Edward IV's Reign and Success

Edward IV's Reign and Success

Edward’s reign was mainly stable and successful. He was the first king

to die financially solvent in over 200 years due mainly to his careful

avoidance of major foreign wars and by the end of his reign there was

evident recovery of prosperity in the southern counties. However,

Edward died too early to ensure that his heir would succeed him

unchallenged. He had not created a collective commitment to the future

of his dynasty that would make his heir strong enough to survive a

minority reign. Although this was his main failure, he did not wholly

succeed in all other actions through his reign.

Edward’s foreign policies appear to be eminently successful. The

treaty of Picquigny in 1475 was beneficial for both Edward personally

and England. A seven year truce between England and France was to be

observed, meaning there would be no more costly wars or no chance of a

French attack. From this treaty, Edward received 75,000 crowns and

then an annual pension of 50,000 crowns. This greatly contributed to

Edward’s solvency and also meant he no longer needed substantial

grants from parliament. Also, as part of the treaty, the King of

France’s son was to marry Edward’s daughter, so Edward had also

ensured a diplomatic marriage for his daughter. Another aspect of the

treaty was the removal of restrictions on trade between the two

countries, leaving England to trade freely with France. It seems that

Edward was very successful with his foreign policies.

Edward took a personal role in running the country and was at the

heart of his own government. He chose to use men with ability rather

than nobility and even us...

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...he Marches of Wales in order to

secure his son’s power base there, but this was not enough. Of

course, his early death did contribute to his son’s usurpation and

this was a matter beyond his control but perhaps he could have secured

his son’s position if he had not relied so heavily on Gloucester or

married into such an unpopular family, amongst other things.

Edward’s reign was mainly prosperous. He had many successes in all

aspects of his kingly duties. Trade and commerce improved, foreign

relations improved, he died solvent and his treatment of the nobility

and his councils was mainly sound. However, his over-reliance on

nobles, his unproductive attack on Scotland and the Woodville marriage

were all political mistakes that show that his inability to ensure an

undisputed succession was not in fact his only failure.