

Unable to muster enough forces to confront a set of Lancastrian armies (one of which was led by Richard Neville, earl of Warwick), Edward fled to Holland in September 1470.

In 1464 he married Elizabeth Woodville which became the root of many future troubles.Edward defeated the Lancastrians at Mortimor's Cross and was proclaimed king in March 1461.Edward IV ascended to the throne in 1461 finally achieving the goal of seating a member of the York family pushed forth by his father, Richard, duke of York, for the entire decade of the 1450s.He was briefly restored as ruler from 1470 to 1471 but before the battle of Barnet in April he was captured by Edward and sent to the tower of London where he was murdered on May 21, 1471. In 1461 he lost the throne to Richard's son Edward IV.At the battle of Northampton in 1460 he was captured by the Yorkist forces and forced to acknowledge Richard as the rightful heir to the throne.The next year he recovered and clashed with Richard over who would rule England thus starting the Wars of the Roses. At the age of 32 (1453) he suffered his first attack of mental illness and control of the country was taken up by Richard, duke of York.

During his reign his country lost the Hundred Year's War and all of its French territories except for Calais.
