Many Leeds people asked “Why has the most prominent position in Leeds been given to a colossal equestrian statue of Edward the Black Prince?” when the statue was unveiled in the City Square in 1903. The answer was simple. In history there was no figure with local associations heroic enough for the site. It was essential an equestrian statue should be selected; the difficulty was to find the subject. Henry de Lacy, the Crusader, has a place in local traditions by reason of the share he is reputed to have taken in the foundation of Kirkstall Abbey, but it was thought crucial for a larger figure in the national history to be represented. At that time there were no memorials of the great Duke of Marlborough, of Henry V, or of Edward III, and his son, the Black Prince. The choice fell on the romantic personality of the Black Prince, born in 1330.
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