Dan Jones

speaker

253 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jun 2026 last heard 11 Jun

Dan Jones’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 1.

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Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford · Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For · 11 Jun 2026 podcast

Blessed be the time that ever God spread that flower.'"

Well, maybe that's laying it on a bit thick.

But whichever way you look at it, Edward IV is an upgrade on Henry VI.

In the aftermath of Towton, the old king is in exile in Scotland.

And many people would agree that England has traded up.

Those who would agree most strongly with that assessment are the people who helped Edward win his crown.

Chief among them is Edward's right-hand man, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick.

33 years old in 1461, Warwick has plenty of military experience and no shortage of ambition.

He's been at Edward's side for several years, and he fancies himself, with some justification, as the power behind the throne.

Yorkist propaganda, produced around the same time as the Rose of Rouen, calls Warwick the flower of manhood.

So clearly there's a general horticultural theme at play.

But more important than flower power are the lands and titles that Warwick accrues as a result of betting long on the House of York.

After Edward's coronation, Warwick is showered with rewards.

He already holds four, yes, four noble titles.

On top of that, he gets renewed in his post as Captain of Calais, that's the English military garrison in northern France, which he made his stronghold during the wars in Henry VI's reign.

And on top of that, he pockets a whole portfolio of new officers.

Edward makes him Constable of Dover Castle and Warden of the Sink Ports.

Those are the most important trading towns on England's southeast coast.

Effectively, this means Warwick owns the whole English Channel, the key military and trade seaway with Europe.

And that's just the beginning.

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