Edward IV

Edward was a son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York and his wife Cicely, daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. He was born at Rouen in France on 28th April 1442. On 4th March 1461 King Henry VI was deposed and Edward declared King. He himself was deposed in favour of Henry VI in 1470 but regained the crown the following year.

Marriage

On 1st May 1464 he married Elizabeth, widow of Sir John Grey and daughter of Richard Woodville (later Earl Rivers), maid of honour to Margaret of Anjou, at Grafton Regis in Northamptonshire. She twice took Sanctuary at Westminster Abbey with her children (see a separate entry for Elizabeth Woodville). In St Edward's chapel is a small tomb of grey marble, possibly moved from somewhere else, for Margaret, sixth daughter of the king who died aged nine months in 1472 but the brass effigy and inscriptions no longer remain.

Coronation

Edward IV was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 29th June 1461 and his queen Elizabeth Woodville was crowned on 26th May 1465.

Burial

He died, probably of pneumonia caught on a fishing trip, on 9th April 1483 and was buried at St George's chapel Windsor.

Further reading

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004

Edward IV by Charles Ross, 1974

The Royal funerals of the House of York at Windsor by A.F. Sutton & L. Visser-Fuchs, 2005

The drama of coronation...by Alice Hunt, 2008

An account of his funeral is kept at the College of Arms in London