WI: A Longer Lived Edward IV

Just a thought...
Let's say that King Edward IV of England manages to live a bit longer, dying around the age of fifty in 1492--not too much of a stretch. What would the last eight years of his reign be like, in relation to domestic and foreign policy in England? I've heard it said that his policies were very similar to those adopted by King Henry VII, especially in terms of administration and trade. Is this accurate?

Also, assuming the POD is 1483, you have at this time King Edward's eldest son, OTL Edward V, betrothed to Anne of Brittany. His sisters, Katherine and Anne of York were also betrothed to Juan of Aragon and Philip the Handsome respectively. So, what would English foreign policy look like over the next decade ITTL? Particularly relations between France, England and the Empire after the Treaty of Arras?

Just curious. I've considered writing a Yorkist TL at some point in the future, but I've had trouble conceptualizing exactly what the period of 1483-1493 would look like in this scenario.
 
Presumably, Richard (yep, that Richard) stays loyal and to all appearances devoted to his brother and nephews, though the issues between him and the Wydvilles will probably give the king some grief.

I don't think Edward will try anything much in foreign policy - he has no particular continental ambitions.

Doesn't mean he'll ignore it, just that he doesn't seem to have any strong agenda.

Edward was a bit pro-French, but I don't know how far that would go (hence the assumption he'll treat the continent as less important than his predecessors).

The Lancasterians are wrapped up, and Henry Tudor is a nobody really, so domestically things are fairly stable.
 
Being pro-French didn't stop him from invading France in 1475.

And he invaded Scotland in 1480-something.

With him commerce will rise quite high, as he was also a shrewd and successful businessman and merchant, heavily investing in several corporations within the City of London.
 
Well, it does mean that he's going to favor France over Burgundy, for instance.

And - not to sound argumentative, I'm curious on how his personal investments are going to lead to (significantly) more commercial prosperity.
 
I don't really see Edward pursuing a pro-French policy, only because I don't really think he was ever pro-French to begin with. King Louis IX antagonized him throughout the first half of his reign by supporting Queen Margaret of Anjou and the Lancastrians, and giving his enemies sanctuary. Further, Edward allied himself closely with Burgundy throughout his reign--one of the (many) causes for his falling out with Warwick was that the Kingmaker wanted to secure an alliance with the French, whereas the king himself was far more interested in maintaining England's traditional partnership with the Duchy of Burgundy. After the death of Charles the Bold, Edward continued this policy by allying himself with Maximilian, even arranging a marriage between his daughter, Anne, and OTL's Philip the Handsome (in OTL, the marriage would only fall through after she was bastardized on Richard III's accession). In fact, arguably, the fact that he was interested in marriage alliances with Brittany, Burgundy and Castile show that he at least was planning a diplomatic encirclement of France, much like the Catholic Kings did in Spain.

Yes, Edward was collecting a hefty pension from King Charles VIII in 1483, but that was because he'd shrewdly agreed not to pursue an invasion after landing at Calais with 10,000 men in 1475. Also, in 1483, relations between Edward and Anne, Duchess of Bourbon, regent of France at the time, were not good, since she'd essentially screwed him over by repudiating the betrothal of King Charles VIII to his daughter, Elizabeth of York, in order to sign the Treaty of Arras and secure the marriage of the French king to Margaret of Austria. ITTL, I can see Elizabeth wedding yet another prospective English ally against the French, perhaps the Duke of Savoy?

Now, if Edward's eldest son marries Anne of Brittany, there is going to be conflict with King Charles VIII in the 1490's. Her father, Francis II, wanted to ensure Breton independence from France, and this is really the best way to do it: Brittany has historical ties to England and the two are situated very close across the Channel and King Edward promised that the two realms will remain separate, and any second son born from the union would rule in the duchy. This might result in a war of succession, I'm thinking. It also might mean that Charles VIII is going to stay married to Margaret of Austria, even if the Habsburgs turn against him to support England (and they probably will), since it means he keeps Artois and Franche-Comté as her dowry. Any longstanding conflict in France at this time is going to butterfly away the Italian wars, too, since Charles will be prevented from invading Italy due to being tied up at home with the English and Habsburgs, which will have interesting results. Interestingly enough, Francis II of Brittany will probably survive a bit longer ITTL, since he died in OTL in 1488 as a result of being thrown from his horse after returning from battle with the French.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts so far. What does everyone think?
 
Hm. I must be getting things mixed up. I know Warwick and Edward fell out over (among other things) Burgundy vs. France.

But this sounds quite solid to me.
 
Cool I really hope this gets written as a TL:), was just wondering who would Cecily of York be married to?, was there any likely husbands other than James IV?
 
The Lancasterians are wrapped up, and Henry Tudor is a nobody really, so domestically things are fairly stable.

