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Authors: Alison Weir
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nursery, and Avice Welles was given the post of nurse. On 3rd July, the King commanded his chief magnates to swear an oath of allegiance to the Prince as 'the very undoubted son and heir of our sovereign lord'. Forty-seven lords gave their oath, foremost amongst them being the Dukes of Clarence, Gloucester and Buckingham. Five days later the King issued Letters Patent appointing a council that would be responsible for the administration of his son's household and estates until he reached the age of fourteen, his expected majority. Its members comprised the Queen, Clarence, Gloucester and a panel of bishops. Sir Thomas Vaughan was given the office of Prince's Chamberlain; his duty was to walk behind the King, carrying the young Edward in his arms, on ceremonial occasions. Vaughan would remain with Edward for most of his life, offering him dedicated service, and it appears that his charge became very close to him.
In 1473, when he was three, the Prince of Wales' household was permanently established at Ludlow Castle on the Welsh Marches. On 23rd September that year a series of ordinances governing the Prince's upbringing and education were drawn up. Although the regime was rather strict for so young a child, these ordinances reveal the tender love felt by the King for his son, and in some respects they show an enlightened approach to child-rearing. The Prince was to rise each morning 'at a convenient hour according to his age', and attend Matins and mass before breakfast. Before dinner he was to be instructed 'in such virtuous learning as his age shall suffer to receive'. This included listening to 'such noble stories as behoveth a prince to understand and know'. Afternoons were to be spent in physical activity and the acquiring of the knightly arts such as horsemanship, swordsmanship, tossing the quintain and 'such convenient disports and exercises as behoveth his estate to have experience in'. After Vespers and supper, the Prince was allowed some time for play, when he could indulge in 'such honest disports as shall be conveniently devised for his recreation'. Until he was twelve, he was sent to bed at 8.00 pm; from 1482, he was allowed to stay up until 9.00 pm. His tutors and servants were sensibly exhorted 'to enforce themselves to make him merry and joyous towards his bed', and once he was asleep a watch was kept over him throughout the night in case sudden illness carry off 'God's precious sending and gift' and the King's 'most desired treasure'. No 'swearer, brawler, backbiter, common hazarder or adulterer' was ever to be allowed into the household; Edward IV was taking no chances.
On 10th November, 1473, the Prince's maternal uncle, Anthony Wydville, Earl Rivers, then aged thirty-one, was appointed his Governor, a post which made him effective ruler of Wales; Rivers was also preferred to the Prince's newly-formed Council, commissioned in the names of Edward and his mother to govern and restore order to the Welsh Marches on behalf of the King. The Council was nominally accountable to the Prince, but the man with real power was its Lord President, John Alcock, Bishop of Worcester (later Bishop of Ely), who had served briefly as Lord Chancellor of England in 1475 and was a founder of Jesus College, Cambridge. Alcock had also been given responsibility for the Prince's education, and tutored him personally. The faithful Sir Thomas Vaughan was appointed Treasurer to the Prince, and continued to care for the child's daily needs, there being no women at Ludlow. Edward's half-brother, Sir Richard Grey, was also on his Council, as was his mother's relative, Sir Richard Haute.
For the next ten years, says Mancini, the growing Prince lived at Ludlow, and 'devoted himself to horses and dogs and other useful exercises to invigorate his body'. The castle was his chief residence, but he spent time also at the manor of Tickenhill at Bewdley, which his father had had prepared as a kind of holiday retreat for him. He was exceptionally
In 1473, when he was three, the Prince of Wales' household was permanently established at Ludlow Castle on the Welsh Marches. On 23rd September that year a series of ordinances governing the Prince's upbringing and education were drawn up. Although the regime was rather strict for so young a child, these ordinances reveal the tender love felt by the King for his son, and in some respects they show an enlightened approach to child-rearing. The Prince was to rise each morning 'at a convenient hour according to his age', and attend Matins and mass before breakfast. Before dinner he was to be instructed 'in such virtuous learning as his age shall suffer to receive'. This included listening to 'such noble stories as behoveth a prince to understand and know'. Afternoons were to be spent in physical activity and the acquiring of the knightly arts such as horsemanship, swordsmanship, tossing the quintain and 'such convenient disports and exercises as behoveth his estate to have experience in'. After Vespers and supper, the Prince was allowed some time for play, when he could indulge in 'such honest disports as shall be conveniently devised for his recreation'. Until he was twelve, he was sent to bed at 8.00 pm; from 1482, he was allowed to stay up until 9.00 pm. His tutors and servants were sensibly exhorted 'to enforce themselves to make him merry and joyous towards his bed', and once he was asleep a watch was kept over him throughout the night in case sudden illness carry off 'God's precious sending and gift' and the King's 'most desired treasure'. No 'swearer, brawler, backbiter, common hazarder or adulterer' was ever to be allowed into the household; Edward IV was taking no chances.
On 10th November, 1473, the Prince's maternal uncle, Anthony Wydville, Earl Rivers, then aged thirty-one, was appointed his Governor, a post which made him effective ruler of Wales; Rivers was also preferred to the Prince's newly-formed Council, commissioned in the names of Edward and his mother to govern and restore order to the Welsh Marches on behalf of the King. The Council was nominally accountable to the Prince, but the man with real power was its Lord President, John Alcock, Bishop of Worcester (later Bishop of Ely), who had served briefly as Lord Chancellor of England in 1475 and was a founder of Jesus College, Cambridge. Alcock had also been given responsibility for the Prince's education, and tutored him personally. The faithful Sir Thomas Vaughan was appointed Treasurer to the Prince, and continued to care for the child's daily needs, there being no women at Ludlow. Edward's half-brother, Sir Richard Grey, was also on his Council, as was his mother's relative, Sir Richard Haute.
For the next ten years, says Mancini, the growing Prince lived at Ludlow, and 'devoted himself to horses and dogs and other useful exercises to invigorate his body'. The castle was his chief residence, but he spent time also at the manor of Tickenhill at Bewdley, which his father had had prepared as a kind of holiday retreat for him. He was exceptionally
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