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Birth:          16 Jan 1244 16 Jan 1245 London, England
Death:          5 Jun 1296 Bayonne, Pyrennes-Atlantiques, France
Burial:         Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Crouchback
Edmund Crouchback (16 January 1245 – 5 June 1296), a member of the House of 
Plantagenet, was the second surviving son of Henry III of England and Eleanor of 
Provence. In his childhood he had a claim on the Kingdom of Sicily, but he never 
ruled there. In 1265 he was granted all the lands of Simon de Montfort and from 1267 
he was titled Earl of Leicester. In that year he also began to rule Lancashire, but he 
did not take the title Earl of Lancaster until 1276. Between 1276 and 1284 he 
governed the counties of Champagne and Brie with his second wife, Blanche of Artois, 
in the name of her daughter Joan. His nickname, "Crouchback" (meaning "crossed-
back"), refers to his participation in the Ninth Crusade.[1]
Life[edit]

Edmund was born in London. He was a younger brother of Edward I, Margaret, and 
Beatrice, and an older brother of Catherine.

In 1255 he was invested ruler of the Kingdom of Sicily by the Bishop of Romania
[who?], on behalf of Pope Innocent IV. In return his father undertook to pay the 
papacy 135,541 marks and fight a war to dislodge the Hohenstaufen king Manfred. 
Upon Innocent's death, Pope Alexander IV confirmed Edmund's grant of Sicily.[2] 
Henry's barons refused to contribute to what they called the "Sicilian business" and 
ultimately Henry was only able to pay 60,000 marks. Steven Runciman says the grant 
of the kingdom was revoked by Pope Alexander IV on 18 December 1258;[3] Baines 
and Harland state that this occurred in 1263 under Pope Urban IV.

Edmund soon obtained, however, important possessions and dignities, for soon after 
the forfeiture of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester on 25 October 1265, Edmund 
received the Earldom of Leicester[2] and later that of Lancaster. He was granted the 
honour of the Stewardship of England and the lands of Nicolas de Segrave. He also 
acquired the titles and estates of Lord Ferrers, that included the earldom of Derby, 
and the Honour of Hinckley Castle.

In 1267 he was granted the lordship of Builth Wells in opposition to the then holder, 
Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (the last prince of an independent Wales). To help him conquer 
the land he was also granted his elder brother's lordships of the Trilateral of Skenfrith, 
Grosmont and White Castle together with Monmouth. After the civil war in 1267, he 
was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire. Henry III created his second son Earl of 
Leicester in 1267, granting the honour and privileges of that city. The following year, 
he was made Constable of Leicester Castle, a royal possession in the king's name. By 
now Crouchback had a reputation for being a ruthless and ferocious warrior, but he 
was not in England fighting de Montfort.[4]

In 1271 he accompanied his elder brother Edward on the Ninth Crusade to Palestine. 
Some historians, including the authors of the Encyclopædia Britannica article on him, 
state that it was because of this that he received the nickname Crouchback (which 
means "cross back") indicating that he was entitled to wear a cross stitched into the 
back of his garments.

Edmund remained loyal to his brother, Edward I, who confirmed the Charter grants of 
1265, 1267, and 1268-9, in a document of Inspeximus in 1284, and by parliament in 
the Great Charter of Leicester.[5] He frequently acted as an ambassador abroad. In 
1291, he was sent as Governor of Ponthieu, on behalf of his second wife, Blanche of 
Artois.

On his return from the Crusade of 1271-2 he seems to have made Grosmont Castle his 
favoured home and undertook much rebuilding there. His son Henry, 3rd Earl of 
Lancaster was apparently born there in 1281.

Edmund's duty to the church included the foundation of a Nuns of Clara or Poor Clares 
nunnery at Minories, St Aldate's. In 1291, his estate paid for the establishment for the 
Chapel of Savoy, in memory of his mother, at St Clement Danes. Filial piety was part of 
the chivalric code of an honourable knight. He was a generous benefactor to the 
monastery of Grace Dieu in Leicestershire, and the nuns at Tarrant Crawford.

He also helped establish a major Grey friars monastery at Preston in the duchy of 
Lancaster. In 1281 he supervised the construction of Aberystwyth Castle for King 
Edward I to subjugate the Welsh. The next year he accompanied Roger Mortimer on 
campaign against Llywelyn, defeating and capturing the prince.

He took an army to Bordeaux for his brother. Amongst the nobles[6] was the Earl of 
Lincoln and 26 banneret knights. During the siege of Bayonne the English ran out of 
money, so the army melted into the countryside. Broken-hearted the warrior-prince 
Edmund Crouchback died on 5 June. His body was carried to England and was 
interred on 15 July 1296 at Westminster Abbey, London.

Family[edit]

Edmund married (1st) 8 April 1269 Aveline de Forz, the daughter of William de Forz, 
4th Earl of Albemarle and Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon. She died just 4 
years after the marriage, at the age of 15, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. The 
couple had no children, though some sources believe she may have died in childbirth 
or shortly after a miscarriage.[citation needed]

He married (2nd) in Paris, on 3 February 1276 Blanche of Artois, widow of King Henry I 
of Navarre, daughter of Robert I of Artois and Matilda of Brabant. With Blanche he 
had three children:
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster (born 1278, executed 22 March 1322)
Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (born 1281, died 22 September 1345)
John of Lancaster (born bef. May 1286, died in France shortly bef. 13 June 1317),[7] 
seigneur of Beaufort (present-day Montmorency, Aube, arrond. d’Arcis-sur-Aube, 
canton de Chavanges) and Nogent-l’Artaud (Aisne, arrond. de Château-Thierry, 
canton de Charly), France. He married before July 1312 Alix de Joinville, widow of 
Jean d’Arcis, seigneur of Arcis-sur-Aube and Chacenay (died in or before 1307), and 
daughter of Jean de Joinville, seigneur de Joinville (Haute-Marne, arrond. Vassy, ch.-
I. canton), Seneschal of Champagne, by his 2nd wife, Alix, daughter and heiress of 
Gautier, seigneur of Reynel. They had no issue.

Parents
PLANTAGENET Henry III (1 Oct 1206 - 16 Nov 1272)
OF PROVENCE Eleonore (Leonor) (ABT 1222 - 25 Jun 1291)

Siblings
PLANTAGENET Edward I "Longshanks" (17 Jun 1239 - 7 Jul 1307)
PLANTAGENET Edmund "Crouchback" (16 Jan 1244 - 5 Jun 1296)

Marriage To D'ARTOIS Blanche (1248 - 2 May 1302)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Robert I (25 Sep 1216 - 9 Feb 1250)
DE BRABANT Matilda (Mahaut) (Maud) (14 Jun 1224 - 29 Sep 1288)

Children by D'ARTOIS Blanche 1248 - 2 May 1302
PLANTAGENET Henry (1281 - 22 Sep 1345)

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