Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Stafford, Edward, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1478-1521
History
Edward Stafford was the eldest son of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s nephew, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, and Catherine Woodville. Lady Margaret assumed the wardship of Edward, together with responsibility for his estates, in August 1486, a year after the accession of King Henry VII of England to the crown. Edward’s father, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, had been executed several years earlier in 1483 by King Richard III of England on the charge of treason, and his attainder was only formally reversed following Richard’s death in 1485.
It is likely that the young Edward, now the 3rd Duke of Buckingham, was educated in Lady Margaret’s households. In December 1490, he married Eleanor Percy (c.1474-1530), daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Buckingham became a conspicuous figure within the royal circle and was frequently in attendance at court. He was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1495 and became a member of King Henry VIII’s Privy Council in 1509. In 1521, he was arrested and charged with plotting to overthrow the king. Found guilty at trial, Buckingham was beheaded on 17 May 1521 and his honours and estates were subsequently forfeited.