Edmund Crouchback

Edmund, Earl of Lancaster and Leicester (16 January 1245 – 5 June 1296), nicknamed Edmund Crouchback, was an English royal prince, military leader, statesman, and a member of the House of Plantagenet. Named after the 9th-century saint, Edmund was the second surviving son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence and the younger brother of King Edward I of England, to whom he was loyal as a diplomat and warrior. In his childhood, Edmund engaged in the "Sicilian business" in which his father accepted a papal offer granting the Kingdom of Sicily to Edmund, and he made preparations to become king. However, Henry III could not provide funds for the operation, prompting the Papacy to withdraw the grant and give it to Edmund's uncle, Charles of Anjou. The "Sicilian business" outraged the Barons led by the Earl of Leicester and Edmund's uncle, Simon de Montfort, and was cited as one of the reasons to limit Henry's power. Deterioration of relations between the Barons and the King resulted in the Second Barons' War, in which the royal government, supported by Edmund, triumphed over the Baronage following the death of Simon in the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

Quick facts: Edmund Crouchback, Born, Died, Burial, Spouse... ▼

Edmund Crouchback
Earl of Lancaster and Leicester
Effigy and monument of Edmund Crouchback, Westminster Abbey
Born	16 January 1245 London, England
Died	5 June 1296 (aged 51) Bayonne, Duchy of Aquitaine
Burial	24 March 1301 Westminster Abbey
Spouse	Aveline de Forz ​ ​ (m. 1269; died 1274)​ Blanche of Artois ​ ​ (m. 1276)​
Issue more...	Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster
House	Plantagenet
Father	Henry III of England
Mother	Eleanor of Provence

With the death of Simon, Edmund received all of his lands and the lands of many of the defeated barons, including Nicholas Segrave and the Earl of Derby, Robert de Ferrers, which included many castles, making him the most powerful and wealthiest baron in England. From 1267, Edmund held the title of Earl of Leicester and ruled Lancashire but did not take the title Earl of Lancaster until 1276. Later, Edmund accompanied his elder brother Edward on his crusade in the Holy Land, where his nickname, "Crouchback," originated from a corruption of 'cross back,' referring to him wearing a stitched cross on his garments. Following the death of his first wife, Aveline de Forz, Edmund's aunt and Dowager Queen of France, Margaret of Provence, arranged his second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the recently widowed Queen Dowager of Navarre and the Countess of Champagne. With his second wife Blanche, Edmund governed Champagne as its Earl in the name of his stepdaughter Joan until she came of age. Edmund was active in supporting his family members, such as assisting Edward in conquering Wales, advocating for the claims of his aunt Margaret against his uncle Charles of Anjou in his mother and aunt's homeland of Provence, and managing Ponthieu on behalf of his sister-in-law Eleanor of Castile.

When Edmund's stepson-in-law, King Philip IV of France, demanded Edward, who was also his vassal through his lands of Gascony, to come to Paris to answer charges of damages caused by English mariners in 1293, Edward sent Edmund to mediate the crisis to avert war. Edmund negotiated an agreement with Philip where France would occupy Gascony for forty days, and Edward would marry Philip's half-sister, Margaret. When the forty days were over, Philip tricked Edward and Edmund by refusing to relinquish control over Gascony, citing Edward again to answer for his charges. Edmund and Edward then renounced their homages to Philip and prepared for war against France. Edmund sailed for Gascony with his army and besieged the city of Bordeaux. Unable to pay his troops, Edmund's army deserted him, and Edmund retreated to Bayonne, where he died from illness in 1296. Edmund's body was brought back to England, where he was buried in Westminster Abbey in 1301.