One of the most shocking events of the medieval period was the Princes in the Tower mystery.
Edward IV died rather suddenly and following this plans were made to crown his eldest son
Edward as Edward V, the new King of England.
There were great plans for the young king who would spearhead the House of York’s
efforts to defeat the House of Lancaster once and for all during the Wars of the Roses.
Edward V was just around the age of 12 when he would have been crowned King, and along
with his brother Richard of Shrewsbury the Duke of York, the boys were held inside the
Tower of London.
This was normal for Kings as they would await their coronation at the Tower, before they
travelled to Westminster Abbey for their crowning.
But Edward V would never be crowned.
The man who was supposed to protect him Richard, the Duke of Gloucester his uncle would launch
a scathing tirade against the two boys, which resulted in the pair being declare illegitimate.
Following this, Richard then was crowned Richard III and the Boy’s uncle took the crown himself,
and many across England believed he was a usurper.
However the boys inside the Tower of London were now prisoners, and as time went on the
pair disappeared from view which concerned many.
Today it’s considered that the pair were murdered and killed in their sleep, but what
is the story behind this?
Edward V was born on the 2nd November 1470, and his father was Edward IV and his mother
was Elizabeth Woodville.
He was considered the great hope behind the House of York, and his mother had sought sanctuary
at Cheyneygates, which was the medieval House belonging to the Abbey of Westminster that
was joined to Westminster Abbey.
She did this as she sheltered from Lancastrians’ who had briefly deposed her husband the Yorkist
King Edward IV and Edward V’s father.
The boy was declared the Prince of Wales in June 1471 after his father gained his throne
back, and then in 1473 the council of Wales and the Marches was created, and the young
prince was made a nominal president of the council of the marches.
With this it would be expected later in life that he would help the governing of Wales
and the Marches for England.
But in 1479 his father then gave his son the Earldom of Pembroke.
So there were great hopes for the future Edward V, and he was watched over closely by the
Queen’s brother Anthony Woodville who was the 2nd Earl Rivers.
He was a very learned man, and was important in the establishment of the household that
would bring up the future King.
Edward IV instructed what would happen for his son’s upbringing, and it was said he
would ‘arise every morning at a convenient hour according to his age,’ and his day
would begin with religious study and mass, which he was to have without interruption.
Following his breakfast, he was then educated with ‘virtuous learning,’ and the best
education that Medieval England could offer.
Dinner was then served at 10 o clock, and he was then read stories in which aimed to
inspire him in the values of honour, virtue and wisdowm.
The King was keen to ensure that his son and heir was raised right, and Earl Rivers was
placed in charge to make sure that any person with any reputation which was negative was
nowhere near Edward’s education.
After further learning, the prince took part in sports and activities, and he then went
to bed at 9 o’clock.
It was said by an Italian Ambassador that, ‘In word and deed he gave so many proofs
of his liberal education, of polite nay rather scholarly, attainments far beyond his age;
... his special knowledge of literature ... enabled him to discourse elegantly, to understand
fully, and to declaim most excellently from any work whether in verse or prose that came
into his hands, unless it were from the more abstruse authors.
He had such dignity in his whole person, and in his face such charm, that however much
they might gaze, he never wearied the eyes of beholders.’
But as with any heir to the throne, the question of marriage was a prominent one, and Edward
IV planned a marriage that would secure European alliances for his son.
Prince Edward was betrothed to the four year old heir to Francis II the Duke of Brittany’s
titles, and it was said that the pair would be married when they were old enough.
But Anne later married Maxilimilan I the Holy Roman Emperor instead.
However when the Prince was in his twelfth year of life, on the 14th April 1483 he received
news that his father had died 5 days before.
Edward IV’s will said that his brother Richard the Duke of Gloucester would act as the protector
during his son’s early life until he became of age to rule independently.
The new King left Ludlow Castle on the 14th April for the coronation, and Richard left
York a day earlier and the pair were planned to meet at Northampton and travel to London
together.
When Richard got to Northampton, Edward had already reached Stony Stratford and it was
here where a rather bizarre meeting took place.
On the night of the 29th Richard dined with Edward’s half brother Richard Grey and Earl
Rivers, and then Richard arrested them and they were sent north.
Richard then had them executed, but then he took possession of the King and then travelled
to London on.
