Count of Hainaut and Holland (as William IV, Count of Holland) following his death in battle with her husband Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperor who designated that the counties of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland and Friesland were his wife’s possessions.

Emperor Ludwig IV gave his support to his wife Margaret because he was reportedly worried that the domains of her late brother would otherwise be lost to the empire. Due to the dangerous hostility of the House of Luxemburg, Ludwig increased his power base ruthlessly.

Margaret traveled to Hainaut and was recognized there in her new position as ruler, and on March 26, she left Hainaut to visit her Northern domains of Holland and Zeeland. There were different difficulties in securing the position of Margaret in her three domains. In Holland and Zeeland, there were doubts as to whether female succession was legal, and while her gender was not a problem in Hainaut, there where still the question of her sister’s claims upon the domain.

Margaret granted the cities and citizens in Holland and Zeeland several economic privileges to secure her position. The claims of her sisters were also addressed.

A parchment dated September 7, 1346 in Frankfurt, of which the seal is destroyed, announces that Ludwig IV of Bavaria, Emperor of the Holy Germanic Empire bestows for himself and his heirs, in the name of his spouse, the empress Margaret, to never cede, divide or bestow the counties of Hainaut, Holland, Zeeland and the palatine of Frisia, which belong to his wife Margaret II (of Avesnes), Countess of Hainaut and to her heirs, excepting the rights of her sisters and after her death, to be passed to their second son William I, Duke of Bavaria (future William III, Count of Hainaut) Duke (I) of Bavaria, and after his decease to Albert (future Albert I, Count of Hainaut).

Margaret’s sisters, including Philippa of Hainault who was Queen consort of King Edward III of England, disavowed their hereditary claims.

Margaret ruled her three domains directly for seven months, after which she was called back to Germany by her spouse, and then appointed her son William to rule in her absence.

When Ludwig IV died on October 11, 1347, he was succeeded by his six sons, and in connection to this, Margaret resigned her sovereignty in favor of her son William in exchange for an allowance.

In 1349 Ludwig IV’s sons decided to partition their possessions: Ludwig V, Duke of Bavaria kept Brandenburg and Tyrol, his younger brothers Ludwig VI the Roman and Otto V the Bavarian received Upper Bavaria.

While Stephen II, Wilhelm I and Albrecht I received Lower Bavaria, Holland and Hainaut. Ludwig V and Stephen were the stepsons of Margaret from her husband’s first wife, and her youngest sons Albrecht and Otto were still minors.

Her eldest son Ludwig VI released Holland and Hainaut for his brothers Wilhelm and Albrecht in 1349 since he expected the Polish crown by his marriage with Cunigunde of Poland. In 1353 her son Stephen also released Holland and Hainaut to his brother Wilhelm.

The Hook and Cod wars

However, a conflict soon arose between Margaret and her son Wilhelm, as he refused to honor the terms in her abdication document by withholding the allowance she had demanded in turn for abdicating in his favor. Willem’s opposition among the nobles of Holland asked Margaret to return to run Holland again, and in March 1350, Margaret had returned to Henegouwen, where she retracted her abdication in June 1.

The Cod League was formed on May 23, 1350 by a number of supporters of Wilhelm, and on September 5, of the same year, the Hook League was formed in support of Margaret. Soon afterward these factions clashed and a civil war began, known as the Hook and Cod wars.

Margaret and the war between mother and son was controversial, and her right to Holland was always considered to be of dubious legality, as this domain was at that time regarded as reserved for men, though the same thing was not raised when it came to her right to Hainaut.

After the destruction of several strongholds of Margaret and a defeat of her forces at two sea battles in 1351, Edward III of England, Margaret’s brother-in-law through her sister Philippa of Hainault, came to her aid, winning a naval engagement off Veere in 1351; a few weeks later the Hooks and their English allies were defeated by Wilhelm and the Cods at Vlaardingen, a defeat which ruined Margaret’s cause.

Edward III shortly afterwards changed sides and in 1354, Margaret saw herself compelled to come to an understanding with her son: he being recognized as count of Holland and Zeeland, and she being secured as ruling countess of Hainaut in her lifetime.

Margaret ruled Hainaut for two more years, and died at Le Quesnoy Castle of infectious tuberculosis June 23, 1356, leaving Wilhelm in possession of the entire Holland-Hainaut inheritance. She was buried in the Minderbroeders Abbey in Valenciennes.

June 20, 1837: Death of King William IV of the United Kingdom and the accession of his niece as Queen Victoria.

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Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Alexandria Victoria of Kent, Edward Duke of Kent, George III of the United Kingdom, King of Hanover, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, William IV of the United Kingdom

William IV (William Henry; August 21, 1765 – June 20, 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from June 26, 1830 until his death in 1837. William was the third son of King George III and his wife Duchess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. William succeeded his elder brother King George IV, becoming the last king and penultimate monarch of Britain’s House of Hanover.

William served in the Royal Navy in his youth, spending time in North America and the Caribbean, and was later nicknamed the “Sailor King”. In 1789, he was created Duke of Clarence and St Andrews. In 1827, he was appointed as Britain’s first Lord High Admiral since 1709.

In the Drawing Room at Kew Palace on July 11, 1818, William married Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the daughter of Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and Luise-Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. William apparently remained faithful to the young princess

William’s marriage, which lasted almost twenty years until his death, was a happy one. Adelaide took both William and his finances in hand. For their first year of marriage, the couple lived in economical fashion in Germany. William is not known to have had mistresses after his marriage. The couple had two short-lived daughters and Adelaide suffered three miscarriages. Despite this, false rumours that she was pregnant persisted into William’s reign—he dismissed them as “damned stuff”.

