WAS EDWARD IV ILLEGITIMATE? | The life of Edward IV | The birth of Edward IV | History Calling

WAS EDWARD IV ILLEGITIMATE? This is a question which has been asked (and given various answers) since Edward’s own lifetime. Did his mother, Cecily Neville (or Cicely Neville), Duchess of York have an affair with an archer named Brayborne or was her eldest surviving son really the child of her husband, Richard, Duke of York? In this Plantagenet history documentary from History Calling, we look at the birth of Edward IV in France in 1442, at the evidence that his reputed father may have been separated from his mother 9 months earlier, at his supposedly low-key christening in Rouen Cathedral (though his younger brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland, had a much grander one the following year) and at the accusations of illegitimacy levelled at him in later years by his other brothers, George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III). We’ll also hear about the apparent outburst from his mother (reported later by Domenic Mancini) that he wasn’t really the Duke of York’s son and the accusations that he looked nothing like his supposed father. At the same time, we’ll consider some other explanations for all of these pieces of ‘evidence’. For instance, was Edward IV born early (or indeed late) and might a premature birth account for a quick and quiet christening? Did he just look like other family members rather than his father and were his mother and brothers simply throwing shade at him for their own political reasons? Finally, when looking at the life of Edward IV more generally, we’ll ask, does it even matter if he was legitimate or not? Did it affect his claim to the throne? This video will examine the character of Duchess Cecily, who of all the women of the Wars of the Roses, is arguably rather overlooked but who lived through the conflict from start to finish and who was known as ‘Proud Cis’. It will question how likely it is that a woman of her character, famed piety and background would have ‘lowered’ herself to have an affair with a mere archer.

SUBSCRIBE with NOTIFICATIONS switched on for new videos every Friday.

BUY OR RENT

READ MORE:

[FREE] Photo of supposed lock of Edward IV’s hair

[FREE] Photo of supposed bones of George, Duke of Clarence

[FREE] Discovery and analysis of Richard III’s remains by the University of Leicester

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWARD V AND RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

THUMBNAIL: Yale Center for British Art, Gift of Ann and Kenneth Rapoport, public domain (detail)

NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.

[emilybarclay]

The idea that someone is illegitimate because their parents weren’t near eachother nine months to the day before their birth is kinda silly. Babies don’t have calendars in the womb, the nine months is largely just a general time frame. If Edward’s father had been absent the entire year they’d have a point, but a few weeks? Babies are born a few weeks early or late literally all the time, especially at the time

[alpacinoravidutt]

Edward was 6'4 in a time when the average male was 5'5. His ancestor Lionel of Antwerp was 7 feet tall. Not many people were over 6 feet tall, let alone 6'4. He's a royal for sure.

[keiththorpe]

Another fact that suggests Edward IV was legitimate rests with contemporary accounts that demonstrate Richard, Duke of York, and his wife, Cecily Neville, were a happily married couple who were quite devoted to one another. They were raised together in the same household, and once married, it was said that Richard, DoY remained faithful to his wife, never taking a mistress. The idea that Cecily would have taken a lover (and a low-born one at that) was frankly ridiculous.

[i.p.]

To be fair, Edward may have been a few weeks late/early. I was born 3 weeks late. Edward's father never questioned his son's legitimacy, I mean, he had more than enough other sons that could have taken on the family name and legacy so he could have easily said this boy is illegitimate but he never did.

[jaenoxus]

Completely agree, doesn’t matter if he was legitimate by blood, he was legitimate by conquest. Edward IV was truly a Warrior King, pity he is not remembered as such.

[leticiagarcia]

You made interesting points. Edward IV took the throne by conquest during the War of the Roses. His legitimacy shouldn’t be an issue. Allegations that he’s a product of adultery were only appalling political tactics in my opinion. When all fails blame the woman. That’s how it was done in the past.

You sound better. Thank you for this video. Have a great weekend. 😊

[AbuLaith]

Whether Edward IV was illegitimate or not is now moot. The dna test on the skeletal remains of Richard III showed no connection with the Dukes of Beaufort as far as I can recall. This might have had something to do with the fact that Edmund of Langley, the Duke of York and fourth son of Edward III was in severe doubt that Richard of Conisburgh, Richard III's 'Yorkist' grandfather, was his child. What is certain however is that Edward IV was a lineal descendant of John of Gaunt as Cecily Neville, his mother, was Gaunt`s granddaughter through her mother, Joan Beaufort. The Wars of the Roses was definitely a family affair; Game of Thrones doesn't match it.

[ellerose]

Thanks again for an informative and entertaining video!
What I love about your channel is that you walk us through all the evidence in detail. Most regular documentaries seem to assume that watchers are not interested in the 'boring' analysis of the source material. But you prove that quite the opposite is true! Being able to understand the scientific process and the uncertainties and debates is so refreshing. Thank you for taking your audience seriously!

[Saffron-sugar]

Medical professional here.
THANK YOU, thank you so much for taking this up.
That old Tony Robinson documentary drove me bananas.
I’d also like to add, a pregnancy is said to be 40 weeks long, but this is just a counting convenience. A pregnancy is dated from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period. Not from the day of conception.
Commonly, a woman ovulates 14 days after the first day of her last period. Therefore, a woman conceives on week 2 of the “40 week pregnancy“. This would’ve made Edward IV exactly on time.

