Birth of Edmund, Earl of Rutland, in Rouen, Normandy. Fifth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville. He died with his father in the Battle of Wakefield, 30 December 1460.
Battle of Hexham, Northumberland, the end of Lancastrian resistance (under Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset) to Edward IV in the north of England. The Yorkists were led by John Neville (later 1st Marquess of Montagu) and Somerset was wounded and then executed. Henry VI fled and was later found wandering helplessly around Lancashire.
Order to Sir Edward Woodville (brother of Elizabeth Woodville) to disband the fleet. The Marquess of Dorset (Elizabeth Woodville’s son from her 1st marriage) had immediately after Edward IV’s death arranged to appoint Sir Edward Woodville as commander of the fleet. The king’s treasure was divided between the queen, Dorset and Edward Woodville. This was possible as the Treasurer of England, Earl Essex, had died just 5 days before Edward IV on 4 April 1483. Richard now promised a pardon to all involved, and all but two ships returned to England. Woodville, however, fled with the treasure to Brittany and Henry Tudor.
Death of Katherine de Roet, first mistress and later third wife of John of Gaunt.
Katherine was probably born in 1350, the daughter of Sir Payn Roet, a knight from Hainault who came to England with Philippa, Edward III’s queen. She married in 1365 Sir Hugh Swynford.
In 1368 she became governess to the children of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, after the death of his wife Blanche. It is not sure, when exactly she became John of Gaunt’s mistress, but between 1373 and 1377 they had four children.
Following the death of John of Gaunt’s second wife, they married in Lincoln Cathedral in January 1396, where she is also buried.
She is the title character of Anya Seton’s novel Katherine.
Jack Cade’s Rebellion – Kentishmen revolt against King Henry VI
Entry of Edward V and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, into London. Original date set by the Woodville party for Edward’s coronation. The council decides that Edward should reside at the Tower, the royal palace where traditionally all kings stayed before their coronation.
Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, defeat of Lancastrian army, Henry VI’s son Edward killed in battle, Henry VI dies soon after.
Illustration: The Battle of Tewkesbury from a Ghent manuscript
Birth of Cecily Neville (mother of Edward IV and Richard III) at Raby Castle, Durham
Nikolas von Popplau, a Silesian knight, meets King Richard III in York and gives us an eye-witness report of what Richard actually looked like:
“King Richard is … three fingers taller than I, but a bit slimmer and not as thickset as I am, and much more lightly built; he has quite slender arms and thighs, and also a great heart.”
After finding Richard’s remains, we have a better idea of his figure and how tall he was, so Nikolas’s statement adds to our idea of what he looked like.
Possible date for Edward IVs secret marriage Elizabeth Woodville (born 1437), daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers, the widow of a Lancastrian. It was later claimed that he was at that time already – also secretly – married to Eleanor Talbot, who was still alive at this time. Therefore the marriage to Elizabeth Woodville would be bigamous.
