Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster
Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, was a member of the royal Plantagenet Dynasty – and the founder of the first House of Lancaster.
Born in London on 16th January 1245, Edmund was the second son of King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence.
Edmund spent most of his childhood at Windsor Castle, alongside his siblings, including his older brother Edward Longshanks.
He grew emotionally attached to his father Henry, who rarely spent extended periods apart from his family.
Edmund’s mother, Queen Eleanor, arranged his marriage to the wealthy heiress Aveline de Forz, Countess of Aumale and Lady of Holderness.
The marriage took place on 8th April 1269 at Westminster Abbey.
Edmund and Aveline were the first royal couple to be married there.
The bride was just ten years old at the time, the groom twenty-four.
Their marriage was not consummated until Aveline reached fourteen.
Sadly, Aveline died four years after the marriage, at the age of fifteen.
Some sources say she may have died in childbirth, or shortly after a miscarriage.
Aveline was buried at Westminster Abbey.
In 1271 Edmund participated in the Ninth Crusade, along with his older brother, Edward.
This would be the last major medieval Crusade to the Holy Land.
While they were away, their father King Henry III, died.
On their return to England, Edward was crowned King Edward I at Westminster on 19th August 1274.
Edmund continued to serve his brother faithfully, participating in his wars in Scotland and Wales.
In Paris, on 3rd February 1276, Edmund married his second wife Blanche of Artois, the widow of Henry I, King of Navarre.
Blanche was a granddaughter of King Louis VIII of France, and had ruled Navarre after the death of her first husband in 1274.
Edmund and Blanche had four children ~ Thomas, Henry, John and Mary.
Through his marriage to Blanche, Edmund also became stepfather to Queen Joan I of Navarre.
Edmund made Grosmont Castle in Monmouthshire, his favourite home, and undertook much rebuilding there.
He converted the fortress into rooms suitable for his household, demolishing towers, and adding further accommodation.
His grandson, Henry – Duke of Lancaster was born at the castle in around 1300.
Edmund died at the age of fifty-one, on 5th June 1296 in Bayonne, during the siege of Bordeaux.
In his will, Edmund instructed that his body should not be buried until his debts were paid.
Edmund’s remains were embalmed and initially kept at the church of the Friars Minors in Bayonne.
His body remained in France for six months before being returned to England, when it was interred at Westminster Abbey on 24th March 1301.
His effigy can still be seen next to the tomb of his brother Edward I.
The tomb depicts his head resting on a pillow supported by angels, and has a three gabled canopy.
On the base of his tomb are the remains of a painting depicting ten knights in mail armour and surcoats, although only a few can now be seen.