As his two older brothers, King George IV and Frederick, Duke of York, died without leaving legitimate issue, William inherited the throne when he was 64 years old.

His reign saw several reforms: the poor law was updated, child labour restricted, slavery abolished in nearly all of the British Empire, and the British electoral system refashioned by the Reform Act 1832. Although William did not engage in politics as much as his brother or his father, he was the last monarch to appoint a British prime minister contrary to the will of Parliament. He granted his German kingdom a short-lived liberal constitution.

At the time of his death on June 20, 1837, William had no surviving legitimate children, but he was survived by eight of the ten illegitimate children he had by the actress Dorothea Jordan, with whom he cohabited for twenty years.

Since the Salic Law was in effect in the Kingdom of Hanover, William IV was succeeded by his niece Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom, and his brother King Ernst-August in Hanover.

Victoria receives the news of her accession from Lord Conyngham (left) and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Engraving after painting by Henry Tanworth Wells, 1887.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; May 24, 1819 – January 22, 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death. She adopted the additional title of Empress of India on May 1, 1876. Known as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months was longer than that of any of her predecessors and the second longest in British history.

The Victorian Era was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (the fourth son of King George III), and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After both the Duke of Kent and George III died in 1820, she was raised under close supervision by her mother and her comptroller, John Conroy. She inherited the throne aged 18 after her father’s three elder brothers, the last being King William IV, died without surviving legitimate issue.

Though a constitutional monarch, privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments; publicly, she became a national icon who was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

Victoria married her cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Prince Albert was the second son of Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his first wife, Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Their children married into royal and noble families across the continent, earning Victoria the sobriquet “the grandmother of Europe” and spreading haemophilia in European royalty.

After Albert’s death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism in the United Kingdom temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. She died on the Isle of Wight in 1901. The last British monarch of the House of Hanover, she was succeeded by her son Edward VII of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

June 15, 1888: Death of Friedrich III, German Emperor and King of Prussia

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Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Crown Prince of Prussia, German Emperor Friedrich III, German Emperor Wilhelm I, German Empire, House of Hohenzollern, Liberal, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Princess Royal, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, Victoria of the United Kingdom

Friedrich III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl; October 18, 1831 – June 15, 1888) Friedrich III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors.

Known informally as “Fritz”, was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states he was the only son of Emperor Wilhelm I who was the second son of King Friedrich Wilhelm III and, having been raised in the military traditions of the Hohenzollerns, developed into a strict disciplinarian.

German Emperor Friedrich III as Crown Prince of Prussia

Fritz’s father, Emperor Wilhelm I, King of Prussia married Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar, herself the Augusta was the second daughter of Charles Friedrich, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Maria Pavlovna of Russia, a daughter of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.

Princess Augusta had been raised in the more intellectual and artistic atmosphere of Weimar, which gave its citizens greater participation in politics and limited the powers of its rulers through a constitution; Augusta was well known across Europe for her liberal views.

Because of their differences, the couple did not have a happy marriage and, as a result, Friedrich grew up in a troubled household, which left him with memories of a lonely childhood. He had one sister, Louise (later Grand Duchess of Baden), who was seven years his junior and very close to him.

Friedrich III was raised in his family’s tradition of military service. Although celebrated as a young man for his leadership and successes during the Second Schleswig, Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars, he nevertheless professed a hatred of warfare and was praised by friends and enemies alike for his humane conduct.

Following the unification of Germany in 1871 his father, then King of Prussia, became the German Emperor. Upon Wilhelm’s death at the age of ninety on March 9, 1888, the thrones passed to Frederick, who had by then been German Crown Prince for seventeen years and Crown Prince of Prussia for twenty-seven years.

Victoria, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom

Friedrich married Victoria, Princess Royal, oldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The couple were well-matched; their shared liberal ideology led them to seek greater representation for commoners in the government.

Friedrich, in spite of his conservative militaristic family background, had developed liberal tendencies as a result of his ties with Britain and his studies at the University of Bonn.

As the Crown Prince, he often opposed the conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, particularly in speaking out against Bismarck’s policy of uniting Germany through force, and in urging that the power of the Chancellorship be curbed. Liberals in both Germany and Britain hoped that as emperor, Frederick would move to liberalise the German Empire.

Frederick and Victoria were great admirers of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. They planned to rule as co-monarchs, like Albert and Queen Victoria, and to reform what they saw as flaws in the executive branch that Bismarck had created for himself.

The office of Chancellor, responsible to the Emperor, would be replaced with a British-style cabinet, with ministers responsible to the Reichstag. Government policy would be based on the consensus of the cabinet. Frederick “described the Imperial Constitution as ingeniously contrived chaos.” According to Michael Balfour:

The Crown Prince and Princess shared the outlook of the Progressive Party, and Bismarck was haunted by the fear that should the old Emperor die—and he was now in his seventies—they would call on one of the Progressive leaders to become Chancellor. He sought to guard against such a turn by keeping the Crown Prince from a position of any influence and by using foul means as well as fair to make him unpopular.

However, Friedrich’s illness, suffering from cancer of the larynx, prevented him from effectively establishing policies and measures to achieve this, and such moves as he was able to make were later abandoned by his son and successor, Wilhelm II. The timing of Friedrich III’s death and the length of his reign are important topics among historians.

His premature demise is considered a potential turning point in German history; and whether or not he would have made the Empire more liberal if he had lived longer is still a popular discussion among historians.

June 15, 1330: Birth of Edward of Woodstock, The Black Prince

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Edward III of England, Edward of Woodstock, Joan of Kent, Palace of Westminster, Pedro of Castile, Philippa of Hainult, Prince of Wales, The Black Prince, Treaty of Brétigny

Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (June 15, 1330 – June 8, 1376).

