The First York Trivia Quiz

Answer: Normandy, France

Edward IV of York was born on 28th April, 1442, at Rouen in Normandy, the headquarters of his father, Richard, Duke of York, then serving as Henry VI's lieutenant-general in France. His high birth alone would have been sufficient enough to secure of Edward a leading place in the politics and society of his age.

Answer: Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence

If descent in the female line were to be allowed, then Edward's claim to the throne was better than that of Henry VI himself, for through his grandmother, Anne Mortimer, he was directly descended from John of Gaunt's elder brother, Lionel, Duke of Clarence.

Answer: The Nevilles of Warwick

Lady Cecily was a member of the powerful and numerous Neville clan which came to play a large part in English politics in the 1450's and seems to have inherited the startling fecundity of that family.

Answer: The Earl of March

The first direct contemporary reference to Edward was by the style of Earl of March. However it was probably sometime before, that Henry VI had been prevailed upon to create Edward, Earl of March, though no record of the creation has been preserved. (However Wikipedia notes his appearance.)

Answer: October 1460

With the Act of Accord, it was proved that the lords were less attached to Margaret of Anjou and her son, Prince Edward - they may have believed in the rumours that he was not Henry VI's son - and agreed to accept York and his male issue as right heirs to the throne in the death or earlier abdication of King Henry.

Answer: The Battle of Wakefield

In the north, Richard, 3rd Duke of York, made his final miscalculation. On 30th December 1460 he emerged from the safety of his castle at Sandal near Wakefield with an army weakened by the absence of foraging patrols. In the ensuing rout, York and Rutland and several of their leading supporters were killed.

The severed heads of York and Salisbury were impaled on the gates of York, Duke Richard's adorned with a paper crown in macabre comment in his failed pretensions to the throne.

Answer: Scotland

King Henry, the Queen, and the Prince of Wales, who had not been at the battle, made good their escape to Scotland, where they were soon joined by the Dukes of Exeter and Somerset, and other Lancastrian stalwarts.

Answer: Louis XI

The death of Charles VII on 22nd July 1461 raised Edward IV's hopes, for the new king, Louis XI, had been on bad terms with his father and had shown some sympathy to the Yorkist cause.

Answer: Mary of Guelders

Mary of Guelders was the daughter of Arnold, Duke of Guelders. Of French origin, she was married to James II of Scotland on 3 July 1449 and would have eight children, including the future king of Scotland, the duke of Albany, the earl of Moray, the Lady Crichton and the Countess of Arran.

Her husband would die at the age of 30 and Mary would act as Regent during the minority of her son, James III. It was during this time in which Henry VI sought sanctuary.

Answer: 1 May 1464

A secret marriage at the time, Edward was forced to reveal it when it was discovered that Earl of Warwick was negoiating with the French for a bride. It was this lack of influence over the king that led to Warwick's defection to the cause of Henry VI in later years.

The marriage was even kept from his mother, Duchess Cecily, who was also not impressed and it was reported that she threatened to have Edward declared illegitimate.

Answer: The Earl Rivers

Anthony was aligned to the Lancastrian cause, however he later switched sides. He was the eldest son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg and inherited the title in 1469 when his father was executed on the orders of Henry VI.

Answer: Charles VII of France

Plans of various kinds for his marriage had been discussed from his infancy. In 1445, his father had proposed a grandiose match with Madeline, the eighteen month old daughter of Charles VII of France. After exchanges of letters and envoys, the king had agreed and then the scheme was dropped.

Answer: Princess Isabelle de Lorraine of Calabria

Richard, the Duke of York, had such high hopes for his eldest born son. An alliance with either Flanders or France would have greatly increased his power, however if Edward had married the future queen of Castile, this would have kept him away from the ailing King Henry VI and would have greatly changed the course of history.

Answer: Norfolk

The brother of the ill-fated Edward V and fellow 'Prince in the Tower', Richard was married at the age of four to his bride of five. His bride was Anne de Mowbray, the Countess of Norfolk and grand heiress to the Mowbray estate. Edward IV had them married instead of betrothed in order to gain control of the estate.

She died in 1481 at the age of nine, roughly two years before her husband and brother-in-law disappeared in the Tower of London.

Answer: Westminster Palace

Falling ill during the Easter of 1483, Edward IV lived just long enough to name his brother as Protector for his under-age son, who would later become Edward V. He died on 9 April 1483, leaving the throne to his twelve-year-old son.