The future King Edward IV was born on April 28th in Rouen in Normandy. His father was Richard, Duke of York, the great-grandson of King Edward III and his mother was Cecily Neville. Richard was acting as Henry VI's lieutenant-general in France.

With support of the other barons Richard, Duke of York won over the unpopular Edmund Beaufort, the duke of Somerset. He had only kept his position of power with the support of the King and without that support all was lost. Somerset was arrested and sent to the Tower of London.

A council was called and Edward, Earl of March and Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick were summoned to attend. Concerned that the reason they had been called was to be punished, the Yorkists decided to demand a meeting of their own with the King at St. Albans.

The Earl of Warwick with a force from Calais reached Ludlow and the combined army of the Yorkists attacked the King's army at Ludford Bridge near Ludlow. The men from Calais refused to fight their king and a weak Yorkist army was defeated. Richard Duke of York and his younger son escaped and fled to Ireland while Salisbury, Warwick and Edward of March (later Edward IV) fled to Calais.

Yorkists from Calais landed on the south coast of England and quickly seized Sandwich. They prepared for the arrival of the Earl of Warwick and the Earl of March.

Once the Yorkist army had secured Sandwich the Earls of March and Warwick arrived from Calais. They had a force of around 2,000 and the support of the Kentish men.

The Yorkists marched first to Canterbury where the officers in charge of protecting the town against them joined forces with the rebels. They then moved on and arrived at London on July 2nd. There they were welcomed by the Mayor of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury. ¹

Accompanied by a large army of Yorkist supporters, the Earl of Warwick and Edward, the Earl of March left London and marched towards Northampton where the King was staying. ¹

The Lancastrians's Court was in Coventry at the time of the Yorkist rebels entering London. When news reached them, the Lancastrians moved south to Northampton to meet the rebels. The Yorkists led by the Earl of Warwick wanted to talk but the Lancastrians led by the Duke of Buckingham wanted to fight. Although the Lancastrians had less men than the Yorkists, they did have control of a stronger position. The Yorkists managed to defeat the Lancastrians due to a section of the Lancastrian army led by Lord Grey of Ruthin moving away allowing the Yorkists through. Orders were given that the King and ordinary men should be spared, while the knights and lords should be killed. When the fighting was over the casualties were light, but the Lancastrian leaders, Buckingham, Shrewsbury and Egremont were dead and the King was captured.

Edward Earl of March, now the heir to the English throne, showed off his military skills at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire. The Lancastrians with Welsh support had caught Edward as he travelled to London. On the morning of the battle three bright lights were seen in the sky. Edward used this strange sight as a good omen. The Lancastrians were defeated and Owen Tudor was captured and beheaded. Jasper Tudor escaped.

Edward and Warwick were allowed to enter the city of London. The citizens of London had refused to let the Queen enter and so she returned north with the King.

Edward, the Earl of March, was crowned King Edward IV of England at London by the available peers and public acclamation.

Edward IV with a large army left London to march north and face the Lancastrians. Richard and George, the young sons of the late Duke of York were put on a ship and sent to Burgundy where they would be safe from Lancastrian hands.

The Battle of Towton was the bloodiest battle of the Wars of the Roses and was fought in a snowstorm at Towton in Yorkshire. Both the Lancastrian and Yorkist armies were large having possibly 40,000 men each. The battle lasted many hours until the Lancastrians's line was broken. Fleeing into a river many of the Lancastrians were drowned due to their heavy armour and the rest were killed by the pursuing Yorkists.

The Yorkists were in control after the battle of Towton and Richard and George were brought back to England where they were made Knights of the Order of the Bath. Edward took part in the crown-wearing ceremonies at Westminster Abbey and became King of England. Shortly afterwards his younger brother George was given the title of Duke of Clarence.

Edward began a tour of the south and west of England visiting the Welsh Marches and the midlands.

