Edward V succeeds his father Edward IV as King of England
Edward V was King of England for just two short months.
At only thirteen years of age, he met an untimely and tragic end at the Tower of London, imprisoned alongside his brother Richard.
Both later disappeared in mysterious circumstances…
Edward V was the son of the Yorkist King, Edward IV and his Queen, Elizabeth Woodville.
Edward was born on 2nd November 1470, at Cheyneygates, the adjoining house at Westminster Abbey.
This was where his mother was in sanctuary, shielding from the Lancastrians.
Young Edward had been born into tumultuous times, in the midst of the epic dynastic battle known as the Wars of the Roses.
At his birth, his father was in exile in Holland, but he soon returned and re-gained his throne.
The one year old Prince Edward, as heir to the throne, was invested Prince of Wales in June 1471.
At only three years of age, he was sent to Ludlow, where he would spend much of his childhood.
As a young boy, his father had entrusted Anthony Woodville, who was also young Edward’s uncle, to be his guardian.
Woodville was given a rigorous set of instructions to adhere to, in the upbringing of young Edward.
A typical day consisted of an early church service, followed by breakfast, and then an entire day of schooling.
King Edward IV was keen to have the positive influences of religion and morality taught to his son.
At the age of twelve, Prince Edward’s fate was already sealed, when on that one fateful day of 9th April 1483, he heard news of his father’s death.
He became Edward V, a young king who would have one of the shortest reigns of any English king, lasting only two months and seventeen days.
On his deathbed, Edward IV made arrangements to have his own brother Richard Duke of Gloucester, serve as Edward’s Protector.
The Woodvilles ~ young King Edward’s family on his mother’s side ~ wanted Edward crowned immediately to avoid the protectorate under Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
This decision would have placed more power in the hands of the Woodvilles, who would have effectively ruled on his behalf until Edward V came of age.
Richard Duke of Gloucester, pledged his loyalty to the young king, and the Woodvilles were given no indication of the treacherous events that would follow…..
Arrangements were made for the new young king to meet with Richard so as they could journey down to London together for Edward’s coronation on 24th June.
Edward’s uncle and the dowager queen’s brother Anthony Woodville, arranged a meeting with Richard.
Anthony Woodville, along with Richard Grey ~ Edward V’s older half-brother ~ found themselves immediately targeted by Richard.
He had them arrested, and taken to the north of England.
Sadly, both Woodville and Richard Grey both met an untimely end at Pontefract Castle in June, when they were both murdered on Richard’s orders….
Edward’s mother the dowager queen, along with her daughters and Edward’s younger brother Richard, once again took refuge at Westminster Abbey.
By now, King Edward V was in very different surroundings, forced to take up residence at the Tower of London.
He would eventually be joined by his younger brother Richard, when he was taken from his mother at Westminster Abbey ~ on the pretext that he was attending his brother Edward’s coronation.
The two royal boys were held in captivity, and heavily guarded at the new royal lodgings.
People would often see the two boys playing in the adjoining Tower gardens, but in time their sightings became less and less frequent.
Their uncle Richard Duke of Gloucester usurped his young nephew’s throne, becoming Richard III.
Then the sightings of the boys stopped altogether, they completely vanished.
The events that followed, and the boys last days, would remain forever shrouded in mystery and murder, even centuries later………..
? A late 16th or early17th century painting of Edward V.
Unknown artist.
