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Discontent at court

In June 1453, Somerset was granted custody of the lordship of Glamorgan—part of the Despenser heritage held by Warwick until then—and open conflict broke out between the two men. Then, in the summer of that year, King Henry fell ill. Somerset was a favourite of the king and Queen Margaret, and with the king incapacitated he was virtually in complete control of the government. This put Warwick at a disadvantage in his dispute with Somerset, and drove him into collaboration with York. The polit...

Continuation of hostilities

York's second protectorate that followed was even shorter-lived than the first. At the parliament of February 1456 the king—now under the influence of Queen Margaret—resumed personal government of the realm. By this time Warwick had taken over Salisbury's role as York's main ally, even appearing at that same parliament to protect York from retributions. This conflict was also a pivotal period in Warwick's career, as it was resolved by his appointment as Constable of Calais. The post was to pr...

Yorkist Triumph

In September 1459 Warwick crossed over to England and made his way north to Ludlow to meet up with York and Salisbury, the latter fresh from his victory over Lancastrians at the Battle of Blore Heath. At nearby Ludford Bridge their forces were scattered by the king's army, partly because of the defection of Warwick's Calais contingent under the command of Andrew Trollope. As it turned out, the majority of the soldiers were still reluctant to raise arms against the king. Forced to flee the cou...

Warwick's apex

Warwick's position after the accession of Edward IV was stronger than ever. He had now succeeded to his father's possessions—including his vast network of retainers—and in 1462 he also inherited his mother's lands and the Salisbury title. Altogether he had an annual income from his lands of over £7,000 far more than any other man in the realm but the king. Edward confirmed Warwick's position as Captain of Calais, and made him High Admiral of England and Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster, alon...

Early tensions

At the negotiations with the French, Warwick had intimated that King Edward was interested in a marriage arrangement with the French crown, the intended bride being Louis XI's sister-in-law, Bona, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy. This marriage was not to be, however, because in September 1464, Edward revealed that he was already married, to Elizabeth Woodville. The marriage caused great offence to Warwick: not only due to the fact that his plans had been sabotaged, but also the secrecy with...

Rebellion

Warwick now orchestrated a rebellion in Yorkshire while he was away, led by a "Robin of Redesdale". Part of Warwick's plan was winning over King Edward's younger brother, George Plantagenet, possibly with the prospect of installing him on the throne.The nineteen-year-old George had shown himself to share many of the abilities of his older brother, but was also jealous and overambitious. In July 1469, the two sailed over to Calais, where George was married to Warwick's daughter, Lady Isabel Ne...

Death

At this point, international affairs intervened. Louis XI declared war on Burgundy, and Charles the Bold responded by granting an expeditionary force to Edward IV, in order to reclaim his throne. On 14 March 1471, Edward landed at Ravenspurn in Yorkshire, with the acquiescence of the Earl of Northumberland. Warwick was still waiting for Queen Margaret and her son Edward, who were supposed to bring reinforcements from France, but were kept on the continent by bad weather. At this point, Edward...

Warwick's body—along with that of his brother Montagu, who had also fallen at Barnet—was displayed in London's St Paul's Cathedral to quell any rumours of their survival. Then they were handed over to Archbishop Neville, to be buried in the family vault at Bisham Priory near the river Thames in Berkshire. No trace now remains of either the tomb or ...

Assessment

Early sources on Richard Neville fall into two categories. The first are the sympathetic chronicles of the early Yorkist years, or works based on these, such as the Mirror for Magistrates (1559). The other category originates with chronicles commissioned by Edward IV after Warwick's fall, such as the Historie of the arrivall of Edward IV, and take a more negative view of the earl. The Mirror portrayed Warwick as a great man: beloved by the people, and betrayed by the man he helped raise to th...

The Earl of Warwick's coat of arms was unusually complex for the period, with seven different quarterings in an unusual order. The first grand quarter consists of the arms of his father-in-law, Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, who bore his arms quartering Despenser (the arms of his wife Isabel le Despenser) with an inescutcheon of De Cla...