KING EDWARD IV OF ENGLAND Part III
Edward returned to England by March 1471.
With support from the Duke of Burgundy, he gathered an army of his own.
Next, he got his treacherous younger brother George- Duke of Clarence, to defect back to his side.
By April, he was able to march into London unopposed and take Henry VI prisoner.
Everything was going remarkably smoothly, but he still had Warwick to deal with.
Soon after Edward IV retook London, his forces won two incredibly pivotal battles.
First, at the Battle of Barnet, his men slew Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, on the field.
Then, mere weeks later, at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Henry VI’s son Edward of Westminster met the same fate.
Just like that, Henry VI’s most powerful support and his heir to the throne were taken out of the equation.
Henry VI mysteriously passed away in the Tower of London mere days later.
Records from the time state that he succumbed to “melancholy” upon hearing of his son’s end.
How incredibly convenient for Edward!
Centuries later, when archaeologists uncovered Henry’s remains, the vicious wounds they discovered looked a lot more “murdery” than melancholy…
Being king wasn’t easy the first time around, so why would anything be different now?
The restored King Edward IV yet again had to deal with rebellions, and yet again, some familiar faces were behind it all.
His brother George had switched sides once, and he still hadn’t learned his lesson.
George took on the Woodville queen, accusing her of poisoning his wife Isabel.
Edward was clearly fed up with his little brother.
Blood or not, Edward had finally decided to make his brother pay.
Edward finally accused George of treason and had him exEcuted in the Tower of London.
No account of the exEcution remains, but legend has it that George drowned in a barrel of Malmsey wine.
King Edward IV was officially done messing around. He had the throne again, and this time, he meant to keep it.
After all the fuss involved with marrying Elizabeth Woodville, you would think that Edward would have at least stayed faithful to her.
Well then you’d be giving him too much credit.
He was, at the end of the day, still a spoiled brat who cared only about getting what he wanted.
He had many mistresses during his reign, a welcome distraction from all the scheming of the game of thrones.
But of all his mistresses, none could hold a candle to Jane Shore.
Believe it or not, this playboy king didn’t always treat the women he slept with very well.
He discarded women like napkins, until he met Jane Shore.
Like Elizabeth Woodville before her, records say she was uncommonly beautiful and intelligent, and she had Edward wrapped around her finger.
But, for living in a time of non-stop conflict, Jane Shore was a rare type, she was a decent person.
She remained Edward’s mistress until his death.
Edward IV had been fighting for his entire life, but towards the end, he proved to be his own worst enemy.
As a man who had never heard “no” in his entire life, it should come as no surprise that Edward was an incorrigible hedonist.
Women, food, drink: Edward couldn’t get enough of any of them.
In fact, when it came to food, Edward’s addiction was straight-up disgusting.
Though medieval medicine wasn’t exactly sophisticated, they had some things down pat.
For instance, Edward had ample access to emetics: medicines that make you vomit.
For Edward, they were perfect!
He could simply gorge himself until he was ready to burst, then pop an emetic, wait a few minutes…then start all over again!
You don’t need modern medicine to know that probably isn’t good for you, and it eventually caught up to Edward IV.
Edward IV accomplished a lot in his life, perhaps made even more impressive by the fact that he barely made it to age 40.
He fell fatally ill in 1483, and his condition deteriorated fast.
However, before he died, he did update his will.
The most important change was naming his younger brother Richard as Protector of England.
Since his eldest son was only 12, Edward thought that this act would solidify his legacy.
Little did he realize, he had actually ensured the end of everything he had ever achieved.
Did Edward not learn anything from his treacherous brother George?
Within days of Edward’s death, his brother Richard took his sons and locked them in the Tower of London.
He had Edward’s marriage declared illegitimate, removing the two princes from the line of succession. He then had himself crowned King Richard III.
No one ever saw the Princes in the Tower ever again.
Richard stabbed his brother in the back before the body was even cold, and it cost the House of York everything.
You thought the Wars of the Roses had finished? Not quite yet.
Richard III’s shady method of claiming the throne left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, and that’s all it took for old tensions to resurface.
Less than two years later, some upstart named Henry Tudor defeated Richard at the Battle of Bosworth field.
Then, to bring everything full circle, he married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York.
This marriage finally united York and Lancaster, and put the Wars of the Roses to bed for good.
Edward passed thinking he’d been the victor, but his final act of choosing his brother Richard as Lord Protector, sealed the House of York’s fate…..
👑 The death of Edward IV – The White Queen 2013.
Max Irons as Edward & Rebecca Ferguson as Elizabeth Woodville.