King Edward IV Plantagenet Lock of Hair

Provenance: The lock of Edward IV (1442-1483), England’s first Yorkist King's hair, was taken when his tomb in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle was opened in 1789.

This is a rare opportunity to own a keepsake connected with a key moment in English history, and one of England's most important medieval rulers.

Edward is best remembered for decisively crushing the House of Lancaster in the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. His victory brought peace to a war torn kingdom (at least for the duration of his reign).

Edward IV (1442-1483) was the first English king from the House of York, a powerful branch of the Plantagenet dynasty.

His coronation took place in the midst of the bloody Wars of the Roses, an ongoing battle for the throne between the Plantagenet houses of York and Lancaster. Edward ruled from 1461 until his death in 1483, his term briefly interrupted by the restoration of Lancastrian king Henry VI in 1470-1471.