On the 19th May 1483, Edward V had reached the Tower of London, and the new King took
up residence here and on the 16th June he was joined by his younger brother Richard
of Shrewsbury the Duke of York.
An immediate coronation was planned by the ruling council, however Richard III delayed
the coronation and then launched a shocking attack on the boys inside the Tower of London.
He claimed they were illegitimate due to the fact Edward IV their father had allegedly
been betrothed to another woman, and with this he claimed that the children of his marriage
to Elizabeth Woodville, as in the two boys inside the Tower of London and the King were
in fact illegitimate.
With this, he then managed to convince others of this, and he then ascended to the throne
himself, being crowned King Richard III.
But the story got very dark for Edward V, the King who was never actually crowned.
He and his brother were held inside the Tower of London still and it was clear that the
pair were now imprisoned.
It was written by Dominic Mancini and Italian Friar that the boys were taken into the inner
apartments of the Tower and they were seen less and less until they disappeared altogether.
It was said that Edward V was visited regularly by a doctor and that Edward was like a victim
prepared for sacrifice, and he sought remission of his sins by daily confession and penance,
because he believed death was facing him.
With this it’s interesting to consider that the boy King may have believed he was going
to be killed.
The final reports of Edward V and his brother’s existence is that they were seen playing in
the grounds of the Tower of London shortly after Richard had joined his brother, but
there were no recorded sightings of them following summer 1483.
There was allegedly a rescue attempt to spring them from the Tower launched but this failed,
but then the pair simply disappeared.
Most historians consider that the Princes were most probably murdered around the end
of Summer 1483 by either Richard III or men who were sent by Richard to kill the two boys.
The problem was for Richard that having his two nephews alive was dangerous for him as
many believed he was a usurper and whilst they were alive they served as a threat to
his Kingship.
It’s believed that a rebellion launched against Richard III was aimed to rescue Edward
V and his brother from the Tower, however other high ranking nobles such as the Duke
of Buckingham it’s believed had learned that the Princes in the Tower were dead.
There is no direct evidence that states the princes were murdered, and the only narrative
from the time that exists is from the Italian friar.
But rumours quickly spread that the King to be Edward V was murdered at the hands of his
uncle.
This was one of the accusations levelled against the King during Henry Tudor’s campaign to
defeat Richard III whom he deemed was a brutal usurper and a regicide who organised the killing
of the rightful King.
But on the 17th July 1674 workmen who were conducting remodelling work inside the White
Tower the oldest part of the Tower of London discovered a wooden box hidden beneath a staircase
leading to the chapel.
Inside this box were the remains of two small humans, and the staircase alluded to the fact
that this was where the boys had been dumped after being killed.
The bones were placed in an urn on the orders of King Charles III and were interred in Westminster
Abbey.
A monument to the boys which contains the bones states, ‘"Here lie the relics of Edward
V, King of England, and Richard, Duke of York.
These brothers being confined in the Tower of London, and there stifled with pillows,
were privately and meanly buried, by the order of their perfidious uncle Richard the Usurper;
their bones, long enquired after and wished for, after 191 years in the rubbish of the
stairs (those lately leading to the Chapel of the White Tower) were on the 17th day of
July AD 1674 by undoubted proofs discovered, being buried deep in that place.
Charles II, a most compassionate king, pitying their severe fate, ordered these unhappy princes
to be laid amongst the monuments of their predecessors, AD 1678, in the 30th year of
his reign.’
In 1933 the bones were examined and it was confirmed that the remains belonged to two
children who were around the correct age for the princes.
One of the skeletons was larger than the other, and a number of the bones were broken and
were missing.
There have been calls for these bones to be DNA tested, but this has not yet occurred.
But Edward V was the 12 year old King of England who’s fate today remains a mystery.
It’s presumed he was brutally murdered along with his brother, and he was deposed by his
uncle who became King Richard III and was known for being one of England’s most notorious
and brutal monarchs.
What is interesting is the stories regarding Richard III and his death and burial did seem
to be true, including following the discovery of his remains the Shakespearian thought to
be myths regarding his scoliosis and curvature of the spine.
This was proven true, so is one more correct thing about Richard III that he murdered his
nephews and seized the throne for himself?
It certainly is a possibility.
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