King of England (1461–70; 1471–83). He was the eldest son of Richard, Duke of York and so had a clear hereditary right to the throne by descent from Edward III. He gained the throne at the age of 19 with the help of his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, while the Lancastrians hesitated after their victory of St Albans, and he then defeated them at Towton. His marriage to Elizabeth Woodville and alliance with Burgundy alienated Warwick, who in October 1470 invaded England from France and secured Henry VI’s nominal restoration, but Edward won back the throne by victories at Barnet and Tewkesbury (1471). Thereafter he was a strong ruler and promoter of English commerce, but his dissolute lifestyle probably caused his early death, which left England with a 12-year-old king, Edward V.