Edward, the eldest son of Edward III of England, Lord of Ireland and ruler of Gascony, and Queen Philippa, was born at Woodstock in the County of Oxfordshire, on June 15, 1330. His father, Edward III, had been at loggerheads with the French over English lands in France and also the kingship of France; Edward III’s mother, Queen Isabella of France was a daughter of the French king Philippe IV of France, thus placing her son in line for the throne of France.

England and France’s relations quickly deteriorated when the French king threatened to confiscate his lands in France, beginning the Hundred Years War. His mother was Queen Philippa of Hainault, daughter of the Count of Hainault, who married Edward III when his mother, Queen Isabella, arranged the marriage between them

Despite never being King, Edward nevertheless earned distinction as one of the most successful English commanders during the Hundred Years’ War, being regarded by his English contemporaries as a model of chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his age.

Edward was made Duke of Cornwall, the first English dukedom, in 1337. He was guardian of the kingdom in his father’s absence in 1338, 1340, and 1342. On May 12, 1343, Edward III created the duke Prince of Wales in a parliament held at Westminster, investing him with a circlet, gold ring, and silver rod. Edward was knighted by his father at La Hougue in 1346.

In 1346, Prince Edward commanded the vanguard at the Battle of Crécy, his father intentionally leaving him to win the battle. He took part in Edward III’s 1349 Calais expedition. In 1355, he was appointed the king’s lieutenant in Gascony, and ordered to lead an army into Aquitaine on a chevauchée, during which he pillaged Avignonet and Castelnaudary, sacked Carcassonne, and plundered Narbonne.

The next year (1356) on another chevauchée, he ravaged Auvergne, Limousin, and Berry but failed to take Bourges. He offered terms of peace to King Jean II of France, who had outflanked him near Poitiers, but refused to surrender himself as the price of their acceptance. This led to the Battle of Poitiers, where his army routed the French and took King Jean II prisoner.

Edward married his cousin, Joan, Countess of Kent (1328–1385), on October 10, 1361. She was the daughter and heiress of Edmund, Earl of Kent, the younger son of King Edward I by his second wife Margaret of France.

They had two sons, both born in Aquitaine:

Edward, born at Angoulême on July 27, 1364, died immediately before his father’s return to England in January 1371, and was buried in the church of the Austin Friars, London.

Richard, who succeeded his grandfather as King Richard II.

The year after Poitiers, Edward returned to England. In 1360, he negotiated the Treaty of Brétigny. He was created Prince of Aquitaine and Gascony in 1362, but his suzerainty was not recognised by the lord of Albret or other Gascon nobles.

He was directed by his father to forbid the marauding raids of the English and Gascon free companies in 1364. He entered into an agreement with Kings Pedro of Castile and Charles II of Navarre, by which Pedro covenanted to mortgage Castro de Urdiales and the province of Biscay to him as security for a loan; in 1366 a passage was secured through Navarre.

In 1367 he received a letter of defiance from Enrique of Trastámara, Pedro’s half-brother and rival. The same year, after an obstinate conflict, he defeated Enrique at the Battle of Nájera.

However, after a wait of several months, during which he failed to obtain either the province of Biscay or liquidation of the debt from Don Pedro, he returned to Aquitaine. Prince Edward persuaded the estates of Aquitaine to allow him a hearth tax of ten sous for five years in 1368, thereby alienating the lord of Albret and other nobles.

Prince Edward returned to England in 1371, and the next year resigned the principality of Aquitaine and Gascony. He led the Commons in their attack upon the Lancastrian administration in 1376.

From the period of the Good Parliament, Edward knew that he was dying. His dysentery became violent, and he often fainted from weakness, so that his household believed that he had already died.

He left gifts for his servants in his will and took leave of the King his father, asking him that he would confirm his gifts, pay his debts quickly out of his estate, and protect his son Richard. In his last moments, he was attended by the Bishop of Bangor, who urged him to ask forgiveness of God and of all those he had injured. He “made a very noble end, remembering God his Creator in his heart”, and asked people to pray for him.

His death took place in the Palace of Westminster. He was buried with great state in Canterbury Cathedral on September 29, and the directions contained in his will were followed at his funeral and in the details of his tomb. It has a bronze effigy beneath a tester depicting the Holy Trinity with his heraldic achievements – his surcoat, helmet, shield and gauntlets – hung over the tester; they have been replaced with replicas, and the originals now reside in a glass-fronted cabinet within the Cathedral.

Lady Margaret Beaufort. Conclusion

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Catherine of Aragon, Elizabeth of York, Elizabeth Woodville, House of Tudor, King Henry VII of England, King Henry VIII of England, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Prince Arthur

After her son’s victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Countess was referred to in court of Henry VII as “My Lady the King’s Mother”. Her son’s first Parliament reversed the attainder against her and declared her a feme sole. This status granted Beaufort considerable legal and social independence from men. She was allowed to own property separately from her husband (as though she were unmarried) and sue in court – two rights denied her contemporary married women.

As arranged by their mothers, Henry VII married Elizabeth of York the daughter of Edward IV. The Countess was reluctant to accept a lower status than the dowager Queen Elizabeth (Woodville) or even her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth of York the Queen Consort.

She wore robes of the same quality as the queen consort and walked only half a pace behind her. Elizabeth’s biographer, Amy Licence, states that this “would have been the correct courtly protocol”, adding that “only one person knew how Elizabeth really felt about Margaret and she did not commit it to paper.”

Margaret had written her signature as M. Richmond for years, since the 1460s. In 1499, she changed her signature to Margaret R., perhaps to signify her royal authority (R standing either for regina – queen in Latin as customarily employed by female monarchs – or for Richmond). Furthermore, she included the Tudor crown and the caption et mater Henrici septimi regis Angliæ et Hiberniæ (“and mother of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland”).

