Category: Richard Neville (The King Maker) - Meandering Through Time

The Readeption of Henry VI : 9th to the 13th September 1470

12/9/2020

The names of Richard, Earl of Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence's were never officially mentioned as being part of the 1469/70 uprisings against Edward IV but it is plain to see that Warwick was the puppeteer. Letters, incriminating Warwick, were found in a chest that belonged to the man who lead the uprising in Lincolnshire in the March of 1470.

Robert Welles letter goes some way back up this fact as does his confession, Wells writes:

"I have welle understand my many meagges, as welle from my Lord of Warwicke, and they entended to make grete risinges, as forthorthy as ever I couth understand , to th’entent to make the duc of Clarence king…..Also, I say that had beene the said duc and erls provokings that we at this tyme would no durst have made eny commocion or sturing, but upon there comforts we did what we did”......Also, I say that I and my dadier had often times letters of credence from my said lordes.”

The Battlefield of Losecoate

It is not hard to imagine what the state of the country was in during these years, anarchy would possibly be a good word to describe it. Following the aforementioned Lincolnshire revolt - the Battle of Empingham or Losecoate Field as it is commonly known, Warwick and Clarence fled the country. They were refused entry into Calais but eventually arrived in the court of Louis XI of France. While under the protection of the French king Warwick set about organising the restoration of Henry VI to the throne of England and the marriage his daughter Anne to Henry's son Edward. An invasion force was soon bound for England's shores and they landed in the West Country between the 9th and 13th of September 1470. Warwick found that his brother John, the Marquess of Montage, had abandoned the Yorkist cause and he also soon learned that the king had left England.

Warwick visits Henry VI in the Tower of London

While most were troubled by the events of 1469 and 1470 the triumphant Richard Neville was in his element as he later placed the crown of England, once again, on the head of Henry VI. Released from the Tower of London, the poor man’s physical health was weak and his mental health clearly unstable. As these two men stood together it was obvious to everybody who was in charge. Real power was now in the gauntleted hand of Richard, Earl of Warwick, the King’s Lieutenant of the Realm.

Execution of Richard Woodville

12/8/2018

To the surprise of many, and disregarding the acknowledged rules of diplomacy King Edward IV had, in the May of 1464, made his own choice of a bride. The king's new wife was one Elizabeth Grey, the daughter of Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, a family of lowly stock from the County of Northampton.

There was, of course, a little more to the Woodvilles than the fact they were 'social climbers.' Richard Woodville had been in command of an army during the French wars. He had met Jacquetta, the young widow of the Duke of Bedford when he had accompanied her on the voyage home to England from Rouen. In 1433 Woodville married Jacquetta in secret. Their eldest child, the aforementioned Elizabeth, was born four years later.

Garter Stall Plate of Richard Woodville at St George’s Chapel, Windsor

Jacquetta was a member of Margaret of Anjou's court and Richard Woodville, as a loyal servant to Henry VI was eventually rewarded with a barony in 1448.

Edward, as we all know, fell instantly in lust when he came across Elizabeth. Richard Woodville's daughter was a strong-willed widow with two young sons and eight siblings to boot and Edward, as previously mentioned would undertake this marriage without the knowledge of one man who was so instrumental in bringing him to the throne - Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. This event was a turning point for Richard Neville and the first the nail in the coffin of Richard Woodville.

Richard Neville was angered by the fact that the Woodville men were placed in important administrative roles. Other events such as the king’s refusal to sanction the marriage of his daughter to George, Duke of Clarence and the influence of the Herbert family the Earls of Pembroke in the royal court just rubbed salt into his wounds. Richard Neville was about to jump from the Yorkist ship into Lancastrian waters.

Warwick’s rebellion would see off William Herbert and his brother Richard at Northampton on the 26th July in 1469 and on this day, just seventeen days later Richard Woodville and his son John would be beheaded as traitors.

To Richard Neville, revenge may have been sweet - but in the words of Martin Luther King Jr

"The old law of 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind."

