Edmund, 1st earl of Lancaster

Edmund, 1st earl of Lancaster, known as 'Crouchback', was the second son of Henry III (r. 1216-1272) and his queen, Eleanor of Provence. He came into into enormous wealth after the Battle of Evesham in 1264 when he urged his father to adopt sweeping confiscation of land belonging to defeated barons in the English Civil War. In 1265 Edmund received the earldom of Leicester, and gained two castles in Wales. Two years later was created Earl of Lancaster.

Edmund’s wealth was further increased by his marriage to Aveline de Forz, the daughter of William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle, in 1269, and by his second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the widow of Henry III of Navarre and Champagne. After his second marriage in 1275, he assumed the title Count Palatine of Champagne and Brie.

At the time of his death Edmund was worth £50,000, what would have been around £12.2bn in 2010.