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Edward IV

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Edward IV is one of the great enigmas of history. Even how he was able to become King is not self-evident. His seizing the throne was then followed by government marked by occasional brilliance and great folly. For someone who at times was keenly aware of dynastic considerations, his own marriage was the height of folly compounded by giving far too much influence to the Queen's relatives. He gave far too much trust, power and wealth to a few individuals, especially the Earl of Warrick and his traitorous brother Clarence alienating in the process much of the established nobility and wrecking in his early years the King's finances. Overthrown in the course of his reign, he nevertheless succeeded in recapturing the throne in short order and then repairing his fortunes spectacularly. Even so, this was accompanied by the strangest series of preparations for invasion of France, ending in an almost farcical procession in Northern France and a pusillanimous retreat. Lazy, debauched, perceptive and effective-many such adjectives can be applied to him - and all miss the puzzling essence of the man and his reign. What a set of stories could be woven out of this material without clearly capturing the essence of the situation! One cannot help wondering why of the adult kings between Richard II and Henry VII, Edward IV alone did not attract Shakespeare's pen.

Charles Ross wrote a fascinating book on this puzzling ruler, making as clear as the scanty and somewhat unreliable records allow the course of Edward's life and reign, and the various episodes that both fascinate and puzzle. The book (with a short introduction by R.A. Grifffiths rather than a revision by him) proceeds first by laying out the story, and then returning to give separate investigation of various aspects of Edward's rule, such as governance, his relations with the community and his finances. This latter subject is particularly well handled, as is the penultimate chapter on law and order. The story is well told, without excessive pedantry and without any attempt to hide when the record is unclear or the author has had to make large interpretations. One may not really know or understand Edward by the end of the book, but one's feeling is that it is the man himself who escapes capture by the biographer's art, not any weakness of the biographer himself. For those interested in such matters - and this is not light reading - Griffith's biography should prove highly satisfying.

Charles Ross presents an unforgettable tale of the most confusing, uneven and adventurous reign of any king in the English history. Edward IV remains the only king who was able to loose a kingdom and them successfully reclaim the crown. Possessing remarkable talents in administration and warfare, he however managed to bring the treasury to almost complete ruin by the end of his term, and botch the most impressive show of force in France any English king (including Edward III and Henry V) can ever master to assemble. Edward IV lived in the extraordinary age, full with great personalities like Richard Warwick the "Kingmaker", Margaret, the queen of Henry VI, and his own kid brother Richard, future most vilified by Shakespeare king Richard the III.

It is very easy to fell victim to novelized history when relating the events as extraordinary as the events of Edward's reign. Not Charles Ross. He is extremely well researched and versed in the records of the period, and presents the somewhat dry details of the records of the Household and Exchequer, in an interesting way and extremely well cross-referenced. Internal English sources are corroborated by continental and papal records. I would recommend this book to a serious student of history.

Also see Charles Ross's "Richard III" for a mysterious, bloody, and tragically brief concluding reign of Plantagenet dynasty. This one is also highly recommended.

The late Charles D. Ross presents here one of the most readable and interesting presentations of of English monarch ever written. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the king or his era-I used it extensively in my senior thesis!

EDWARD IV by Charles Ross has 479 pages, with 17 chapters, a glossy color painting of Edward IV, and 24 pages of B & W photos, a flow chart of Yorkists, flow chart of Nevills, and flow chart of Woodvilles, disclosing marriages, siblings, and children. Overall, the book is easy to follow. The book reads like an adventure novel, and when reading about the Lancastrian "rebels," I can hear Darth Vader's voice in my mind. For readers new to English history, this book will be confusing, in view of the fact that people change their name from page to page. For example, first, they have a real name, such as "Edward Seymore." But then, when they acquire a title such as Earl of Hertford, history books call them "Hertford," and later, when they acquire another title such as Duke of Somerset, history books call them "Somerset." Readers who are new to English history will also need to get used to the fact that many different people are named Henry, Edward, and Margaret. Charles Ross' book does not leave any loose ends. The narrative flows nicely. My review is on an earlier imprint (1974) of the book by Univ. of California Press. The first time I tried to read this book, which was ten years ago, I barely understood a word. But this time (June 2010), I read the entire book in three days, and was able to comprehend essentially everything. For the best comprehension of this book, I recommend additionally buying and readings books devoted entirely to Henry VI, Henry VII, and to Warwick (Warwick the Kingmaker).

