Edward IV

Edward IV. (1441-1483), who belonged to the York branch of Edward III.'s descendants, had all the inches and all the canniness of the county from which he took his name. An injustice, perhaps, first .roused him to enmity against his kinsman and king, but ambition seems very soon to have come into play. After the battles of Mortimer's Cross and Towton, by which he secured the kingdom, and his marriage with Lady Elizabeth Woodville, his next step to secure himself thoroughly was to get rid of Warwick, whose position as his father's old friend and the most powerful noble of England made him a thorn in the king's side. It is improbable that Edward altogether regretted the turn of affairs that drove him into exile and then enabled him to become the real master of the country by the defeat and death of Warwick at Barnet in 1471. The murder of Prince Edward, son of Henry VI., after the battle of Tewkesbury, has been regarded as a stain on the king's chae-acter.

Edward's chief enemy in life seems to have been his own vigorous physical nature and his love of luxury. Edward was fortunate in having brothers who, to a great extent, forwarded his views. It is true that the one conspired against him, and was eventually put to death by him, and that the other murdered his sons, but they had given him valuable aid in his struggle for the throne. Edward IV. tried to keep up the traditional policy towards France, and attempted to intrigue there, but the astute king, Louis XI., was a match for many Edwards. Edward's encouragement of trade and commerce endeared him to London citizens, and that or other reasons is said also to have endeared him to their wives. He appears to have been a wonderfully fine, handsome man.