First Battle of St Albans

22/5/2018

On this day in 1455, following their exclusion from court, Richard Duke of York, along with Richard Neville Earl of Warwick, assembled their forces in the north and marched south to confront the Lancastrian King Henry VI at St Albans.

The roller coaster ride continued and the tension mounted but eventually it all came to blows at St Albans, considered by some, to be the first battle of the civil war. In a battle that lasted just one hour, a number of notable Lancastrian nobles including, Henry Percy, Thomas Clifford, and Thomas Vaughan’s patron, Edmund Beaufort were killed. After the battle Henry VI was captured, York assured Henry of his loyalty and along with Warwick accompanied the king to London. Just under two months later, at the beginning of July the king opened Parliament and following that Henry, along with Margaret and their son were moved to Hertford Castle. That November saw the Duke of York appointed as Protector for a second time, and just like the first protectorate it was short, it ended in the last week of February 1456, but York remained an important member of the Royal Council. Three very trouble years ensued and the end of which the Duke of York, with Richard Neville as his enforcer, would make his play for the crown of England.

The above is taken from my website, you can read about this battle in context here:

meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/chapter-two-the-beaufort-patronage.html

Readeption of Henry VI: 13th October 1470

13/10/2017

In the first week of October in 1470, in what is now known as the Readeption of Henry VI, Henry was released from the Tower of London.

It was on this day, the 13th October, the feast day of the Translation of St Edward, that Henry headed to St Paul's Cathedral, accompanied by Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and John de Vere Earl of Oxford.

The restoration of Henry VI writes historian Paul Kendall was nothing more than

"a Neville regime in a Lancastirian costume."

Five months later Edward IV returned and taking back his crown returned Henry to the Tower of London.

Edward IV Makes a Surprise Announcement.

14/9/2017

For a number of years, depending on who was on the throne at the time, England had been on good terms with either France or Burgundy, using this to his advantage Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick proposed to the September council that a peace treaty be signed with Louis XI of France. Also some members of the council had agreed with Warwick’s suggestion that it was high time Edward IV was married. Louis thought so too, an English alliance with France was far better for him than a Burgundian alliance, eventually Warwick succumbed to a bit of flattery and bribery and put it to Edward that Bona of Savoy would be a perfect match.

In the September of 1464, during a discussion of this subject, and to the surprise of many, Edward indicated that the idea of marriages was indeed a good one, he never batted an eyelid at the suggestion of a French bride, even though he himself favoured Burgundy. After a long silence, he finally relayed the fact that he had already made his choice and in fact he had already married one Elizabeth Grey, a member of the lowly Woodville family of Northamptonshire.

15th century miniature of the marrige of Edward and Elizabeth from the Ancient Chronicles of England by Jean de Wavrin,

Edward, as Paul Murray Kendall quite rightly points out, had succumbed to lust and not with a weak, mild mannered virgin either, but with a strong willed widow with two young sons, and with eight siblings to boot! Edward had undertaken all this without the knowledge of one man who was so instrumental in bringing him to the throne - Richard ‘the Kingmaker’ Neville.

Edward’s news was shattering, Warwick had pledged Edward in marriage to the sister of the queen of France. Edwards irresponsible behaviour humiliated Warwick and ruined his plans, his prestige both home and abroad was in tatters, and to say that Warwick was enraged would be an understatement, the dagger of betrayal had cut too deep and it was a wound that would never heal.

Warwick (James Frain) mulls over Edward's (Max Irons) bombshell from the TV series The White Queen.

Birth of Anne Neville

10/6/2017

The 11th June 1456, the birth of Anne Neville, daughter of Richard, Earl of Warwick and Anne Beauchamp and sister of Isabel.

On the death of their father at the Battle of Barnet in 1471 they would become heiresses, not only of the Neville inheritance, but of the vast Beauchamp estates.

Despite their childhood friendship and their affection for each other you cannot dismiss the fact that this inheritance played a big part in the marriage arrangements of Richard Duke of Gloucester to Anne and his brother George Duke of Clarence to Isabel.

