The policy of Edward IV in the light of English parliamentary legislation

The subject of the study is the policy of the first English king from the York dynasty, Edward IV, primarily economic. The problem of its nature is posed in connection with the discussion on the exact definition of the time of England's transition from feudalism to capitalism and from a class-representative monarchy to an absolute one. Special attention is paid to the goals and activities of the administration of Edward IV in organizing the economic life of the kingdom, the influence of foreign policy on key decisions in the domestic sphere, as well as the results of measures taken in the second half of the XV century to overcome the consequences of the Wars of the Roses (1455–1585). The research is based on the materials of the English parliamentary legislation, as the most impartial source of knowledge about the policy of the royal power. The research is based on the principles of historicism and scientific objectivity and is based on the problem-chronological principle. Analytical, comparative historical and dialectical methods are used in the analysis of historical sources. The main conclusions of this study are that the economic situation of England in the 1460s was not critical, but in the face of defeat in the Hundred Years' War and the dynastic conflict, the government of Edward IV decided to carry out economic reforms aimed at raising the welfare of English producers, merchants and the king himself. Edward IV's economic policy was protectionist in nature and was conditioned, among other things, by a foreign policy factor. All this, coupled with his social transformations, the decrease in the role of parliament and the increase in the powers of the king, which was continued in the absolutism of the Tudors, characterizes him as a monarch of the transition period from the Middle Ages to Modern times, in the economy, in particular, expressed in the transition from feudalism to capitalism.

History, England, The Middle Ages, XV century, Wars of the Roses, Feudalism, Capitalism, Edward IV, Yorkies, The Lancasters