John Neville, Baron Neville
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John Neville, Baron Neville (c. 1410 – 29 March 1461) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
who fought for the House of Lancaster during the
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
. He belonged to a senior but impoverished branch of the
Neville family The Neville or Nevill family (originally FitzMaldred) is a noble house of early medieval origin, which was a leading force in English politics in the later Middle Ages. The family became one of the two major powers in northern England and played ...
of
northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, which had earlier been disinherited in favour of a younger branch headed by John's half–uncle, Richard, Earl of Salisbury. John Neville and his brothers spent several years feuding with Salisbury over the contested inheritance and, when the dynastic wars broke out, John sided with the Lancastrians whilst the junior Nevilles sided with the House of York. John was a beneficiary of the spoils of war after the Yorkists fled England in 1459, being awarded many of his rival Neville cousins' confiscated lands and offices, and was also raised to the rank of baron. When
Richard of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Planta ...
returned in 1460 and claimed the throne, Lord Neville initially posed as an ally, but went back to the Lancastrian side just before the Battle of Wakefield. York gave battle, likely thinking Neville would arrive to reinforce him, but was instead attacked and slain. Lord Neville himself, however, was killed shortly thereafter in an ambush leading up to the
Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between ...
in 1461. His son later inherited the earldom of Westmorland.


Family and background

He was born in about 1410, the second son of Sir John Neville (d. 1420) (eldest son and
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
of
Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland Earl Marshal (c. 136421 October 1425), was an English nobleman of the House of Neville. Origins Ralph Neville was born about 1364, the son of John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville by his wife Maud Percy (d. ...
by his first wife Margaret de Stafford) by his wife Elizabeth Holland (c.1388-1423), fifth daughter of
Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (135025 April 1397) was an English nobleman and a councillor of his half-brother, King Richard II of England. Family and early life Thomas Holland was born in Upholland, Lancashire, in 1350. He was the eldest s ...
by his wife Alice FitzAlan (d.1416). He had two brothers,
Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland ( 1406 – 3 November 1484) was an English nobleman in northern England. Origins Ralph Neville was born at Cockermouth Castle (which was temporarily in Neville family hands following a rebellion of the riv ...
, and Sir Thomas Neville (died 1458) of Brancepeth Castle, County Durham, and one sister, Margaret Neville, who married Sir William Lucy of Woodcroft,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...
. At sometime before 5 February 1452 he married (as her second husband) Anne Holland (d.1486), the daughter of
John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon, (29 March 1395 – 5 August 1447) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. His father, the 1st Duke of Exeter, was a maternal half-brother to Ri ...
by his first wife Anne Stafford (a daughter of
Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 1st Baron Audley, KG, KB (2 March 1377 – 21 July 1403) was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp. He inherited the earldom at the age of 18, the third ...
and the widow of
Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive to ...
). Anne Holland was the widow of his nephew Sir John Neville (d.1450), son of
Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland ( 1406 – 3 November 1484) was an English nobleman in northern England. Origins Ralph Neville was born at Cockermouth Castle (which was temporarily in Neville family hands following a rebellion of the riv ...
by his first wife
Lady Elizabeth Percy John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford (c. 1389 – 13 March 1422), also known as John, Lord Clifford, 7th Lord of the Honor of Skipton, KG, was an English peer. He was killed at the siege of Meaux, France. Family John Clifford, born about 138 ...
. Anne Holland outlived him and married thirdly to
James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas, 3rd Earl of Avondale KG (1426–1491) was a Scottish nobleman, last of the 'Black' earls of Douglas. Early life The son of James the Gross, 7th Earl of Douglas, by his wife Lady Beatrice Sinclair, daug ...
(d.1491), but had no issue by him. She died 26 December 1486, and was buried in St. Anne's Chapel in the Blackfriars in the
City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
. By Anne he had one son: *
Ralph Neville, 3rd Earl of Westmorland Ralph Neville, 3rd Earl of Westmorland (c. 1456 – 6 February 1499) was an English peer. He was the grandfather of Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland. Origins He was born in about 1456, the only child of John Neville, Baron Neville (young ...
son and heir and heir to his uncle the 2nd Earl. He obtained a reversal of his father's attainder on 6 October 1472.


