Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York

Infobox British Royalty|royal
name =Edmund of Langley
title =Duke of York


imgw = 180px
spouse =Isabella, Duchess of York
issue =Edward, Duke of York
Richard of Conisburgh, Earl of Cambridge
Constance of York
titles =The Duke of York
royal house =House of Plantagenet
House of York (founder)
father =Edward III of England
mother =Philippa of Hainault
date of birth = birth date|1341|6|5|df=yes
place of birth = Kings Langley, Hertfordshire
date of death = death date and age|df=yes|1402|8|1|1341|6|5
place of death = Kings Langley, Hertfordshire|

Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (June 5 1341 – August 1 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. [cite web|title=Person Page 10188|url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p10188.htm#i101879|accessdate=2008-09-19 |publisher=thePeerage.com] 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, Isabella of Castile, was the sister of Gaunt's second wife, 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:

* Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York (killed in action at the Battle of Agincourt)
* Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (executed for treason by Henry V), ancestor of kings Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III of the House of York.
* Constance of York (an ancestor of queen Anne Neville)

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.

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". [ [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/britain/cadency.htm Marks of Cadency in the British Royal Family] ]

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.