text: edward of angoulême edward of angoulême ( 27 january 1365 – c . 20 september 1370 ) was second in line to the throne of the kingdom of england and heir to the earldom of kent and the elder brother of richard of bordeaux ( later king richard ii ) . born in angoulême , he was the eldest child of edward , prince of wales , commonly called " the black prince " , and joan , countess of kent , and thus was a member of the house of plantagenet . edward 's birth , during the hundred years ' war , was celebrated luxuriously by his father and by other monarchs , such as charles v of france . edward died at the age of five , leaving his three - year - old brother , richard of bordeaux , as the new second in line . after the black prince 's death in 1376 , richard became heir apparent to edward iii and succeeded the following year . richard later ordered a monument to be made for his brother 's tomb , which he had re - located ; he also depicted his brother on the wilton diptych . in 1399 , after twenty - two years of what has been described as a " turbulent reign " , richard was overthrown by his cousin , henry of bolingbroke , and subsequently imprisoned in pontefract castle , where he died in 1400 . life birth edward was born at the château d 'angoulême , in angoulême , then part of the duchy of aquitaine . his name , edward of angoulême , is a territorial designation referring to his birthplace ; this was a common naming practice in 14th - century england . through his father , edward , the black prince , he was a member of the house of plantagenet and the second , but eldest surviving grandson of the reigning english monarch , edward iii . edward was related to the reigning french royal house of valois through his paternal grandmother , philippa of hainault . his mother , joan , was his father 's first cousin once removed , and was suo jure countess of kent . edward 's date of birth has been a matter of debate . in the dictionary of national biography article for his father , edward 's birth year is given as 1363 , 1364 or 1365 , based on three contemporary chronicles , including that of jean froissart . a letter sent by joan of kent to edward iii on 4 february 1365 announces edward 's birth on 27 january ; therefore , this is the date of birth most used . news of edward 's birth was " so acceptable to his royal grandfather , that the king conferred upon the messenger , john , an annuity of forty pounds per annum for life . " edward was baptized at the château d 'angoulême , in march 1365 . the black prince enjoyed luxury and edward 's baptism was meant to show the natives of aquitaine that they had a sovereign in the black prince : present were 154 lords and 706 knights and , supposedly , 18000 horses ; over £ 400 were spent on candles alone . edward 's baptism was also celebrated with " splendid tournaments . " one of his godparents was bishop jean de crois . the name the black prince chose for his eldest son had been borne by three english kings and had already become a popular name with political implications by the time edward and his brother , richard ( b . 1367 ) , were born . in yorkist times , these were the most popular names . death after a prolonged suffering , edward died of the bubonic plague ; although the exact time of his death is not precisely known , the date of january 1371 is commonly used . the wigmore chronicle of 1370 states that edward died " around the feast of saint michael [ 29 september ] " ; this is probably the correct date . the black prince found out about edward 's death after he returned from the siege of limoges ; " he was very grieved in his heart , but none can escape death . " edward 's loss " was a bitter grief to [ the black prince and joan of kent ] " and only increased the severity of the black prince 's illness . edward had " already won a reputation for a christ - like character , " and in his infancy , " historians have been willing to see the seeds of those high qualities which distinguished his father and his grandfather , which were denied to his brother richard ii . " the black prince returned to england with joan and richard in 1371 , and died there in 1376 of dysentery . before the black prince and his family left for england , he left his brother , john of gaunt , in charge of arranging edward 's funeral , which took place in bordeaux and was attended by all of the barons of gascony and poitou . edward 's body was exhumed in 1388 / 9 and transported back to england by robert , bishop of aire , who was acting under richard ii 's orders . it was at this time that edward was buried at " langley , " also known as children 's langley , a priory on the estate of kings langley . between 1540 and 1607 , the church at kings langley was ruined ; and edward had already been re - buried at the church of the austin friars by 1598 . while richard could not have remembered edward well , he still " recalled [ his brother ] with pious affection . " thus , edward is featured on the wilton diptych , a small diptych which depicts richard kneeling before the virgin ( represented by joan of kent ) and child ( represented by edward ) . the diptych is held at the national gallery of london . legacy edward 's early demise caused great pain to both richard and his parents : historian alison weir states that , from the time the black prince returned to england after edward 's death , " he was a broken man . " edward 's death also had a substantial impact on english history . even during edward 's lifetime , fears that john of gaunt would claim the throne existed ; parliament passed the act of 1368 , which permitted children born in the english domains in france to inherit the kingdom of england , perhaps fearing that the act of 1351 , which established edward and richard 's citizenship as english , would not be enough to ensure their succession . after edward iii 's death and richard 's ascension , a regency led by john of gaunt was avoided . nonetheless , gaunt maintained his influential position in the years that followed , and acted as de facto regent until january 1380 . although richard was only ten years old when he began his reign , towards the end of the 1390s , he began what historians consider to be a period of " tyranny . " by the time of edward 's death , england was in the midst of fighting during the hundred years ' war , which had been started by edward iii . richard made efforts to end the war , but was unsuccessful due to opposition from his magnates and the french refusing to formally acknowledge their territorial losses by transferring land to the english . in 1399 , richard was imprisoned in the tower of london and abdicated in favour of his cousin , the earl of derby . with richard 's death on 14 february 1400 , the direct line of the house of plantagenet was brought to an end . ancestry endnotes