7. England’s Most Ingrate Brother
George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (1449 – 1478), got himself into a family feud that ended up killing him in a remarkably weird way. George was the younger son of Richard, Duke of York, whose struggle to secure power kicked off the Wars of the Roses between the York and Lancaster branches of the Plantagenet Dynasty. His older brother became King Edward IV of England, and George engaged in several ill-advised conspiracies against him. That ultimately spelled his doom.
After a protracted war that saw numerous ups and downs various pendulum swings between the competing Plantagenet family factions, Edward broke the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton in 1461. He then deposed the Lancastrian King Henry VI, and had himself crowned in his place as King Edward IV. He made his kid brother George Duke of Clarence. The following year, although only thirteen years old, George was also made the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He rewarded his brother’s generosity with treason and betrayal.
