A Second White Rose - Edmund, Earl of Rutland Survives

[Zestinobambino]

Great chapter, nice that Edward is marrying Catherine of Bourbon, the Anglo-Burgundian alliance will go on to do awesome things. Bring down Louis XI!! The Spider must be stopped 😤😤. Nice POV with Warwick, his not at all happy with his influence being lessened. Keep up the great work 👍👍👍

Glad you're enjoying it!

 

[Zestinobambino]

Sidenote: Maybe it's me, but I can't see the artwork. I'm only getting:
GetAttachmentThumbnail

Me too

Could you both check again please? I may have fixed it.

 

[A Random Man]

Could you both check again please? I may have fixed it.

I can see it now, thank you 👍👍👍

 

[Zestinobambino]

I can see it now, thank you 👍👍👍

No worries!

 

[Liminia1]

I am a bit confused as to why Burgundy marries Anne of York? Isn’t her husband, Exeter, still alive? Or was he killed somewhere and I missed it? Even so, she’d be 30 at this point. Would it not be more sensible to go with Margaret as otl? She’d have more childbearing years after all

They separated in 1461 but didn't officially divorce so the author can very easily remedy that, in terms of the age though I have no excuses

 

[Zestinobambino]

They separated in 1461 but didn't officially divorce so the author can very easily remedy that, in terms of the age though I have no excuses

I just butterflied his life away at Towton, to make things simple, and to be honest I don't see the age as that much of an issue. Charles will be 31 and Anne will be 25 when they marry; that's plenty of time for a child or two.

 

[Dragonboy]

No worries!

Can SEE it now

 

[King of Danes]

Exeter died as an ALT casualty of Towton, I did mention it in Chapter One. As for having kids, Anne would only be 25 when she moved to Burgundy, so I don't think it's too outlandish to think she and Charles could have children. The main idea, though, was to give Charles a Yorkist wife with less fertility issues than OTL.

Ahh I see! And lol my brain did the math wrong. I thought she was 30 hahah. It’s much more sensible now

 

[Zestinobambino]

Ahh I see! And lol my brain did the math wrong. I thought she was 30 hahah. It’s much more sensible now

Happens to the best of us!

 

[Zestinobambino]

Chapter Four: The York Siblings​

As his oldest brother and best friend, it wasn’t long into his reign until Edward began to think about Edmund, Duke of Rutland’s marriage. He hoped of course to have Edmund marry into a Lancastrian family to bring that family into the Yorkist fold, as well as marrying him to a wealthy heiress to add to his lands, but as a favour Edward was willing to let Edmund pick his own bride.

Kenilworth Castle, 15th August 1462: The two brothers were back together once again. Since taking the throne, they had not spent much time together - Edward had stayed in the North with Warwick, dealing with the rebels and the Scots, while Edmund journeyed south to London in order to take control of the administration of the rest of England. But now that the Scots had been beaten twice, Northumberland was dead, and for now Henry VI was no longer in the British Isles, Edward and Edmund could afford to relax.
Edward smiled as he poured himself another glass of wine, having just finished his last off. “Do you remember that old tutor of ours?” He laughed.
“What, old John Boyes?” Edmund said, and Edward nodded. The duke laughed to himself. “By God, what an awful man he was,” Edmund said in a gaspy voice. “I remember our letters to Father, trying to convince him to switch him with Lovedean...” [1]
“An awful man,” Edward echoed his little brother. “I pity the woman who has to share a bed with that pig.” He added with a venomous tone, and Edmund burst out laughing. The two brothers kept drinking and laughing.
“Speaking of women,” Edward said, and Edmund glared at him.
“Edward, please don’t tell me you’ve developed an infatuation for yet another unsuspecting lady.”
Edward glared back. “Of course not.”
“Good. You already have the one mistress. I pray no ill comes of it.” Edmund said. [2]
“She is a lovely lady!” Edward protested. “But no, that isn’t what I wished to speak to you about. I wished to ask you who you would like to marry.”
“Joanna Courtenay.” Edmund answered immediately, and Edward blinked.
“By God, Edmund, that was quick!” Edward laughed, slightly uneasily. “A Courtenay girl? I was expecting you to say someone of more... substance.”
“It is Joanna Courtenay I want to marry.” Edmund said firmly.
“Well, how come?” Edward asked.
“I first saw her many years ago.” Edmund explained. “At that Loveday that the Duke of Lancaster organised. Do you remember it?”
The Duke of Lancaster. Not King Henry VI. Just another duke, whose claim to the throne was less than Edward’s.
“Oh, I remember it well. I remember Father’s face when he had to hold the Duchess of Lancaster’s hand.” Edward thought and giggled to himself.
“Yes. Well, Joanna’s brother Thomas, the Earl of Devon was there. She had come with him. I saw her in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and I was enraptured. I have never seen a girl so beautiful, before or after. I spent most of the ceremony watching her, and she spent most of it watching me. After the ceremony we sought each other out...”
Edward’s eyes widened. “And what happened?”
“Well... for me, the Loveday lived up to its name.” Edmund said, his cheeks flushing bright red, and Edward gasped.
“By God!” He said and laughed. “Oh, dear brother, I never knew you had an eye for women like that! We’re more alike in that regard than you think, it seems!”
Edmund paused and looked at the floor. “Father knew I wished to marry her. I told him the next day, and he promised he would try to secure her as a bride for me. He, of course, was unable to do so. But you can, Edward.” Edmund said.
Edward smirked. He stood up and put a hand on Edmund’s shoulder. “Consider it done, Edmund. You will marry Joanna Courtenay.”

