Hello, and thanks for joining me today for another Oak Academy history lesson.

My name is Mrs. Knox, and I'll be here to guide you through all the resources and the materials required to be successful with your learning today.

So let's get started with the lesson.

Today's lesson is part of the unit of work on the Wars of the Roses.

We've been asking the question, "What can the Wars of the Roses tell us about 15th century England?" Today's lesson will focus on the unstable reign of Edward IV, and by the end of the lesson you'll be able to explain why Edward the IV's first reign collapsed into instability and you'll be able to describe how he re-took his throne.

Now there are some useful words that we'll use in the lesson today.

Let's have a look at those words now.

The first word we'll come across is the word court, which in this context means all of the people who live and work in a royal household.

We'll also use the word nobles.

Nobles are people of the highest social class who were given land from the monarch.

In return for loyalty.

We'll also use the word alliance, and alliance is a bond or a connection between families or countries.

And finally today, we'll use the word ally, and ally is a supporter or a friend.

Now our lesson today will be in three parts, and we are going to get started now with section one, which will focus on Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

Unfortunately, Warwick's plans to help Edward form a suitable marriage came to nothing because in May, 1464, Edward secretly married Elizabeth Woodville as he had fallen in love.

Elizabeth was English and therefore, the marriage did nothing to secure an alliance with a foreign power.

She was also a widow with two children, and her first husband had supported the Lancastrians.

She was of low status and considered to be an inappropriate wife for the King.

Edward knew that his choice of wife would upset Warwick so he hid the news for several months.

This was embarrassing for Warwick who was continuing to negotiate a marriage with the French.

Warwick was also upset about his loss of power.

As Edward increasingly showed favour to his wife's family, the Woodvilles.

Gradually, Warwick started to shift his loyalty from the king towards the Lancastrians.

Margaret of Anjou was quick to take advantage of the disagreement between Warwick and Edward as she knew that the support of Warwick might help her husband, Henry, regain power.

Warwick has become known by historians as the kingmaker because he used his wealth and power to help make or break the fortunes of the Yorkist and the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses.

Let's have a quick check now of your understanding of this section.

I'd like you to choose the correct keyword to complete the sentence.

Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 upset the blank at the royal court, particularly Warwick.

Press pause and then when you've got your answer, press play.

You should have said the correct answer is that Elizabeth's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville in 1464 upset the nobles at the royal court, particularly Warwick.

Here's another check of your understanding now.

I'd like you to answer this question.

"Why did the marriage between Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville anger Warwick?" You need to choose two correct answers.

Is it because he wanted to secure an alliance with the French? Is it because he had been Edward IV's greatest ally, but now the Woodvilles had more favour? Is it because he wanted Edward IV to marry the daughter of the king of France, or is it because he felt Elizabeth's social status was too high for Edward IV? Press pause whilst you think of your answer and then press play for the answer.

You should have said that the first correct reason is because he wanted to secure an alliance with the French.

Secondly, you should have said that he had been Edward's greatest ally, but now the Woodvilles had more favour.

Well done if you got both correct.

Finally, in this section, let's put what we've learned here into practise.

Have a go at answering this question.

You need to explain why Edward IV's position as King of England was put at risk by the loss of Warwick support.

Try to include two reasons in your answer.

Press pause whilst you complete your answer, and then press play when you're ready to hear what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's see how you got on with your answer.

Your answer might have included some of the following.

One reason why Edward IV's position as king was put at risk by the loss of Warwick's support is because Warwick had the ability to influence the other English nobles.

Warwick had been a useful ally because he had kept the nobles under control, but he was no longer willing to help the king with this due to Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville.

A second reason the loss of Warwick support weakened Edward IV is that it meant Warwick now sided with Henry the VI and the Lancastrians.

This strengthened their position and made it more likely that they would regain the throne.

Let's move on now to the second part of the lesson today.

In this section, we'll look at Warwick's betrayal of Edward.

From 1467, Warwick was noticeably missing from the court of Edward IV.

There were rumours that he had turned against Edward following his secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, and instead, now favoured Henry the VI and Margaret of Anjou, and the Lancastrian claim to the throne.

In 1469, Warwick went to France and gave his support to the Lancastrians.

He promised Margaret of Anjou that he would help to restore Henry VI as king.

To seal their alliance, Edward, the Prince of Wales was married to Warwick's daughter, Ann Neville.

The combined forces of the determined Margaret of Anjou, and the influential Earl Warwick were a dangerous threat to the reign of Edward IV.

Time now for a quick check of your understanding, I'd like you to answer this question, "Whose marriage sealed the alliance of Warwick and the Lancastrians?" Was it a, Edward IV and Ann Neville, b, Edward Prince Wales and Ann Neville, or c, Edward Prince of Scotland and Anne Neville? Press pause, post your completed answer, and then press play.

You should have said that the alliance of Warwick and Lancastrians was sealed by the marriage of Edward Prince of Wales and Anne Neville.

In September, 1470, Warwick invaded England with the help of Louis XI, the King of France, who gave him ships, men, and money.

Louis XI supported Warwick's invasion as Margaret of Anjou was a French princess, and France and England were enemies, and therefore, France would benefit from the instability caused by the English king being overthrown.

Edward's forces were defeated and he was forced to flee to Flanders in modern day Belgium.

