Edmund, Earl of Rutland

Edmund, Earl of Rutland (born May 17, 1443 in Rouen , † December 30, 1460 near Wakefield ) was the third son (of which the second survivor) of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York , and his wife Cecily Neville . He was the younger brother of the future King Edward IV and the older brother of George , the future Duke of Clarence, and of Richard , who became the Duke of Gloucester and named Richard III. also king.

Edmund grew up together with his one year older brother Eduard and was brought up in the knowledge that the House of York was entitled to the place of the leading family in the kingdom, but could not be taken due to various enmities. The mental weakness of Henry VI. as well as the father's conflict with Margaret of Anjou and her confidante Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset , led to the Wars of the Roses in 1455 , as a result of which York gradually claimed not only the leading role in the empire, but also the throne itself in 1460.

Edmund first took part in a battle with Ludlow in 1459 at the age of 16 , but this ended with betrayal with an almost uncontrolled escape of the Yorkists. Edmund then tried to kill himself, but he was badly injured. He went into exile in Ireland with his father, where they could rely on a strong York household. In 1460 he returned to England with his father and saw his father publicly declare his claim to the throne on October 10th.

Queen Margaret and her affiliated court party organized the resistance of the House of Lancaster , while her husband Henry VI. York appointed his successor. In December 1460 York and Edmund marched against the Queen's army and were surprised by superior troops at Sandal Castle on December 21st. An agreed Christmas truce was broken by Lancaster supporters on December 30th when a Yorkist division acquired groceries. York and Edmund rushed to the aid of the beleaguered soldiers, and the battle of Wakefield ensued , in which the utterly surprised Yorkists were crushed by the Lancasters. York fell, Edmund was captured and, on Lord Clifford's orders, immediately executed. According to some accounts, Clifford killed Edmund himself in order to avenge the death of his father five years earlier in the first battle of St Albans (in which Edmund was not involved). Edmund's head, like that of his father and his brother-in-law Richard Neville , the Earl of Salisbury, was displayed on stakes at Mickelgate Gate in York.

Edmund has in Shakespeare's Henry VI. a brief appearance in which he pleads for his life after the battle and is then killed by Clifford. This scene does not correspond to historical truth as Shakespeare incorrectly portrays Edmund as a young child.

Edmund was not married and left no descendants.

literature

• John A. Wagner: Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Roses. ABC Clio, 2001, ISBN 978-1-85109-358-8 , p. 203
• Rebacca Gablé: From perplexed and lion hearts , ISBN 978-3-404-64242-7

Web links

• Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland on thepeerage.com , accessed July 21, 2015.