While Edmund’s choice to marry Joanna surprised Edward, who had assumed he would choose a Beaufort girl or a Stafford girl, he did see strategic value in the marriage as well. With Edmund as Earl of Devon, Edward could trust him to govern the region of the South West for Edward. Given that the Lancastrians were in France, if they were to invade, they would likely land on England’s southern coast. By granting Edmund control over a significant proportion of the southwest, Edward could be sure that the region was safe. Edmund and Joanna were married in the city of Exeter on 24th February 1463. Joanna brought as her dowry the Earldom of Devon and all lands of the Courtenay family, and as a wedding gift to his brother, Edward IV transferred a handful of towns from the Duchy of Exeter to Edmund’s control. His final act to establish Edmund as the predominant force in the West Country was to make him the Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall for life. Edmund was now in a position to assert himself as the dominant force in the Southwest. He installed John Bonville (the illegitimate son of William, Baron Bonville) and Sir Humphrey Stafford (a distant relative of the Duke of Buckingham) [3] in his household. He also petitioned Edward IV to grant to him wardship over the infant Cecily Bonville, great-granddaughter of William, Baron Bonville (who had inherited the baronies of Harington and Bonville through the deaths of her male relatives caused by the tumultuous civil war), although Edward instead granted this to William Hastings, Lord Hastings, who had married Cecily’s widowed mother Katherine Neville in 1462. Edmund and Joanna had their first child in 1464 - a boy, who they named Lionel. This was a deliberate choice of name to emphasise the superior ancestry of the House of York over the House of Lancaster, since the Yorkists claimed descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Edward III’s second son, whereas the Lancastrians claimed their descent from Edward III’s third son, John of Gaunt. The choice of the name Lionel was particularly poignant for Edmund, who was himself a second son, just like Lionel of Antwerp.

Edmund, Duke of Rutland and his duchess Joanna Courtenay. These paintings were believed to have been made around 1466-1467.​

In 1466, Edward organised the marriage of his final sister Margaret. Again he hoped to use her marriage to win over another Lancastrian family, and for Margaret he chose the Stafford family. Edward IV had wardship over the young head of the Stafford family - Henry, Duke of Buckingham, who was born in 1455, which made him nine years Margaret’s junior. Edward invited Henry’s uncle and current heir apparent John Stafford to London to negotiate the terms of a marriage between Henry and Margaret, and they were able to come to a happy result. Although he was only ten years old at the time, Edward IV had Henry agree to marry Margaret in February 1466. They were later officially wedded in 1473. Edward’s tactic paid off, and in the young Duke of Buckingham he would find another faithful servant and brother-in-law. John Stafford would also prove loyal, given time - Edward IV appointed John as a Knight of the Order of the Bath early into his reign, and was later made Earl of Wiltshire.

