General Notes

Richard (2nd son, eventual heir), Earl of Cambridge, b. 1375, beheaded 5 Aug 1415; m. (1) before Jun 1408 (Papal dispensation to remain in marriage), Anne Mortimer, Countess of March; m. (2) Maud, daughter of Thomas, Lord Clifford.  [Magna Charta Sureites]

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EARLDOM OF CAMBRIDGE (IV, 1)

RICHARD, styled "OF CONISBURGH," or "OF YORK" 2nd son of Edmund, DUKE OF YORK and EARL OF CAMBRIDGE, by his 1st wife, Isabel, daughter and coheir of Pedro, King of Castile and Leon, and brother to Edward, Duke of York and of Cambridge, was born at Coningsburgh Castle, co. York, about 1375. King Richard lI was his godfather. Knighted 26 July 1406; Ambassador to Denmark, August to December 1406. He was, on 1 May 1414, created in Parliament EARL OF CAMBRIDGE. Almoner of England, and Constable of Brimpsfield Castle. He married 1stly (Papal dispensation to remain in marriage contracted without consent of their parents, 10 Kal. June 1408), Anne (d), elder sister and coheir being eventually in her issue heir of Edmund, EARL OF MARCH (who died s.p. 19 January 1424/5), daughter and in her issue coheir of Roger (DE MORTIMER), EARL OF MARCH, by Eleanor, daughter of Thomas (DE HOLAND), EARL OF KENT. He married, 2ndly, about 1414, Maud, the divorced wife of John (NEVILL), 6th LORD LATIMER, daughter of Thomas (DE CLIFFORD), LORD CLIFFORD, by Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas (DE Ros), LORD Ros. Having conspired (with Scrope of Masham and Grey of Heton) to depose the King [Henry V] and set up in his room the Earl of March [the heir general of Edward III], he was executed 5 August 1415, at Southampton, being buried in the chapel of "God's house" there. All his honours were consequently forfeited. His widow died s.p., 26 August 1446, and was buried at the Abbey of Roche, co. York. [Complete Peerage II:494-5, XIV:136, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(d) This lady transmitted to her grandson Edward IV (who, through her was heir general of Edward III), the right to the Crown, her grandmother, Philippe, Countess of March, being only daughter and heir of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, 2nd surviving son of Edward III.

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Earl of Cambridge; Ambassador to Denmark 1406; Almoner of England; Constable of Brimpsfield Castle; having joined in a failed conspiracy to depose King Henry V, he sought the latter's mercy in most abject terms, which gained him only a beheading without the usual additional punishment for treason, all his honors being attainted.

He was beheaded, in accordance with the orders of Henry V, for treason with the French, before the Battle of Harfleur, which was before the Battle of Agincourt.  Rather smashing scene in Ken Branagh's film of "Henry V" does the burly run-up to this, with a round turn.

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The following post to SGM by Brad Verity, 25 Feb 2003, gives a new birth date for Richard, plus interest info:

From: Brad Verity (batruth@@hotmail.com)
Subject: CP Correction: Richard of York, Earl of Cambridge
Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.medieval
Date: 2003-02-25 18:12:52 PST

CP has Richard 'of Conisburgh', Earl of Cambridge, the younger son of Edmund, 1st Duke of York, born "about 1375".  This never made sense to me, as Richard married the 17-year-old Anne Mortimer in early 1408, when he would have been about age 33, and 17 years Anne's senior.  Why would he wait until his early 30s to marry, then clandestinely wed a woman who was not an heiress and brought him no lands?

Historian T.B. Pugh, in the 1986 article 'The Southampton Plot of 1415', (in R.A. Griffiths,James Sherborne (eds.), "Kings and Nobles in the Later Middle Ages", p. 62-89), provides the answer.

Richard was not born until July 1385, at Conisborough Castle in Yorkshire.  "His birth at Conisborough castle probably took place a few days before Richard II reached York on 20 July 1385, on his way north to invade Scotland, and the king became godfather to Edmund of Langley's second son."  This makes much more sense.  Richard is now a mere 5 years older than his wife Anne, who, according to PA 1st Edition, was born 27 Dec. 1390.  Do we know the source for this birthdate of Anne?  Pugh has her aged 19 at her marriage in 1408, but that Dec. 1390 birthdate would make her only 17.  CP does not give a date for Anne's birth, and says her parents the Earl of March and Eleanor Holland were married "about 1388."  It also explains why Richard II did nothing toward his godson and cousin Richard of York, save provide him with an annuity of f233 6s.8d., which he started receiving in March 1395.  This was because Richard of York was only just age 14 in the summer of 1399 when Richard II was deposed, not age 24 as CP would have it.

Richard was significantly younger than his siblings, Edward, 2nd Duke of York, who was born in 1373, and Constance of York, Countess of Gloucester, who was born at some point before April 1378 (when the marriage of Thomas le Despenser was granted to Edmund 'of Langley' so that he could marry his daughter to him), Pugh had an intriguing theory regarding the paternity of this godson of Richard II.

"In view of the well-known liaison [between Isabel of Castile, Duchess of York, and John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, half-brother of Richard II], the possibility that her lover (and not the dull and negative Edmund of Langley) was the father of the duchess's younger (and favourite) son, Richard of York, cannot be ignored.  Perhaps it is significant that Edmund, duke of York, who had become one of the greatest landowners in England, preferred to leave Richard II to make provision for his godson, and young Richard was not mentioned in Duke Edmund's will, made on 25 November 1400."

It's an intriguing theory.  Of course we know that medieval law insured Richard of York, born during his parents' marriage, was legally the son of his father Edmund, Duke of York -- no matter how many liaisons his mother Isabel may have had.  But if the reality was privately known (or guessed) among the royal family, it may have led to a chip on Richard's shoulder that grew into his doomed conspiracy of 1415.

Pugh apparently followed up this article with a full 1988 book entitled "Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415."  Has anyone read the full book?  Are there any further insights into the matter?

Cheers, ---------Brad