Many historians believe the departure from court of Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville in 1487 was partly at the behest of Henry’s influential mother, though this is uncertain.

Beaufort exerted considerable political influence within the Tudor court. The power she exercised was evidently obvious; a report from Spanish envoy Pedro de Ayala dating to 1498 claimed Henry VII was “much influenced by his mother and his followers in affairs or personal interest and in others.” In the earlier years of her son’s reign, records indicate Margaret usually accompanied the royal couple when they traveled.

While Margaret’s position in the royal court was, to some extent, an expression of gratitude by her son, she was likely far less the passive recipient of Henry’s favor one might expect.

Later in her marriage, the Countess preferred living alone. In 1499, with her husband’s permission, she took a vow of chastity in the presence of Richard FitzJames, Bishop of London. Taking a vow of chastity while being married was unusual but not unprecedented.

The Countess moved away from her husband and lived alone at Collyweston, Northamptonshire (near Stamford). She was regularly visited by her husband, who had rooms reserved for him. Margaret renewed her vows in 1504. From her principal residence at Collyweston she was given a special commission to administer justice over the Midlands and the North.

Margaret was also actively involved in the domestic life of the royal family. She created a proper protocol regarding the birth and upbringing of royal heirs. Though their relationship is often portrayed as antagonistic, Margaret and her daughter-in-law Elizabeth worked together when planning the marriages of the royal children.

They wrote jointly of the necessary instruction for Catherine of Aragon, who was to marry Elizabeth’s son Prince Arthur. Both women also conspired to prevent Elizabeth and Henry’s daughter Margaret from being married to the Scottish king, James IV, at too young an age; in this matter, Gristwood writes, Margaret was undoubtedly resolved that her granddaughter “should not share her fate”.

Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland

After Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1503, Margaret became the principal female presence at court. When Prince Arthur died, Margaret played a part in ensuring her grandson Prince Henry, Duke of York, the new heir apparent, was raised appropriately by selecting some members of his new household.

The Countess was known for her education and her piety. Biographers Jones and Underwood claim the entirety of Beaufort’s life can be understood in the context of her “deeply-felt love and loyalty to her son”. Henry is said to have been likewise devoted.

Henry VII died on April 21, 1509, aged 52, having designated his mother chief executrix of his will. For two days after the death of her son, Margaret scrambled to secure the smooth succession of her grandson, Henry VIII. She arranged her son’s funeral and her grandson’s coronation. At her son’s funeral she was given precedence over all the other women of the royal family.

Before her death Margaret also left her mark on the early reign of Henry VIII; when her eighteen-year-old grandson chose members of his privy council, it was Margaret’s suggestions he took.

Death

The Countess Margaret died in the Deanery of Westminster Abbey on June 29, 1509, (probably aged 66). This was the day after her grandson Henry VIII’s 18th birthday, 5 days after his coronation and just over two months after the death of her son Henry VII. She is buried in the Henry VII Chapel of the Abbey. Her tomb is now situated between the later graves of William III and Mary II and the tomb of her great-great-granddaughter Mary I, Queen of Scots.

May 26, 946: Death of Edmund I, King of the English

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Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, Eadwig of Wessex, Edgar of Wessex, Edmund I of England, Edward the Elder, King of the English, Pucklechurch, Shaftesbury Abbey, William of Malmesbury

Edmund I (920/921 – May 26, 946) was King of the English from October 27, 939 until his death on May 26, 946.

Family and early life

Edmund’s father, Edward the Elder, had three wives, eight or nine daughters, several of whom married Continental royalty, and five sons. Æthelstan was the only known son of Edward’s first wife, Ecgwynn. His second wife, Ælfflæd, had two sons: Ælfweard, who may have been acknowledged in Wessex as king when his father died in 924 but who died less than a month later, and Edwin, who drowned in 933. In about 919 Edward married Eadgifu, the daughter of Sigehelm, ealdorman of Kent. Edmund, who was born in 920 or 921, was Eadgifu’s elder son.

Her younger son Eadred succeeded him as king. Edmund had one or two full sisters. Eadburh was a nun at Winchester who was later venerated as a saint. The twelfth-century historian William of Malmesbury gives Edmund a second full sister who married Louis, prince of Aquitaine; she was called Eadgifu, the same name as her mother. William’s account is accepted by the historians Ann Williams and Sean Miller, but Æthelstan’s biographer Sarah Foot argues that she did not exist, and that William confused her with Ælfgifu, a daughter of Ælfflæd.

Marriages and children

Edmund probably married his first wife Ælfgifu around the time of his accession to the throne, as their second son was born in 943. Their sons Eadwig and Edgar both became kings of England. Ælfgifu’s father is not known, but her mother is identified by a charter of Edgar which confirms a grant by his grandmother Wynflæd of land to Shaftesbury Abbey.

Ælfgifu was also a benefactor of Shaftesbury Abbey; when she died in 944 she was buried there and venerated as a saint. Edmund had no known children by his second wife, Æthelflæd, who died after 991. Her father Ælfgar became ealdorman of Essex in 946. Edmund presented him with a sword lavishly decorated with gold and silver, which Ælfgar later presented to King Eadred. Æthelflæd’s second husband was Æthelstan Rota, a south-east Mercian ealdorman, and her will survives.

Death and succession

On May 26, 946 Edmund was killed in a brawl at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire. According to the post-Conquest chronicler, John of Worcester:

While the glorious Edmund, king of the English, was at the royal township called Pucklechurch in English, in seeking to rescue his steward from Leofa, a most wicked thief, lest he be killed, was himself killed by the same man on the feast of St Augustine, teacher of the English, on Tuesday, May 26, in the fourth indiction, having completed five years and seven months of his reign. He was borne to Glastonbury, and buried by the abbot, St Dunstan.