This left Edward with just his brothers George and Richard to sort out matches for. Warwick campaigned many times to have the younger York brothers marry his daughters Isabel and Anne, but Edward repeatedly declined this offer in favour of either foreign matches or Lancastrian matches. George grew increasingly frustrated that he had not been provided with a bride by his brother, especially when the offer from Warwick was still there. Finally, in 1466, George got the bride he was so desperate for. Edward organised for George to marry Margaret Beaufort, cousin of the Duke of Somerset who was currently in exile in France. Margaret already had a son, Henry, by her first husband Edmund Tudor, a half-brother of King Henry VI. Henry was currently being raised as a ward of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who had betrothed Henry to his daughter Maud. By having Margaret marry George, the last major Lancastrian family would now have a blood tie to the Yorkists. The two were married in June 1466 and Edward made George the Duke of Somerset and granted him all the Beaufort lands, but this still wasn’t enough. George demanded the lands and titles of Henry Tudor, too, who was the Earl of Richmond. Despite his demands, Edward refused to listen to his brother, but as a compromise, Edward made George the Earl of Dorset, too. For the time being, this would suffice.

[1] - I haven’t made this up! There are a few letters still surviving from when Edward and Edmund were growing up in Ludlow Castle, where they try and subtly convince York to get rid of one household staff or another.
[2] - the mistress in reference is Elizabeth Lucy, nee Wayte. As far as I can tell, she was Edward's first mistress OTL, so she is here again as well.
[2] - OTL, Humphrey was granted the majority of the Courtenay lands himself, and Edward made him Earl of Devon. Because of this, Humphrey got his name on Warwick’s list of evil advisors who had corrupted Edward. ITTL, Humphrey still has some power, but significantly reduced and hidden behind Rutland.

 

[lost_in_night_dreams]

Chapter Four: The York Siblings​

As his oldest brother and best friend, it wasn’t long into his reign until Edward began to think about Edmund, Duke of Rutland’s marriage. He hoped of course to have Edmund marry into a Lancastrian family to bring that family into the Yorkist fold, as well as marrying him to a wealthy heiress to add to his lands, but as a favour Edward was willing to let Edmund pick his own bride.

Kenilworth Castle, 15th August 1462: The two brothers were back together once again. Since taking the throne, they had not spent much time together - Edward had stayed in the North with Warwick, dealing with the rebels and the Scots, while Edmund journeyed south to London in order to take control of the administration of the rest of England. But now that the Scots had been beaten twice, Northumberland was dead, and for now Henry VI was no longer in the British Isles, Edward and Edmund could afford to relax.
Edward smiled as he poured himself another glass of wine, having just finished his last off. “Do you remember that old tutor of ours?” He laughed.
“What, old John Boyes?” Edmund said, and Edward nodded. The duke laughed to himself. “By God, what an awful man he was,” Edmund said in a gaspy voice. “I remember our letters to Father, trying to convince him to switch him with Lovedean...” [1]
“An awful man,” Edward echoed his little brother. “I pity the woman who has to share a bed with that pig.” He added with a venomous tone, and Edmund burst out laughing. The two brothers kept drinking and laughing.
“Speaking of women,” Edward said, and Edmund glared at him.
“Edward, please don’t tell me you’ve developed an infatuation for yet another unsuspecting lady.”
Edward glared back. “Of course not.”
“Good. You already have the one mistress. I pray no ill comes of it.” Edmund said. [2]
“She is a lovely lady!” Edward protested. “But no, that isn’t what I wished to speak to you about. I wished to ask you who you would like to marry.”
“Joanna Courtenay.” Edmund answered immediately, and Edward blinked.
“By God, Edmund, that was quick!” Edward laughed, slightly uneasily. “A Courtenay girl? I was expecting you to say someone of more... substance.”
“It is Joanna Courtenay I want to marry.” Edmund said firmly.
“Well, how come?” Edward asked.
“I first saw her many years ago.” Edmund explained. “At that Loveday that the Duke of Lancaster organised. Do you remember it?”
The Duke of Lancaster. Not King Henry VI. Just another duke, whose claim to the throne was less than Edward’s.
“Oh, I remember it well. I remember Father’s face when he had to hold the Duchess of Lancaster’s hand.” Edward thought and giggled to himself.
“Yes. Well, Joanna’s brother Thomas, the Earl of Devon was there. She had come with him. I saw her in Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and I was enraptured. I have never seen a girl so beautiful, before or after. I spent most of the ceremony watching her, and she spent most of it watching me. After the ceremony we sought each other out...”
Edward’s eyes widened. “And what happened?”
“Well... for me, the Loveday lived up to its name.” Edmund said, his cheeks flushing bright red, and Edward gasped.
“By God!” He said and laughed. “Oh, dear brother, I never knew you had an eye for women like that! We’re more alike in that regard than you think, it seems!”
Edmund paused and looked at the floor. “Father knew I wished to marry her. I told him the next day, and he promised he would try to secure her as a bride for me. He, of course, was unable to do so. But you can, Edward.” Edmund said.
Edward smirked. He stood up and put a hand on Edmund’s shoulder. “Consider it done, Edmund. You will marry Joanna Courtenay.”

