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Edward IV of England: On Life, Madness, Death and Legitimacy

King Edward IV of England, famously known for many habits including being the leader of the Yorkist army in the Wars of the Roses when from the date his father, Richard Plantagenet Duke of York, died in 1460 at the battle of Wakefield. A position which, upon his victory at Towton (due to impeccable war time tactics including the use of Lancastrian arrows against the Lancastrian army and a well placed river) he became, by victory and inheritance, King of England in 1461. It is noted that toward the beginning of Edwards life he was a determined even merry young man with ambitions strong enough to shatter many others. In many ways one could regard him as having been born to be a king, for he had far more splendour, glamour and cunning than the Lancastrian king before him (King Henry VI).

Edward was known also for his womanising, something which later would be a reason for his marital break down. (Of course, when referring to this the couple did not divorce and remained married until Edward's death in 1483, they – according to some records, simply lost the passion which toward the beginning of their relationship, indeed even toward the middle of his second reign, had experienced leaving the relationship broken.)

My research into the topic has brought me some quite interesting conclusions, for which I have attempted to make what I believe is a convincing psychological profile for this important historical figure. It is safe to safe that some changes were made in the kings life from its beginning over its forty one year span, some thing’s drastic and a clear change in the man's attitude, beliefs and temperament is clear.

All accounts would suggest that when at eighteen years old Edward was not only crowned King of England but also the general and fuel source for a savage army, which he not only commanded to do things more brutal and cruel than our current standards would allow us to believe, he fought with the army and for the army where he himself was a partaker in committing such violent acts. Of course, contemporary views would render this an abomination, but records would suggest that during the dark years of the Wars of the Roses that his actions were cold and ruthless, even for then. Yet research has told me that the young king was good tempered, smart, energetic and among other things, happy and promiscuous (his happiness probably resulting from his ability to be so promiscuous and notably never by force, instead by bribe, money and class.) When he, in 1464 married Elizabeth Woodville, a common widow five years his senior things in Edwards life started to change. Despite the many victories on the side of the Yorks war broke out once more due to the unpopular marriage and it was this (along with several claims of Edward's illegitimacy) that saw him dragged from his throne to exile until his return and victory at Barlet. The young kings attitude was far from tarnished, he seemed happy and confident if nor more than in his previous years.

The major changes in Edward's life can be seen after this, when the War of the Roses took several years hiatus, specifically for the rest of his reign and until several years after his death. Edward's brother George (Duke of Clarence) was known by now for his treachery to Edward and he himself had been one of the many who had tried to take the crown from Edward's head by force, yet n many occasions this young sibling of Edwards was forgiven. The reasons for such forgiveness are still unknown, as for the reasons for Edwards sudden change in attitude when in 1578 Edward sentenced George to death for treason. This is sentence has been attributed to George's persistent claim of Edwards illegitimacy which would have stood George himself as rightful King of England, to further this George was plotting behind Edwards back. Several fictional accounts (including the cousin's war series by Phillipa Gregory) represent George as having predicted the King's death, this was not only treason but an offence of using witchcraft (even if it was hired help) and so punishable by death. To worsen the situation George was plotting with the French king to unseat Edward. By now the King's temper seems to have worsened and his patience finally failed when he sentenced George to death.

Edward's actions at this point seem understandable to the contemporary eye, yet for this decision he received much criticism and even a family break up when the kings only remaining brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester retreated to Yorkshire and decided he wished to engage in none other of the kings affairs at court. This must have been hard on Edward, further more it is around this time when Edward and Elizabeth's marriage started to fall and the couple had no more children – this must have been seen as a failure on Edward's part.

When in the 1480's Edward stopped receiving pensions from France due to a treaty between Burgundy (Edward's oldest friends and allies) rendering Edward irrelevant in continental Europe and a treaty was signed between the countries Edward was reported to have suffered an emotional blow, one which many chroniclers would say he never truly recovered from.

It is reported that when Edward died in 1483, just days before his forty first birthday he died a broken man who was not only depressed and somewhat over weight but ill and lonely plagued by the trouble of worries beyond his control. The reason for his death is disputed, with suggestions ranging from illnesses such as pneumonia, typhoid and appendicitis and even syphilis as a result of his sexually extravagant lifestyle. It could also have been down to his eating habits some would suggest, possibly a heart attack or stroke doe to the build up of fatty foods, others (including Richard III, Edwards brother) suggested poisoning at the hand of his wife Elizabeth Woodville.

With regard to the kings psychological state, which I mentioned at the beginning of the article I have made several conclusions from evidence which I have found. Firstly starting with Edward's psycho-emotional state.

I'd have suggested that the king was certainly suffering from a form of depression, quite possibly major depression, although this would not surprise me and could have been completely down to a series of bad events, there does seem to have been a quite serious emotional change from the happy and confident young king to his depressed and almost pitiful self in his latter years. Depression would be the reasonable explanation for this and I would suggest to a clinical level of depression. Of course such is not surprising, when at just eighteen years of age such responsibility is forced upon you and your father is not just killed and beheaded but for sick humoured mockery his head is placed on a wall outside what is your home and for sake of pride and honour you are dragged to battle and at your command thousands, tens of thousands are killed, even your brother by your hand it is no wonder, to then add to that the family you had and loved – including a wife of questionable reputation which saw more bloodshed has almost deserted you? This should not come as a surprise.

