During the Tudor Period, childbirth was very dangerous for mother and also for child.
There were many accounts of influential and important figures such as Catherine Parr and
Elizabeth of York passing away shortly after giving birth.
But what was also common was a child getting ill and passing away in infancy.
It was very tragic for any parent to suffer this, and there is a lost Tudor Prince who
was the brother of Henry VIII who died at the age of 1.
His mother and father were of course Elizabeth of York and Henry VII, the King who had previously
defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth field, and brought an end to the Wars of the
Roses.
Henry VIII is remembered as the most prominent child of the First Tudor King, and he went
on to have a reign in his own right which was brutal and savage, with Henry VIII marrying
6 times.
But who was Henry VIII’s lost younger brother Edmund, who is a forgotten Tudor prince?
To secure children and heirs to the throne, especially sons during the Tudor Period was
imperative and of paramount importance for the King and Queen.
Henry VII and Henry VIII wanted their family to remain on the throne for centuries, and
Henry VIII would even execute his second wife due to his frustrations that she could not
give him the son he greatly wanted.
Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were a very fertile couple, and Elizabeth fell pregnant
a number of times, but many of her children died at a young age, and this is what happened
to Edmund, the Duke of Somerset.
Three years following the birth of Princess Mary Tudor, in the summer of 1497 the Queen
went on pilgrimage and it’s believed she tried to conceive with her husband again and
produce another royal child.
At this time she was 33 which would have lessened her chances of having a child in Tudor England.
The country was not as stable as it could have been, as Henry VII had to deal with an
uprising and rebellion from The Great Pretender Perkin Warbeck, and despite managing to defeat
this and put this down, there was also a fire at a royal palace.
The inferno erupted at Sheen Palace around Christmas 1497 and this put the Tudor royal
family in danger, however by May of the following year the Queen was yet again pregnant with
another child.
The finest physicians and doctors in the land were summoned to tend to Elizabeth, and it’s
believed that this pregnancy was tricky and tough for the Queen.
However as was tradition at the time, Elizabeth in February 1499 went into confinement at
Greenwich Palace.
Positive images and tapestries were brought into her chamber, and before she entered confinement
she had a huge banquet.
Only her closest ladies in waiting tended to her, and when the baby was born it was
remarked that her labour was relatively straightforward, and the delivery of this child was easy.
A healthy son and a prince was born on the 21st February 1499, and it was Elizabeth’s
6th child.
Following the birth, the Queen did contract some form of complication or childbed fever,
and she was worrying her husband and it looked like she may not pull through, but she did
recover.
The announcement of a new prince was celebrated throughout England, and great spectacle would
greet the child’s arrival.
The silver font was brought from Caterbury Cathedral for the baptism which occurred in
the Church of the Observant Friars next to Greenwich Palace on the 24th February.
The royal wardrobe paid for huge amounts of linen and decoration to line the church and
decorate it to celebrate the historic birth of the prince.
The festivities were lavish and incredible, and the baby was then named Edmund after his
grandfather, Edmund Tudor the Earl of Richmond, who was the father of Henry VII.
Edmund’s godmother was Margaret Beaufort and she gave the child £100 which was a huge
sum of money and also financially rewarded the nurses and midwife who delivered him.
Following his birth, as many of the royal princes were, Edmund was quickly given the
title the Duke of Somerset, which had previously been given to members of Beaufort family.
This title would have a very interesting and it would later be inherited by Edward Seymour,
the Lord Protector of Henry VIII’s son Edward VI who lost his head at Tower Hill.
But Edmund would spend much of his very early days inside of the royal nursery which was
based at Eltham Palace, and he would be accompanied by his older sisters Margaret and Mary, and
also his brother Henry the Duke of York and future Henry VIII.
The royal children would often play today but of course Edmund was too young for this.
The eldest child of Henry VII and Elizabeth did not live with the children at the time
at Eltham, and he was being prepared for being a Tudor King.
But the children did benefit from the best upbringing, as in September 1499, Erasmus
visited and was taken to the royal nursery by his friend Sir Thomas More.
During this visit the 9 year old future Henry VIII made a big impression, and the 7th month
old Prince Edmund was held in the arms of the nurses whilst he visited.
However things would soon turn very tragic, as in the summer of 1500 there was a very
deadly plague outbreak that hit England and London.
The King and Queen then left England to travel to Calais on business and stayed there in
France for 40 days.
During this time, the children for their safety were also taken from Eltham Palace to the
more remote and secluded Old Palace at Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
This was considered much safer as they could escape the plague and get out of the busier
areas.
If the plague hit the whole of the royal children, then the succession would have took a huge
hit and this would have been devastating.
The palace they were kept in was a large red brick one, built by the previous Bishop of
Ely.
It was here where Elizabeth I would also learn that she began queen over 50 years later.
But on the 16th June, as the plague calmed down, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York returned
from Calais to Dover.
But as they landed in England, they heard some terrible and tragic news.
The King and Queen were told that their son Prince Edmund had died at Hatfield.
The couple were of course distraught, and they were greatly upset by the loss of this
son.
It is not known what killed him, as it’s believed could have been any illness.
He may have contracted the plague, but then this would have been documented and the other
royal children could have been susceptible and at risk for this, and there may have been
some effort to isolate the children.
He may also have suffered from a different disease or illness, or possibly even cot death,
or sudden infant death syndrome.
But the royal couple paid a huge sum of money to bury their son.
The records show how £242 was given for the burial of Prince Edmund.
He was given a huge state funeral, and his tiny body was laid to rest in a new chest
which was covered with white damask and decorated with a red velvet cross along with his effigy,
and his Princes’ circlet.
The coffin travelled with the effigy from Hatfield to London in a chariot which was
covered in black cloth and was pulled by six horses covered also in black cloth.
The coffin was followed by Edward Stafford the Duke of Buckingham, the Chief mourner
and other nobles and lords with torchbearers lining the route.
The Lord Mayor of London and thousands of Londoner’s lined the streets as the funeral
procession passed by them.
The King was dressed in blue mourning robes, and he waited at Westminster Abbey for the
coffin to arrive.
His Queen may also have been there, and the coffin was brought into the abbey on a hearse.
Monks and Lords kept a watch over the coffin, and on the 22nd June mass was observed, and
the coffin was the buried inside the Confessor’s chapel in Westminster Abbey.
There was no record of a monument or tomb to mark Edmund’s burial place.
Edmund Tudor is the forgotten lost Tudor prince and son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
who passed away tragically and suddenly.
It is likely that the royal family had great hopes for their young son, like they did with
all their children.
They may have hoped for him one day to become a wealthy prince who would have helped his
brother’s reign over England, and maybe he would have helped to secure alliances for
the country by marrying a wealthy princess.
The loss of the child for Henry VII and Elizabeth would be very tragic, but more tragedy would
hit the royal couple.
Within 2 years of the death of Edmund, Elizabeth of York following childbirth would become
gravely ill, and inside of the Tower of London she would pass away from further complications
from giving birth.
It was the loss of Elizabeth that shattered the King, and he had certainly had a significant
amount of grief and loss to cope with since the turn of the 16th century.
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