While Edmund’s choice to marry Joanna surprised Edward, who had assumed he would choose a Beaufort girl or a Stafford girl, he did see strategic value in the marriage as well. With Edmund as Earl of Devon, Edward could trust him to govern the region of the South West for Edward. Given that the Lancastrians were in France, if they were to invade, they would likely land on England’s southern coast. By granting Edmund control over a significant proportion of the southwest, Edward could be sure that the region was safe. Edmund and Joanna were married in the city of Exeter on 24th February 1463. Joanna brought as her dowry the Earldom of Devon and all lands of the Courtenay family, and as a wedding gift to his brother, Edward IV transferred a handful of towns from the Duchy of Exeter to Edmund’s control. His final act to establish Edmund as the predominant force in the West Country was to make him the Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall for life. Edmund was now in a position to assert himself as the dominant force in the Southwest. He installed John Bonville (the illegitimate son of William, Baron Bonville) and Sir Humphrey Stafford (a distant relative of the Duke of Buckingham) [3] in his household. He also petitioned Edward IV to grant to him wardship over the infant Cecily Bonville, great-granddaughter of William, Baron Bonville (who had inherited the baronies of Harington and Bonville through the deaths of her male relatives caused by the tumultuous civil war), although Edward instead granted this to William Hastings, Lord Hastings, who had married Cecily’s widowed mother Katherine Neville in 1462. Edmund and Joanna had their first child in 1464 - a boy, who they named Lionel. This was a deliberate choice of name to emphasise the superior ancestry of the House of York over the House of Lancaster, since the Yorkists claimed descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Edward III’s second son, whereas the Lancastrians claimed their descent from Edward III’s third son, John of Gaunt. The choice of the name Lionel was particularly poignant for Edmund, who was himself a second son, just like Lionel of Antwerp.

View attachment 904370View attachment 904371
Edmund, Duke of Rutland and his duchess Joanna Courtenay. These paintings were believed to have been made around 1466-1467.​

In 1466, Edward organised the marriage of his final sister Margaret. Again he hoped to use her marriage to win over another Lancastrian family, and for Margaret he chose the Stafford family. Edward IV had wardship over the young head of the Stafford family - Henry, Duke of Buckingham, who was born in 1455, which made him nine years Margaret’s junior. Edward invited Henry’s uncle and current heir apparent John Stafford to London to negotiate the terms of a marriage between Henry and Margaret, and they were able to come to a happy result. Although he was only ten years old at the time, Edward IV had Henry agree to marry Margaret in February 1466. They were later officially wedded in 1473. Edward’s tactic paid off, and in the young Duke of Buckingham he would find another faithful servant and brother-in-law. John Stafford would also prove loyal, given time - Edward IV appointed John as a Knight of the Order of the Bath early into his reign, and was later made Earl of Wiltshire.

