Alphonso, Earl of Chester
Alphonso | |
---|---|
Plantagenet | |
Father | Edward I of England |
Mother | Eleanor of Castile |
Alphonso or Alfonso (24 November 1273 – 19 August 1284), also called Alphonsus and Alphonse and styled Earl of Chester, was an heir apparent to the English throne who never became king.[1]
Alphonso was the ninth child of King
Alphonso's eldest brother, John, had died in 1271; the death of another older brother,
At the age of ten, Alphonso was engaged to Margaret, daughter of Floris V, Count of Holland. An opulent psalter was being prepared for the marriage when he fell ill[2] and died a few months before the wedding was to take place. The king and queen greeted the death of their son with deep sadness; at the same time, the historian M. Prestwich noted that in memory of the king's nephew Henry of Brittany, who died a month later, Edward and Eleanor ordered more masses than in memory of their son.
The Alphonso Psalter, now in the British Library, was completed a decade later when his sister Elizabeth married Margaret's brother, John I, Count of Holland, making the pairing of arms again appropriate.[3]
Alphonso's death at Windsor occurred shortly after the birth of his younger brother Edward, who became the oldest surviving male heir of Edward I. Alphonso was interred in The Confessor's Chapel at Westminster Abbey, although the exact location is unknown. His heart, however, was buried at the priory of Blackfriars, London (now destroyed).
As heirs apparent to the throne, both Alphonso and Edward bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label azure.[4]
Ancestry
Ancestors of Alphonso, Earl of Chester Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence | |||||||||||||||
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5. Eleanor of Provence | |||||||||||||||
11. Beatrice of Savoy | |||||||||||||||
1. Alphonso of England, Earl of Chester | |||||||||||||||
12. Alfonso IX of León | |||||||||||||||
6. Ferdinand III of Castile | |||||||||||||||
13. Berengaria of Castile | |||||||||||||||
3. Eleanor of Castile | |||||||||||||||
14. Simon de Dammartin | |||||||||||||||
7. Joan, Countess of Ponthieu | |||||||||||||||
15. Marie, Countess of Ponthieu | |||||||||||||||
References
- ^ ISBN 978-1317102731– via Google Books.
- ^ a b "On This Day: Death of Alphonso, Earl of Chester – History Blog". www.creativehistorian.co.uk. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ "The Alphonso Psalter – Medieval manuscripts blog". britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ Velde, Francois R. "marks of cadency in the British royal family". www.heraldica.org. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ Selby, Walford Dakin; Harwood, H. W. Forsyth; Murray, Keith W. (1895). The genealogist. London: George Bell & Sons. pp. 30–31.