Edmund Crouchback
Edmund Crouchback (January 16, 1245 - June 5, 1296) was the son of Eleanor of Provence and King Henry III of England.In 1253 he was invested by the Pope in the Kingdom of Sicily and Apulia. At about this time he was also made Earl of Chester. These were of little value as the real King of Sicily was still living and the Earldom of Chester was transfered to his elder brother Edward. He soon obtained, however, both possessions and dignities, for upon the forfeiture of Simon de Montfort by the King of the Earldom of Leicester and also the honour of the Stewardship of England and the lands of Nicolas de Segrave.
He was married twice. First to Aveline de Forz, Countess of Holderness, in 1269, and then in Paris, France on February 3, 1276, to Blanche of Artois. That same here he became the Count of Champagne and Brie in France. With Blanche he had four children:
- Thomas Plantagenet, Second Earl of Lancaster (b. 1276)
- Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Leicester (b. 1281)
- John Plantagenet, Lord of Beaufort, (b. BEF 1286)
- Mary Plantagenet