Also, as you point out, a full term pregnancy is anything from 37 weeks to 42 weeks. It’s very rare for somebody to be born on the dot. This isn’t new news though. I was taught that in the 1990s and it was old news then

[csh]

Edward IV, in my opinion, certainly has the physical resemblance to his father's family. I don't believe he was illegitimate. As pointed out, illegitimacy was thrown around as a weapon so often, this was probably just more propaganda.

[rebeccaschillinger]

The theory of them not being related “because they don’t look similar” doesn’t hold much weight to me. Like you said, full siblings don’t always look alike. I am 5’11” tall, blonde-ish hair, pale, and blue eyes. My sister is 5’5” tall, black hair, olive skinned, and brown eyes. We couldn’t be more different! But I take after my dad, and she takes after my mom

[midnight_rose]

I'm rather disinclined to believe the story of Cecily threatening to expose Edward as illegitimate, due to what that would mean for her. Punishment for a woman's adultery was horrific in that time. Edward was likely baptized in such a shoddy ceremony because they thought he would die. I believe there is evidence of Edward's lung capacity being less than it should be, which was possibly a factor in his early demise.
Even if we assume he was illegitimate, he claimed the throne of England through right of conquest, not of blood, so it would not impede on the legitimacy of his rule.

[Laramaria]

So the primary thing to justify Edward being illegitimate is that he was a tall man with a short father...
My father is only 5'8"and my brother is 6'3" ( and he haven't reached puberty yet)... So... I think my stepmother has to explain a few things 🤣
Great video! 🙂 Really well done! 🙂

[jacquipettitt]

I can't see how Cecily Neville could have survived accusations of adultery, given the treasonous nature of the offence against the king. I'm more inclined to think the story stems from mischief or malice.

[jpr]

Thank you for such a measured and thoughtful look at this topic.
I watched the Tony Robinson documentary when it was first aired and was reduced to muttering rude words at the screen. Henry VII was careful to base his claim to the throne on his victory over Richard III. As you say, even if Cecily of York had hatched a cuckoo in the nest, (which would be very hard to do), then Edward was still the one who won the crown. Also Cecily herself was the granddaughter of John of Gaunt, so she had royal blood in her veins.

[kweejibodali]

i thought this was related to the rumors that Richard Conisburgh, Edward IV's grandfather, was illegitimate, not actually related to King Edward III.

Firstly, historians note that Conisburgh parents had a very poor relationship, and that his mother was highly suspected of having an affair at the time of his birth, some ten years after his siblings, with John of Holland, another powerful Duke, and half brother to King Richard II. Both his mother Isabella of
Castile and Holland were supposed to have rebellious attitudes.

It is also noted that Conisburgh was treated unusually by his father the Duke of York, Edmund Langley ( 4th surviving son of King Edward III) but who left Conisburgh out of his will, and did not appear to do much to provide for him.
In reading about his life, Richard Conisburgh had very little income, a younger son and brother to the Dukes of York, who had enormous properties, and in fact were one of the most landed powerful families in England

By contrast, Conisburgh's older brother was granted every privilege and was a favorite at the court. There is no evidence that Conisburgh did anything wrong to deserve this in his earlier life ( his downfall came much later ) and he married an even more penniless, forgotten royal Anne Mortimer, which is also a sign of not being favored for a good wealthy match at that time.

In fact, it shows how forgotten they both were by the Lancaster King, Henry IV, that he even permitted such a potentially powerful and threatening match,
as we all see from the later events, the War of the Roses.
Watch out for those forgotten relations !


If Conisburgh was illegitimate, his son, Richard 3rd Duke of York who was a major figure in the War of Roses, who almost became king himself, and help paved the way for his son Edward IV, the figure of this documentary...
In this case,
they may all have descended from an illegitimate line, and are not a real Yorks, and therefore, their real claim to throne, really is only through Anne Mortimer, wife of Conisburgh, and descendant of the second son of King Edward III, Lionel.

I have wondered if that is why he married Anne, suspecting his own legitimacy,
and wanting to create a future for his children.

(As it turns out, the Edward IV, and other Yorkists had a shot at the throne not only to Anne's blood line, but due to the enormous income that they inherited through her and her brothers....
Anne was poor due to Henry IV carefully guarding her brothers and their family income ( to keep them in line ) and neglecting her, and the next king Henry V changed the policy and allowed Anne's son, father of Edward IV to inherit everything freely so he cleaned up the fortunes of both lineages, Lionel, House of Clarence and the Mortimer lands and fortunes, and that of House of York)

[kazoolibra]

Love hearing about the characters from the Wars of the Roses! To me, whether Edward was legitimate doesnt even matter, for all the reasons you listed. Additionally, at that time, the legal father was the husband of the mother, and NO WAY TO PROVE OTHERWISE. So, Edward was the son of the Duke of York!

[wellingtonsboots]

Thanks for this. I don't believe Edward was illegitimate. But as you point out he won the throne in battle at any rate. Interesting video as always

[peytonpalmour]

I am glad you pointed out that his legitimacy didn't matter, because he took the throne by force. And it's worth noting that Henry Tutor was VERY VERY VERY much NOT claiming his right to rule via Elizabeth of York. Certainly that marriage helped to prevent competition and sure up alliances, but it was not how he claimed his kingship. The rules of monarchs are not...divine rights handed down. There isn't one great hard and fast rule that everyone adhered too 100% and always played fair by. If that was the case, there never would have *been* a war of the roses in the first place.

[anthonycalbillo]

My grandmother was 5 foot tall on a good day (4.8, ) and I'm 6.1. Nor do I look anything like her! Wow, you put Time Team and Tony Robinson in their places, and you did it under an hour!