Welcome back to another episode of a brief history.

I'm Rebecca Larson.

Today, we're going to look at one of my favorite English monarchs,

the ever charismatic, Ever the Fourth of England.

The Tudor's Dynasty podcast.

Picture this, England, 1461.

The Wars of the Roses, a clash for the throne between the houses of Lancaster and York.

And in the midst of this chaos emerged a formidable figure, King Edward IV.

Edward's victory at the Battle of Toughton in 1461 was a game changer, marking a turning point in the Wars of the Roses.

But that was just the beginning of his story as King of England.

It was three years later in 1464, when King Edward IV betrayed his cousin the kingmaker,

Richard Neville, Earl Warwick, and secretly wed a commoner.

He had fallen in love with Elizabeth Woodville.

Elizabeth Woodville was known for her beauty, but as a commoner and a widow, having been married to the enemy, a Lancastrian, a marriage to her was frowned upon, not to mention it didn't build any alliances either.

Her mother was Jeketa of Lexenburg, who, through her first marriage was the daughter-in-law of King Henry IV.

Jeketa's husband was John of Lancaster and was the third son of Henry the fourth and was titled Duke of Bedford.

But their marriage was short-lived, with Bedford dying only a couple years after their wedding.

Jeketa, much like her future son-in-law, married a commoner for love, Richard Woodville.

But it was clear that Edward VIII was in love and he would get what he wanted, even if it meant making an enemy of the kingmaker.

Many of Edward's subjects were extremely unhappy with his choice of a bride, and even more

unhappy when the sisters of the new queen were wed off to nobility, and the brothers were given

titles and significant positions.

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