The historians Clare Downham and Kevin Halloran dismiss John of Worcester’s account and suggest that the king was the victim of a political assassination, but this view has not been accepted by other historians.

Like his son Edgar thirty years later, Edmund was buried at Glastonbury Abbey. The location may have reflected its spiritual prestige and royal endorsement of the monastic reform movement, but as his death was unexpected it is more likely that Dunstan was successful in claiming the body. His sons were still young children, so he was succeeded as king by his brother Eadred, who was in turn succeeded by Edmund’s elder son Eadwig in 955.

May 23, 1052: Birth of King Philippe I of the Franks

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Anna Yaroslavana of Kiev, Bertha of Holland, Excommunication, Grand Prince of Kiev and Prince of Novgorod, King of the Franks, Philippe I, Pope Urban II, Yaroslav the Wise

Philippe I (May 23, 1052 – July 29, 1108), called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin and Bourges.

Early life

Philippe was born May 23, 1052 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of King Henri I and his wife Anna Yaroslavana of Kiev, daughter of Yaroslav the Wise, Grand Prince of Kiev and Prince of Novgorod, and his second wife Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden.

Unusual for the time in Western Europe, the name Philippe was of Greek origin, being bestowed upon him by his mother. Although he was crowned king at the age of seven, until age fourteen (1066) his mother acted as regent, the first queen of France (Franks) ever to do so. Baldwin V of Flanders also acted as co-regent.

Personal rule

Following the death of Baldwin VI of Flanders, Robert the Frisian seized Flanders. Baldwin’s widow, Richilda, requested aid from Philippe, who was defeated by Robert at the battle of Cassel in 1071.

Philippe first married Bertha of Holland in 1072. Bertha was the daughter of Count Floris I of Holland and Gertrude of Saxony. Bertha had six siblings and both of her parents came from large families. Her father ruled a territory vaguely described as “Friesland west of the Vlie”, which is where Bertha spent her childhood.

Although the marriage produced the necessary heir, Philippe fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort, the wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou.

He repudiated Bertha (claiming she was too fat) and married Bertrade on May 15, 1092. In 1094 following the synod of Autun, he was excommunicated by the papal representative, Hugh of Die, for the first time; after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the Council of Clermont in November 1095.

Several times the ban was lifted as Philippe promised to part with Bertrade, but he always returned to her; in 1104 Philippe made a public penance and must have kept his involvement with Bertrade discreet. In France, the king was opposed by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, a famous jurist.

Philippe appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of his reign, like his father’s, was spent putting down revolts by his power-hungry vassals. In 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, King of the English and Duke of Normandy who gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany.

In 1082, Philippe I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin, in reprisal against Robert Curthose’s attack on William’s heir, William Rufus. Then in 1100, he took control of Bourges.

It was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was launched. Philippe at first did not personally support it because of his conflict with Pope Urban II. Philippe’s brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a major participant.

Death

Philippe died in the castle of Melun and was buried per his request at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire – and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI, whose succession was, however, not uncontested.

Louis’s half-brother, Philippe, Count of Mantes, prevented him from reaching Rheims, and so Daimbert, Archbishop of Sens, crowned him in the cathedral of Orléans on August 3. Ralph the Green, Archbishop of Rheims, sent envoys to challenge the validity of the coronation and anointing, but to no avail.

May 6, 1910: Death of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom

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Alice Kappel, Emperor of India, German Emperor Wilhelm II, King Christian IX of Denmark, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Albert Edward, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Prince of Wales, Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death in 1910.

Edward was born at 10:48 in the morning on 9 November 9, 1841 in Buckingham Palace. He was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on January 25, 1842. He was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the royal family throughout his life.

As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth. As a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He had the style of Royal Highness as the son of the sovereign.

He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on December 8, 1841, Earl of Dublin on January 17, 1850, a Knight of the Garter on November 8, 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on May 24, 1867. In 1863, he renounced his succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother Prince Alfred.

During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

Once widowed, Queen Victoria effectively withdrew from public life. Shortly after Prince Albert’s death, she arranged for Edward to embark on an extensive tour of the Middle East, visiting Egypt, Jerusalem, Damascus, Beirut and Istanbul. The British Government wanted Edward to secure the friendship of Egypt’s ruler, Said Pasha, to prevent French control of the Suez Canal if the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

Edward and Alexandra on their wedding day, 1863

It was the first royal tour on which an official photographer, Francis Bedford, was in attendance. As soon as Edward returned to Britain, preparations were made for his engagement, which was sealed at Laeken in Belgium on September 9, 1862. Edward married Alexandra of Denmark at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 10 March 1863. He was 21; she was 18.

Alexandra was the daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and Princess Louise of Hesse-Cassel.

The couple established Marlborough House as their London residence and Sandringham House in Norfolk as their country retreat. They entertained on a lavish scale.Their marriage met with disapproval in certain social circles because most of Queen Victoria’s relations were German, and Denmark was at loggerheads with Germany over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein.

When Alexandra’s father inherited the throne of Denmark in November 1863, the German Confederation took the opportunity to invade and annex Schleswig-Holstein. The Queen was of two minds as to whether it was a suitable match, given the political climate. After the marriage, she expressed anxiety about their socialite lifestyle and attempted to dictate to them on various matters, including the names of their children.