By way of introduction, Richard duke of York married Cecily Nevill and had several children, including Edward IV (1442-1483) and Richard III (1452-1485). Edward IV had ten children (with wife Elizabeth Woodville), and although Edward IV was a Yorkist, one of the children (girl named Elizabeth) married Henry VII, who was a "Tudor" and was on the side of the Lancastrians. The first flow chart discloses that Edward IV's grandfather was Edmund duke of York (the first Yorkist) and that the grandfather's brother was John of Gaunt (the first Lancastrian). None of my books on English history disclose why the Yorkists and Lancastrians were enemies. The following outlines the first 7 chapters:

CHAPTER ONE. Richard of York (Edward IV's father) was the biggest landowner in England. Edward IV was born in Rouen (pronounced: roo-aw). Edward IV received training in law, estate management, jousting, and Latin (but he had no interest in his mother's interest of mystics, e.g., St.Catherine of Siena and St.Bridget of Sweden). Richard of York joined the King's Council in 1450, where the king at this time was King Henry VI, the whimpy king who lost France. Richard of York, despite his wealth, was a screw-up. He was aloof, tactless, and tried a coup d'etat in 1452. In northern England, therer was a 50 year old feud between the Nevill family and Percy family, which included a small war (1453). In a battle called, Rout of Ludford (Oct. 1459), involving various Nevills (Richard of York, Thomas Nevill, John Nevill) versus Henry VI, the result was that Richard of York escaped to Ireland. At this time, Warwick was allied with Richard of York, and after the Rout of Ludford, Warwick fled in hiding at South Devon. The Rout of Ludford is the historical low-point of the Yorkists.

CHAPTER TWO. In June 1460, a half year after the Rout of Ludford, the Yorkists invaded England and took Henry VI prisoner. Richard of York invaded from Ireland. Warwick attached from Calais. London was taken without opposition. The Yorkists issued a manifesto disclosing failures of Henry VI's government: corruption, extortion, loss of France, evils of earl of Shrewsbury, evils of earl of Wiltshire, evils of Viscount Beaumont. Yorkists attacked on July 10, 1460, with orders to spare Henry VI, but to kill lords, knights, and esquires. The battle took 30 minutes and 300 were killed (Battle of Northampton). Henry VI was prisoner. On October 10, 1460, Richard of York walked over to the throne and declared himself king. But nobody paid attention to him. And so, Henry VI remained the king. The power vacuum caused King James II of Scotland to capture part of northern England (Roxburgh and Wark). Also, bands of rogues roamed the countryside. The Lancastrians were led by Jasper Tudor and others. In Dec. 1460, Richard of York got his head chopped off and adorned with a paper crown (at Wakefield). In Feb. 1461, the Yorkists and Lancastrians fought at Mortimer's Cross, and the Lancastrians lost, and Owen Tudor was captured and executed. (Thus, at this point in time, two famous fathers were killed: Richard of York (father of Edward IV) and Owen Tudor (father of Jasper Tudor)). Edward IV took the throne in March 1461, and he had the backing of most English nobility. On March 29, 1461, the Yorkists fought the bloodiest battle of the civil war (Battle of Towton) where many Lancastrians drowned in the Cock river, and Henry VI escaped to Scotland. On June 2, 1461, Jasper Tudor and Henry VII set sail from Tenby, England, to Brittany, where they were protected by Duke Francis II. To summarize, at this point in time, Edward IV is king, Henry VI is hiding out in Scotland, and Henry VII (who doesn't yet know that he will want to be king) is a refugee in Brittany.

