The New Murrey and Blue blog

There’s no doubt he did. Just see this link. The Edward IV Roll shows Edward mounted on a horse which is barded with a heraldic display. As you will see, Edward gives just as much prominence to the arms of Castile and Leon as he does to those of England and France. This is, very simply, a heraldic claim to Castile and Leon or, as the medieval English often called it – Spain.

You may recall that John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley married two Spanish sisters. (Contrary to the belief of at least one eminent historian, this was not regarded as incestuous by the Church.) It was John of Gaunt who sought to enforce his wife’s claim to Castile, and although he failed, he did, as part of a negotiated settlement, arrange for his daughter Catalina/Catherine to marry the son of the Castilian usurper. This meant that the blood of Pedro ‘the Cruel’ (or ‘the Just’ – you choose) was established once again on the Castilian throne.

It is recorded that when Gaunt returned from Spain, laden with cash, he had a disagreement with his brother, Edmund. It may be that it was simply that York felt, quite reasonably, that he deserved some share of the spoils.

However, the chronicler, Hardyng, claims that he, Hardying, had seen a document signed and sealed by both brothers that gave Castile to whichever of their sons by the Castilian sisters should be born first. That was undoubtedly Edward of York, Earl of Rutland, Duke of Aumale and, eventually, 2nd Duke of York.

The snag is that Hardyng is not the most reliable of sources and sometimes embellished (shall we say?) the truth. In his later years, he was undoubtedly out to flatter the House of York.

However, right at the end of Henry IV‘s reign, York went out to Guienne as part of a military expedition led by Henry’s second son, the Duke of Clarence. This was to support the Armanacs against the Burgundians, but the French factions decided to make peace and pay off the English instead. So it came to nothing.

But Edward then decided to pursue his claim to Castile! This is little mentioned in history, but an account of his attempt is included in the monumental tome about Henry V by Wylie and Waugh. Needless to say, the attempt came to nothing. If John of Gaunt did not have the resources to force himself on Castile, the Duke of York certainly did not. The support of a few dissident Castilian nobles did not cut it.

But why did Edward think he had a right? The treaty Gaunt had signed had made him the residual heir, but his cousin had had a son, and that son, Juan II, albeit a minor, was established on the throne.

The most likely reason is that the paper seen by Hardyng really did exist and that Edward genuinely thought he was in the right. Of course, he had not the means to enforce his claim, and only a short time afterwards was one of the few English casualties of Agincourt. His nephew and heir, Richard of York, Duke of York, was but a child and in no place to press the matter.

Medieval families did not forget claims of this kind, however. It would have been part of York family folklore (so to speak) and perhaps of documentation. I think that explains why Edward IV thought himself the rightful King of Castile.