by Linda Hansford
EDWARD V Ed iv reigned 1461-1470 & 1471-1483
“We find but few historians of all ages, who
have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method
to take on trust what they deliver to the public, by which means a falsehood,
once received from a famed writer, becomes traditional to posterity”.
Written in 1668 by John Dayden, First Poet
Laureate (lived 1631-1700)
(very concise and brief history leading up to
events regarding Edward v – Wars of
Roses ‘The Cousins War’, which are all well documented. I wrote these notes before recent release of
Channel 4 documentary and Phillipa Langley’s book ‘The Princes in the Tower’)
Edward V was born at Westminster on 4 November
1470, the first son and 4th of 10 children, 7 girls and 3 boys, from
the controversial marriage of his father the Yorkist Edward IV and his queen
consort mother Elizabeth Woodville (known as the ‘White Queen’ or the ‘Commoner
Queen’). Queen Elizabeth and his 3 older
sisters were taking sanctuary within the precincts of the Abbey, during the
brief restoration of King Henry VI from October 1470 – April 1471. At this time Edward IV was in exile in
Flanders.
