The House of Yorks

Izmail State Liberal Arts University

Ukrainian ministry of Higher education

The chair of English Philology

Report

The House of York

Written by

2nd year student

English-German department

Of Faculty of Foreighn Languahes

Elena Blindirova

Izmail, 2004

House of York royal house of England, deriving its name from the creation of Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III, as duke of York in 1385. The claims to the throne of Edmund's grandson, Richard, duke of York, in opposition to Henry VI of the house of Lancaster (see Lancaster, house of), resulted in the Wars of the Roses (see Roses, Wars of the), so called because the badge of the house of York was a white rose, and a red rose was later attributed to the house of Lancaster. Richard's claim to the throne came not only from direct male descent from Edmund, but also through his mother Anne Mortimer, great-granddaughter of Lionel, duke of Clarence, who was the third son of Edward III. The royal members of the house of York were Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III. The marriage of the Lancastrian Henry VII to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward IV, united the houses of York and Lancaster. Henry was the first of the Tudor kings.

The representatives of the House of York

The House of York

Edmund, 1st Duke of York, 1341–1402

Named Edmund of Langley after the manor where he was born, he was the fifth son of Edward III and Queen Philippa. Created Earl of Cambridge in 1362, he joined his brother John, Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt) in his wars against Castile. In 1372, he married his first wife, Isobel, younger daughter of Peter, King of Castile and Léon, while her elder sister married John. They had three children: Edward Plantagenet, 2nd Duke of York; Constance of York, Countess of Gloucester, and Richard, Earl of Cambridge. Created Duke of York by Richard II in 1385, he retired from public life after Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, seized the crown from Richard II. After the death of Isobel in 1394, he married Joan, daughter of Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent.

His arms were: Quarterly, France ancient and England, over all a label of three points argent each point charged with three torteaux; and his crest on a cap of maintenance gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned or, gorged with a label as in the arms; on his seal, the arms are supported by two falcons, each holding with beak and claw a long scroll, which extends backward over body, inscribed with the motto "None other".

Edward Plantagenet, 2nd Duke of York, 1373–1415

The elder son of Edmund of Langley, he was created Earl of Rutland in 1391. Richard II made him Lord High Admiral and Warden of the Cinque Ports and in 1397, Duke of Albemarle. In the first year of the reign of Henry IV he became involved in a plot to assassinate the king at a tournament at Oxford. His father went to warn the king, but Edward forestalled him by confessing to the king himself. He lost the dukedom but was pardoned, becoming Duke of York on his father’s death. He was killed at the battle of Agincourt, where he led the vanguard. He died without issue and was succeeded by his nephew Richard.

His arms were: as Lord High Admiral, Per pale, dexter, the attributed arms of Edward the Confessor, charged overall with a label of three points; sinister, Quarterly, France ancient and England, over all a label of five points argent, each charged with three torteaux. After he became Duke of Albemarle, his arms were: Quarterly, France ancient and England, over all a label of three points gules each charged with three castles gold. As Duke of York, they were: Quarterly France modern and England, over all a label of York.

Constance of York, Countess of Gloucester, 1374–1416

The only daughter of Edmund of Langley, Constance was the mistress of Edmund Holland, Earl of Kent, by whom she had a daughter named Eleanor. She later married Thomas le Despencer, Earl of Gloucester. Two children, Richard, Lord le Despencer, and Elizabeth le Despencer, died without issue, but their daughter Isabel le Despencer married twice, her second husband being Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. Their daughter, Anne Beauchamp, married Richard Neville (The Kingmaker), who thus became Earl of Warwick.

Constance bore the arms of her father, Edmund of Langley, impaled by those of her husband, which were: Quarterly, first and fourth, or, three chevronels gules; second and third, Quarterly, argent and gules, a fret or, overall a bendlet sable.

