Edward IV of England

Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was the King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was the first Yorkist King of England. The first half of his rule was marred by the violence associated with the Wars of the Roses, but he overcame the Lancastrian challenge to the throne at Tewkesbury in 1471 to reign in peace until his sudden death. 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.

Reign

Accession to the throne

Edward of York was born at Rouen in France, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York (who had a strong genealogical claim to the throne of England), and Cecily Neville. He was the eldest of the four sons who survived to adulthood. Before his father's death and his accession to the throne he bore the title Earl of March.

Edward's father Richard, Duke of York, had been heir to King Henry VI until the birth of Henry's son Edward in 1453. Locked in a factional struggle with the king's Beaufort relatives, Richard established a dominant position after his victory at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which his chief rival, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset was killed. However, over the following years Henry's queen, Margaret of Anjou, rebuilt a powerful faction to oppose him. In 1459 Margaret moved against York and his principal supporters, his brother-in-law Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury and Salisbury's son Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who rose in revolt.

Edward IV (play)

Edward IV, Parts 1 and 2 is a two-part Elizabethan history play centring on the personal life of king Edward IV of England. It was published without an author's name attached, but is often attributed to Thomas Heywood, perhaps writing with collaborators.

Publication history

The two parts were entered into the Stationers' Register together on 28 August 1599, and were published together later that year in a quarto issued by the bookseller John Oxenbridge. The title page of the first edition states that the play was acted by "the Earl of Derby his servants," that is, by Lord Strange's Men. A second quarto was released in 1600 by Oxenbridge and Humphrey Lownes. The play was popular, and was reprinted in 1605, 1613, 1619, and 1626. All of the early quartos were anonymous; Heywood was first connected with the plays by Francis Kirkman in his 1661 play list.

Plot

The central character in the play is Jane Shore, the king's mistress. The historical events of the reign of Edward IV form a background, involving "the bastard Faulconbridge," the "Tanner of Tamworth," and other figures of the era. The play draws material from the 1587 edition of Holinshed's Chronicles.