This left Edward with just his brothers George and Richard to sort out matches for. Warwick campaigned many times to have the younger York brothers marry his daughters Isabel and Anne, but Edward repeatedly declined this offer in favour of either foreign matches or Lancastrian matches. George grew increasingly frustrated that he had not been provided with a bride by his brother, especially when the offer from Warwick was still there. Finally, in 1468, George got the bride he was so desperate for. Edward organised for George to marry Margaret Beaufort, cousin of the Duke of Somerset who was currently in exile in France. Margaret already had a son, Henry, by her first husband Edmund Tudor, a half-brother of King Henry VI. Henry was currently being raised as a ward of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who had betrothed Henry to his daughter Maud. By having Margaret marry George, the last major Lancastrian family would now have a blood tie to the Yorkists. The two were married in June 1468 and Edward made George the Duke of Somerset and granted him all the Beaufort lands, but this still wasn’t enough. George demanded the lands and titles of Henry Tudor, too, who was the Earl of Richmond. Despite his demands, Edward refused to listen to his brother, but as a compromise, Edward made George the Earl of Dorset, too. For the time being, this would suffice.

[1] - I haven’t made this up! There are a few letters still surviving from when Edward and Edmund were growing up in Ludlow Castle, where they try and subtly convince York to get rid of one household staff or another.
[2] - the mistress in reference is Elizabeth Lucy, nee Wayte. As far as I can tell, she was Edward's first mistress OTL, so she is here again as well.
[2] - OTL, Humphrey was granted the majority of the Courtenay lands himself, and Edward made him Earl of Devon. Because of this, Humphrey got his name on Warwick’s list of evil advisors who had corrupted Edward. ITTL, Humphrey still has some power, but significantly reduced and hidden behind Rutland.

Wonderful chapter!

 

[Zestinobambino]

Chapter Five: Family Trees
​

After Chapter Four, most of the Yorks now have a spouse. On that note, I think it's the right time to get started on the definitive family tree for this timeline. Of course, it's a little sparse at time of posting, but I will be updating it every time someone new comes onto the scene.

NOTE FOR THE FUTURE: Watch out for spoilers for any of you that start reading this TL some time in the future!

The House of York

Anne, Duchess of Burgundy (1439)

M. 1447 Henry, Duke of Exeter:​

1. Anne Holland (1461)​

M. 1471 George, Earl of Worcester​

M. 1465 Charles I, Duke of Burgundy:​

1. Philip IV, Prince of Burgundy (1468)​

M. 1482 Kunigunde of Austria​

King Edward IV of England (1442)

A. 1461 Elizabeth Wayte:​

1. Elizabeth Plantagenet (1464) (ill)​

M. 1465 Catherine of Bourbon:​

1. Cecily of March (1465)​

B. 1477 Dauphin Charles​

2. Edmund, Prince of Wales (1466)​

B. 1477 Charlotte, Duchess of Lancaster​

M. 1470 Isabel Neville:​

1. Richard V, Duke of Normandy (1471)​

2. Catherine of York (1478)​

3. William, Duke of Bedford (1480)​

4. Isabel of York (1481)​

Edmund, Duke of Rutland (1443)

M. 1463 Joanna Courtenay:​

1. Lionel, Earl of Northampton (1464)​

M. 1478 Emma of Burgundy​

2. Thomas FitzRutland (1467)​

3. Joanna FitzRutland (1471)​

4. Edmund FitzRutland (1473)​

5. Cecily FitzRutland (1476)​

6. Edward FitzRutland (1477)​

7. Emma FitzRutland (1480)​

Elizabeth, Duchess of Suffolk (1444)

M. 1458 John, Duke of Suffolk:​

1. John, Duke of Suffolk (1462)​

M. 1479 Elizabeth Grey​

2. Geoffrey de la Pole (1464) (Holy Orders)​

3. Edward de la Pole, Archdeacon of Richmond (1466)​

4. Elizabeth de la Pole (1468)​

M. 1482 William Stourton, Baron Stourton​

5. Edmund de la Pole (1471)​

6. Dorothy de la Pole (1472)​

Margaret, Duchess of Buckingham (1446)

M. 1466 Henry, Duke of Buckingham​

1. Henry, Earl of Stafford (1473)​

2. Margaret Stafford (1476)​

George, Duke of Clarence (1449)

M. 1466 Margaret Beaufort​

A. 1468 Joyce Percy:​

1. Ralph Plantagenet (1469) (ill)​

M. 1469 Catherine d'Armagnac:​

1. Louis of Clarence (1470)​

2. Edward of Clarence (1478)​

Richard, Duke of Gloucester (1452)

