Richard "Kingmaker" NEVILLE, Earl Of Warwick^{[1, 2, 3]}

1428 - 1471  (42 years)

• Name	Richard "Kingmaker" NEVILLE  [4, 5, 6, 7]
  Suffix	Earl Of Warwick
  Nickname	Kingmaker
  Born	22 Nov 1428	Salisbury, Wiltshire, England   [4, 6, 7, 8]
  Gender	Male
  Earl of Warwick	, Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England   [3, 6, 9, 10]
  Name	Richard "The King Maker" NEVILLE
  Name	11th Earl Of SALISBURY  [11]
  Name	16th Earl Of WARWICK
  Name	Kingmaker
  _UID	4DF535CCB8AF4E69AB5A0C06926B31F59B63
  Died	14 Apr 1471	Battle Of Barnet, Hertfordshire, England (Slain, Dspm)   [4, 6, 7, 8]
  	Cause: Battle of Barnet, Hertfordshire, England
  Buried	Bisham Abbey, Berkshire, England
  Person ID	I6984	Carney Wehofer 2024 Genealogy
  Last Modified	5 Jan 2006

  
  

  Father	Richard I NEVILLE, Earl Of Salisbury,   b. Abt 1400, ,   d. 30 Dec 1460, Wakefield, St. John, West Riding, Yorkshire, England  (Age ~ 60 years)
  Mother	Alice MONTAGUE, Countess Of Salisbury,   b. Abt 18 Oct 1405, <, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England> ,   d. Bef 9 Dec 1462, , Bisham, Berkshire, England  (Age ~ 57 years)
  Married	Bef Feb 1420-1421	<, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England>   [3, 4, 6, 12]
  Family ID	F3846	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Anne De BEAUCHAMP, Countess Of Warwick,   b. Abt Sep 1426, Caversham, Oxfordshire, England ,   d. Bef 20 Sep 1492  (Age ~ 66 years)
  Married	1434  [7, 13]
  Children	1. Isabel NEVILLE,   b. 5 Sep 1451, Warwick Castle, Warwick, Warwickshire, England ,   d. 22 Dec 1476, Warwick Castle, Warwick, Warwickshire, England  (Age 25 years)   2. Anne NEVILLE,   b. 11 Jun 1456, Warwick Castle, Warwick, Warwickshire, England ,   d. 16 Mar 1484-1485, Westminster Palace, Middlesex, England (Tuberculosis)  (Age 28 years)
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2016
  Family ID	F3508	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  The Nevilles were for a time in the 14th and 15th centuries the most powerful house in England. In the person of Richard Neville, 16th and 1st Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), a member of the family even disposed of the crown. And through the marriage of one of the Kingmaker's daughters with a Plantagenet his great-grandchildren, who bore the surname Pole, had a better legal right to the throne than the Tudors. They were accordingly regarded by Henry VIII as one of the most serious dynastic threats to his ascendancy..... This Neville-Percy rivalry dominated not just the North, but all England. The Neville's power was largely broken by the failure of the Rebellion of the Northern Earls in 1569, however, and unlike the Percys they hardly recovered until the 20th century, during which they have been conspicuous as courtiers. [Burke's Peerage] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BARONY OF MONTAGU (VIII) 1460 EARLDOM OF SALISBURY (XI, 6) 1460 to 1471 EARLDOM OF WARWICK (XVI, 16 & 1) 1449 and 1450 RICHARD NEVILLE, 1st son and heir apparent of Richard (NEVILLE), EARL OF SALISBURY, by Alice, suo jure COUNTESS OF SALISBURY [1337], also (according to modern doctrine) BARONESS MONTAGU (1299], MONTHERMER [1309] and MONTAGU [1357], daughter and heir of Thomas (MONTAGU), 4th EARL OF SALISBURY, was born 22 November 1428; knighted before 6 August 1445, when he was appointed, with his father and younger brother Thomas, Joint Master Forester of the Forests of Blackburn and Bowland and joint steward of the Honor of Pontefract, all in the Duchy of Lancaster; Joint Warden, with his father, of Carlisle and the West Marches towards Scotland, 4 April 1446. In consequence of his marriage, he succeeded in right of his wife (according to the then doctrine of the exclusion of the half-blood), on the death, 3 January 1448/9, of her niece, Anne, presumably suo jure Countess of Warwick, to the bulk of the great estates of the Earldom of Warwick. He and his wife Anne, accordingly, also for his "good service about the king's person and in Scotland on the punishment of the king's enemies there at his own costs, he being still in his minority," were confirmed, 23 July 1449, in the estate and title of EARL OF WARWICK, remainder to the heirs of Anne, with all the "preeminences" (i.e. that