Henry II was again reinstated as King of England and the Lancastrians once again had the upper hand in the War of the Roses.

It's time to check your understanding by answering this question.

"Why would the French king, Louis XI, help Warwick to overthrow Edward IV? Choose two correct reasons.

Is it because a, Margaret of Anjou was a French princess, b, France and England were enemies, or c, Warwick had control over Louis XI? Press pause whilst you think of the two correct answers and then press play.

Welcome back.

You should have said that the first correct answer was a, the French king, Louis XI, was willing to help Warwick overthrow Edward because Margaret of Anjou was a French princess.

Secondly, you should also have said the French king was willing to help Warwick because France and England were enemies.

Well done if you got both correct.

Let's put everything we've learned here now into practise by completing this task.

Starting with the earliest, I'd like to sort the events into time order.

Press pause whilst you complete the task, and then press play for the answer.

Here's the correct chronological order.

The first thing that happened was Edward IV married Elizabeth Woodville.

Secondly, Warwick went missing from court.

Thirdly, Warwick formed an alliance with the Lancastrians, and finally, Henry II was restored as king.

Let's go now to the final part of today's lesson.

In this final section, we'll look at how Edward regained the throne.

Edward IV returned to England with an army in early 1471.

His aims were to gain the crown back from Henry VI, and to get revenge on his former ally, Warwick.

Edward IV was a man with impressive military skills, and he planned to use these to win back power.

On the 14th of April, 1471, he met the forces of Henry VI and Warwick at Barnett on the outskirts of London.

Warwick's army numbered around 15,000 men, and Edwards army around 12,000 men.

It was a close spot battle with some 3,000 men killed, but in the end, Edward and the Yorkists were victorious.

Edward had successfully won back the crown, and the Earl of Warwick had been killed in the fighting.

And on the screen now, you can see a depiction of the Battle of Barnett, and the death of the Earl of Warwick.

The Battle of Barnett was an important victory for Edward IV, and for a time, it helped to secure his position again as king.

However, the House of Lancaster refused to accept the loss, and yet again, prepared to fight Edward, this time at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.

The battle of Tewkesbury was fought on the 4th of May, 1471, but was a disaster for the Lancastrians.

It resulted in the death of the 17-year-old Edward, the Prince of Wales, who was the only son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, and the heir to the Lancastrians.

Let's have a quick check of your understanding before we finish off this section.

"Which of these men was killed at the Battle of Barnett?" Was it a, the Earl of Warwick, b, Henry VI, or c, Edward IV? Press pause whilst you think of your answer, and then press play when you're ready.

Well done if you remembered that it was the Earl of Warwick who was killed at the Battle of Barnett.

Okay, let's move on.

After the Battle of Tewkesbury, Henry was captured and was placed in the Tower of London.

Henry's death was announced on the morning of the 22nd of May, 1471.

Exactly how he died remains a mystery, but he was likely murdered on the orders of Edward IV.

Here's another quick check of your understanding.

"Which of these is the most likely way that Henry VI died?" Was he a, killed in battle, b, murdered, or c, died of old age? Press pause and then press play when you're ready for the answer.

That's right.

Most historians believe that Henry VI was most likely murdered in the Tower of London on the orders of Edward IV.

These events had taught Edward a valuable lesson about the importance of keeping the support of the English nobles.

His marriage to Elizabeth Woodville had upset his powerful ally, the Earl of Warwick, and unleashed events that almost resulted in him permanently losing the throne to the Lancastrians.

The events between 1461 and 1471 had continued to be destabilising for England due to the ongoing fighting between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians over who should rule England.

Our final task today is this one.

I'd like you to explain in one paragraph how Edward IV regained the English throne in 1471.

In your answer, you should include as many of the following things as you can.

The Battle of Barnett, the Battle of Tewkesbury, the Tower of London, Edward, Prince of Wales, the word ally, and murdered.

Press pause now whilst you complete your paragraph and then press play to see what you could have written.

Welcome back.

Let's review a possible answer.

You could have said that "Edward IV was able to regain the throne in 1471 because he was victorious in battle and overcame his opponent, Henry VI.

Firstly, the Battle of Barnett in April, 1471 resulted in Edward winning back the crown and in the death of his powerful former ally, the Earl of Warwick.

Secondly, the Battle of Tewkesbury in May, 1471 led to the death of Edward, the Prince of Wales, who was the Lancastrian's heir.

Henry VI was also captured and held in the Tower of London where he was likely murdered.

These events allowed Edward IV to secure the throne for the Yorkists once more." We've come to the end of today's lesson, so let's have a quick summary.

Edward IV jeopardised his throne by secretly marrying Elizabeth Woodville, as this went against the marriage alliance that the Earl of Warwick was trying to secure for him.

The English nobles were also against the marriage.

Warwick also disliked the power of the Woodvilles, and so he stopped being Edward's ally and instead supported Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou in regaining the throne for the Lancastrians.

However, Edward IV successfully fought back at the Battle of Barnett and the Battle of Tewkesbury and was restored to the throne.

England had remained unstable during these years as the War of the Roses had waged on.

Well done on all of your hard work in our lesson today.

I hope that you feel confident in the material that we've covered, and I look forward to you joining me in a future lesson on the Wars of the Roses.

We'll be continuing to look at the issue of what the Wars of the Roses can tell us about England in the 15th century.