One of Edward’s greatest achievements during his second reign was completing and increasing the financial stability of England. He achieved this by adopting a peaceful Foreign Policy. Realising the cost of war was great, Edward he put holts on all the financial draining battles in France. Then, in 1475 Edward continued to back these peaceful policies by signing the peace treaty of Piquigny with France. Due this the treaty Edward was given the luxury of not having to finance war with France for 7 years. This was not the only luxury presented by the treaty. Within the treaty, France also agreed to pay a i??
15,000 down payment followed by another i?? 10,000 a year. This was very important as it strengthened the country’s economy. During this campaign there was only one mistake made by Edward. Edward kept most of the money he received from parliament that originally was meant to be used on the war effort. Parliament was only able to retrieve 25% of this money. Because of this Edward was looked poorly upon by both parliament and citizens. Keeping a peaceful war policy was not the only method used by Edward in order to improved the economy of the kingdom. He also had a large influence in trade and customs.
Customs were up were up from $15,000 under the rule of Henry VI to around i?? 35,000 under the rule of Edward. The success of Edward’s policies when improving the economy gives good insight into Edward’s ability as a ruler. Edward was a skilful manager of parliament using charm and sensible choice of speakers to ensure that there were no major difficulties within this area. When considering Edward’s involvement in the council during his second reign he was not a prolific attendee. He participated in less than 50% of meetings involving the council. The magnates were not as prominent as they had been during previous reigns.