Edward was related to nearly every other European monarch, and came to be known as the “uncle of Europe”. German Emperor Wilhelm II and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia were his nephews; Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Crown Princess Marie of Romania, Crown Princess Sophia of Greece, and Empress Alexandra of Russia were his nieces; King Haakon VII of Norway was both his nephew and his son-in-law; kings Frederik VIII of Denmark and George I of the Hellenes were his brothers-in-law; kings Albert I of Belgium, Ferdinand of Bulgaria, and Carlos I and Manuel II of Portugal were his second cousins.

Edward doted on his grandchildren, and indulged them, to the consternation of their governesses. However, there was one relation whom Edward did not like: Wilhelm II. His difficult relationship with his nephew exacerbated the tensions between Germany and Britain.

Edward had mistresses throughout his married life. He socialised with actress Lillie Langtry; Lady Randolph Churchill; Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick; actress Sarah Bernhardt; noblewoman Lady Susan Vane-Tempest; singer Hortense Schneider; prostitute Giulia Beneni (known as “La Barucci”); wealthy humanitarian Agnes Keyser; and Alice Keppel. At least fifty-five liaisons are conjectured. How far these relationships went is not always clear. Edward always strove to be discreet, but this did not prevent society gossip or press speculation. Edward never acknowledged any illegitimate children. Alexandra was aware of his affairs, and seems to have accepted them.

When Queen Victoria died on January 22, 1901, Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Emperor of India and, in an innovation, King of the British Dominions. He chose to reign under the name of Edward VII, instead of Albert Edward—the name his mother had intended for him to use—declaring that he did not wish to “undervalue the name of Albert” and diminish the status of his father with whom the “name should stand alone”.

As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised.Edward VII fostered good relations on Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called “Peacemaker”, but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, remained poor.

The Edwardian era, which covered Edward’s reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism.

Edward habitually smoked twenty cigarettes and twelve cigars a day. In 1907, a rodent ulcer, a type of cancer affecting the skin next to his nose, was cured with radium. Towards the end of his life he increasingly suffered from bronchitis. He suffered a momentary loss of consciousness during a state visit to Berlin in February 1909.

In March 1910, he was staying at Biarritz when he collapsed. He remained there to convalesce, while in London Asquith tried to get the Finance Bill passed. The king’s continued ill health was unreported, and he attracted criticism for staying in France while political tensions were so high. On April 27, he returned to Buckingham Palace, still suffering from severe bronchitis. Alexandra returned from visiting her brother, George I of the Hellenes, in Corfu a week later on May 5th.

On May 6, Edward VII suffered several heart attacks, but refused to go to bed, saying, “No, I shall not give in; I shall go on; I shall work to the end.” Between moments of faintness, his son the Prince of Wales (shortly to be King George V) told him that his horse, Witch of the Air, had won at Kempton Park that afternoon. The king replied, “Yes, I have heard of it. I am very glad”: his final words.At 11:30 p.m. he lost consciousness for the last time and was put to bed. He died 15 minutes later.

Alexandra refused to allow Edward’s body to be moved for eight days afterwards, though she allowed small groups of visitors to enter his room. On May 11, the late king was dressed in his uniform and placed in a massive oak coffin, which was moved on May 14, to the throne room, where it was sealed and lay in state, with a guardsman standing at each corner of the bier.Despite the time that had elapsed since his death, Alexandra noted the King’s body remained “wonderfully preserved”. On the morning of May 17, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and drawn by black horses to Westminster Hall, with the new king, his family and Edward’s favourite dog, Caesar, walking behind.

Following a brief service, the royal family left, and the hall was opened to the public; over 400,000 people filed past the coffin over the next two days. As Barbara Tuchman noted in The Guns of August, his funeral, held on May 20, 1910, marked “the greatest assemblage of royalty and rank ever gathered in one place and, of its kind, the last.” A royal train conveyed the king’s coffin from London to Windsor Castle, where Edward was buried at St George’s Chapel.

When Edward VII died the British Government was in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords.

May 5, 1747: Birth of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

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Archduchess Marie Antoinette of Austria, Empress Maria Theresa, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I, Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II, King Carlos III of Spain, Louis XVI of France and Navarre

Leopold II (Peter Leopold Josef Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard; May 5, 1747 – March 1, 1792) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria from 1790 to 1792, and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790.

He was a son of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria in her own right and her husband, Holy Roman Emperor Franz I.

Leopold was also and the brother of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre as the wife of King Louis XVI of France and Navarre; Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies; Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma by her marriage to Ferdinand, Duke of Parma; and Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany (left) with his brother Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold was a moderate proponent of enlightened absolutism. He granted the Academy of Georgofili his protection. Despite his brief reign, he is highly regarded. The historian Paul W. Schroeder called him “one of the most shrewd and sensible monarchs ever to wear a crown”.

Unusually for his time, he opposed capital punishment and abolished it in Tuscany in 1786 during his rule there, making it the first nation in modern history to do so.

As his parents’ third son, he was initially selected for a clerical career, he received education with focus on theology.

In 1753, he was engaged to Maria Beatrice d’Este, heiress to the Duchy of Modena and the eldest child of two monarchs, Ercole III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, reigning duchess of Massa and princess of Carrara.

As heiress to four states (Modena, Reggio, Massa and Carrara), she was a very attractive wedding partner. Empress Maria Theresa sought to arrange a marriage between Maria Beatrice and Archduke Leopold, but this never materialised. Instead she married Leopold’s brother, Archduke Ferdinand Charles bof Austria, in a union through which the Austrians aimed to expand their influence in Italy.

Upon the early death of his older brother Archduke Charles in 1761, the family decided that Leopold was going to succeed his father as Duke of Tuscany. Tuscany had been envisioned and designated as a Secundogeniture, a territory and title bestowed upon the second born son, which was greater than an Appanage.

Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain

On August 5, 1765 Leopold married the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain, daughter of Carlos III of Spain and Maria Amalia of Saxony. Upon the death of his father, Franz on August 18, 1765, he became Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Leopold, during his government in Tuscany, had shown a speculative tendency to grant his subjects a constitution. When he succeeded to the Austrian lands he began by making large concessions to the interests offended by his brother’s innovations.

He recognized the Estates of his different dominions as “the pillars of the monarchy”, pacified the Hungarians and Bohemians, and divided the insurgents in the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) by means of concessions. When these failed to restore order, he marched troops into the country and re-established his own authority, and at the same time the historic franchises of the Flemings.

Young Leopold as the Grand Duke of Tuscany

Yet he did not surrender any part that could be retained of what Maria Theresa and Joseph had done to strengthen the hands of the state. He continued, for instance, to insist that no papal bull could be published in his dominions without his consent (placetum regium).

One of the harshest actions Leopold took to placate the noble communities of the various Habsburg domains was to issue a decree on May 9, 1790 that forced thousands of Bohemian serfs freed by his brother Joseph back into servitude.

Leopold lived for barely two years after his accession as Holy Roman Emperor, and during that period he was hard pressed by peril from west and east alike. The growing revolutionary disorders in France endangered the life of his sister Marie Antoinette, the queen of Louis XVI, and also threatened his own dominions with the spread of subversive agitation. His sister sent him passionate appeals for help, and he was pestered by the royalist émigrés, who were intriguing to bring about armed intervention in France.

From the east he was threatened by the aggressive ambition of Empress Catherine II of Russia and by the unscrupulous policy of Prussia. Catherine would have been delighted to see Austria and Prussia embark on a crusade in the cause of kings against the French Revolution.

While they were busy beyond the Rhine, she would have annexed what remained of Poland and made conquests against the Ottoman Empire. Leopold II had no difficulty in seeing through the rather transparent cunning of the Russian empress, and he refused to be misled.

To his sister, he gave good advice and promises of help if she and her husband could escape from Paris. The émigrés who followed him pertinaciously were refused audience, or when they forced themselves on him, were peremptorily denied all help.

Leopold was too purely a politician not to be secretly pleased at the destruction of the power of France and of her influence in Europe by her internal disorders. Within six weeks of his accession, he displayed his contempt for France’s weakness by practically tearing up the treaty of alliance made by Maria Theresa in 1756 and opening negotiations with Great Britain to impose a check on Russia and Prussia.

Leopold put pressure on Great Britain by threatening to cede his part of the Low Countries to France. Then, when sure of British support, he was in a position to baffle the intrigues of Prussia. A personal appeal to King Friedrich Wilhelm II led to a conference between them at Reichenbach in July 1790, and to an arrangement which was in fact a defeat for Prussia: Leopold’s coronation as king of Hungary on November 11, 1790, preceded by a settlement with the Diet in which he recognized the dominant position of the Magyars.

Leopold II. Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria, and Grand Duke of Tuscany

He had already made an eight months’ truce with the Turks in September, which prepared the way for the termination of the war begun by Joseph II. The pacification of his eastern dominions left Leopold free to re-establish order in Belgium and to confirm friendly relations with Britain and the Netherlands.

During 1791, the emperor remained increasingly preoccupied with the affairs of France. In January, he had to dismiss the Count of Artois (afterwards Charles X of France) in a very peremptory way. His good sense was revolted by the folly of the French émigrés, and he did his utmost to avoid being entangled in the affairs of that country.

The insults inflicted on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, however, at the time of their attempted flight to Varennes in June, stirred his indignation, and he made a general appeal in the Padua Circular to the sovereigns of Europe to take common measures in view of events which “immediately compromised the honour of all sovereigns, and the security of all governments.” Yet he was most directly interested in negotiations with Turkey, which in June led to a final peace, the Treaty of Sistova being signed in August 1791.

On August 25, 1791, he met King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia at Pillnitz Castle, near Dresden, and they drew up the Declaration of Pillnitz, stating their readiness to intervene in France if and when their assistance was called for by the other powers.

The declaration was a mere formality, for, as Leopold knew, neither Russia nor Britain was prepared to act, and he endeavored to guard against the use which he foresaw the émigrés would try to make of it. In face of the reaction in France to the Declaration of Pillnitz, the intrigues of the émigrés, and attacks made by the French revolutionists on the rights of the German princes in Alsace, Leopold continued to hope that intervention might not be required.

When Louis XVI swore to observe the constitution of September 1791, the emperor professed to think that a settlement had been reached in France. The attacks on the rights of the German princes on the left bank of the Rhine, and the increasing violence of the parties in Paris which were agitating to bring about war, soon showed, however, that this hope was vain.

Leopold meant to meet the challenge of the revolutionists in France with dignity and temper, however the effect of the Declaration of Pillnitz was to contribute to the radicalization of their political movement.

Mozart’s opera La clemenza di Tito was commissioned by the Estates of Bohemia for the festivities that accompanied Leopold’s coronation as king of Bohemia in Prague on September 6, 1791.

Leopold died suddenly in Vienna, in March 1792.

His mother Empress Maria Theresa was the last Habsburg. His brother Joseph II died without any surviving children, but Leopold in turn had also 16 children, just like his mother, and became the founder of the main line of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

The eldest of Leopold II’s eight sons being his successor, Emperor Franz II, the last Holy Roman Emperor and first Emperor of Austria. Some of his other sons were prominent personages in their day. Among them were: Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany; Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, a celebrated soldier; Archduke Johann of Austria, also a soldier; Archduke Joseph, Palatine of Hungary; and Archduke Rainer, Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia.