of Premier Earl) that any of Anne's ancestors, as Earls of Warwick, used before the creation of Henry as Duke of Warwick. This patent of confirmation he resigned and on 2 March 1449/50 he was created EARL OF WARWICK and she COUNTESS OF WARWICK, each for their life, with all the privileges, &c., granted by the preceding patent, "though they have no issue at present," with remainder after the death of both to the heirs of the body of the said Anne, and in case she should die s.p., then to Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury, and the heirs male of her body, remainder to the heirs general of her body, remainder to the right heirs of (her father) Richard, late Earl of Warwick. He also styled himself jure uxoris LORD BERGAVENNY, of which castle and Honor he was de facto in possession; he was recognized as hereditary Sheriff of Worcestershire, 1450-70; and the hereditary office of Chamberlain of the Exchequer was confirmed to him and his wife and her heirs, 6 Dec. 1450, when he was admitted jure uxoris as such Chamberlain. For his good service and attendance on the King's person in his journey into Kent against the Duke of York early in 1452, he received a pardon of all intrusions, fines, &c., and a grant of ?300, 17 March 1451/2. He became P.C. before 6 December 1453; was re-appointed, with his father, Joint Warden of the West Marches towards Scotland, 20 December 1453; and was a Commissioner to create and invest Prince Edward as Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, 13 April 1454. After the recovery of Henry VI from madness he became a staunch Yorkist and at the 1st battle of St. Albans, 22 May 1455, "had the good fortune to decide the day and win somewhat easily a military reputation." He was rewarded, 31 May, with the Stewardship, &c., of Monmouth and the Three Castles (i.e. Grosmont, Skenfrith, and Whitecastle), and, 4 August 1455, with the important post of Captain of Calais. Being further commissioned, 3 October 1457, "to go on the sea . . . and govern the same , he fought two considerable naval actions with the Spaniards, on 29 May 1458 and in the summer of 1459, and, somewhat piratically, attacked a Hanseatic fleet in time of truce for refusing to strike their flags in the King's name, as to which a public enquiry was ordered, 31 July 1458. He and his father took an active part in the proposed reconciliation between Henry VI and the Yorkists and they walked in the "love-day" procession to St. Paul's, 25 March 1458. On the renewal of the war he crossed from Calais and after the Yorkist victory at Blore Heath, 23 September 1459, joined their troops at Ludford, by Ludlow; but after the King's approach, 12 October, they dispersed and Warwick, with his father, the Earl of March and Sir John Wenlock, fled to North Devon and thence by ship via Guernsey to Calais, where they arrived, 2 November. The Yorkist leaders, including Warwick and Salisbury, were attainted by the Parliament that met at Coventry, 20 November 1459. The following year the Earls landed in Kent and reached London, 2 July. Leaving his father to secure London, Warwick defeated the Lancastrians at Northampton, 10 July 1460, and captured Henry VI, whom he brought to London, 16 July. In that King's name he was confirmed as Captain of Calais, 5 August, appointed Governor of the Channel Isles, 8 August, and nominated K.G. circa September 1460. By Act of Parliament October 1460, annulling the proceedings of the Coventry Parliament of 1459, he was restored; an he bore the sword before the captive King to St. Paul's, 1 November 1460, at the thanksgiving procession on the compromise whereby the Duke of York was named next heir to the throne. On 4 November following he was appointed Keeper of Newport, Brecon and other Welsh castles during the minority of Henry, grandson and heir of the Duke of Buckingham, and of Goderich Castle, &c., in the march of Wales, during the minority of John, son and heir of the Earl of Shrewsbury, both appointments (but not that of Newport) being renewed, 7 May 1461. Also on 4 November he was made Constable and Steward of Tutbury and Master Forester of Needwood and Duffield Forests; and on 18 November Steward of the Honor of Leicester and of Castle Donington, all in the Duchy of Lancaster. He and