How Successful Was Edward Iv's Management of Finances

1396 Words6 Pages
How successful was Edward IV management of the Royal Finances? Edward IV inherited the throne from Henry VI who had left the Crown in serious debt, therefore it was up to Ed to right this by earning not only enough to run the country, but also to pay back the debt. Furthermore a medieval king was expected to “live of their own” which meant that they should be able to afford the running of the country through their own lands and not need to ask parliament for tax which leads onto my next point in which the king should not rely on Parliamentary grants too much. I think that to a large extent, Ed was successful in managing the Royal Finances because I think that he fulfilled all of the criteria. Firstly, he was successful in managing the royal finances by innovatively using the Royal Chamber to efficiently manage the royal income. Unlike any of the previous monarchs, Ed began using the Royal Chamber increasing whereas before him all reliance had been upon the Exchequer. Now though, with this new scheme the revenue and expenditure was much more systematic and consequently the income rose significantly. Furthermore as he got older his experience increased, however even when he started he did a better job than his predecessor, Henry VII. Previous kings had only used the Chamber erratically in times of war however Edward decided to make it more systematic, which in turn siphoned in much more money. This point does support how Edward was a good king because all sources show that it was his idea, not his exchequer. Edwards new policy showed that he managed the royal finances well because it meant that more revenue was coming in therefore he could run the country, as well as start paying of Henry’s debts. Additionally it meant that he could live of his own because he did not have to ask parliament to raise a tax. I think that this was possibly the most important cause to
Open Document