STRUGGLE FOR THE THRONE:  THE KINGMAKER

RICHARD NEVILLE, EARL OF WARWICK "THE KINGMAKER"

Contemporary writers always used superlatives to describe Edward. He was "the tallest," "the fairest," "the strongest." When his coffin was opened in 1789, his skeleton was found to measure 6 feet 3 inches, tall for a 20th-century man, but gigantic for 15th-century England. And he knew how to use his height to his advantage. In battle, he was always in the van where he could be seen by all, hammering away at the nearest enemy with mace and battle-axe. As commander, Edward always set an example for his men; inspired by Edward, his troops always tried to give more than their best. Besides being the strongman of the Yorkist party, Edward also had the ability to outthink the enemy, as well as outfight him. Edward's skill, resourcefulness and luck combined to make him one of the most successful commanders of his day. The historian Paul Murray Kendall, author of several books on the 15th century, summed up Edward's military career: "King Edward was the mightiest warrior in Europe."

Edward was acclaimed king by a crowd gathered in St. John's Fields. London, on March 1, 1461, and a resolution embodying this acclamation was presented to him at Baynard's Castle. On March 2^nd the articles setting forth Edward's title were proclaimed in London and approved by a "Great Council" of the lords spiritual and temporal on March 3^rd . After a solemn ceremony at St. Paul's Cathedral on March 4^th , Edward moved to Westminster Abbey, where he was acclaimed King Edward IV.

Now Edward had his victory could be crowned. Curiously, he did not have an official coronation, but rather a ceremony of investiture which took place on June 28^th in Westminster Abbey. Parliament meanwhile declared Henry a “usurper�?and attainted 112 of his followers. The Lancastrians were not only to be destroyed, they were to be looted. That loot Edward used to reward his own faithful, creating many new titles.

For his part, Edward spent the next few years trying to mend the rift of the civil war and to consolidate his power by either winning over or destroying those who had opposed him. He achieved a signal victory when, in December 1462, the Earl of Somerset yielded Dunstanburgh Castle and submitted to Edward. The King rewarded Somerset handsomely, making him his chamberlain. This was a vote of extraordinary trust, for the chamberlain had personal access to the king, even to his personal bedchamber.

The Lancastrian cause continued to be championed by Henry’s determined wife, Margaret of Anjou. She went to England and met with King Louis XI in June, but Edward had in his turn made alliances with Burgundy and Castile. The most Louis would do was give Margaret 1,000 French troops and some ships. Margaret and Henry landed in Northumberland in October with their little army, but they achieved nothing. It was the failure of this invasion that had convinced Somerset to abandon Henry.

In May 1464, Edward married Elizabeth Woodville, a Lancastrian widow, in a secret ceremony. He did not make his marriage public for nearly a year.

Elizabeth was 28 and had two sons by a previous marriage. She had 5 brothers and 7 sisters. By marrying Elizabeth, Edward had elevated not just one insignificant woman to power, he had raised another 12. This could not fail to have unfortunate consequences, as one noble family after another found themselves obliged to forego any other prospects they might have had, to marry a Woodville. By this one act, Edward alienated much of the nobility.

At 24 years old, Edward was a bachelor in his prime and his marriage should have been a matter for some sort of significant alliance, either with an English family or, more likely, some foreign power. But Edward had fallen in love. A royal marriage was a matter for statecraft, not romance, and by keeping it secret Edward demonstrated that he understood this. Worse yet, the Earl of Warwick had been negotiating with foreign powers along these lines, and the marriage behind his back humiliated him. In the midst of negotiations by Warwick to marry Edward to Bona of Savoy, the sister-in-law of Louis XI of France, the king announced that he had secretly married Elizabeth. Edward now favored a Burgundian alliance against France, the Woodvilles received favor, and Warwick was gradually pushed into the background. Moreover, the Woodvilles, once raised to power, were not content simply to enjoy it. They inteded to wield power, to participate in court life. So the affront could not be endured and then forgotten. Instead, the Woodvilles repeatedly gave cause for hard feelings with their grasping greediness.

The Woodville marriage aside, Edward’s fortunes prospered. Henry was finally captured in 1465. He was surprised while at dinner at an house in Lancashire. He escaped into a nearby wood and was there apprehended, with only two priests and a groom remaining to him. In May of the same year, Elizabeth Woodville was crowned Queen of England.

