April 9: Edward V (The Princes in the Tower)

On this date in 1483 The young Edward V acceded to the throne on the death of Edward IV.

1. Edward V was the son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. He was born in Westminster Abbey after his mother sought sanctuary there during the Wars of the Roses.
2. Edward IV set out very strict rules as to how his son would be brought up. He was to observe Matins and Mass uninterrupted each morning before breakfast, after which he'd spend the time until dinner in "virtuous learning". Dinner was actually more like brunch, served from 10am. After that, he was to be read to - "noble stories ... of virtue, honour, cunning, wisdom, and of deeds of worship" but "of nothing that should move or stir him to vice". He took care not to employ anyone in the household who swore, brawled or committed adultery. In the afternoon, the prince was to engage in sports, followed by evensong. Supper was served from 4pm and the curtains drawn at 8pm.
3. It was intended that Edward V would marry the Duke of Brittany, Francis II's four-year-old heir, Anne, when they grew up. The first of their children would become Prince of Wales, the second would become ruler of Brittany. Since Edward disappeared, this never happened.
4. He did become Prince of Wales, though, in 1471 and went to live in Wales with his mother.
5. Edward IV died when Edward V was just 12. The king's will decreed that the prince's uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, be appointed protector. Meanwhile, the Woodvilles, his mother's family, wanted to exert their own influence on the young king, leading to conflict. Gloucester had them arrested and took Edward and his younger brother Richard to London and put them in the Tower of London. This didn't mean he put them in prison - the Tower was a royal residence at the time.
6. The council wanted Edward to be crowned as soon as possible, to avoid the need for a protectorate. Richard, however, kept putting it off. A sign, perhaps, that he was up to no good.
7. Which he was. He managed to persuade Parliament that Edward IV's marriage was invalid and his children illegitimate. Parliament agreed that Richard should be king, and he became Richard III.
8. After that, Edward and his brother were moved to the "inner apartments of the Tower" and were rarely seen in public. By the end of the summer, they had vanished completely. There were reports that a doctor was visiting Edward regularly and he was confessing his sins daily, as if he knew he was dying. Perhaps he died of an illness, then, or perhaps this was a tale concocted to cover up what is generally accepted to have happened - that Richard III had them both murdered. According to Thomas More, the princes were smothered to death with their pillows. His account forms the basis of William Shakespeare's play Richard III, in which Tyrrell murders the princes on Richard's orders.
9. What happened to the princes is a mystery to this day. In 1674, two small skeletons were discovered by workmen rebuilding a staircase in the Tower. Charles II had them placed in an urn and interred in Westminster Abbey - so if those bones are those of Edward V and his brother, he is buried in the place he was born. Nobody knows for sure, though. Tests were done on the bones in 1933 but it couldn't be proved they belonged to the princes. Perhaps modern science could prove it, but Westminster Abbey refused permission for any further investigation. In 1789, workmen carrying out repairs in St George's Chapel, Windsor, accidentally broke into the vault of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. They found a second vault which contained the coffins of two children, inscribed with the names of their other two children, George and Mary. However, it was later found that George and Mary had been buried elsewhere - so whose remains were in those coffins?
10. The story of the Princes in the Tower has inspired a number of writers. Shakespeare, as mentioned previously, but in the modern age writers such as Josephine Tey, Philippa Gregory and even George R. R. Martin have written versions of the story.

More details about my books. Follow this link if you like Superheroes, Psychics and/or quirky short stories. 

I've listed the themes each novel touches on here for easy reference.

Like my author page on Facebook for news on new books and blog posts.

Follow me on Twitter and Pinterest

Check out my Writing blog