Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham (
3 February 1478 –
17 May 1521) was an
English nobleman. He was the son of the
2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former
Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the
1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of
King Edward IV.
Early life
Stafford was born at
Brecknock Castle in
Wales. His father was
attainted and executed for rebelling against
King Richard III in 1483, when Stafford was five. Two years later, when
King Henry VII ascended the throne, the attainder was reversed and the wardship of the young Duke of Buckingham, along with all his lands, was given to the King's mother, the
Countess of Richmond and Derby. (A reason for the reverse of the attainder may be that Buckingham was a first cousin of
Queen Elizabeth, the King's wife.)
Family
Buckingham married
Lady Alianore (Eleanor) Percy, daughter of the
4th Earl of Northumberland in 1500. They had four children:
One of their main residences was
Thornbury, which had been in the family since 1087. In 1508, Edward was granted permission to castellate the manor, work that was not completed due to his execution.
Life at Court
As a young man, Buckingham was made a
Knight of the Garter (1495), and had various ceremonial roles at the Royal Court of Henry VII. He garnered even further honours following the accession of
King Henry VIII: Buckingham was
Lord High Steward at the King's coronation in 1509, where he also carried the King's crown, and in 1514 he became
Lord High Constable.
Buckingham fell out dramatically with the King in 1510, when he discovered that the King was having an affair with the
Countess of Huntingdon, the Duke's sister and wife of the
1st Earl of Huntingdon. She was taken to a convent sixty miles away. There are some suggestions that the affair continued until 1513. However, he returned to the King's graces, being present at the marriage of Henry's sister, served in Parliament and being present at negotiations with
Francis I and
Charles V.
Betrayal and Execution
The real power in King Henry VIII's court was not with the great nobles but with low-born men such as
Cardinal Wolsey. Buckingham, with his royal blood and numerous connections by descent or marriage with the rest of the
aristocracy, became a leader of the disaffected nobles. During 1520, suspicions were raised about potentially treasonous actions and investigations began. Henry VIII personally examined witnesses against him, gathering enough evidence for a trial. Stafford was finally summoned to Court in April 1521 and arrested and placed in the Tower. Buckingham was tried before a panel of 17 peers, being accused of listening to the prophecies of the King's death and intending to kill the King; however, the King's mind appeared to be decided and conviction was certain. He was executed on
Tower Hill on 17 May. He was posthumously attainted by Act of Parliament on
31 July 1523.
In fiction
- Buckingham is a character in the first two episodes of the first season of the drama series The Tudors. Portrayed by Steven Waddington, Buckingham's intrigues are fictionalized, with several key facts omitted.
- The accusation and condemnation of Buckingham is depicted in the Shakespeare play Henry VIII.