CHAPTER THREE. Edward IV's coronation was on June 28, 1461. Edward IV's main problems were local disorders, intervention by Scotland or France (especially in collaboration with Lancastrians), and establishing rule in areas that sympathized with Lancastrians, e.g., Wales and Northumberland. Lancastrian opposition now was Jasper Tudor, Henry Holland, son of duke of Somerset, son of earl of Wiltshire, and son of Viscount Beaumont. England's problems also included family feuds (Vernos vs. Gresleys), gangs of rogues roaming the countryside, and Lancastrian plots. Margaret of Anjou (dominating wife of Henry VI) went to France to get backing from Louis XI, and acquired help in the form of Truce of Tours (28 June 1462), which promised French troops to accompany her back to Scotland. The plan largely fizzled out, but Margaret did get 800 French troops, and she was welcomed in Northumberland. As of March 1463, the French and Scots occupied the castles of Bamborough, Dunstanborough, and Alnwick. Throughout the year, Edward IV tried to isolate these rebel strongholds diplomatically, and Edward IV was friendly with Duke Philip of Burgundy, and Louis renounced all aid to Henry VI, and he stopped sending aid to Scotland. Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville on May 1, 1963, apparently only for the reason that she was pretty. On May 15, 1464, the Yorkists killed most of the Lancastrians still in England, but Henry VI escaped and the castles of Bamborough, Dunstanborough, and Alnwick were captured. Thus, Northumberland fell to the Yorkists.

CHAPTER FOUR. Edward IV's personality was easy-going and forgiving. He showed mercy to surviving Lancastrians, e.g., Ralph Percy, Humphry Neveill, and Henry Beaufort duke of Somerset. Edward IV's goal was to use these men as tools, to win support of lingering Lancastrians (but Edward IV's tactic failed, as these men defected back to Lancastrians, at the first opportunity).

CHAPTER FIVE. On May 1, 1464, Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville (widow of John Grey, who had died fighting for Henry VI at St.Albans in Feb.1461). The wedding was a secret one, and attend by only around 5 people. According to Charles Ross (the author), this was a major blunder of Edward IV, since it did not promote any particular alliance, and because it meant that Elizabeth's no'name relatives would get jobs, and would be able to command marriages to important people. These no'name relatives were 2 sons, 5 brothers, and 7 sisters. So secret was this marriage, was that as late as Ocotber 1464, King Louis wanted Edward IV to marry a relative of his, "Bona." And so, it came to pass that the queen's no'name relatives married important people. The queen's sisters were like Cinderella's sisters: greedy, grasping, vengeful, overbearing. The Woodville family was unpopular in England.

CHAPTER SIX. From 1465-1469, King Louis XI tried to annex Burgundy and Brittany. Edward IV took a neutral position with France, Burgundy, and Brittany. Elizabeth Woodville loved Burgundy. But Warwick (the famed Warwick the kingmaker) loved France. Burgundy was important because it purchased cloth from England. Duke Francis II of Brittany sympathized with the Lancastrians. What was Edward IV to do? He sent Warwick in May 1465 to all 3 places to sign peace treaties. Edward IV proposed marriages between English people with people in Burgundy: Margaret of York + Charles of Charolais, and George duke of Clarence + Mary of Burgundy. But Warwick hated these marriage ideas, since he wanted England to be allied only with France (not with Burgundy or Brittany).
In the end, Edward IV made treaties with Burgundy and Brittany (and not France), and Louis XI of France became disgusted with Warwick, because Warwick failed to turn Edward IV's favor to France. And so, Margaret of York traveled to Burgundy and got married to Duke Charles. Edward IV's success was shown by his treaties with Burgundy, Brittany, Castile, Aragon, Denmark, Scotland, and Naples. All of this drove Louis XI to favor Jasper Tudor and the Lancastrians. Jasper invaded Wales with only 3 ships, lost, and fled to France. At this point in time, Henry VI's government, which comprised Margaret of Anjou, was in exile in France. Edward IV heard rumors that Warwick was in league with Margaret of Anjou, and summoned Warwick, but Warwick refused to be summoned, and he stayed hold up in his house in Yorkshire. At this time (1467-1468), there were Lancastrian conspiracies, and Edward arrested various Lancastrians.