A Lancastrian plot to kill King Edward IV was uncovered early in the year. Edward was planning to go north to deal with the Scots and the plotters planned to follow him north and kill him. One of the leaders was the 12th Earl of Oxford, John de Vere. Both the Earl and his eldest son where executed for treason. ¹

This treaty was signed at Westminster by Edward IV and representatives of the Earls of Ross and Douglas and stipulated that if the northern lords in Scotland assisted in a successful conquest of Scotland by the English they would be rewarded with lands and titles. The earls had previously agreed to this arrangement at a meeting at Ardtornish Castle on the West coast of Scotland.

Edward acted quickly to Queen Margaret's arrival in the north. He raised a large army that marched towards Northumbria. Queen Margaret did not have the resources and local support required to fight Edward and so she decided to seek refuge in Scotland. A garrison of soldiers were left at the three Northumbrian castles.

The Earl of Warwick was put in charge of capturing the castles from the Lancastrian garrisons. Edward had to stay at Durham to recover from a bout of the measles. The castles were not attacked but cut off from supplies to starve the soldiers out. Just before the new year the Lancastrian soldiers surrendered and the Yorkists took control of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles. Warwick used the castle at Warkworth as his base while he monitored the sieges at the other castles. The seige of Alnwick Castle continued into January. ¹

Sir Ralph Percy, the constable in charge of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh castles, defected and allowed the Lancastrians to take control. Alnwick Castle fell to the Lancastrians shortly afterwards.

Queen Margaret and King Henry VI with Scottish support besieged the castle at Norham. King Edward failed to react to the problem and it was left to the Earls of Warwick and Northumberland to come to the castle's rescue. King Henry, Margaret and the Scots fled.

King Edward IV agreed a peace treaty with France in which both sides promising not to assist each others enemies. This was a disaster for the Lancastrians who had hoped that they could get French assistance against the English king.

Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and Lancastrian supporters rebelled against Edward and used Bamburgh Castle as a base.

Edward IV agreed a truce with Scotland who had lost interest in fighting for the Lancastrians and Queen Margaret. The truce was signed at York and Edward spent Christmas in the city.

King Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville (Wydville) secretly during a hunting trip. The hunting trip that may have been arranged as a cover. Edward is supposed to have had a reputation as a lady's man and had many lovers. To Edward, Elizabeth could have been just another lover, but Elizabeth may have wanted more and persuaded Edward to marry her. The marriage took place in secret and was kept quiet until the spring of 1465. One problem with the marriage was that Elizabeth was the widow of Henry V's brother John, a Lancastrian and her family were Lancastrian supporters. The other problem was that Warwick had contacted the French king Louis XI and had been trying to arrange a marriage for Edward to a French princess. Edward's act upset Warwick's plans.

The Nevilles defeated the last of the Lancastrian forces near Hexham and executed the rebels including Henry Beaufort the Duke of Somerset. In recognition of their contribution to the security of his reign Edward IV gave John Neville, Lord Montague, the title of Earl of Northumberland and George Neville became the Archbishop of York.

Anglo-Scots truce signed at York. ¹

William Herbert was given the title of Constable of Harlech Castle by Edward IV and told to capture the castle from the Lancatrians. But the castle was strongly fortified and a lengthy siege began. ¹

At the Great Council at Reading Abbey King Edward IV announced his marriage and Elizabeth Woodville was recognised as Queen. ¹

Elizabeth Woodville was finally crowned Queen at Westminster Abbey.

Elizabeth, the first daughter to Edward IV and Elizabeth was born. A second daughter, Mary, was born on August 8th 1467. ¹

Edward arranged for his sister Margaret to marry Charles the Duke of Burgundy. Burgundy had for some time been a supporter of the Yorkists and this marriage strengthened the bond. For Warwick, this was a disaster. Warwick had been attempting to make an alliance with France and that was not about to happen.

