Because he was born abroad, rumours of illegitimacy later spread. Denied the crown at that time, York was instead installed as heir – but on 30 December 1460 he was killed at the battle of Wakefield.Įdward is born in Rouen, son of Richard, Duke of York and Duchess Cecily. That autumn his father laid claim to the throne in place of Henry VI. They returned in 1460 and defeated the Lancastrians at Northampton in July. Edward fled to Calais in the company of his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (‘the Kingmaker’) after the rout of Ludford Bridge in October 1459. Edward spent much of his childhood at Ludlow, where he was brought up to succeed to the Marcher inheritance of the Mortimer family, from whom he was descended through his paternal grandmother.Įdward was just a boy when he became Earl of March, and at the age of 13 became embroiled in a civil war when his father rebelled against the Lancastrian king Henry VI, sparking the Wars of the Roses.

He was the eldest surviving son of Richard, Duke of York (then serving as governor and lieutenant general of the English-held duchy of Normandy) and his duchess, Cecily Neville. Edward’s eventful life began in Rouen on 28 April 1442.

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