Edward of Middleham

He is a very healthy and vigorous child. After Bosworth, supporters of Richard III manage to get him out of London. He then goes into exile in France or Scotland. How does Henry VII handle this situation? Will Edward attempt an invasion of England when he come of age?
 
Doesn't a living Edward of Middleham make Richard's reign marginally more secure? Richard might also be not so desperate to remarry if he has a living heir and hence avoid the damaging rumours about Elizabeth of York (or, without the grief of her son's death, Anne Neville might live a bit longer). If he has a son to worry about Richard might also be less inclined to do his reckless, all or nothing, charge at Bosworth.

That said, if things do go as OTL, I imagine the likely place Edward will flee to is Burgundy, to seek shelter and eventual support from his aunt Margaret. It doesn't really make sense for him to go to France, considering the French just supported Henry Tudor.

Of course, precisely what happens in the immediate aftermath of Bosworth depends on whose custody Edward is left in- and whether his guardian decides to launch some immediate ill-considered anti-Tudor uprising with Edward as a figurehead, or whether they're okay with taking him to relative safety on the continent and letting him grow up a bit.

If they do have a unifying figure to rally around it's possible some of Richard's loyalists gravitate towards Edward (wherever that may be) rather than getting themselves killed in haphazard rebellions like the Stafford and Lovell Rebellion.

If Edward does end up in Burgundy, it's possible he gets caught up in Lincoln's enterprise- Edward would be a much better figurehead than Lambert Simnel (impersonating the Earl of Warwick despite the fact that Henry Tudor had the real Earl of Warwick in his custody). Wherein Edward will end up dead or imprisoned after something analogous to the Battle of Stoke, unless Edward's presence somehow swings things in the rebels favour (which seems doubtful) or they otherwise get lucky.

Alternatively, given they have a bona fide claimant here some of the Yorkists might be inclined to take the slow burn approach (diplomatic recognition, politicking, and all that) rather than throwing Edward's life away on something as risky as the Simnel Rebellion was IOTL. Or, you have some compromise where Lincoln et al. go off to raise rebellion in Edward's name whilst Edward himself remains safely ensconced on the continent.

Long term, Edward can probably count on support from aunt Margaret (though how overt this support is will depend on diplomatic realities), but'll probably end up with a Warbeck-esque career of wandering around looking for support and being a diplomatic bargaining chip. Whether he's anymore successful than Warbeck will depending on how much advantage can be gained from his less dubious past, and to what extent he can stir up support in England.
 
That said, if things do go as OTL, I imagine the likely place Edward will flee to is Burgundy, to seek shelter and eventual support from his aunt Margaret. It doesn't really make sense for him to go to France, considering the French just supported Henry Tudor.

Actually, France generally backed whoever could stir trouble for the English. Marguerite d'Anjou against Edward IV, Tudor against Richard III, Warbeck against Tudor, de la Pole against Henry VIII (when de la Pole died the French were in negotiations for him to marry Dorothea of Denmark).
 
He would be 11 at the time of Bosworth and wouldn't return to England to lead a rebellion as a child so I suspect Lincoln and the other Ricardians would want to wait until he was 17 or 18 i.e. 1491-2 before taking up arms. Henry VII would of course try to flush them out into ill considered and unprepared uprisings that can easily crushed before then and considering his OTL record Henry would probably have a degree of success but the bulk of the Ricardians would bide their time. Then in 1492 when the freshness of the Tudorr's has worn off and they have inevitably pissed people off a landing by "Edward V" with a force of European mercenaries in the north of England aiming to meet up with Ricardians and other discontented Englishmen. Edward's odds of success aren't bad, there have four successful invasions of England in the last 30 years (Ed IV x2, Henry VI and Henry VII) and Henry VII faced a strong undercurrent of opposition that would have been even stronger with an actual viable candidate waiting in the wings.
 
Actually, France generally backed whoever could stir trouble for the English. Marguerite d'Anjou against Edward IV, Tudor against Richard III, Warbeck against Tudor, de la Pole against Henry VIII (when de la Pole died the French were in negotiations for him to marry Dorothea of Denmark).

Yeah, but surely Edward wouldn't flee directly to France immediately after his father has been killed by a French-backed usurper? He could definitely end up there later on, though, when he's wandering around looking for support.

There was also plenty of Yorkist discontent floating around Burgundy IOTL, and when you take into account the familial connection, that seems to make sense for Edward's immediate destination post-Bosworth.

He would be 11 at the time of Bosworth and wouldn't return to England to lead a rebellion as a child so I suspect Lincoln and the other Ricardians would want to wait until he was 17 or 18 i.e. 1491-2 before taking up arms.

Depends which birth date you follow- 1473 or 1476.
 
I definitely think Burgundy is more likely in the short term but I think France might hold more long term potential, Burgundy needs to be close to England for trade and defensive reasons and that means holding and supporting Edward would be difficult.
 
Francis II, Duke of Brittany supported the invasion of Henry Tudor (and hosted and supported him and his uncle Jasper and many of their mens for years) so that was impossible
Francis II is dead. Anne could forge a new path, away from a usurper and away from an aggressive France.
 
Francis II is dead. Anne could forge a new path, away from a usurper and away from an aggressive France.

Is he? Wiki says he died in 1488. In any case, I'm not sure a deposed prince with few immediate resources is the best match for Anne if she wants to fend off an aggressive France (especially given a marriage to Maximilian might already be the pipeline).
 
Hmm, the problem I have is butterflies

Not only were there rumours that Richard III had a hand in his wife's death, also that he wanted to marry his niece - i.e. after Edward's death, people knew he could not have another child with Anne and when she died they wondered if he killed her in order to free himself up for a new wife, who many thought would be Elizabeth

With Edward alive, it will matter less if Anne dies, in so far that there won't be rumours and ideas to weaponise against him. Don't forget the Neville faction is still important, and that the war with Henry Tudor relied as much on disaffected Yorkists as it did on any residual Lancastrian feeling

But it could be argued that the seeds of Tudor's invasion had already been sown by Buckingham's rebellion, before Edward died.
 
Is he? Wiki says he died in 1488. In any case, I'm not sure a deposed prince with few immediate resources is the best match for Anne if she wants to fend off an aggressive France (especially given a marriage to Maximilian might already be the pipeline).

The match to the prince of the Asturias was already in the pipeline, apparently. It was only Fransez's death that reshuffled the deck (and freed up Margarethe of Austria to marry Juan, by Anne having to marry Charles).
 
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