King Louis XI of France provided Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, with three ships and fifty soldiers to invade Wales. The small invasion force planned to gain support against Edward IV and help the Lancastrian garrison trapped at Harlech Castle. The castle was surrounded by the English so Pembroke attacked and occupied Denbigh gaining many supporters. Lord Herbert was dispatched to deal with the threat and defeated Pembroke who managed to escape.

Warwick was unhappy with the marriage of Edward and Elizabeth Woodville and he began to plan how overthrow the king. Warwick's plans centred around Edward's brother George, the Duke of Clarence. If George was to marry Warwick's daughter Isabel and become king, Warwick would be back in a position of power.

A rebellion began early in the year started by a mysterious person calling himself Robin of Redesdale. The motivation for the uprising against the king was his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and the influence the Woodvilles were having. The rebels were supported by the Earl of Warwick.

Edward and the Duke of Gloucester took a small army in search of the rebels in the North.

Edward's army was insufficient to deal with the rebels alone and he had moved them to Nottingham to wait for a larger army to join them led by Sir William Herbert, the Earl of Pembroke. Pembroke's army was attacked and defeated by a combined rebel army led by Robin of Redesdale and the Earl of Warwick who had returned from France. The battle took place at Edgecote near Banbury. Sir William Herbert and his brother Richard were captured and executed.

After the defeat of William Herbert at Edgecote, Edward was left without a strong enough army to deal with the Earl of Warwick. Either Edward's army deserted him, or he dispersed his army on purpose, but the outcome was the same; Edward was captured and taken to Middleham Castle as a prisoner.

With the king in custody there began a series of riots around the country protesting against the Earl of Warwick. Warwick did not have the backing of Parliament and in the end had little choice but to let Edward go free and return to rule the country.

A rebellion had begun in Lincolnshire early in the year and had been mostly been dealt with by Edward, but Sir Robert (Welles ?) had escaped capture and was still on the run. Edward finally caught up with Sir Robert near Stamford in Lincolnshire. In the battle known as Empingham (or Lose-Coat), Sir Robert was captured and confessed that the rebellion had been master-minded by the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence.

The Earl of Warwick landed at Dartmouth in Devon accompanied by the Lancastrian Earl of Oxford and Jasper Tudor, the half-brother of Henry VI. Edward was in the north at the time of Warwick's return and was turned upon by John Neville, Warwick's brother. Although John Neville had accepted Edward as King, Edward had removed John's title of Earl of Northumberland earlier in the year and given it to the Percys. John Neville advanced on Edward's position with a force much larger. ¹

Warwick did not need to fight the King. Edward was outnumbered and was almost captured by John Neville at Doncaster. Along with his brother Richard and a small party of followers, Edward travelled to Lynn in Norfolk where he sailed to Burgundy and refuge. ¹

King Edward IV had taken refuge with his brother-in-law Charles, the Duke of Burgundy. Louis of France declared war on Burgundy forcing the Duke to support Edward in his attempt to reclaim the English throne. ¹

King Edward IV and Charles of Burgundy met at Aire where an agreement was reached on support for Edward's return to the English throne. ¹

With a small combined force of English and Burgundians, Edward landed on the Yorkshire coast. His fleet had been hit and scattered by a storm off the coast of Norfolk. Luckily for Edward he wasn't attacked even though Lord Montague, the Earl of Northumberland, was close by. As he marched south, Edward gained supporters and his army grew. ¹

George, Duke of Clarence deserted the Earl of Warwick and joined his brothers Edward and Richard. Importantly for the Yorkist cause, he brought with him a sizable army. ¹

The Earl of Warwick was in Coventry and apparently unwilling to confront Edward, so Edward and Richard marched south to London. London was under the control of Warwick's brother, George Neville the Archbishop of York, but the Londoners were Yorkists and they welcomed the return of their true king. Once inside the city Edward had the Archbishop arrested and along with King Henry VI put in the Tower of London.

