Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (5 June 1341 –
1 August 1402) was a younger son of King
Edward III of England and
Philippa of Hainault, the fourth of the
five sons of the Royal couple who lived to adulthood.
Like so many medieval
princes, Edmund gained his identifying nickname from his
birthplace: Kings
Langley
in Hertfordshire
. At the age of twenty-one, he was created Earl
of Cambridge
. On 6 August 1385, Edmund was created
Duke of York. He was the founder of the
House of York, but it was through the
marriage of his younger son,
Richard, that
the
Yorkist faction in the
Wars of the Roses made its claim on the
throne.
Marriage
Although marriages within the Royal Family and between Royal
Families are the rule, it is interesting to note Langley's marital
ties to his older brother,
John of
Gaunt. Langley's first wife,
Infanta Isabella of Castile, was
the sister of Gaunt's second wife,
Infanta Constance of Castile;
his second wife,
Joan Holland, was the
sister of Gaunt's daughter-in-law
Margaret Holland, wife of Gaunt's son
John
Beaufort.
Langley's first wife, Isabella, was a daughter of
Pedro "the Cruel" of Castile and
María de Padilla. They had two sons
and a daughter:
After Isabella's death in 1392, Langley married his cousin Joan
Holland, whose great-grandfather
Edmund of Woodstock, 1st
Earl of Kent, was the half-brother of Langley's grandfather
Edward II; she and Langley were
thus both descended from King
Edward
I. The marriage produced no children.
Death
Edmund of Langley died in his birthplace, and was buried there, in
the church of the
mendicant friars.
His dukedom passed to his eldest son, Edward.
Coat of arms.
Ancestry
Titles, styles, honours and arms
Arms
As a son of the sovereign, Edmund bore the arms of the sovereign,
differenced by a
label argent, on each point three
torteaux.
References
- Peggy K. Liss, "Isabel the Queen," New York: Oxford University
Press, 1992, p. 165
- James Reston, Jr. "Dogs of God," New York: Doubleday,
p. 18.
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