CHAPTER SEVEN. The 2-years of June 1469-May 1471, were the least stable in English history, since 1066. Warwick led a rebellion and ruled England for a few months in late 1469. Warwick's coupe d'etat was seen as an excuse for rioting, and elsewhere violent feuds bubbled up (Berkeley vs. Talbot, Stanley vs. Harrington, duke of Norfolk vs. Paston). Warwick's main problem is that his peers did not support him. The Lancastrian John de Vere fled to France (he was later to help Henry VII take over England). Warwick fled to France. Edward IV, through his alliance with Burgundy, acquired supremacy at sea and neutralized the French forces and the rebel forces. But then, Edward IV was distracted by rebellions in northern England, so Edward IV traveled north, and Warwick proclaimed that Henry VI was king again. The result was more rioting in London. Henry VI's government was called the Readeption government. On March 14, 1471, Edward IV's forces invaded at Ravenspur on the Humber, and headed for London, where he met Henry VI, and stuck Henry VI in the Tower of London, where Henry VI was shortly thereafter assassinated by an unknown assassin.

CHAPTER EIGHT. Edward IV, even after this 2-year ordeal, where Warwick had proclaimed himself king, and then Henry VI was proclaimed king, still showed clemency and was not ruthless or vindictive against his enemies. There were more pardons than punishments. Edward IV rewarded his younger brother Richard III (Richard of Gloucester), then only 19 years old. At this time, Edward IV had a hands-off policy towards Ireland (thereby avoiding political problems with Ireland), and Ireland was controlled by the FitzGerald family.

CHAPTER NINE. Edward IV provided aid to Brittany (2,000 archers) in 1472. Edward IV's long-term goal was to be the dominant partner in an invasion of France. In the Treaty of Chateaugiron (Sept. 1472), Edward IV and Duke Francis agreed to invade France. But Brittany backed out, and England did not invade France, but instead signed a truce with France in March 1473. At any rate, on July 18, 1475, Edward actually landed at Calais, marched to Agincourt, and reached Doucellens (remember, this is way after the conclusion of the so-called One Hundred Years War 1337-1453). There was no fighting, but instead Edward IV and the French agreed on the Treaty of Picquigny of August 1475, which allowed for free trade (no tolls for English merchants), and money extorted by England IV (75,000 crowns right away plus 50,000 crowns each year). The removal of restrictions on trade was Edward IV's great accomplishment. Eventually, Edward IV caught a cold while on a fishing trip and died in 1483.

SUMMARY. Edward IV's reign as a Yorkist represents a relatively stable, peaceful, and long-lasting period in England's history. This period ended with Edward IV's death from illness, followed by a couple of years of turmoil, and then followed by another period of lasting peace under Henry VII. Henry VII's reign represented a firm conclusion to England's military conquests in France/Brittany, and represented a firm conclusion to the Wars of the Roses.

There is an old phrase that goes `never hire two brothers to work for you, because they will always be more loyal to each other than they will ever be to you, and if they are not, who can trust a man who cannot trust his own brother?' The sons of the Duke of York were apparently not very trust worthy. Over all King Edward IV seems to have been a very good king, but his family problems would show why the House of York would not reign long after its founder.

This book is interesting not only for what it does talk about but also for what it does not. Ross never deals with the allegations of Edward's illegitimacy other than to mention that allegations exist. I personally believe that he was the Duke of York's son, but you would think a biographer would discuss it even if only to point out how ridiculous the allegations were.

Unlike Henry IV I do not think it would right to describe Edward IV as a self-made king, even though he was not born destined for the crown and had to win it twice. At first he comes across as an aristocratic teenage with good pedigree that is placed on the throne by powers greater than he, led by the Earl of Warwick. However, much like Emperor Claudius of Rome, once in power he clearly knows how to use it. Far from being Warwick's pawn he is a true king with his own ideas how to do things. Although he loses his throne in 1470 he comes right back the next year to recover it and from then on is as strong as ever.

King Edward IV's son-in-law, King Henry VII, is the king most accredited with creating a very powerful English monarchy; the reason Henry is able to do so is by respecting and adding on to the system that had already been established by Edward. Although Edward's life is adventurous, in some ways, he pales in comparison with the warrior kings Edward III and Henry V; however I think Edward IV's greatness is the fact that he did not involve his kingdom in any long foreign wars that would tact the English resources into poverty. In other words, unlike some other Kings of England he did not try foolishly prove to the world he was the rightful King of France. King Edward stayed at home and tried to improve his own kingdom. His ideas were so productive that Henry Tudor would go on to mimic them.

