Richard of York
1411 – 1460 · Generation XIX · Duke of York, Lord Protector · House of Plantagenet
Richard of York (1411–1460). Duke of York, Lord Protector. Married Cecily Neville in 1429. Pressed his claim against Henry VI and died at Wakefield; two of his sons wore the crown he never did. Orphaned young — his mother died soon after his birth and his father was executed in 1415 — he inherited the dukedom from an uncle killed at Agincourt, and in 1425 the Mortimer estates and claim, which made him the wealthiest noble in England after the king. Twice he commanded in France, in 1436–37 and again from 1441, when he pursued the French almost to Paris. Rivalry with the Beauforts hardened into war: Henry’s breakdown made him Protector in 1454, and at St Albans in 1455 his forces killed Somerset. Attainted after the rout at Ludford Bridge in 1459, he returned from Ireland in 1460, laid his hand on the empty throne in Parliament, and won the Act of Accord naming him Henry’s heir. Within weeks he was dead, and his head, wearing a paper crown, was displayed above Micklegate Bar in York.
Place in the family
- Richard of York was a great-grandfather of King Henry VIII.
- The archive records 121 of his descendants, across 21 generations.
One of 26 people of House of Plantagenet (1126–1485) in this archive. The longest-reigning English house, counting its Angevin beginning and the rival Lancaster and York branches that fought the Wars of the Roses.
Line of descent: King William I The Conqueror → King Henry I → Matilda the Empress → King Henry II → King John → King Henry III → King Edward I Longshanks → King Edward II → King Edward III → Edmund of Langley → Richard of Conisburgh → Richard of York.
Parents
- Richard of Conisburgh (1385 – 1415)
- Anne Mortimer (1388 – 1411)
Partners
- Married Cecily Neville (1415 – 1495) in 1429 — 2 children together
Children
- King Edward IV (1442 – 1483)
- King Richard III (1452 – 1485)
Life
- 1411 — Born
- 1429 — Married Cecily Neville
- 1460 — Died