First Battle of St Albans

22/5/2017

22nd May 1455

Many believe that the First Battle of St Albans was as much about the ongoing squabble between the Percy and the Neville family, as it was about the wider squabble, that of the House of York and Lancaster. It cannot be doubted that this battle, for the individual members of these two northern families, was very personal, each trying to destroy the other under the guise of a greater cause.

The origins of Percy/Neville squabble had it roots in land, or the loss of it, bitterness turned to anger, discussion to litigation, skirmishes into outright warfare.

Henry VI, who had been battling with his own internal foes for the previous eighteen months had suddenly recovered and released the imprisoned Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset and dismissed the Duke of York from his post as Protector of the Realm, and as Henry and Somerset had left London and were making their way towards St Albans, they may or may not have known that York had chosen not to appear before the council in Leicester, but were in fact heading their way.

Warwick's troops at the Battle of St. Albans. Graham Turner http://www.studio88.co.uk/index.html

The clash of over five thousand men that took place on the 22nd May was a relatively small skirmish (in comparison to the following Wars of the Roses battles) that is considered by some to be the first battle of this period, however it certainly wasn't the cause.

Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, Thomas, Lord Clifford and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland along with just over three hundred men lost their lives that day.

The Arrivall: 10th April to 13th April 1471

7/4/2017

The second reign of King Henry VI began on the 3rd October 1470, it lasted six months. Richard Neville, Henry's champion had played the game and lost and Edward IV had all the assistance he needed to win back his throne by force. Edward returned to England from exile arriving at the beginning of March accompanied by William Hastings and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, they disembarked onto English soil at Ravenspur on the east coast of England, the very port Henry IV had landed seventy years before to claim the English throne, Edward's desire was no only to reclaim his crown but deal with Neville.

Spurn Head Yorkshire - looking towards the now lost village of Ravenspur

After leaving Humberside, Edward made his way to London via Beverly, Wakefield, Nottingham and Leicester and with no obvious Lancastrian force to oppose him he arrived in the city on the 10/11th April 1471 where he would stay until the 13th. It was here in London that Edward was proclaimed England's king once more.

The Arrivall by Graham Turner http://www.studio88.co.uk/index.html

In the two days Edward spent in London he visited St Paul's Cathedral for prayers and to give thanks, he was reunited with his wife who presented him with his six month old son who had been born while his mother was in sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Following discussions with his councilors Edward spent his last night at his mother's home of Baynard's Castle, the next morning his troops were armed and departed heading north along Watling Street.

By the 13th the Yorkist forces had arrived at Monken Hadley, a small village just twelve miles from London. Edward made his camp next to the village church on a hill that overlooked the town of Barnet, that night Edward placed his troops in their battle positions, the following morning he would find that they were very close to Richard Neville's lines.

The king's force at Barnet, according to the unknown writer of The Arrivall, numbered nine thousand, but it is thought there were far more than this, Edward himself had landed in England with about two thousand, six thousand men joined his army at Nottingham, three thousand at Leicester, the Duke of Clarence now reconciled with Edward, brought around seven thousand, however Warwick commanded many more.

It was on Easter morning, the 14th April, that had dawned grey and foggy, that the Battle of Barnet took place.

Battle of Losecoat Field

11/3/2017

The Battle of Losecoat Field, which took place on the 12th March 1470, occurred ten years after Edward IV had brought the Lancastrian's to their knees at Towton, even so, Edward was still concerned with Lancastrian plots, he was, it seems, blind to the fact that Richard Earl of Warwick was cunning and we can be sure that Warwick was clever enough not to be seen to be involved in plotting the downfall of the House of York.

This battle, also known as the Battle of Empingham, was not simply a matter of York vs Lancaster. The situation was complex and confusing and involved minor rebellions, local land disputes and Warwick's machinations. The trigger for the battle itself was a private dispute between Lincolnshire land owners, Sir Thomas Burgh of Gainsborough Hall and Sir Richard Welles of Eresby, that had ended in violence and criminal damage. Both men had been called to London to account for their actions, Edward was forgiving and lenient, and ordered them back to Lincolnshire to put an end to their differences. Richard Welles left this meeting with the king unnerved, it may have been the threat that if Welles did not sort out this private feud, then he would come up the Lincolnshire to do it himself.