"To rescue the crown from financial abyss into which the Lancastrians had plunged it was no mean achievement. To die solvent was something no other English king had achieved for more than two hundred years. Henry VII had the great advantage of being able to build upon the foundations laid by his father-in-law. Indeed, the best testimony to the quality of Edward's financial policies is the degree to which the shrewd and calculating Henry held firm to them."(p.386)

His main problem seems to be with his own family. The reason the House of York was unable to entrench itself for the long term had to do with in-fighting amongst the its members. Edward had two younger brothers when he was king: Prince George, the Duke of Clarence and Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester. The elder of the two (Clarence) tried multiple times to usurp his older brother and was many times forgiven but he tried one too much and was executed under Edward's orders. The fact he put his own brother to death--no matter how justified--would soil his reputation. The younger seemly loyal brother was an asset to his rule and Edward trusted him. But the evil Richard would betray that trust after Edward dies, by deposing his brother's elder son and having both of his sons murdered. King Richard III would blacken the name of his lost brother who ruled England effectively for twenty years. Richard's plans would unravel as Henry Tudor, who increases his own legitimate standing by marring the eldest daughter of King Edward IV, overthrows him.

This is a great book detailing the events of the brutal Wars of the Roses the brought the English monarchy to great highs and lows in very short periods of time. The reader is left thinking that if only Edward had lived one more decade he would have been able to put his own son, King Edward V, securely on the throne and history might have taken a far different turn. Edward IV is a tale of triumph and tragedy.

This book is a model of how to write a scholarly yet readable and enjoyable biography. There is not a weak chapter in the book and there is rarely if ever a weak paragraph. Ross knows how to organize information in a way that gets the reader involved. His narration of events in Edward's life and the events of the War of the Roses is clear, easy to follow and at the same time tied to solid research. Maps in appropriate places in the text are a great help to the reader in following the stages of the war. The later chapters, which delve into details about Edward's relationship with his councillors, the community, the finances of the realm, and the justice system are never dry and are loaded with anecdotes taken from the original documents. The chapter called "Law and Order," which deals with justice in England in the 1460's and 70's, is fascinating and makes the American Wild West look like a pale shadow. (The similarities are striking.) The examples that Ross gives are like reading a novel about blood feuds. The book throws light on the real life of the people at that time. It also gives a sharp picture of the king. Edward was lecherous yet generous with his time, avaricious while often generous with his money, a man who ends a civil war yet is unable to finish grandiose plans for later warfare. Ross makes a strong case that Edward made a terrible mistake in his choice of a marriage that resonated down through later English history. All this is presented in a way that engages the reader. R.A. Griffiths has a Foreword that updates and makes a few modifications to points raised by Ross in this 1974 book but the additions and modifications are minor and Griffiths agrees that this is a first rate book.

Charles Ross could write! And we all benefit from this excellent biography. I highly recommend it.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Edward the Fourth has always been one of my favorites. In my opinion he accomplished a great deal and is often overlooked, I'm not sure why. It seems to me that Edward the Fourth and his brother Richard the Third are kind of skipped over to get to Henry the Seventh, the first Tudor monarch. Henry the Seventh has always struck me as rather unremarkable, except of course, for his famous son. Give it a try....it's a good read.

Excellent portrait of this facinating King. Highly recommended. Buy the paperback though....$28.00 as opposed to $60.00.

This biography is a magnificent work of scholarship. But if I hadn't already read a lot about Edward IV, I don't think I could have coped with it. It doesn't have much sense of narrative, so that it can hardly even be called a biography. It's facts, facts, facts.

If you're seriously interested in this era, already know a lot about the characters and want the most serious, worthy and scholarly survey to be found, go for it. But if you're a novice reader of this historical period, you may feel bombarded with a mass of undigestible information. Mary Clive's This sun of York;: A biography of Edward IV and Michael K. Jones's Bosworth 1485: The Psychology of a Battle (Battles & Campaigns) would make far better introductions to Edward IV.