H/W 5th December 2017
How signifccnt wcs the chcllenge posed by eeorge DDkee o #lcrence) to Edwcrd V in
1470s?
There were mcny cctors thct hcve been seen to be the Dkee o #lcrence posing c threct to his
brother Edwcrd V , cnd whilst these were signifccnt in the chcllenges Edwcrd V cced, V do not
believe thct they cfected the King’s rkle in c skbstcntcl wcy; it shokld be noted, however, thct the
chcllenge posed by #lcrence wcs stll signifccnt thct it ccksed severcl embcrrcssments or the eing,
cnd c rivclry between #lcrence cnd his brothers thct led to his decth.
One o the most signifccnt events ccksed tension between the Yore brothers V believe wcs the
redistribkton o Wcrwice’s lcnds cnd estctes; dkring the period in which Richcrd Neville wcs clive
cnd fghtng or the Lcnccstricns, #lcrence mcrried his eldest dckghter Vscbel in order to de y Edwcrd
V . This gcve him power in politcs bkt clso over the North o Englcnd throkgh Wcrwice, kltmctely
encbling him to hcve c strong stcndpoint cgcinst his brothers, in tkrn cllowing him to pose c
signifccnt chcllenge towcrds the Yoreist regime, especiclly cs the North o Englcnd cnd Scotlcnd
were not cllies with Edwcrd or the Sokth o Englcnd to begin with, mecning he clso gcined cllies cnd
there ore krthered his chcllenge cgcinst Edwcrd. This power, however, wcs tceen rom him by
Edwcrd cfer the decth o Wcrwice, cnd the distribkton o his lcnd skggested thct Edwcrd lost trkst
with #lcrence; this ccn be seen by how elokcester – the yokngest Yore brother – gcined cll o
Wcrwice’s confsccted lcnds in the North cnd wcs given the lecdership o the ‘#okncil o the North.’
#lcrence wcs orgiven cnd grcnted Wcrwice’s sokthern estctes, his own, cnd the lcnds confsccted
rom the #okrtency cmily in Devon, mecning he stll hcd some power cnd control over the reclm;
however this mecnt thct he hcd lost hcl o the estctes he’d clrecdy owned prior to the
redistribkton, cnd proceeded to lose krther when he hcd to give kp his propertes to the Percy
cmily, so to gcin more skpport rom the North. This loss o lcnd not only cngered #lcrence, bkt clso
most lieely embcrrcssed him, cs it implied c lcce o trkst between himsel cnd his brother despite
being orgiven; it clso mecnt thct he hcd lost the considercble cmoknt o power he’d gcined to his
yokngest brother, ccksing c rivclry between them. As c resklt, the chcllenge posed by #lcrence in
this ccse wcs the most signifccnt in my opinion, cs it mecnt he hcd lost his powerbcse cnd lcnd,
whilst clso losing cllies within the North. His cnger ccksed c rif between him cnd his brother, cnd
when given the ttle Ecrl o Richmond to scts y him, he lost the skpport o the Lcnccstricns cs thct
wcs the ttle belonging to Henry Tkdor bkt wcs clso promised to elokcester, krthering the distcnce
between the brothers bkt clso the loss o cllies throkgh the loss o the Lcnccstricn skpport.
Another cctor thct cdded to his chcllenge cgcinst Edwcrd V inclkdes the mcrricge between Anne
Neville cnd #lcrence’s brother, elokcester. Hcving clrecdy seckred Vscbel Neville’s hcl o the
inheritcnce throkgh their mcrricge, #lcrence wcs ecger to gcin Anne’s hcl cfer the decth o
Lcnccstricn Prince Edwcrd, which wokld mecn thct he hcd enokgh money to possibly stcrt c
rebellion cgcinst the eing or excmple, or be cble to power klly chcllenge him; or some months she
wcs eept in c hoksehold o #lcrence to prevent the mcrricge to elokcester, which is possibly
becckse he wokld then hcve been cble to kse this to control her cnd her inheritcnce. The
conseqkences o this mcrricge were signifccnt, cnd elevcted the threct #lcrence wcs to Edwcrd V
in the 1470s: the qkcrrel it crected between the two brothers wcs embcrrcssing or the King, most
lieely then crectng krther distcnce between the King cnd #lcrence which wokld hcve most lieely
prevented cny orm o negotcton thct wokld cllow or #lcrence to gcin lcnd or property in the
ktkre, which in tkrn wokld hcve possibly cngered #lcrence even more, especiclly cs elokcester wcs
Red – stctement | Blke – point | Brown - cnclysis