In Lincolnshire, Welles son Robert was using his father's summons to London to add weight to Robin of Redesdales claim that Edward was ready to execute anyone who had been involved in the revolts in Yorkshire the previous year. Redesdale, the second of that name, was using this threat to incite fear and rebellion among the populous. In the hours and days following the meeting the situation deteriorated and for whatever reason, the feud or the escalating violence, Edward was forced to ride to Lincolnshire to put a stop to the rebellion. The resulting battle was fought on the fields in Rutland, not far from the village of Empingham, on a site that straddles the Great North Road. Losecoat was a victory of Edward, and a death sentence for both Robert Welles and his unfortunate father.

The battle is named after the place where many of the rebel army fled, abandoning their surcoats for fear of retribution. All that really remains of this small, but significant battle, is a small wood, seen in the image on the right, with just a few hundred trees called Bloody Oaks.

Neither the Earl of Warwick or George, Duke of Clarence's names were never officially mentioned, but it is plain to see that Warwick was the puppeteer. Letters, incriminating Warwick, that were found in a chest that was recovered among Welles belongings goes someway back up this fact.

Following Welles arrest and in his confession he writes

“ I have welle understand my many meagges, as welle from my Lord of Warwicke, and they entended to make grete risinges, as forthorthy as ever I couth understand , to th’entent to make the duc of Clarence king…..Also, I say that had beene the said duc and erls provokings that we at this tyme would no durst have made eny commocion or sturing, but upon there comforts we did what we did”......Also, I say that I and my dadier had often times letters of credence from my said lordes.”

It is not hard to imagine what the state of the country was in, anarchy would possible be a good word to describe it. While most were troubled by the events of 1469 and 1470, the triumphant Richard Neville was in his element as he later placed the crown of England, once again, on the head of Henry VI. Released from the Tower of London, the poor man’s physical health was weak and his mental health clearly unstable. As these two men stood together it was obvious to everybody who was in charge. Real power was now in the gauntleted hand of Richard, Earl of Warwick, the King’s Lieutenant of the Realm.

The Second Battle of St Albans

17/2/2017

17th February 1461

With his father and brother's deaths at Wakefield avenged, Edward, Earl of March's forces made their way to join the forces of Richard Neville in an attempt to prevent Margaret of Anjou claiming back her husband and London itself.

With hindsight, Warwick should not have taken Henry VI along with him on his march northwards, he should have left him in London guarded by William Bonville and Thomas Kyriell, the two men who were responsible for him at St Alban’s, but he didn’t. The reason for this, it has been suggested, was that Warwick was overly confident, and considered himself invincible, perhaps he even thought that the meeting between his forces and that of Margaret's was a forgone conclusion, a win for the Yorkist.

Warwick was hoping to block Margaret’s way along the northern route to St Albans, but this backfired and her troops approached by the north west route. The clash of York and Lancaster took place on the 17th of February 1461, at St Albans, but this time, unlike the previous battle, the result was not a victory for York but a Lancastrian victory. By the end of the day and dusk had settled, Richard Neville’s Yorkist force had been defeated, the king was lost and both Bonville and Kyriell had lost their heads in what Cornish antiquarian, A L Rowse, calls the blooding of Edward of Lancaster, the Prince of Wales.

Groby Old Hall, home of Sir John Grey, at Groby, Leicestershire

Including Bonville and Kyriell, lying among those who perished at St Albans was Robert Poynings and John Grey of Groby in Leicestershire. It was John's son Richard who would be executed at Pontefract in 1483, and his widow, Elizabeth, would make an adventurous marriage that would bring this family more wealth and power than they ever dreamed of, but it will also bring the Yorkist dynasty to its knees.