his father became joint Chief Stewards of the said Duchy, 1 December 1460. He was still in charge of the King in London when the Yorkists were defeated at the battle of Wakefield, 30 December, in which his father was taken prisoner, being beheaded the next day, 31 December 1460, when he succeeded to the great Neville estate of Middleham, co. York. By the captive King he was appointed, 22 January 1460/1, in succession to his father, Great Chamberlain of England for life. On 17 February 1460/1 he was put to flight by the Lancastrians at the 2nd battle of St. Albans, where he showed "a signal lack of generalship" and allowed Henry VI to be re-captured, but having joined the younq Duke of York (victorious at Mortimer's Cross, 2 February) in Oxfordshire, they entered London, 27 February. Warwick was one of the peers who at Baynards Castle declared the Duke to be King, as Edward IV, 3 March, and after an action at Ferrybridge, 28 March, where he was slightly wounded, he commanded the centre in the decisive Yorkist victory at Towton, 29 March 1461. While entertaining the new King in his castle of Middleham, 7 May 1461, he was re-appointed Great Chamberlain of England for life and appointed, also for life, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle, Master of the King's Mews and Steward of the manor of Feckenham, co. Worcester. He was also continued in the post of Captain of Calais. Warden of the East and West Marches towards Scotland, 31 July, and Ambassador to treat for a truce with Scotland, 2 August 1461; Steward of England in the process of an Act of Parliament against Henry VI and others, 3 December 1461; Chief Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster, North and South, and Steward of the Honor of Pontefract (as from 4 March 1460/1), 15 December 1461; was again appointed "to the safe-custody of the sea," i.e. Admiral of England, 13 February-July 1462, Captain of Carlisle and Warden of the West Marches towards Scotland (as from 4 March 1460/1), 5 April 1462. Lieutenant in the North to raise the King's standard against his enemies of France and Scotland, 6 November 1462. On the death of his mother, the suo jure Countess of Salisbury, shortly before 9 December 1462, he succeeded her as EARL OF SALISBURY [1337] and, according to modern doctrine, as LORD MONTAGU [1299 and 1357] and LORD MONTHERMER [1309]. From 1464 to 1467 he was continually employed on diplomatic missions, being app. a Commissioner to treat with France, 28 March 1464, 22 March 1465/6 and 6 May 1467; with Scotland, 5 April and 26 May 1464 and 20 November 1465, and to conserve the truce, 11 June 1464 and 10 October 1466; with Burgundy, 28 March and 8 May 1465 and 22 March 1465/6; and with Brittany, 8 May 1465. The King's marriage, however, in May 1464, to Elizabeth Wydevill and the favour shown to the Queen's relatives tended to alienate him, though he was godfather to Elizabeth, their eldest child, born 11 February 1465/6. He was granted the castles of Cockermouth and Appleby, &c., also the sheriffdom of Westmorland, 11 April 1465; was Chief Justice in Eyre of the Forests beyond Trent (as from 4 March 1460/1), 21 November 1466; and Constable and Steward of Kenilworth Castle, 14 February 1467/8. On his return from his embassy to France in 1467 Warwick found the alliance with Burgundy, which he had always opposed, settled and the Queen's friends in power. Though an outward reconciliation with them was effected, he was secretly planning his own restoration to authority throughout 1468 and he was allowed to cross to Calais early in 1469. Here he was joined by his brother George, Archbishop of York, and by the King's brother, the Duke of Clarence, to whom he there married, 11 July 1469, Isabel, his eldest daughter and coheir presumptive. These three then, having put forth a manifesto of grievances, 12 July, crossed to Kent and joined the Yorkshire insurgents under Robin of Redesdale, who had, 26 July, defeated the King's forces under the Earl of Pembroke at Edgcote, near Banbury. On 17 August 1469 the Earl obtained from Edward IV, who had been captured by the Archbishop and was, 25 August, at Middleham, the grant of the great offices in South Wales, lately held by the Earl of Pembroke, whose execution he had caused. He then suppressed