M. 1472 Margaret Stewart:​

1. James of Gloucester (1475)​

English Nobility

Edward of Westminster:

M. 1466 Bona of Savoy:​

1. Charlotte of Lancaster (1469)​

​

Thomas, Earl of Arundel:

M. 1476 Anne Neville:​

1. Anne FitzAlan (1477)​

2. William, Baron Maltravers (1480)​

​

Henry, Earl of Northumberland:

M. 1477 Katherine Herbert:​

1. Edward Percy (1480)​

​

Henry, Earl of Richmond:

M. 1468 Maud Herbert:​

1. Maud Tudor (1476)​

2. William Tudor (1478)​

​

John Grey, Earl of Derby:

M. 1452 Elizabeth Woodville:​

1. Thomas Grey (1455)​

2. Richard Grey (1457)​

3. Elizabeth Grey (1463)​

​

William Hastings, Count of Clermont:

M. 1462 Katherine Neville:​

1. Edward Hastings (1466)​

2. Richard Hastings (1468)​

3. Anne Hastings (1471)​

4. Katherine Hastings (1473)​

​

Foreign Royalty

King Francis II of Brittany:

M. 1471 Margaret of Foix:​

1. Twins (1478):​

a. Margaret of Brittany​

b. Richard, Count of Etampes​

​

Maximilian Habsburg:

M. 1472 Anne de Valois​

​

Peter, Duke of Bourbon:

M. 1469 Louise of Albret:​

1. John of Bourbon (1473)​

Charles, Duke of Berry:

M. 1472 Elisabetta Maria Sforza:​

1. Elizabeth de Valois (1474)​

​

William VIII, Marquis of Montferrat:

M. 1469 Bianca de' Medici:​

1. Lucrezia di Montferrat (1471)​

M. 1485 Charles I, Duke of Savoy​

2. Bianca di Montferrat (1473)​

M. 1487 John Corvinus​

​

Ferdinand II of Aragon M. 1469 Isabella of Castile:

1. Isabella of Aragon (1470)​

2. Juan, Prince of Asturias (1478)​

3. Juana of Castile (1479)​

4. Maria of Aragon (1482)​

5. Catalina of Aragon (1485)​

 

[Zestinobambino]

Wonderful chapter!

Thank you! I had a lot of fun writing the scene between Ned and Eddy.

 

[lost_in_night_dreams]

Thank you! I had a lot of fun writing the scene between Ned and Eddy.

It's good to see them together.

 

[Dragonboy]

It's good to see them together.

Amazing work as always! An amazing way to wake up! Loved the tree too!

And boy George Will make trouble as always For his greed huh?

 

[FalconHonour]

George and Margaret is an accident waiting to happen 😭

But I do like Edward and Catherine together and Margaret/Henry Stafford is an interesting idea. Looking forward to more 😀

 

[Zestinobambino]

And boy George Will make trouble as always For his greed huh?

George and Margaret is an accident waiting to happen 😭

Not everything can go smoothly...
Just as a teaser, Richard is going to cause a fair bit of trouble. Not necessarily for Edward, mind you, but still...

Margaret/Henry Stafford is an interesting idea. Looking forward to more 😀

Thank you! So far I haven’t seen another TL that puts them together, so I was quite pleased with the idea.

 

[King of Danes]

The two were married in June 1466 and Edward made George the Duke of Somerset and granted him all the Beaufort lands, but this still wasn’t enough.

George, Duke of Clarence (1449)
M. 1466 Margaret Beaufort

Something is off here Which dukedom does George have? But yeah, I can’t imagine anything good coming from that match…

 

[Dragonboy]

Not everything can go smoothly...
Just as a teaser, Richard is going to cause a fair bit of trouble. Not necessarily for Edward, mind you, but still...

Specially not with George.

And as long as Richard is not making any nephews "dissapear" i'm sure the yorks Will recover

 

[Zestinobambino]

Something is off here Which dukedom does George have? But yeah, I can’t imagine anything good coming from that match…

Both! I just chose to put him down as Clarence on the family tree since he got that one first, and he holds Somerset as a secondary dukedom, sort of.