In a quiet corner of Rouen,not far from the cathedral, on the 28th April, 1422, the wife of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, Cicely Neville gave birth to her second son, Edward, There was some speculation later that Edward was illegitimate, but many historians believed that this was propaganda spread by his younger opponents. The King, Henry VI was unstable and with his vengeful Queen, Margaret D Anjou, the country was going through troubled times. Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York had a strong genealogical claim on the throne and a series of battles broke out called The Wars of the Roses. At eighteen Edward was already an outstanding soldier, but he saw his father and Edmund of Rutland , his older brother, killed at the Battle of Wakefield (1460). Their heads were stuck on the spikes of Micklegate in York and stunned and with a murderous rage., with the help of his cousin, Warwick the Kingmaker, Edward marched on London and took the throne. Edward was crowned King at nineteen and was the tallest monarch at 6 feet 4 inches that Britain has ever seen. He was large-limbed and prone to putting on weight, but in his youth he was an Adonis, very like his grandson, Henry VIII. He had a long, oval face, with glistening fair hair, his eyes were narrowed and alert and the only concession to his ruthlessness in his portraits was the way Edward compressed his lips. His good looks and charm made him irresistible to women, and he took his pleasure indiscriminately. Warwick, still believing Edward was his puppet, pressed him to marry a European princess. But Edward was alienated from Warwick when he married a Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Woodville, at Grafton Regis in 1464. They were happily married for 17 years. Warwick resented the marriage and with the help of Edwards disaffected younger brother, the Duke of Clarence, he attacked the kings army. The main part of Edward Ivs army ( with the King absent ) was defeated in 1469 and Edward was captured at Olney. But there was a counter-rebellion and Warwick was forced to release Edward. In 1470 Warwick and Clarence rebelled again and made an alliance with Henry VI and Margaret D Anjou making Edwards position untenable. Henry VI was briefly restored to the throne and Edward took refuge in Burgundy with his youngest brother, Richard of Gloucester. With the help of his brother-in-law, Charles of Burgundy, Edward raised an army to win back his kingdom. The city of York then opened its gates to him and he marched on London. He took Henry VI prisoner,. and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet and, never defeated on the field of battle, killed the remaining Lancastrians at The Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. The Lancastrian heir, Edward of Westminster was executed for insulting Edward IV and Henry VI died mysteriously a few days later, some said of “melancholy”. Clarence was ordered to be drowned in a vat of malmsey. After a very profligate time, Edward IV died very suddenly in 1483 aged forty-one.His eldest son became Edward V, but due to a coidicil in Edward Ivs will, Richard of Gloucester assumed the role of Lord Protector. Richard III then usurped the throne and passed the law of “Titulus Regius” which stated that Edward IV had been precontracted to Eleanor Talbot, before marrying Elizabeth Woodville, thus making Edward Ivs children illegitimate. Sick with worry, Elizabeth handed over Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury to be put in the tower. They never came out again.
