page_title: Edward of Angoulême
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Edward of Angoulême / Life / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Plantagenet. Richard II of England. 1377-1399. AV Noble (7.68 gm, 1h). Second issue, Type 2b. London mint. Richard standing facing in ship, holding sword and shield; French title omitted, trefoil over sail Ornate cross with lis at ends, R in center, surrounded by crowns and lions; saltire cross mintmark. Cf. Schneider 150; cf. North 1304; cf. SCBC 1655. EF on a full flan. "Nobles of Richard II should have an initial mark of a cross pattee; however, there are very rare variants known (see, e.g., Schneider 126 and 139)."
context_page_description: Edward of Angoulême was second in line to the throne of the Kingdom of England before his death. Born in Angoulême, he was the eldest child of Edward, Prince of Wales, commonly called "the Black Prince", and Joan, Countess of Kent, and thus was a member of the House of Plantagenet. Edward's birth, during the Hundred Years' War, was celebrated luxuriously by his father and by other monarchs, such as Charles V of France.
  Edward died at the age of five, leaving his three-year-old brother, Richard of Bordeaux, as the new second in line. After the Black Prince's death in 1376, Richard became heir apparent to Edward III and succeeded the following year. Richard later ordered a monument to be made for his brother's tomb, which he had re-located; he also possibly depicted his brother on the Wilton Diptych.
context_section_description: Edward's early demise caused great pain to both Richard and his parents: historian Alison Weir states that, from the time the Black Prince returned to England after Edward's death, "he was a broken man." Edward's death also had a substantial impact on English history. Even during Edward's lifetime, fears that John of Gaunt would claim the throne existed; Parliament passed the Act of 1368, which permitted children born in the English domains in France to inherit the Kingdom of England, perhaps fearing that the Act of 1351, which established Edward and Richard's citizenship as English, would not be enough to ensure their succession. After Edward III's death and Richard's ascension, a regency led by John of Gaunt was avoided. Nonetheless, Gaunt maintained his influential position in the years that followed, and acted as de facto regent until January 1380.
  Although Richard was only ten years old when he began his reign, towards the end of the 1390s, he began what historians consider to be a period of "tyranny". By the time of Edward's death, England was in the midst of fighting during the Hundred Years' War, which had been started by Edward III. Richard made efforts to end the war, but was unsuccessful due to opposition from his magnates and the French refusing to formally acknowledge their territorial losses by transferring land to the English. In 1399, Richard was imprisoned in the Tower of London and abdicated in favour of his cousin, the Earl of Derby. With Richard's death on 14 February 1400, the direct line of the House of Plantagenet was brought to an end.
caption: A coin from the reign of Richard II.
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