the Lancastrian rising in the North of his kinsman, Sir Humphrey Neville, September 1469, and escorted the King, October following, to London, where an amnesty was granted. When, however, the Lincolnshire insurgents were defeated by Edward IV near Stamford, 12 March 1469/70, Sir Robert Welles, their leader, who was captured, divulged the alleged complicity of Warwick and Clarence, who were accordingly proclaimed traitors at Nottingham, 31 March, and fled via Dartmouth to France, April 1470. Here, at the instigation of the French King, Warwick was formally reconciled, in July, at Angers, to Margaret, Queen Consort of Henry VI; and landing (with the Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Oxford) at Dartmouth, 13 September, he proclaimed Henry VI as King, entered London, 6 October, and accompanied him in state to Westminster, 13 October 1470. By the Parliament that met on 26 November 1470 he and Clarence were appointed joint Lieutenants of the Realm. He was also made Admiral of England, Ireland and Aquitaine, 2 January; a Commissioner to treat with the French ambassadors, 13 February; Joint Keeper, with Jasper Tudor, the attainted Earl of Pembroke, of Brecknock and other Welsh castles, 14 February; and Keeper of Newport Castle, in South Wales, 21 February 1470/1. When Edward IV landed in Yorkshire, March 1471, Warwick was deserted by Clarence. After joining forces with Oxford and his brother, the Marquess of Montagu, at Coventry, he was defeated by Edward at Barnet on Easter Sunday, 14 April 1471, and both he and Montagu were slain. He married, in 1434, Anne, apparently suo jure COUNTESS OF WARWICK, sister and eventually coheir (sole heir of the whole blood) of Henry (DE BEAUCHAMP), DUKE and EARL OF WARWICK, 4th daughter of Richard, 13th EARL OF WARWICK, being only daughter by his 2nd wife, Isabel. He, who is known in history as "The Kingmaker," appears never to have been attainted and died s.p.m. as above, 14 April 1471, aged 42, being buried, with his brother, at Bisham Abbey, Berks. At his death the Earldom of Warwick [1450] remained (according to the grant in that year) in his widow for her life, while the Earldom of Salisbury reverted to the Crown and the Baronies of Montagu and Monthermer fell into abeyance between his 2 daughters and coheirs. His widow had accompanied Margaret of Anjou to England, April 1471, and, Iearning of her husband's death, took sanctuary at Beaulieu Abbey. From there she later petitioned Edward IV for her lands and dower. Shortly before 3 June 1473 she was removed, probably to Middleham, by her son-in-law Richard, Duke of Gloucester; and in May 1474, by Act of Parliament, her estates were divided between Clarence and Gloucester, "as if the said Countess were now naturally dead." Having survived both her daughters, she was granted by Henry VII, as from Michaelmas 1485, a yearly pension of 500 marks; and she obtained an Act of Parliament, November-December 1487, for the annulment of that of 1474 and her restoration to her family estates. These, however, she at once (presumably by previous arrangement), 13 December 1487, settled on the Crown, saving the manor of Erdington, co. Warwick, which she reserved for herself and her heirs. On 11 December 1490 she was appointed Principal Keeper of the Forest of Wychwood, Oxon., receiving at the same time a large grant for life of some of her former lands in many counties. She, who was born circa September 1426 at Caversham, died shortly before 20 September 1492, aged about 66, and was succeeded in the Earldom of Warwick by Edward Plantagenet, her grandson and heir. [Complete Peerage XII/2:385-93, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hume says of Richard: "He figured prominently on the Yorkist side in the Wars of the Roses and was killed at the battle of Barnet Field on April 14, 1471 where his brother, John, Baron Montague, was also slain. He distinguished himself by his gallantry in the field, the hospitality of his table, by the magnificence, and still more by the generosity of his expense, and by the spirited and bold manner which attended him in all his actions. The undesigning frankness and openness of his character rendered his conquest over men's affections the more certain and infallible; his presents were