In October 1400, the King made Edward Keeper of North Wales, and on 5 July 1401, his lieutenant in Aquitaine. On 1 August 1402, Edward's father died, and he succeeded to the Duchy of York, at which time his earldom of Rutland became extinct by the terms of its charter, although he continued to sign himself Earl of Rutland. By May 1403, he was back in England. He was employed by the King in a campaign in Wales in the fall of that year, and on 12 November, he was appointed Lieutenant for South Wales for three years. Both this and his appointment in Aquitaine proved very costly, and by June 1404, he had sold or pledged his plate and was contemplating mortgaging his lands to pay his troops in Wales.