The Earl of Warwick had left Coventry to confront Edward. The armies met at Barnet just north of London in thick fog. The two battle lines overlapped and Warwick's Lancastrian men commanded by the Earl of Oxford were able to get around the Yorkists commanded by Lord Hastings. Hastings' men fled back to London with Oxford's men in hot pursuit. On the other side of the battle the Yorkists, led by Richard, were outflanking the Lancastrians and took the advantage pushing their enemy back. When Oxford's men returned to the battle they were mistakenly fired upon by their fellow Lancastrians and fled. By early evening Lord Montague and the Earl of Warwick were dead. The Lancastrians were defeated.

The Yorkists led by King Edward IV and his brother Richard Duke of Gloucester met the Lancastrians at Tewkesbury. Richard was able to outflank the Lancastrians led by Edmund Beaufort, the self-proclaimed Duke of Somerset. Once Somerset's men had been dealt with, Richard attacked the rear of the Lancastrian line which broke apart and fled. Many of the Lancastrian leaders were caught and killed including Edward the Prince of Wales. Margaret of Anjou, the wife of King Henry VI, was also captured.

Edward, the Earl of March arrived back in London and that night King Henry VI was murdered at the Tower of London.

King James III of Scotland agreed that his new born son, James, should marry Edward IV's daughter Cecily. Cecily was only four and the agreement stated that the marriage should wait until both were old enough. Also, if either died before that time, a substitute would be found. This agreement brought peace between Scotland and England until October 1519.

Treaty of London between Edward IV of England and Charles the Bold of Burgundy against France. ¹

Edward IV ordered the construction of the new St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Its size dwarfed the previous chapel builrt by his predecessors. Inside were hung the banners and insignia of the Knights of the Garter. Edward himself would be buried inside the chapel.

The plans of King Edward IV to unseat the King of France led to his invasion of France with a force of 10,000 men. He had been promised assistance from the Dukes of Brittany and Burgundy, and the King of Aragon. Unfortunately the Burgundian army did not turn up due to another conflict and Edward was left without sufficient men to proceed.

Louis and Edward agreed to a peace treaty to last seven years. The agreement signed at the Treaty of Picquigny meant Louis was to pay Edward an initial sum to leave France and a smaller yearly sum there-after. The French also paid a ransom to free Margaret of Anjou who had been held by the English since the Battle of Tewkesbury.

Isabel, the wife of George, Duke of Clarence died a few months after giving birth to her second child. Clarence chose Mary of Burgundy as his next wife. Mary was the heir to the Duchy of Burgundy and had a good claim to the English throne. Edward saw the danger of his brother marrying Mary and claiming the throne and prevented the marriage going ahead. ¹

The construction of the massive church of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle was begun by Edward IV. The church was not completed until 1528 in the reign of King Henry VIII some fifty years later.

King Edward IV bought Beaudesert Castle. ¹

George Duke of Clarence was accused of being involved in a plot to kill Edward and the Prince of Wales by means of 'black magic'. He was taken to the Tower of London. ¹

Clarence was found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death. The trial was attended by the King who took a big part in the procedures. ¹

This treaty was signed by Edward IV of England and Alexander Stuart, Duke of Albany, the brother of James III, King of Scotland. Alexander agreed that if the English king assisted in deposing James and making him king instead he would swear loyalty to England.

The health of King Edward IV was in decline and he declared that his brother Richard, Earl of Gloucester should be made Protector of England as the Prince of Wales was only twelve and too young to rule. Edward did not want the Queen and the Woodville family to have complete control of the country and by making Richard Protector of England, the King hoped to prevent a civil war.

Upon the death of the King Edward IV, his son Edward V became King of England. The nature of Edward IV's death is not known, but could have been caused by catching malaria in France or more likely due to excessive eating which he was known to often do according to a chronicler of the time. He died on April the 9th at the age of 41. Edward was buried at Windsor Castle in the new chapel of St. George.