Life


Neville–Neville rivalry

In the 1430s, John Neville's older brother, the Earl of Westmorland, waged what was virtually a private war with their uncle, the Earl of Salisbury, and the Beaufort branch of the Neville family, regarding an inheritance dispute. John joined his brother and played an important part in the struggle. He was mentioned in a 1438 letter to the king's chancellor reporting that the rival Nevilles had "assembled great routs and companies upon the field", done "great and horrible offences" and engaged "in slaughter and destruction" of the northern English local populace. The dispute was an uneven one, for the Earl of Salisbury was wealthier and better connected with powerful members of the nobility and clergy, aside from also being a blood relation of the English royal family. Salisbury got the better end of the dispute, and the parties were outwardly reconciled in 1443, in a settlement that heavily favoured the earl. The senior Nevilles, for their part, continued to resent their cousins over the matter. This rivalry ensured that, in the factional and turbulent politics of the 1450s, each branch of the family took opposite sides: when Salisbury and his son the
Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation ...
sided with Richard, Duke of York, the senior branch took the side of the House of Lancaster, thus merging the family feud into the larger
Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
. After the Neville settlement of 1443, the Earl of Westmorland appears to have largely given up his role in national politics, so it was his brother John whom the party of Queen Margaret of Anjou tried to recruit as an ally against the Duke of York and the earls of Salisbury and Warwick. Sir John Neville was summoned as a
knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...
for the
West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
to a great council which was to meet at Leicester on 21 May 1455. York, Salisbury and Warwick anticipated that charges would be brought against them at the meeting, so they intercepted and attacked the royal party at St Albans, their victory at which led to a brief
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...
by the Duke of York which lasted until February 1456. After the queen wrested back control over the government, she encouraged John Neville and his family to renew their rivalry in the north with York's ally, the Earl of Salisbury. In 1457, with the death of Salisbury's brother Robert, bishop of Durham, the queen secured the appointment of her man, Laurence Booth, to the vacant see. Booth (whose niece John's son later married) promptly began replacing Salisbury's relatives with members of the senior Neville branch in the administrative offices of the bishopric, with Sir John nominated justice of
assize The courts of assize, or assizes (), were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes e ...
(becoming "the leading member of the
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
judiciary"). John also gained part of the goods sequestrated from the late bishop Robert.


Breakout of war

After the rout and flight of the Yorkist lords at Ludford in October 1459, Sir John Neville received substantial rewards comprising largely the forfeited estates and offices of the Earl of Salisbury. On 20 November 1459, he was raised to the peerage as Lord Neville by a
writ of summons A writ of summons is a formal document issued by the monarch that enables someone to sit in a Parliament under the United Kingdom's Westminster system. At the beginning of each new Parliament, each person who has established their right to attend ...
to parliament; this was the "
Parliament of Devils The Parliament of Devils was a session of the Parliament of England, held at Coventry in the Benedictine Priory of St Mary's. The primary reason for summoning Parliament was to pass bills of attainder for high treason against Yorkist nobles, fo ...
", at which York and the junior Nevilles were attainted. On 19 December, "for good services against the rebels", he was appointed constable of Salisbury's castles of
Middleham Middleham is an English market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire. It lies in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, on the south side of the valley, upstream from the junction of the River Ure and River Cover. ...
and
Sheriff Hutton Sheriff Hutton is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies about north by north-east of York. History The village is mentioned twice in the Domesday Book of 1086, as ''Hotun'' in the Bulford hund ...
and steward of their associated lands, and was also granted a share of the forfeited lands of the Yorkist Sir John Conyers. In County Durham, Lord Neville became constable of
Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
and master forester of
Teesdale Teesdale is a dale, or valley, in Northern England. The dale is in the River Tees’s drainage basin, most water flows stem from or converge into said river, including the Skerne and Leven. Upper Teesdale, more commonly just Teesdale, falls b ...
forest with an annuity of 40 marks. On 18 March 1460, he received another grant from Salisbury's empire: a yearly rent of 100 marks from the manors of Worton and
Banbridge Banbridge ( , ) is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road and is named after a bridge built over the River Bann in 1712. It is situated in the civil parish of Seapatrick and the historic barony of Iv ...
and the forest of
Wensleydale Wensleydale is the dale or upper valley of the River Ure on the east side of the Pennines, one of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire, England. It is one of only a few Yorkshire Dales not currently named after its principal river, but th ...
. Lord John responded to this patronage by raising men for the Lancastrian cause before their defeat at the Battle of Northampton in July 1460. He appears to have initially acquiesced to the new regime established by the Earl of Warwick in the aftermath of the battle, being summoned to parliament on 30 July 1460 and gaining initial trust from the Yorkists, who do not seem to have considered him an irreconcilable enemy. Neville was absent from the Parliament in October at which Richard, Duke of York claimed the throne, but was given a commission to proceed against the Lancastrian "rebels" assembling in the north. He then joined them instead, attending the muster of Margaret of Anjou in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
and being among those who devastated the northern estates of the Yorkist lords. Still, the Yorkist government (appearing to be unaware of this) put him on a commission of oyer and terminer on 8 December.


