Edmund of Langley

Edmond of Langley, Duke of York (Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, June 5, 1341-ibidem, August 1, 1402). He was the fifth son (the fourth living) of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainaut.

He was created Earl of Cambridge on 13 November 1362, and then, on 6 August 1385, he was granted the title of Duke of York, making him the "patriarch" of the House of York, one of the two factions of the Wars of the Roses.

His father tried to marry him to Margaret of Flanders, countess of Flanders and heir to the duchies of Brabant and Limburg, widow of Philippe de Rouvres, duke of Burgundy, and who was the richest princess in Europe, in order to have a front common to fight against the kingdom of France.

But the plan was frustrated by the refusal of Pope Urban VI to give the corresponding dispensation for the celebration of the marriage, due to the degree of kinship that existed between them.

Edmond finally married at Hertford Castle, on March 1, 1372, Isabella of Castile, younger sister of Constance of Castile, wife of his brother John of Gaunt.

Three children were born from this marriage:

• Eduardo de York (1373-1415), successor of his father as Duke of York; married to Felipa de Mohun, died in the battle of Azincourt;
• Constance of York (1374-1416), married to Thomas le Despenser, Count of Gloucester; in addition, she had an illegitimate daughter with Edmundo Holland, Count of Kent and Woodstock Baron.
• Ricardo de Conisburgh (1376-1415), inherited the title of Count of Cambridge and died decapitated.

Duchess Elizabeth dies on November 23, 1392, and Edmund marries again, on November 24, 1393, with Joan Holland—sister of Edmund Holland, lover of Langley's daughter Constance—, aged 13. age. This second connection had no offspring.

Edmond of Langley died in his birthplace, King's Langley in Hertfordshire, on August 1, 1402, at the age of 61, and was buried there.

Ancestors