Lesson video

Hi, I'm Ms. Miah.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson today.

In this lesson, you'll be able to explain why Edward IV's first reign collapsed into instability and describe how he retook his throne.

Your keywords are on the screen now, and you can write them down if you'd like to.

So we've got court, nobles, alliance, and ally.

Super, let's find out what these keywords mean.

Court, all the people who live and work in a royal household.

Nobles, people of the highest social class, given land from the monarch in return for loyalty.

Alliance, a bond or connection between families or countries.

And lastly, ally, a supporter or friend.

So those are our keywords for this lesson.

Let's see if we can spot them as we go through this lesson.

So this lesson is all about Edward IV's unstable first reign.

We have three lesson cycles today, and our first lesson cycle is to do with Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

We're then going to be looking at Warwick betraying Edward.

And then lastly, we'll be looking at about how Edward regains the throne.

I'm super excited about this lesson.

I hope you are too.

Let's begin.

So here on the left, we have an illustration of Edward IV.

And on the right, we have an illustration of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.

In May 1464, Edward IV secretly married Elizabeth Woodville.

This upset many at court, including the Earl of Warwick.

Here's a portrait of Elizabeth Woodville.

So after Edward's victory at Towton in 1461, he was crowned King Edward IV.

At the start of his reign, he relied heavily on the support of Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick, who helped him keep nobles still loyal to the Lancastrians under control.

Warwick was a powerful figure in England and had a great deal of influence.

To maintain his loyalty, Edward rewarded Warwick with land and a prominent role at the royal court.

Warwick had also been tasked with the important job of arranging Edward's marriage.

Royal marriages were a way of forming alliances with foreign powers, so Edward was required to choose his wife carefully.

Warwick attempted to arrange a marriage between Edward and Bona of Savoy, the sister-in-law of the French king, Louis XI.

England and France were historic enemies, and therefore this marriage would help to keep the peace between them.

Additionally, France was an ally of Scotland, where Henry VI, his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and their son, Edward, Prince of Wales, were in exile.

Therefore, friendship with France was important in preventing them from helping the Scots reinstate Henry VI's position as king.

Unfortunately, Warwick's plans to help Edward form a suitable marriage came to nothing because in May 1464, Edward secretly married Elizabeth Woodville as he had fallen in love.

Elizabeth was English, and therefore the marriage did nothing to secure an alliance with a foreign power.

She was also a widow with two children, and her first husband had supported the Lancastrians.

She was of low status and considered to be an inappropriate wife for the king.

Edward knew that his choice of wife would upset Warwick, so hid the news for several months.

This was embarrassing for Warwick.

He was continuing to negotiate a marriage with the French.

Warwick was also upset about his loss of power as Edward increasingly showed favor to his wife's family, the Woodvilles.

Gradually, Warwick started to shift his loyalty from the king towards the Lancastrians.

Then Margaret of Anjou was quick to take advantage of the disagreement between Warwick and Edward as she knew that the support of Warwick might help her husband, Henry, regain power.

Warwick has become known by historians as the Kingmaker because he used his wealth and power to help make or break the fortunes of the Yorkists and Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses.

Over to you.

Choose the correct keyword to complete the sentence.

Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 upset the at the royal court, particularly Warwick.

You can pause the video here and then click play to continue.

So what did you get?

If you got nobles, you are correct.

The nobles were really upset when Edward married Elizabeth.

Why did the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville anger Warwick?

I'd like you to choose two correct reasons.

A, because he wanted to secure an alliance with the French.

B, because he had been Edward IV's greatest ally, but now the Woodvilles had more favor.

C, because he wanted Edward IV to marry the daughter of the king of France.

Or D, because he felt Elizabeth's social status was too high for Edward IV.

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you've got the two correct reasons.

So what did you get?

If you got A and B, you are correct.

Let's move on.

Task A, explain why Edward IV's position as king of England was put at risk by the loss of Warwick's support.

Try to include two reasons in your answer.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this part of the task.

So what did you get?

So your answer may have included some of these key points.

Let's have a look.

One reason why Edward IV's position as king was put at risk by the loss of Warwick's support is because Warwick had the ability to influence other English nobles.

Warwick had been a useful ally because he had kept the nobles under control.

He was no longer willing to help the king with this due to Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

A second reason the loss of Warwick's support weakened Edward IV is that it meant Warwick now sided with Henry VI and the Lancastrians.

This strengthened their position and made it more likely that they would regain the throne.

Well done for completing this task.

Let's move on.

Lesson cycle 2, "Warwick betrays Edward.

" Warwick decided to support the Lancastrians after Edward IV's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

In 1469, Warwick went to France and gave his support to the Lancastrians.

Here's an illustration of the red rose of the Lancasters.

He promised Margaret of Anjou that he would help to restore Henry IV as king.

To seal their alliance, Edward, Prince of Wales, was married to Warwick's daughter, Anne Neville.

The combined forces of the determined Margaret of Anjou and the influential Earl of Warwick were a dangerous threat to the reign of Edward IV.

Over to you.

Whose marriage sealed the alliance of Warwick and the Lancastrians?

Is it A, Edward IV and Anne Neville, B, Edward, Prince of Wales, and Anne Neville, or C, Edward, Prince of Scotland, and Anne Neville?

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you're ready to continue.

So what did you get?

If you got B, you are correct.

Let's move on.

Here's a portrait of Henry VI.

