His main problem was of over mighty subjects, in particular Warwick "The Kingmaker". Edward was unable to control Warwick and, like Henry before him, this lack of control led to tension and subsequent war between the two. Edward's attempts to raise Hastings and Herbert to a position where they could balance Warwick's power, was an earnest effort to bring about peace to his kingdom. However it failed simply because of his lack of control over his nobles and the creation of factionalism between Richard Duke of Gloucester and Edward's in-laws, the Woodvilles. Edward's failure to control this factionalism mean that there was no way of ensuring that it could not cause future problems. Nevertheless, the military campaigns of 1471 saw Edward destroy Warwick and many of the other nobles who had opposed him. Edward now began to rely on his personality to control his nobles. Without Warwick and Clarence to oppose him, Edward had no further major problems with nobility after 1471. He left them to control law and order in their regions of power and would not intervene unless the stability of the nation was brought into question, particularly in cases of treason. In 1478 Edward tried to further the peace by introducing a law which reduced "retainers", however it was unenforceable and Edward could do nothing about it. It can be said that he was successful to the extent that after 1471 there were no conflicts with the nobles and he was able to bring a relative peace to England.
Edward's attempted restoration of prestige and image for the English crown, was also an attempt to bring peace to England. With a respected monarch there was less chance of conflict and Edward realised this.
Similar to the financial situation of England, Henry had sunk the prestige of the throne during his reign. Edward sought to restore this image so that he would be given respect by his subjects and nobles. Edward set about this task with a number of military campaigns, aiming to claim back the land that Henry had lost.
