Edward, Earl of Warwick

The Earl of Warwick
Shield of the Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Predecessor	Anne Neville, 16th Countess of Warwick
Born	(1475-02-25)25 February 1475 Warwick, Warwickshire
Died	28 November 1499(1499-11-28) (aged 24) Tower of London, London
House	York
Father	George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
Mother	Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence

Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick (25 February 1475 – 28 November 1499) was the son of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, and a potential claimant to the English throne during the reigns of both Richard III (1483–1485) and his successor, Henry VII (1485–1509). He was also a younger brother of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury.

He was born on 25 February 1475, at Warwick, the family home of his mother, the Duchess of Clarence, formerly Lady Isabel Neville, elder daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. He was created Earl of Warwick in 1478 shortly after the attainder and execution of his father for treason. His potential claim to the throne following the deposition of his cousin Edward V in 1483 was overlooked because of the argument that the attainder of his father also barred Warwick from the succession (although that could have been reversed by an Act of Parliament). Despite this, he was knighted at York by Richard III in September 1483.

In 1480, Warwick was made a ward of King Edward IV's stepson, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, who as his guardian had the power to decide whom he would marry.Clements Markham, writing in 1906, claimed that Richard III had "liberated" Warwick from the Tower of London, where Dorset had placed him; however, there are no contemporary sources for this claim, although Dorset was Constable of the Tower. Dominic Mancini wrote that Richard, on becoming king, "gave orders that the son of the duke of Clarence, his other brother, then a boy of ten years old, should come to the city: and commanded that the lad should be kept in confinement in the household of his wife".