April 30, 1513: Execution of Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk

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3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, Battle of Bosworth Field, Edmund de la Pole, Edward IV of England, Elizabeth of York, Henry VII of England, Henry VIII of England, House of Tudor, Richard III of England

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk, KG (c. 1471 – April 30, 1513), Duke of Suffolk, was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York, the sixth child and third daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (a great-grandson of King Edward III) and Cecily Neville. She was thus a sister of King Edward IV and of King Richard III.

Although the male York line ended with the death of Edward Plantagenet 17th Earl of Warwick (February 25, 1475 – November 28, 1499) who was the son of Isabel Neville and George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III.

The 17th Earl of Warwick was a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both his uncle, Richard III (1483–1485), and Richard’s usurper, Henry VII (1485–1509). He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury.

The Poles at first swore loyalty to the Tudor king of England, they later tried to claim the throne as the Yorkist claimant. Edmund was ultimately executed at the Tower of London.

Yorkist claim

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk

Edmund de la Pole was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and Elizabeth of York. His mother was the second surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. She was also a younger sister to Kings Edward IV and Richard III.

Service to the Tudors

De la Pole’s eldest brother John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1464 – 1487), was the designated heir of their maternal uncle Richard III, who gave him a pension and the reversion of the estates of Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Meanwhile, Edmund was made a Knight of the Bath at the coronation of Richard III, and was present at the coronation of his cousin Elizabeth of York in 1487. Following the Battle of Bosworth Field, Lincoln took the oath of allegiance to Elizabeth’s husband, Henry VII, instead of claiming the throne for himself. In 1487, Lincoln joined the rebellion of Lambert Simnel and was killed at the Battle of Stoke.

After the death of his older brother, Edmund became the leading Yorkist claimant to the throne, and succeeded to the title Duke of Suffolk in 1492. Edmund took part in the Siege of Boulogne in October 1492.

However, he is said to have subsequently agreed with King Henry VII, by Indenture dated February 26, 1492/3, to surrender the dukedom (with, apparently, the marquessate) of Suffolk, and to be known henceforth as the Earl of Suffolk only, this being ratified by Act of Parliament in 1495.

In consideration of this surrender and “of the true and diligent service done to his Highness by the said Edmund” the King granted to him, for £5,000, a portion of the lands forfeited by his elder brother John, Earl of Lincoln, in 1487.

Suffolk was one of the leaders against the Cornish rebels at Blackheath, June 17, 1497. However, in Michaelmas term 1498 he was indicted for murder in the King’s Bench and, though afterwards pardoned, he fled overseas to Guisnes, July 1499, returning to England after September.

He was at this time recorded as stout and bold and of courage. On May 5, 1500 he witnessed at Canterbury the treaty for the marriage of King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth’s son Prince Arthur with Catherine of Aragon.

He then left for France, arriving there on the 13th, and attended the King at his meeting with Archduke Philipp of Austria, and titular Duke of Burgundy at Calais, on June 9, 1500.

Yorkist claimant

In August 1501 he and his brother Richard again left England without royal leave (apparently assisted by James Tyrrell, who was subsequently executed for these actions), and joining Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in the Tyrol, he assumed his former title of Duke of Suffolk, being also known as the “White Rose” (Yorkist Pretender).

For his alleged projected rebellion he was proclaimed an outlaw at Ipswich, December 26, 1502, and with his brothers William (arrested on suspicion and sent to the Tower, which he never left, early in 1502) and Richard, was attainted in Parliament January 1503/4, whereby all his honours were forfeited, backdated to July 1, 1499. Seward relates that throughout this period until Edmund’s death he used a Thomas Killingworth, gentleman of East Anglia and London, as his Steward, for which Killingworth later received a Royal Pardon.

On July 28, 1502 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian signed a treaty at Augsberg whereby, in return for £10,000, he undertook not to help the English rebels.

Nevertheless, Suffolk was allowed to remain at Aix, 1502–04, though on leaving he had to leave his brother Richard as hostage for his debts. Upon leaving Aix about April 1504 in an attempt to join the Duke of Saxony in Friesland, he was imprisoned by the Duke of Gueldres at Hattem and subsequently by Archduke Philipp of Austria and Duke of Burgundy, at Namur into 1506.

Imprisonment and execution
While sailing to Spain to secure his wife Joanna’s inheritance of the Crown of Castile, Archduke Philipp of Austria (future King Felipe I of Castile) was blown off course to England, and reluctantly and unexpectedly became a guest of Henry VII.

Needing to continue his journey, Archduke Philipp was persuaded by Henry to hand over the Earl of Suffolk in the treaty Malus Intercursus. Henry VII committed the Earl to the Tower on his arrival in London, late in March 1505/6.

On the accession of Henry VII and Elizabeth’s son Henry VIII, Edmund being still in the Tower, was (with his two brothers) excepted from the new king’s general pardon of April 30, 1509. After being a prisoner in the Tower for 7 years, he was (since his brother Richard had joined the service of France, with whom England was then at war), without any further proceedings, beheaded on Tower Hill aged about 42.

Montaigne, in his Essays, said that Henry VII, in his will, instructed his son to put Suffolk to death immediately after his own death, and the author criticized the father for requiring that his son do what he himself would not.

Marriage and heirs

Edmund married, before October 10, 1496, Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Scrope, second son of Henry Scrope, 4th Baron Scrope of Bolton. Margaret died in 1515. They had a daughter, Elizabeth, who became a nun and died of the Black Plague in the Convent of the Minoresses without Aldgate, London, in 1515.

Edmund’s younger brother, Richard de la Pole, declared himself Earl of Suffolk and was the leading Yorkist pretender until his death at the Battle of Pavia on February 24, 1525.