regarded as sure testimonies of esteem and freindship, and his prrofessions as the overflowing of his genuine sentiments. No less than 30,000 persons are said to have daily lived at his board in the different manors and castles which he possessed in England. The military men, allured by his magnificence and hospitality, as well as by his bravery, were zealously attached to his interest. The people in general bore him unlimited affection; his numerous retainers were more devoted to his will than to the Prince or to the laws. He was the greatest as well as the last of those mighty barons" His lands were in 1474 divided betwen the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, the husbands of his two daughters Isabel and Anne. Clarence taking the Beauchamp and Despenser and Gloucester the Neville and Montagu estates and eventualy by act of parliament in 1487 restored to his widow only to deed to the crown. Originally buried Bisham Abbey in Berkshire Present burial site unknown -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Neville, 1st Earl of Warwick, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, byname THE KINGMAKER (b. Nov. 22, 1428--d. April 14, 1471, Barnet, Hertfordshire, Eng.), English nobleman called, since the 16th century, "the Kingmaker," in reference to his role as arbiter of royal power during the first half of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85) between the houses of Lancaster and York. He obtained the crown for the Yorkist king Edward IV in 1461 and later restored to power (1470-71) the deposed Lancastrian monarch Henry VI. The son of Richard Neville, 1st (or 5th) Earl of Salisbury (d. 1460), he became, through marriage, Earl of Warwick in 1449 and thereby acquired vast estates throughout England. In 1453 Warwick and his father allied with Richard, Duke of York, who was struggling to wrest power from the Lancastrian Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, chief minister to the ineffectual king Henry VI. The two sides eventually took up arms, and, at the Battle of St. Albans, Hertfordshire, in May 1455, Warwick's flank attack won a swift victory for the Yorkists. As his reward Warwick was appointed captain of Calais, an English possession on the coast of France. From Calais he crossed to England in 1460 and defeated and captured Henry VI at Northampton (July 10). York and Parliament agreed to let Henry keep his crown, probably because of the influence of Warwick, who preferred to have a weak king. The situation soon changed, however. York and Warwick's father, the Earl of Salisbury, were killed in battle in December 1460, and on Feb. 17, 1461, the Lancastrians routed Warwick at St. Albans and regained possession of the king. Retreating, Warwick joined forces with York's son Edward; they entered London unopposed, and on March 4, 1461, Edward proclaimed himself king as Edward IV. Later that month Warwick and Edward won a decisive victory over the Lancastrians at Towton, Yorkshire. Although Warwick wielded the real power for the first three years of Edward's reign, gradually the king began to assert his independence. Warwick hoped to marry Edward to a French noblewoman--thereby gaining France as an ally--but Edward spoiled this scheme by secretly wedding Elizabeth Woodville in May 1464. Tensions between the two men mounted as Edward provided his wife's relatives with high state offices. Warwick then won to his side Edward's brother George, Duke of Clarence. In August 1469 they seized and briefly detained the king and executed the queen's father and one of her brothers. A fresh revolt engineered by Warwick broke out in northern England in March 1470; after suppressing it, Edward turned on Warwick and Clarence, both of whom fled to France (April 1470). There Warwick was reconciled with his former enemy, Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI's wife. Returning to England in September 1470, he drove Edward into exile and put Henry VI on the throne. Once more Warwick was master of England. Edward landed in the north in March 1471, however, and on April 14 his troops killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, 1996, WARWICK, RICHARD NEVILLE, 1ST EARL OF]

  
  

• Sources

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