I had read in several books that Edward was seriously considering marrying Henry Tudor off to his daughter Elizabeth because Henry was the main focus of Lancastrian resistance, even in 1483
 
Endymion said:
Any longstanding conflict in France at this time is going to butterfly away the Italian wars, too, since Charles will be prevented from invading Italy due to being tied up at home with the English and Habsburgs

I'd rather say "delay" than "butterfly" in regards to the Italian Wars. Sure, Charles VIII will be prevented from invading Italy if he has issues to settle with England and the Hapsburg but the French Valois will still be the heirs of their Valois-Anjou cousins to Naples. Italy was always regarded as a very rich region, so I don't see why Charles VIII and his heirs woudln't try to conquer the Neapolitan Kingdom later on.

Endymion said:
Interestingly enough, Francis II of Brittany will probably survive a bit longer ITTL, since he died in OTL in 1488 as a result of being thrown from his horse after returning from battle with the French.

Charles VIII might also live longer ITTL. OTL, he died in 1493 thanks to a rather stupid accident, accident that might be butterflied away due to different conditions.
On a side note, if Charles VIII remains engaged to Margaret of Austria and marries her, that would butterfly away the latter's marriage to Juan, Prince of Asturias and son of the Catholic Monarchs. If so, Juan will need a different bride but I'm not sure it would butterfly his death.

Adûnakhôr said:
I had read in several books that Edward was seriously considering marrying Henry Tudor off to his daughter Elizabeth because Henry was the main focus of Lancastrian resistance, even in 1483

Could you give your source? Because it doesn't seem logical to me: Henry Tudor had a very low claim but it was the strongest claim of the Lancastrians. Thus, in the eyes of many, Henry Tudor was the heir of the Lancastrians: I don't see any reason why Edward IV would marry his daughter Elizabeth to his main rival.
Furthermore, it seems to me that Edward IV was trying to have Francis II of Britanny send Henry Tudor back to England, since Tudor was in exile in Britanny. I'm sure Richard III tried to do so (and only failed because Tudor fled to France before Britanny complied) but I believe negotiations for Britanny to surrender the Lancastrian candidate were already made shortly before Edward died OTL.
 
On a side note, if Charles VIII remains engaged to Margaret of Austria and marries her, that would butterfly away the latter's marriage to Juan, Prince of Asturias and son of the Catholic Monarchs. If so, Juan will need a different bride but I'm not sure it would butterfly his death.
He'll probably marry Katherine of York. They were betrothed in 1479 and negotiations were well under way by 1483 between Edward and the Catholic Kings--until Katherine was bastardized by Richard III and Titulus Regius in OTL. As you say, this may or may not butterfly away his early death, depending on whether or not he still manages to contract tuberculosis at some point. It's worth noting that if Katherine's elder sister, Anne of York, ends up marrying Philip the Handsome ITTL (they were also betrothed in 1479), then this will almost certainly butterfly away his death in 1506--he'll never end up going to Castile and contracting fever as in OTL (or being poisoned by his father-in-law, depending on which version of the story you believe).

Interestingly enough, Margaret of Austria and Charles VIII will probably be a lot happier ITTL, since by all accounts they seemed to get on well as children, and Margaret was very distraught to learn that she'd been repudiated by her future husband in OTL.

Furthermore, it seems to me that Edward IV was trying to have Francis II of Britanny send Henry Tudor back to England, since Tudor was in exile in Britanny. I'm sure Richard III tried to do so (and only failed because Tudor fled to France before Britanny complied) but I believe negotiations for Britanny to surrender the Lancastrian candidate were already made shortly before Edward died OTL.
More or less. From what I've read, Edward IV was very close to allowing Henry Tudor to return from exile in 1483, since he was never of any real threat to the Yorkists until circumstances made him so during the reign of Richard III. At this time Margaret Beaufort was married to Lord Stanley (the future 1st Earl of Derby), a prominent Yorkist supporter, and she was almost successful in getting Edward to forgive her son for his father's treason. I imagine with the close alliance forming between England and Brittany, it was only a matter of time before Henry either fled to France or the matter was settled. I doubt he would be restored to all of his father's lands and titles, though, since they'd already been divvied up by the Yorkists. More likely, he'd be restored in the blood only by Act of Parliament, and maybe granted some of his former estates, like Henry Stafford in OTL.

On a side note: I can definitely see TTL's version of the "Mad Wars" being a lot longer and bloodier, with English and Imperial involvement early on in support of Brittany and Orléans against the Regent. IMO, Edward is going to be most concerned with securing Brittany for his son and, if he is somehow able, perhaps also installing Orléans as the new regent, since he'll owe his position to England and the Emperor.

Just my thoughts.
 
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