EDWARD IV, king of ENGLAND. – Born at Rouen on 25 Apr. 1442, died in Apr. 1483. As the nearest descendant of EDWARD III, he initiated the dynasty of the House of York and advanced his claim to the throne against King HENRY VI. Having fled to Calais in 1459, he returned to England in June 1460 to begin the struggle. On 4 Mar. 1461 he succeeded in being proclaimed king, and in 1471 he definitively defeated his adversary, whom he had assassinated. From that moment he was able to reign unchallenged, accentuating his tendency toward absolute power. His claims to the throne of France were frustrated by Louis XI through the Treaty of Picquigny (1475).
Stanislao Majarelli
EDWARD V,
king of England.
– Born at Westminster on 3 Nov. 1470, died in London in June 1483. He inherited the throne from his father EDWARD IV on 9 Apr. 1483. But his paternal uncle RICHARD, duke of Gloucester, after having eliminated the lords Rivers and Grey, relatives of Edward on his mother’s side, assumed the title of *protector* or guardian of the young king and shut both the boy king and his brother RICHARD, duke of York, in the Tower of London, where he cruelly put them to death.
