How Far Was Edward Iv Responsible for His Own Deposition in 1470?

How far was Edward responsible for his own desposition in 1470? When Edward VI became King in 1461, he had to deal with some unfavourable circumstances. Edward had not executed his enemies; Henry VI, Prince Edward, or Margaret of Anjou, so they escaped to Scotland. This provided an alternative King for Edward’s opponents to support. He was also a usurper to the throne, therefore the majority of the nobility that were still loyal to Henry VI could use this to their favour. Additionally, Edward did not control the distant parts of the country, especially the North of England and Wales.

The Kingdom was extremely divided. There were still Lancastrian castles in the Midlands that needed to be captured and/or destroyed. His government was also in severe debt. Considering Edward’s age and inexperience, it was unlikely he would be able to deal with this situation effectively and provide the best possible outcomes. However, some circumstances were actually quite favourable. Although he had to deal with a difficult situation, it would be practically impossible for Edward to do much worse than the disaster King who reigned before him, Henry VI.

Edward had also proved his military credentials as a warrior King at the battles of Mortimer’s Cross and Towton, showing he was not as incompetent a leader as Henry VI. He was also an ideal candidate for kingship because he was both tall and charismatic, and although he was a usurper to the throne, he was technically the strongest claimant. The beginning of Edward’s first reign can be considered reasonably successful. Edward immediatly destroyed the remaining Lancastrian castles and tried to strengthen his power base by allowing a selected number of the nobility to help him, including Warwick, Montagu and Herbert.

He also ordered the execution of the Earl of Oxford and his son after he discovered plots to kill the King. Then Edward, marched his army north where a Lancastrian- Scottish force invaded England, and defeated them. He also issued his close ally William Herbert to defeat opposition in Wales. However, soon after, Edward started to show his weaknesses. Edward decided he was going to try to win over some of his opposition, rather than show them no mercy. He welcomed Somerset, a leading Lancastrian to court and allowed him to join him in all his King-like events, such as hunting, jousting and even sharing the same sleeping quarters.

Sir Ralph Percy, was also given back his castles as a sign of Edward’s willingness to trust him. This proved unpopular among the Yorkist nobility, and rightly so, as in the end, both Somerset and Percy betrayed him by fleeing back to Henry and handing over their castles to the Scots. Finally, Somerset was recaptured and executed. Although Edward’s mistake was not as severe as other mistakes, such as marrying Elizabeth Woodville, it was his first mistake proving his naivity and inexperience. His choice of wife was his most major mistake. Most English kings married foreign princesses to create alliances and to increase diplomatic influence.

It would also prevent an alliance between the Lancastrians and France. Edward knew that marrying Elizabeth Woodville, a woman from low nobility, would be considered a serious error, so he married her in secret. Her previous marriage was to a Lancastrian, Thomas Grey, another reason as to why he shouldn’t have married her. In addition, Elizabeth Woodville had an extremely large family, which meant the King would have to reward his new family with patronage and titles. This created resentment among noble families, there was now less land and titles for them to gain and less places for leading nobles at court.

The Woodvilles also invaded the marriage market significantly. Elizabeth’s 5 sisters all married into important noble families, reducing the prospects of other Yorkist nobles. By 1475, Edward had split the nobility even more than it had been before and this was mainly his fault. Warwick, was increasingly resenting the King for a number of reasons. He had been negotiating with the King of France, Louis XI, to marry Bona of Savoy, a French princess to Edward. When he discovered that Edward had already married Elizabeth Woodville in secret, he was humiliated.

As well as this, now that the Woodvilles were in the marriage buisness, Warwick’s arrangements to marry his two daughters were now ruined. One of Elizabeth’s sons, Thomas Grey married Anne Holland, who was meant to marry one of Warwick’s nephews. Not only did he antagonize Warwick in the marriage industry, but he also implemented his own ideas in foreign policy, creating an alliance with Burgundy rather than France, therefore completely ignoring Warwick’s suggestion. The traditional view of Edward’s first reign was that he was too young and inexperienced to rule effectively, but by his second reign he controlled the situation much better.

However, some historians such as Professor Carpenter have argued in opposition to this view. He did cope extremely well in both Lancastrian and foreign interference. He did not allow Warwick or the Woodvilles to dominate him, and by antagonizing Warwick he was proving his independance from the ‘Kingmaker’. Besides, Warwick was extremely difficult to please. He was not satisified even after he had recieved a number of titles and land. Edward did not give him land in Wales that he had originally requested because Edward desperately needed a wider power base, so he gave this land to the Herberts.

Warwick was so ambitious, he was even willing to go against the Yorkist regime to get what he wanted. He joined forces with the King’s brother, Clarence, as they both resented the Woodvilles. He did everything in his power to antagonize the King. He arranged for Clarence to marry one of his daughter’s against the King’s wishes. He also organised a rebellion against the King in the North. In doing so, he proved his extreme childish behaviour. Nobility were meant to ensure law and order, not provoke rebellion. He even organized a rebellion to make Clarence the King of England, which in hindsight, we know did not succeed.

Warwick’s traitory streak was on-going. He wanted to get rid of Edward VI by whatever means possible, even if it meant resorting to a French/Lancastrian alliance in 1470. He was now involving foreigners into the conflict. Warwick finally brought Henry VI back onto the throne in 1470, while Edward and his closest allies escaped the Kingdom. Overall, Edward was largely responsible for his desposition in 1470. Some of Edward’s descions during his first reign can be justified, for example rewarding other nobles rather than Warwick to increase his power-base or keeping his traditional trading ally Burgundy to distance himself from Warwick.

However, there are some descions that are injustifiable, mainly his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. If this descion wasn’t made, he would have probably avoided a number of conflicts with Warwick. On the other hand, Warwick and many other nobles were overly ambitious, and if he didn’t antagonize him by marrying Elizabeth Woodville, it is likely that he would have antagonized him in any other descion he made. Warwick and Clarence should also take a large part of the responsibility as they were prepared to betray their own side in pursuit of their ambitions.