Stafford, Edward, 3d duke of Buckingham

Stafford, Edward, 3d duke of Buckingham, 1478–1521, English nobleman; son of Henry Stafford, 2d duke of Buckingham. The attainder (1483) of his father was reversed on the accession (1485) of Henry VII, and after Henry VIII came to the throne (1509), he was made lord high constable, lord high steward, and a privy councilor. However, although Buckingham appeared to be high in the favor of Henry VIII, the king was both jealous and suspicious of him because of his wealth, his lands, and his descent; on the paternal side he was a descendant of Thomas of Woodstock, son of Edward III, and his mother was a sister of Edward IV's queen. He came to represent those nobles who resented the power of Cardinal Wolsey and their own exclusion from high offices. In 1521, Buckingham was arrested and tried on trumped-up charges that he had countenanced prophecies of his own succession to the throne and had expressed his intention to murder the king. He was executed.