Edward IV's Reign and Success Essay

Edward VI inherited the throne in 1547 at the infant age of 9. Because of his youth, he had two advisors. The first was his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, who became Lord Protector, and for the first two and a half years of Edward’s reign, Somerset advised and guided the young king. Somerset was replaced by the Duke of Northumberland. Edward was a mere figurehead, the Lord Protector controlled the majority of his government but how well was England governed during the reign of Edward VI for the mere 6 six years he was in power?

During the reign of Edward VI, Northumberland and Somerset attempted to rule England. They dealt with several issues, including foreign policy, finance, social and economic affairs, working as political operators and dealing with with rebellions. Northumberland proved to be successful in many of these aspects, particularly in social and economic affairs as well as finance. This is because he was able to effectively correct the faults Somerset had made such as introducing certain taxes and causing debt as well as debasement. This essay will talk about the extent of how successful Northumberland was in comparison to Somerset when it came to ruling England.

The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Henry VIII 1509-1515 There are many differing views of Henry VIII, some people see him as a scholar and others as a jovial and merry king. Each of these opinions views different characteristics of Henry VIII that contributed to his strengths and weaknesses. Henry, when he succeeded the throne had several problems that he had to address. There was also much expectation of him as his father had been viewed as a miser and a repressor and people saw the need for dramatic change. Ian Dawson says that at the change of monarch there was a "sense of breaking free from imprisonment" so much was the relief of Henry VIII 's succession.

Born the second son of a royal family, Henry Tudor lived a very interesting life. His future was intended to be the head of the Roman Catholic Church and that fate ended with the death of his brother, Prince Arthur. Henry’s majestic life was full of sports, women, and faith. The young King acceded his father to the throne, married six women, and began the English Reformation when he broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and created his own religion.

They, like a fox, slyly gained political influence over the church by negotiating with the pope. They were given the ability to choose who would be the Church’s clergy and priests. This is extremely important to the throne, for with this capability, the monarch would be able to control the faith of their nation. Not only would they manage the finances and property of the people, but also the hearts. Another “fox-like” quality of the French monarchs is the astute way in which Edward IV and others conducted foreign policy. They focused on diplomacy when dealing with foreign affairs, which helped them to avoid expensive wars. This saved their nation a large amount of money, because instead of constant fighting, there was continual growth. In a similar manner to England, the French monarchy displayed sneaky characteristics by choosing from among smaller landowners and urban lawyers for a government council. By choosing these landowners and lawyers, the monarch received more financial support and power than they would have by choosing nobles and aristocrats. Along with the “fox-like” actions, France also showed “lion-like” characteristics with Edward, Richard III, and Henry VII who attempted to reinstate prominence, suppress the influence of the nobility, and demonstrate law and discipline a local level around France. By lessening the importance of nobles, the rulers gained control and started to rebuild the position of the monarch. They were fierce in their endeavors to gain power and enforce law in their nation. This, along with the newly established influence on the church and careful efforts to avoid expensive and unnecessary wars, showed how France both had “fox-like” and “lion-like”

Answer: When Henry VIII was too young, Richard Foxe helped manage England for him. Henry started an alliance with Charles V of Spain and both nations started a war with France. Henry went against the Catholic Church and made himself the head of the English Church. Elizabeth I was jailed in the tower of London under suspicion of supporting the rebels against her sister Mary. Elizabeth defeated the Spanish Armada, in return making England the new superpower in Europe. Elizabeth rebuilt England 's economy and passed the religious unity act which made England to be the first protestant nation. Both Monarchs fought Rome over religious control in England, they

When Edward came into power in 1042, England was in a poor state financially and also because of threats of an invasion and this made the first few years of his rule difficult. Edward was faced with many problems which he had to overcome. These problems involved; powerful Earls, (especially the Godwine’s), the foreign policy and the domestic policy. Edward both failed and succeeded in these problems due to a number of factors. These include a lack of knowledge about his kingdom and some may argue that he was naïve in his decisions. With some evaluation, we will be able to judge if Edward was a successful King or not.

Overall, it is evident that Henry's financial policy enabled him to gain some control over his Nobility although it was in fact his attitude towards War and conflict that meant he could have complete control over his Noblemen. Magnates would have a lot of support if they were to rise up against the King during a War and that would put Henry's throne in grave danger although his decision not to engage in foreign affairs meant that it didn't give his Nobility a chance to try and overthrow him. Christine Carpenter highlights this as she says Henry's financial treatment of his Gentry meant that they were very close to uprising as it caused so much frustration and tension. This shows that the King never really had complete control over them due to his financial

The first underlying and precipitating cause of the Hundred Years’ War was that England and France were too closely proximate emergent territorial powers. Another cause of the Hundred Years’ War was that Edward III of England was a vassal of Philip the Fair of France, and therefore held several sizeable French territories as fiefs. Also one of the underlying and precipitating causes of the Hundred Years’ was the quarrel between

Henry VII took the throne after a battle against the former king Richard III whose forces outnumbered Henrys by two to one. Henry VII had a couple of big problems, one of them was that there were people that had a stronger claim to the throne than he did, his only claim was that god let him win the battle, therefore the nobility didn’t respect him at the beginning of his reign. Another of the problems he faced was the fact that he feared a lot

After a terrible civil war, Henry II was rebuilding England and improving the law. He made royal court be more important compared to private courts, and made criminal law much better. This all made a positive impact on England’s law system.

He then failed to re-marry and achieve stronger diplomatic relations outside of England following the death of Elizabeth creating a weak government in England. Also the death of Isabella of Castile was another problem for Henry as he would have Ferdinand as his rival instead of an ally over territorial gains in Europe and in the New World. The later years of Henrys foreign policy were definitely his most challenging and difficult period of foreign affairs allowing the government to be weak and therefore vulnerable to a crisis.

1. Why did monarchs in the late 16th/early 17th centuries need new sources of income?

Edward the first was a feared King of England. He was very arrogant, lawless, violent, revengeful and cruel. But, he had also shown strong family affection, loyalty to friends, courage, brilliant military skills, and a gift for leadership. He also loved strong government, power and he admired justice. Having to go to many wars, he had mastered his anger and had shown himself capable of patient negotiation and generosity.

Edward Abbey has a very interesting definition of wilderness. He sees wilderness as a place where humanity is non existent. Abbey talks about how he wants to be able to look into an environment and see every aspect of the of the natural world untouched by man. Even if Abbey carries his flashlight in the dark he doesn’t feel one with nature, and that mankind is blocking out the best parts about the environment that he is in. It doesn't matter what the man made object is, it still bothers him whenever he is in the wilderness.