Furthermore, as would have been a common diagnosis for nobles of the time, the suggestion would have to be that Edward was severely paranoid, again I do not question his reasons for this – his own brother plotted against him and was intending to cause the kings demise and he was just one of many powerful men (and women) plotting against Edward. Yet Edward's paranoia could have been closer to that which would receive the diagnosis of paranoid personality disorder, a debilitating form of paranoia which would limit its sufferers to a life of almost seclusion. Edward was, for his late years, recorded to have kept well away from others affairs and focused almost purely on securing the future of his family through a series of fine and well planned marriages to political allies. He spent little time away from court and travelled very little this could have been for an apparent fear of leaving the court. Again this would not surprise me, his rule was not one of security on the throne of England as he had before been removed from it and shamed – almost humiliated publicly. His fear of losing what he thought was rightfully his (the title of English monarch combined with his stunning reputation) was something that probably ate him up to a point of seclusion.

It is for this reason – and his younger destructive behaviours (although truly disputable due to a difference in times, I would suggest the diagnosis of psychopathy. Although this would render the king a clinical levelled psychopath this would not be an entirely wrong suggestion. He did in his younger years (by pressure or choice) demonstrate, though for a cause in which he truly believed, a level of unchallenged violence. He was described as being more violent and ruthless than any other leader in history before that point. When we consider such as a comparison to the reputation of the Vikings? Well that renders him pretty violent. Of course such accounts are from Lancastrian supporters and not the supporters of York's cause and so cannot be classed as unbiased or objective, for they certainly were not but some levels of accuracy can be seen in such accounts. Even when we looked at Yorkist accounts, explicit violence is described to a shocking level. (One need look no further than Towton, Edwards first battle which he lead alone to see the devastation this man was capable of) That and of course possession, obsession and eccentricity are all leading symptoms in psychopathy. I ca of course understand his obsessive control at such a time, and his psycho addiction to the throne of England and consequently power, something he must have seen as his rightful possession and one which he should not be challenged for, all within reason I can understand but the level to which this man was capable of taking it would force me to claim psychopathy on his part.

Finally, though I dispute this disorders role in psychology and class it to be almost entirely physiological, I must class it as psychological for it is and has been listed in the DSM, reports would suggest the king was bulimic, which certainly would have attributed to his early and sudden demise. Records from chroniclers have said that the king ate in ridiculous amounts and enjoyed 'filling his stomach once more.' With this they refer to both food and drink of rich quality in excessive levels. It was noted also at the time that the king used a feather in the throat to make himself sick. This at the time was classed as the king being ill in itself. Of course the physical repercussions of his actions (internal bleeding due to tears, infections, choking, just general illness from losing food so quickly) could have majorly contributed to, if not been the actual reason for his premature death.

In addressing the issue of Edwards legitimacy, as I feel I have to do at the end of this article (if for no other reason than my support) and consequently his questionable claim to the throne of England, I would like to say firstly that his claim was truly strong, for he won the throne in conquest and leading an army if nothing more, of course then we argue he could claim it by senior (inheritance) for his father did not question his legitimacy and laws of the time stated if a married woman had a child and the child’s paternity was not questioned by the father, the child was to be classed as legitimate, and so the argument would be invalid. He was rightful King of England, such is not disputable. (My apologies and sympathies must then go to historian and actor Tony Robinson for his attempts to prove Edward illegitimate and the current royal family imposters for it is incorrect.)

The rumours of Edwards illegitimacy occurred early, his birth and baptism in Rouen were of course questionable. The York's were in France, Cecily Neville (Edwards mother) was settled in Rouen where he was born on April 28th 1442. However, at the time when Edward should have been conceived summer 1441 his father (the Duke of York) was reportedly several days march from Rouen and so such would have been impossible. However, though there is strong evidence for this Edward could have been born premature for one account, that would explain the secret baptism as the family had lost a son before Edward, if the child was premature that would be reason to keep all secret for sake of saving disappointment. Another argument is that the Duke of York returned from battle for several days, Edward could easily have been conceived then. Of course Edward's own argument of being an eleven month pregnancy is rather tedious to say the least, his mother apparently claimed him illegitimate when he reported his marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, but probably only for anger and such has never been proven. Richard the third did call his brother illegitimate, however due to his mother claiming her son to have insulted her in this comment, he settled for accusing only Edward's children of illegitimacy and not Edward himself. And though the Earl of Warwick said it also this was seems purely political and not to be based on fact or common knowledge. Of course, no way of proving such will ever be found and so it will always remain a mystery however, the sensible conclusion to draw would be that such an accusation was common at the time, and an easy way of decreasing someone's power, Edward probably made his claim only for confusion and pressure and his father not only didn't question his legitimacy but at risk of treason classed the child as his and loved him much, enough to raise him as a general of the Yorkist army. Besides, Henry VII when claiming the throne in 1485 claimed Edward was legitimate, even if only to validity his claim to the throne and increase his power through his marriage to Elizabeth of York, Edward eldest daughter.