1467 began well, with the fall of Harlech Castle in Wales, the last Lancastrian stronghold. But falling also was the fortunes of the Neville family, Edward’s most powerful supporters. In May 1467, he removed Archbishop George Neville as Lord Chancellor, the second-most powerful position in the kingdom. Elizabeth’s father was made Lord Treasurer. By the end of the year, a dangerous conspiracy was taking shape. At its center were two of the Nevilles: John, Earl of Northumberland and Richard, Earl of Warwick. Joining them was John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. The fourth in the coterie was George, Duke of Clarence and younger brother of the king himself. Clarence was 18 years old, rather naïve, gullible, and unfocused, able to enter into enterprises but singularly unable to see them through. Feeling slighted by his big brother, he eagerly fell in with the Nevilles.

In July 1469, these four met in Calais, which was solidly for Warwick. There, Clarence was married to Isobel, Warwick’s elder daughter and heiress. The pact was sealed.

Warwick and Clarence landed in Kent in late July 1469. Edward was in the North, where rebellions had broken out. Kent turned out for Warwick. As Captain of Calais, Warwick had cleared the Channel of French pirates and made the Kentish coast safe, so he was a hero to them. A fellow calling himself Robin of Redesdale declared for Lancaster in the north and defeated a Yorkist army. When Robin won at Edgecote on July 29^th , Edward found himself cut off and isolated at Nottingham. The Lancastrians captured and executed Queen Elizabeth’s father and one of her brothers. Edward was intercepted by Archbishop George Neville and taken into custody. This manoeuvre was claimed by the rebels to be for the King's protection. Ironically, this was a tactic used by Edward's father on more than one occasion when the former Duke of York sought to overthrow Henry VI, then King of England. Edward was sent under guard to Middleham Castle.

Warwick was now in London, seemingly triumphant. In truth, though, he was in a very awkward spot. He seems to have intended to rule England in Edward’s name, content with the power but not the title. He could not have wanted to reinstate Henry, for Warwick was too clearly a Yorkist. There was some talk about declaring Edward illegitimate and replacing him with George, but the Duke of Clarence had won very few friends and inspired confidence in no one. Meanwhile, with no one clearly in command, all sorts of feuds and petty battles broke out. The civil war had already produced a good deal of changes in property titles, not to mention wagonloads of grievances from battles lost and executions all around. There was hardly any nobleman who did not have cause for exacting vengeance on another. There were riots and looting even in London. There was even a revolt in the Lake District to bring back Henry VI.

Warwick called for a parliament with the purpose of deposing Edward and placing on the throne the king's easily-led younger brother or, perhaps even, himself. While Warwick waited for Parliament to assemble, the remaining Lancastrian sympathizers decided to take advantage of the confusion with an uprising on the Scottish border. Warwick attempted to raise an army to lead against the Lancastrians but could get no support from the lords and populace until they were assured that the popular King Edward was safe and his own master. Warwick was forced to capitulate and Edward was back in command.

Edward pardoned his brother and Warwick for their actions and then moved to clean up the Lancastrian rebellion. Crushing his opponents at the Battle of Losecoat Field on March 12, 1470, so called because it was said that the fleeing Lancastrians shed clothing and armor in their haste to retreat speedily, Edward then discovered evidence that the rebellion had actually been instigated by Warwick and Clarence for the purpose of showing that Edward could not control the kingdom. Warwick tried to raise an army quickly once this became known but was forced to flee, with the king's brother, to France. Edward immediately declared them both outlaws.

In France, Warwick decided that his best chance for ruling England was to reinstate the Henry and rule through him. Supported by Margaret and her French connections, die-hard Lancastrians in England, and his own powerful and extensive family, Warwick made a landing in the West Country in September 1470. Caught entirely by surprise and without a standing army, Edward and his loyal youngest brother Richard were almost captured before fleeing to Ghent in the Low Countries. Warwick marched into London and, releasing a confused Henry VI from his confinement in the Tower, placing him back on the throne with, of course, himself as the chief minister of government.

Almost without a blow being struck, Warwick had succeeded in reversing the outcome of the previous wars and the Lancastrian line was again on the throne of England. For this feat, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick acquired the nickname “The Kingmaker�?