March 4th: Edward IV, First Yorkist King of England

This date in 1461 saw the Coronation of Edward IV, King of England. Here are some things you may not know about him.

1. Edward IV was the first Yorkist King of England. He reigned from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, at which time he was briefly deposed; but won his throne back on 11 April 1471, after which he reigned until his death in 1483.
2. He was born Edward of York at Rouen, France, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville.
3. Before becoming king, he was 4th Duke of York, 7th Earl of March, 5th Earl of Cambridge and 9th Earl of Ulster. He was also the 65th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
4. Even at the age of nineteen, he was an extremely capable military commander who never lost a battle; although he had a close call at the battle of Towton - he was saved by a Welsh Knight called Sir David Ap Mathew. After he crushed the House of Lancaster in a series of battles, including the Battle of Towton in Yorkshire on 29 March 1461, he declared himself king and set off to London to be crowned. He named Sir David Ap Mathew Standard Bearer of England and allowed him to use "Towton" on his family crest.
5. He is the tallest British monarch to date at a height of 6 feet 4.5 inches (1.943m).
6. Contemporary accounts say that Edward IV was an extremely handsome man. Philippe de Commynes, for example, wrote that he thought Edward was the most handsome man he had ever seen: "a man so vigorous and handsome that he might have been made for the pleasures of the flesh".
7. He certainly seemed to have taken advantage of that fact - he had numerous mistresses and about thirteen illegitimate children by several different mothers.
8. He also had a beautiful wife. Her name was Elizabeth Woodville, and when she met Edward, she was a widow with two sons, having married Sir John Grey of Groby at the age of fifteen. Ironically, Groby had been killed fighting for the Lancastrians. Elizabeth was described as "the most beautiful woman in the Island of Britain". The Yorkists took Groby's land, forcing Elizabeth to move back home to her mother and leaving her sons with no inheritance. Elizabeth decided that she would take her sons and wait under an oak tree which she knew the king would pass, with the intention of pleading with him to give her the land back. Being beautiful worked to her advantage - the king very quickly fell in love with her. During the negotiations, he asked her to become his mistress, but she refused. Edward was so determined to have her that he proposed marriage instead. This she agreed to. The couple married in secret with only the bride's mother and two ladies in attendance. The marriage didn't go down well in some quarters. Edward's mother hated that her son had married off his own bat and a Lancastrian commoner to boot. Edward's advisor, Lord Warwick, wasn't impressed either, as he'd been in the process of seeking a marriage contract for Edward with a French princess, and only then found out the king was married already. Rumours abounded that Elizabeth had cast a spell on Edward to make him fall in love with her. They had ten children, seven of which survived Edward, and Elizabeth, known as "the White Queen" remained an influential woman some time after Edward's death.
9. Edward was a popular king who maintained a splendid court. He was no miser - he spent a lot of money on status symbols, fine clothes, jewellery and furniture. He was also an avid collector of books. He was interested in history and had manuscripts made for him by craftsmen in Bruges, covering such subjects as the life of Julius Caesar, and religious works. He even employed a yeoman whose function was "to kepe the king's bookes". Some of his collection still survives today as they were the foundation of the Royal Collection of manuscripts at the British Library.
10. Edward died at the age of 41 from unknown causes. Theories include pneumonia, typhoid, poisoning, or simply that he'd led an unhealthy lifestyle in the years up to his death. He was succeeded by his twelve-year-old son Edward V of England (who was never crowned) and then by his brother Richard, Richard III.

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