Richard, Earl of Cambridge, 1376–1415

Named Richard of Coningsburgh, after the place in Yorkshire where he was born, the younger son of Edmund of Langley was created Earl of Cambridge in 1414. In the following year, however, he conspired with Henry, Lord Scrope, and Sir Thomas Gray to assassinate the king, Henry V. He may have been bribed by the French king, Charles VI, or it may have been because, in the event of his brother-in-law Edmund, Earl of March, dying without issue, his own son would have been next in line for the throne. The Earl of March revealed the plot to the king, and Richard was executed.

Richard’s first wife, Anne Mortimer, was sister and afterwards heiress to the Earl of March and to the claims of her great-grandfather, Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward I, thus giving her Yorkist successors a superior claim to the throne over the House of Lancaster. Richard of Coningsburgh’s second wife was Matilda, daughter of Thomas, Lord Clifford.

His arms were: Quarterly, France first ancient, later modern, and England, over all a label of three points argent each charged with as many torteaux, within a bordure argent charged with lions rampant.

Anne’s arms were: Quarterly, first and fourth, barry of six, or and azure, on a chief of the first two pallets between two base esquires of the second, over all an escutcheon argent; second and third, or a cross gules, impaled with those of her husband.

Isabel, Countess of Essex, 1409–1484

Isabel was the oldest child of Richard of Coningsburgh and Anne Mortimer. Her husband Henry Bourchier, second Earl of Eu in Normandy was created Viscount Bourchier by Henry VI and Lord Treasurer of England. William, the eldest of their ten children, married Anne, sister of Elizabeth Woodville.

The Bourchier arms: Quarterly, first and fourth, argent, a cross engrailed gules, between four water bougets sable; second and third, gules, billety and a fess or, and their crest A man’s head in profile with sable hair and beard, ducally crowned or, with a pointed cap gules.

Richard, 3rd Duke of York, 1411–1460

Richard was the only son of Richard of Coningsburgh, and the only male, apart from Henry IV, with an unbroken male descent from Henry III. Although his father had been executed for treason, Henry VI restored to him the titles Duke of York, Earl of Cambridge and Rutland. An honorable man, his superior claim to the throne and obvious capability compared with the weak and mentally afflicted Henry VI earned him the hatred of the Queen, Margaret of Anjou. His wise and just rule in Ireland during 1449–1450 laid the foundation for an Irish–Yorkist alliance which survived until after the defeat of Richard III at Bosworth.

Made Protector of England in 1454 during Henry’s temporary insanity, he defeated an attempt by the Queen and the Earl of Somerset to regain control when, in 1455, along with the earls of Warwick and Salisbury, he defeated the king’s forces at St Albans. He was made Constable of England, but the Queen’s party regained power the following year. In 1459 the Queen felt strong enough to to crush the Yorkist party and in October the Yorkist forces, surrounded at Ludlow, were forced to flee. The Duke and his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, fled to Ireland while Warwick and his party went to Calais. Within a year, Warwick was back in England and in control of London. The Duke of York returned and on October 10 laid his hand on the empty throne in the chamber of the Lords in parliament, claiming the crown. His bid for the throne was premature, but the Duke was eventually recognized as heir to the throne, Prince of Wales and Protector of England.

The Queen’s party rallied once again, however, and on 30 December 1460 the Duke’s forces, issuing from Sandal Castle clashed with the Lancastrians at Wakefield. The Duke was killed, along with his son Edmund, and their heads were exposed on the walls of York. They were later buried at Pontefract and then at Fotheringhay.

His arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, over all a label of three points each charged with three torteaux, and upon his helmet his crest was On a chapeau gules doubled ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned or, gorged with a label as in the arms.; the badge with which he is particularly associated is the silver falcon and gold fetterlock, the fetterlock open to symbolise the release of the falcon and the aspiring hopes of gaining the crown.

Cicely Neville, Duchess of York, 1415–1495

The wife of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, Cicely Neville was the daughter of Joan Beaufort, the youngest child of John of Gaunt and Catherine Swynford. Her father was Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland. Known in her youth