Examining the crown's approach to government in South-West England, this study investigates Edward IV's policy towards the English regions and explores the feasibility of a regional approach to the politics, government, and ruling elites of Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, and Dorset.

Examining Edward IV’s ‘regional’ policy – its implications for governance and methodology, and questioning its reflection of (geographical, economic, cultural, and political) regional identities – this survey evaluates the political elites (peerage and administrative elites) in terms of the regionality of their interests (such as lands, offices, and marriages), with the regionality of their interactions (necessitating consideration of lordship and patron-client relationships) examined by means of three family case studies.

The significance of regional governors, royal household retainers, and the Duchy of Cornwall are highlighted throughout (chronological) analyses of local government and political alignments though, ultimately, regional hegemonies may have failed because of their inherent instability and the strength of pre-existing county and meso-regional identities.

Emphasising regional differences and peripheries, this synthesis and overview of shire societies affords a greater appreciation of regions, identities, patronage, and royal authority within the broader context of longer-term trends in governance, institutional evolution, and state formation during the later Middle Ages.