2 how well did edward deal with the lancastrian problem
Evidence to support the claim that Edward IV was unsuccessful | Evidence to challenge the claim that Edward IV was unsuccessful |
Henry VI was captured alive and therefore would continue to be a figurehead for the Lancastrian cause | Henry VI was captured in 1465 and kept in the tower of London but wasn’t killed as his son would then have been the focus of the Lancastrian cause |
Margaret was able to make strong negotiations to build up Lancastrian support from France and Scotland | The death of Charles VII meant that Louis XI was now king who was a strong Yorkist supporter and had helped them at the battle of Towton |
The Lancastrians had more noble support even after the battle of Towton so they still had strong support and were very prevalent | Edward made a truce with Scotland and France so there was a breakdown of their Lancastrian support after Margaret fled to France |
Some nobles such as Sir Ralf Percy refused to submit to Edwards rule despite the policy of reconciliation | Edward used a policy of reconciliation to persuade Lancastrian supporting nobles to support the Yorkists by promising them pardons |
Somerset was killed in action at the battle of Hexham after helping to recapture Alnwick castle | Henry Beaufort came back from Scotland to take over the Bamburgh castle which had been taken over by Yorkists |
Could not reclaim Harlech castle from Lancastrian reign until 1468 despite defeating the Lancastrians | Used William Herbert and Walter Devereaux to take back Pembroke Castle from Jasper Tudor and defeated Lancastrians in North Wales |
Henry and the Lancastrians were still prevalent | Few rose for Henrys cause but many for Edwards |
Edward had quite a lot of success in dealing with the Lancastrian problem, as he was able to keep Henry out of the way without killing him, which would pose the problem of Henrys son and Lancastrians getting angry as he killed the king, whilst also preventing Margaret from building up foreign support in France and Scotland as he was able to make truces with them. He also enforced the reconciliation policy in which he pardoned many and worked with defiant nobles as best he could like Ralf Percy. He reclaimed castles from the Lancastrians, made more difficult to deal with Lancastrians flee, and made many nobles to stand with him instead of Henry. However the Lancastrians were still prevalent as they had Henry as their figurehead who was still alive and relevant and they still had noble support from those like the Percys and they were still working to claim castles, but overall he had more successes than failures.