Edward IV 1442-83
King of England

Born in Rouen, France, he was the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York, and bore the title Earl of March. His father Richard claimed the throne as the lineal descendant of Edward III's third and fifth sons (Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and Edmund, Duke of York), against the Lancastrian King Henry VI (the lineal descendant of Edward III's fourth son, John of Gaunt). Richard was killed at Wakefield (1460), but Edward entered London (1461) and was recognized as king when Henry VI was deposed (1461). With the support of his cousin, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, he defeated the Lancastrians at Towton (1461). He threw off his dependence on Warwick, and secretly married Elizabeth Woodville (1464), but Warwick forced him into exile in Holland (1470), and Henry VI regained the throne. Edward returned to England (March 1471), was restored to kingship (April), then defeated and killed Warwick at Barnet (April), and destroyed the remaining Lancastrian forces at Tewkesbury (May). Henry VI was murdered at the Tower of London soon afterwards, and Edward remained secure for the rest of his reign. Direct, straight forward and intelligent, he ensured his court rivalled the splendid court of Burgundy. He made his own decisions, periodically reviewed his grants of patronage, restored order, ended private war, subdued the nobility, and died solvent. In his financial reforms he foreshadowed the Tudors, but his advancement of his wife's family was to have serious repercussions in the royal minority that followed his death.

Bibliography: Charles Ross, Edward IV (1974)