From Wakefield to Towton

In December the Duke of York marched north in person to deal with the unexpectedly quick rising of the queen and her supporters. Under pretence of being an ally, Lord Neville visited him and received a commission to raise men on the duke's behalf, but joined the enemy with his recruits. He was thus with the Lancastrian party at the ensuing Battle of Wakefield, 30 December, where York was defeated and slain. John's uncle and enemy, the Earl of Salisbury, and his son Sir Thomas Neville were also killed. One theory explaining why Richard of York left the safety of
Sandal Castle Sandal Castle is a ruined medieval castle in Sandal Magna, a suburb of the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, overlooking the River Calder. It was the site of royal intrigue and the setting for a scene in one of William Shakespeare ...
to confront the stronger Lancastrian host is that he thought John Neville would arrive to reinforce him, but Neville then instead switched sides as soon as the duke exposed himself. Lord Neville joined the queen's army which marched south and looted towns along the way. His troops in particular sacked
Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...
on 12 January 1461. On the 20th, at
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, John, his brother the Earl of Westmorland and other lords declared their approval of an agreement which entailed the cession of Berwick to the Scots in exchange for their support. Neville probably fought at the
second Battle of St Albans The Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461 during the Wars of the Roses in England. It took place at St Albans in Hertfordshire, the first battle having been fought in 1455. The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of W ...
on 17 February, where his cousin the
Earl of Warwick Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick. Overview The first creation ...
, leading the Yorkists, was defeated. In March, the Yorkists once again marched north, now under the leadership of Richard of York's son Edward (proclaimed King Edward IV). Neville and his cousin Lord Clifford (whose grandmother was a Neville of the elder branch) commanded a force which ambushed the Yorkist vanguard under Warwick at the Battle of Ferrybridge at dawn on 28 March. While retreating north towards the main Lancastrian host, they were caught in a counter–ambush by John Neville's uncle William, Lord Fauconberg (of the junior Neville branch), at a valley called Dintingdale, near the village of Saxton. Neville, Clifford and most of their force were killed. The
Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between ...
the following day secured the English throne for the House of York. Neville was attainted on 4 November 1461 and his lands escheated to the crown, leaving his widow unprovided for. John's son and heir,
Ralph Neville Ralph Neville (or Ralf NevillClanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' p. 90 or Ralph de Neville; died 1244) was a medieval clergyman and politician who served as Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor of England. Neville first appears in t ...
, obtained a reversal of the attainder on 6 October 1472. Ralph later succeeded John's childless older brother as
earl of Westmorland Earl of Westmorland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England. The title was first created in 1397 for Ralph Neville. It was forfeited in 1571 by Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, for leading the Rising of the North ...
.


Arms

Lord John Neville's coat of arms were the conventional Neville arms differenced by a ''
fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
'' azure on the center.


Citations


References

* * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neville, John, Baron Neville 15th-century births 1461 deaths Barons in the Peerage of England English military personnel killed in action
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...
People of the Wars of the Roses Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain