In my latest video, I continue my deep dive into Henry VIII’s alleged illegitimate children, and today I’m exploring the intriguing case of Richard Edwards, the renowned Tudor poet, playwright, and… possibly the king’s son.
Could this talented man really be the offspring of one of England’s most notorious monarchs?
Is there solid evidence, or is this just another Tudor myth?
Join me as I unravel the life of Richard Edwards and uncover the truth behind this fascinating theory!
Transcript:
I’m continuing my series on Henry VIII’s alleged illegitimate children by looking today at Tudor poet and playwright Richard Edwards, who some believe was Henry VIII’s illegitimate son?
But is there any evidence to support this theory or is it just a myth?
Let me explore the life of Richard Edwards…
Richard Edwards was born in 1525 and was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, from May 1540, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1544. His biographer John R. Elliott, Junior, states that following his degree he went on to be elected to a probationary fellowship at Corpus and then a full fellowship in 1546. After further studies at Oxford, where he obtained an MA, he became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal in 1553, becoming a master of the children of the chapel from 1561 until his death in 1566.
In her book, “The Collected Works of Richard Edwards: Politics, Poetry and Performance in Sixteenth-Century England”, Rosalind King dates Edwards’ birth to 1524 and she and Philippa Jones, author of “The Other Tudors”, write of how Edwards studied music under musician George Etheridge. According to Jones, Edwards was ordained as a priest and elected Theologian at Christ Church College, and he served as a priest at St Helen’s, Worcester, before joining the Chapel Royal.
In 1560, according to Jones, he married Margaret Babb at North Petherton, but she died giving birth, or shortly after the birth of their son William. Edwards went on to marry Helene Griffith in 1562 and they had four children together: Marie, Gwyn, Elizabeth and John. Jones dates Edwards’ death to 1567, writing that he died at Edwards Hall, near Cardiff.
Edwards is known mainly for his poems and plays. He wrote a comedy, “Damon and Pythias”, in 1564, which was performed at court and at Lincoln’s Inn during the Christmas season of 1564 and 1565, and his two-part play “Palamon and Arcite”, which was based on Chaucer’s ‘The Knight’s Tale’, was performed at Christ Church Hall, Oxford, as part of the entertainments laid on for Queen Elizabeth I’s visit to the city. John R. Elliott Junior quotes the Oxford antiquary Miles Windsor who described the Queen’s reaction to the play. Apparently, she “laughed full heartily afterward at some of the players… and when the play was ended she called for Mr. Edwards, the author, and gave him very great thanks, with promises of reward, for his pains.” He also wrote the play Misogomus.
With regards to his poetry, thirteen of his poems were published after his death in the 1576 miscellany “The Paradise of Dainty Devices”.
Edwards was also a composer. John R. Elliott junior writes of how a keyboard arrangement by Edwards for a poem by Francis Kinwelmersh or Kindelmarsh still survives and others have noted that pieces survive in music books from the period.
John R Elliott Junior states that Edwards was “highly popular during his career” and that translator Thomas Twyne called him “The flowre of all our realm, And Phoenix of our age”.
So, there you go, a potted history of Richard Edwards, but how on earth is he linked to Henry VIII?
Well, we know nothing about Edwards’ family, historian John R Elliott Junior, his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography biographer, states that Edwards’ parents are unknown, as is his birthplace, but his previous biographer, Arthur Henry Bullen, who dated his birth to around 1523, believed that he was born in Somerset, and websites like Find A Grave and some ancestry sites, none of whom are known for accuracy, state that his parents were William Thomas Edwards and Agnes Beupine or Blewett, and Find A Grave states that Agnes was a mistress of Henry VIII.
In “The Other Tudors”, Philippa Jones writes of how David Dean Edwards of Baltimore, in writing his family history “The Edwards Legacy” published in 1992, found that family legend told of Edwards being fathered by Henry VIII. It was said that the king met Edwards’ mother Agnes while using a royal hunting park and lodge at North Petherton. Kelly Hart, in her book “The Mistresses of Henry VIII”, writes of how evidence for Edwards being fathered by Henry VIII “rests on him receiving an Oxford education that his family could not have afforded.” But she questions this, saying that he could have had a benefactor or a scholarship, or that he may have been fathered by a rich man, not necessarily the king. Surely, if we don’t know for certain who his parents were, we can’t exactly pass comment on what they could or couldn’t afford for their son.
In my own digging, I found that Petherton Park, a deer park around North Petherton in Somerset, was a royal forest and that Sir William Courtenay was the keeper from 1513 to 1535. I haven’t found any mention of Henry VIII visiting the park in 1524/25. He visited the West Country on progress with Anne Boleyn in summer 1535, but that’s a decade after Edwards was born.
I’ve seen claims online in forums that Henry VIII provided a stipend for Richard Edwards’ upbringing and paid for his education at Oxford, and also that his mother Agnes was allowed to add Tudor roses to her personal crest, but they seem to be wild claims not backed up by any evidence, well, none that I have found. Nobody who makes these claims online backs them up with any sources, and in my research I’ve never found Edwards mentioned in grants or expenses for the time he was at Oxford.
If anyone knows more about Agnes or Richard Edwards then please do share your findings, I’d love to know more about them and if there are any links to Henry VIII. But for now, I have to conclude that there is no truth to the idea that Richard Edwards was Henry VIII’s son, after all, the only evidence seems to be family legend and his Oxford education.
