Sign in or 
Share this
Showing 6 posts
ElizabethWoodville |
|
juliana-angela |
1. RE: Successful?
Oct 26 2011, 2:34 PM EDT
Do you mean Edward IV? Edward VI was Henry VIII's son.Edward IV was a successful king in many ways. He was an outstanding general, who won every pitched battle that he fought. He was very good at reorganising the Crown's finances and promoting trade. His foreign policy was less successful, but it was by no means a disaster. On a personal level, Edward was popular and he managed to hold his throne and keep the country at peace in the post-1471 period of his kingship. Edward's biggest failure probably sprang from his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, which led to factional infighting between the King's family and the Queen's. As a result, he was unable to ensure his son's peaceful succession and a further period of war and instability ensued. The best biography of Edward is probably that of Charles Ross (1974) but David Santiuste's 'Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses' (2010), which concentrates on Edward's military career, is also good. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
Anne'sCurls |
2. RE: Successful?
Oct 30 2011, 1:48 AM EDT
I'm going to look into that book. I admit I am not that interested in Edward. Are you sure Edward's marriage to Elizabeth was a failure of his reign? Do you think it would have still been seen as a failure ifa. he hadn't died when his sons were so young b. he hadn't had a possible betrothal/secret marriage to another woman? Do you find this valuable? |
|
juliana-angela |
3. RE: Successful?
Oct 30 2011, 10:09 AM EDT
"Are you sure Edward's marriage to Elizabeth was a failure of his reign? Do you think it would have still been seen as a failure ifThe problem with marrying Elizabeth ather than a foreign princess with a powerful family was that it brought her hoard of greedy relatives onto the scene. Although they were of 'good' birth, the high nobility and Edward's brothers resented them as upstarts -for example, the Duke of Buckingham was so angry at being forced to marry Elizabeth's sister that he backed Richard of Gloucester against Edward's son and heir. And Richard and his allies' fears about a Woodville-dominated government during Edward's minority were a major factor in his deposition Had Edward IV married, say, a French princess, these problems are unlikely to have arisen. The alleged pre-contract was really just an excuse to set young Edward aside. Professor Ross also cites Edward's failure to reconcile the two factions as one of his major failures. Yes, things could well have been different had Edward IV lived for another ten years or so. If young Edward had been in his twenties rather than his teens when his father died, he would have been in a much stronger position. But he might well have had problems dealing with the conflict between his maternal and paternal relatives that his father had failed to resolve. Edward IV is an interesting character to look at iin relation to Henry VIII because he was probably the relative that Henry most resembled, Physically, they were very much alike - tall, strong and handsome - and both were glamorous and charismatic. But Edward was also self-indulgent with a lazy streak that his grandson inherited. His early death was widely attributed to his overindulgence in food and drink: like Henry, he became very fat in middle age. Do you find this valuable? |
|
ElizabethWoodville |
4. RE: Successful?
Nov 27 2011, 7:45 AM EST
I must say... I just read a biography of him and I must say that he is by far my favourite medieval king :)
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
juliana-angela |
5. RE: Successful?
Nov 27 2011, 8:56 AM EST
I've always liked Edward, he was a pretty good King on the whole, although anything would have been an improvement on the distasterous reign of Henry VI!
0
out of
3 found this valuable.
Do you?
|
