The Wars of the Roses - Alison Weir [180]
More wrote: ‘He was of youth greatly given to fleshly wantonness, for no woman was there anywhere whom he set his eye upon but he would importunately pursue his appetite and have her.’ Croyland, along with many of Edward’s contemporaries, felt that the King ‘indulged his passions and desires too intemperately’. Later it would be said that his sexual excesses in youth had permanently undermined his health and constitution. However, few of his intrigues lasted for long and none of his mistresses was allowed to interfere in politics. The names of only two are known: Elizabeth Lucy, a married woman who had an affair with Edward early in his reign and bore him a son, Arthur Plantagenet, and possibly a daughter too; and Elizabeth Shore, commonly miscalled Jane, who was the only one he is said to have loved, and who remained by his side through the latter years of his life.
For all his love of pleasure, Edward was an exceptionally able and talented warrior and general. At nineteen, he was already the veteran of several important battles and the victor of two decisive ones. In the field he was ‘manly, vigorous and valiant’; Vergil says he was ‘earnest and horrible to the enemy, and fortunate in all his wars’. Commines remarked, much later, that he had fought many battles but never lost one. He apparently found being in the midst of a mêlée exhilarating, even though he hated war for its own sake and tried to avoid it whenever possible. He abandoned conscription for periods longer than forty days, and restricted it to campaigns affecting the defence of the realm only. Unlike his predecessors, he had no continental ambitions: ‘He was not suited to endure all the toil necessary for a king of England to make conquest in France.’
As often as possible Edward emphasised his royal status by wearing his crown in public, bestowing higher payments on those persons who were healed by his touch (touching for the King’s Evil being a routine duty of monarchy that was believed to effect a cure for the distressing skin disease scrofula), and frequently presiding from the marble throne over the Court of King’s Bench at Westminster to ensure that justice was being administered fairly. He loved the trappings of monarchy, the display, the ceremonial and the adulation.
As king, Edward excelled Henry VI in nearly every way, especially as a statesman and a general. He was a firm and resolute ruler, shrewd and astute, and had real ability and business acumen, as well as the willingness to apply himself. He was eventually successful in his attempts to restore the authority of the monarchy and make it into an institution that inspired respect and awe. More, who describes Edward as a great king, says he endeared himself to his subjects by small acts of consideration which made more impression on them than grand gestures would have done. More gives an example of this, relating how on one occasion the King invited the Lord Mayor and aldermen of London to Windsor ‘for none other errand but to have them hunt and be merry with him’. He was undoubtedly popular with the people: ‘To plaintiffs and those who complained of injustice he lent a willing ear,’ wrote Mancini. ‘Charges against himself he contented with an excuse, if he did not remove the cause. He was more favourable than other princes to foreigners.’ He was also unusually tolerant of heresy – only one Lollard was burned at the stake during his reign.
Edward was an able and energetic administrator, always busy and always accessible to his subjects. It was said of him that he knew the names and fortunes of all men of note in the country, and he personally involved himself in many aspects of government, especially where law enforcement was involved. This is attested to by the unprecedented number of letters and warrants issued under the