Edward of Lancaster.

I often wonder what would have happened had Prince Edward of Lancaster, son of Henry VI of England, had remained in France. I'm sure that the French and or Bugundians would have found him a useful pawn in future relations with England. He would have been only in his early thirties when Edward IV dies. Could he have invaded England instead of Henry Tudor? If he had children by his wife, who was not particularly healthy, could a York?Lancastrian marriage still be arranged, so that the warring factions can finally unite? Thoughts?
 
He is properly known as Edward of Westminster, having been born there. So was Edward V, but I can't help that, and anyway he is known by the numeral not his birthplace. The Lancastrian Edward, Prince of Wales was, from the few accounts we have of him, unintelligent and very aggressive by nature. He is reported as obsessed by war and killing, and perhaps if he had not matured would not have been the most comfortable exile to harbour. But we really don't know, there is so little recorded of him.

Though it is doubtful that his marriage with Anne Neville was consummated, from their ages it could have been, and the best chance of a Lancaster/York union with him providing one side would be I think if he had left Anne pregnant, to bear his posthumous daughter. She would have been born in Yorkist hands and a Y chromosome would almost certainly have been a death sentence. Double X on the other hand would have led to betrothal in the cradle to the future Edward V. I mused briefly on this scenario in another thread recently.
 
Domenic said:
He is properly known as Edward of Westminster, having been born there. So was Edward V, but I can't help that, and anyway he is known by the numeral not his birthplace. The Lancastrian Edward, Prince of Wales was, from the few accounts we have of him, unintelligent and very aggressive by nature. He is reported as obsessed by war and killing, and perhaps if he had not matured would not have been the most comfortable exile to harbour. But we really don't know, there is so little recorded of him.

He seems to have developped that attitude thanks to his mother, Margaret of Anjou. It is likely he would stay under Margaret's wing up until her death. He might develop a character similar to his mother's in that case.

Domenic said:
Though it is doubtful that his marriage with Anne Neville was consummated, from their ages it could have been, and the best chance of a Lancaster/York union with him providing one side would be I think if he had left Anne pregnant, to bear his posthumous daughter. She would have been born in Yorkist hands and a Y chromosome would almost certainly have been a death sentence. Double X on the other hand would have led to betrothal in the cradle to the future Edward V. I mused briefly on this scenario in another thread recently.

Anne Neville was fianced Edward of Lancaster in 1470, shortly before he landed in England and wedded to him after the landing. They were respectively 14 and 17, so it's no real surprise they didn't get any children as it was rare to have a child this soon, even in the Middle Age (the first was generally around 16-20).

However, can I point out that Anne only had one son in her life? After the death of her first husband, she remarried to Richard of Gloucester (later Richard III) ca. 1472 and gave him his only legitimate son, Edward of Middleham, ca. 1473. That makes her a mother at 17 and she died at 29. We don't know the details on the birth of Richard III's son, so maybe it was difficult and made Anne infertile afterwards, but if not that's not much.
Compared to her stepsister Elizabeth Woodville (wife of Edward IV) who had twelve children (two from her first marriage to sir John Grey and ten from Edward IV) and was first a mother at 20 and last at 43, Anne Neville seems to have had fertility troubles.

Also, would Edward of Lancaster marry Anne Neville if he choosed to stay in France? OTL, he was to marry her once he had landed in England, as had agreed Margaret of Anjou and Richard Neville, count of Warwick.
If Edward doesn't go to England, would Warwick agree to give Anne to Edward? I'm not sure myself : the Kingmaker would be more likely to look for another rival candidate to the throne or try to find support for the husband of his other daughter Isabel, i.e. George of Clarence.
And if the decisions to stay in France is made after hearing the news of Warwick's defeat at Barnet, would Margaret still marry her son to Anne? Wouldn't she look for a more suitable bride for her son?
 
Edward

Would he have married Elizabeth of York? If his first wife is dead by 1485, and the marriage was childless.
 
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