Here, Henry VI was reinstated as king in 1470.

In September 1470, Warwick invaded England with the help of Louis XI, the king of France, who gave him ships, men, and money.

Louis XI supported Warwick's invasion as Margaret of Anjou was a French princess and France and England were enemies, and therefore, France would benefit from the instability caused by the English king being overthrown.

Edward's forces were defeated, and he was forced to flee to Flanders in modern-day Belgium.

Henry VI was again reinstated as king of England, and the Lancastrians once again had the upper hand in the War of the Roses.

Over to you.

Why would the French king, Louis XI, help Warwick to overthrow Edward IV?

Choose two correct reasons.

You've got A, Margaret of Anjou was a French princess, B, France and England were enemies, or C, Warwick had control over Louis XI.

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you're ready to continue.

So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

And if you got B, France and England were enemies, you are correct.

Well done.

Let's move on.

Task B, starting with the earliest, sort these events into time order, or otherwise known as chronological order.

So we've got Warwick went missing from court, Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville, Henry VI was restored as king, and Warwick formed an alliance with the Lancastrians.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this task.

So what did you get?

Well, let's have a look.

First, Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville.

Then Warwick went missing from court.

After that, Warwick formed an alliance with the Lancastrians.

And lastly, Henry VI was restored as king.

Well done if you managed to order those in chronological order.

Let's move on.

Lesson cycle 3, "Edward regains the throne.

" Edward IV defeated Henry VI and Warwick at the Battle of Barnet in April 1471.

The Earl of Warwick was killed.

And here we have an illustration of the Battle of Barnet.

So, Edward IV returned to England with an army in early 1471.

His aims were to gain the crown back from Henry VI and get revenge on his former ally, Warwick.

Edward IV was a man with impressive military skills, and he planned to use these to win back power.

On 14th of April, 1471, he met the forces of Henry VI and Warwick at Barnet on the outskirts of London.

Edward IV defeated Henry VI at the Battle of Tewkesbury in May 1471.

Edward, Prince of Wales, the son of Henry VI, was killed.

And here we have a map of the major battles of the Wars of the Roses.

So during this time, Warwick's army numbered around 15,000 men, and Edward's army, around 12,000 men.

It was a close-fought battle, with some 3,000 men killed.

In the end, Edward and the Yorkists were victorious.

Edward had successfully won back the crown, and the Earl of Warwick had been killed in the fighting.

Over to you.

Which of these men was killed at the Battle of Barnet?

Was it A, Earl of Warwick, B, Henry VI, or C, Edward IV?

You can pause the video here and click play once you're ready to continue.

So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

The Earl of Warwick was killed at the Battle of Barnet.

Let's move on.

Henry VI died in the Tower of London in May 1471.

Edward IV secured his position as king of England once more.

Now, the Battle of Barnet was an important victory for Edward IV, and for a time, it helped secure his position again as king.

However, the House of Lancaster refused to accept the loss and yet again prepared to fight Edward, this time at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.

The Battle of Tewkesbury was fought on 4th of May, 1471.

It resulted in the death of 17-year-old Edward, Prince of Wales, the only son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou and the heir to the Lancastrians.

Henry was also captured and placed in the Tower of London.

Henry's death was announced on the morning of 22nd May, 1471.

Exactly how he died remains a mystery, but he was likely murdered on the orders of Edward IV.

This episode had taught Edward a valuable lesson about the importance of keeping the support of the English nobles.

His marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had upset his powerful ally, the Earl of Warwick, and unleashed events that almost resulted in him permanently losing the throne to the Lancastrians.

The events between 1461 and 1471 had continued to be destabilizing for England due to the ongoing fighting between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians over who should rule England.

Which of these is the most likely way that Henry VI died?

Is it A, killed in battle, B, murdered, or C, old age?

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click play once you've got the answer.

So what did you get?

If you got B, murdered, you are correct.

Task C, explain in one paragraph how Edward IV regained the English throne in 1471.

In your answer, you should include as many of the following as you can: Battle of Barnet, Edward, Prince of Wales, Battle of Tewkesbury, ally, Tower of London, murdered.

You can pause the video here and click play once you've completed this task.

So how did that go?

Well, your answer may include something like this.

Let's read this paragraph.

So Edward IV was able to regain the throne in 1471 because he was victorious in battle and overcame his opponent, Henry VI.

Firstly, the Battle of Barnet resulted in Edward winning back the crown and the death of his powerful former ally, the Earl of Warwick.

Secondly, the Battle of Tewkesbury led to the death of Edward, Prince of Wales, who was the Lancastrians' heir.

Henry VI was also captured and held in the Tower of London, where he was likely murdered.

These events allowed Edward IV to secure the throne for the Yorkists once more.

Well done if you managed to include some of those key points and for completing this task.

Let's summarize our learning.

So, this lesson was all about Edward IV's unstable first reign.

You now understand that Edward IV jeopardized his throne by secretly marrying Elizabeth Woodville as this went against the marriage alliance the Earl of Warwick was trying to secure for him.

The English nobles were also against this marriage.

Warwick also disliked the power of the Woodvilles, and so he stopped being Edward's ally and instead supported Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou in regaining the throne for the Lancastrians.

However, Edward IV successfully fought back at the Battle of Barnet and the Battle of Tewkesbury and was restored to the throne.

England had remained unstable during these years as the War of the Roses had waged on.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson.

Bye!