Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and 6th Earl of Salisbury, lived from 22 November 1428 to 14 April 1471. Nicknamed Warwick the Kingmaker, he was a wealthy English nobleman, administrator, landowner from the House of Neville, and military commander. As the oldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, he gained the title Earl of Warwick through marriage, making him the richest and most influential peer in England at the time, with political ties reaching beyond the country. A key figure in the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), he initially fought for the Yorkists before switching to the Lancastrians. He played a crucial role in putting one king on the throne and removing two others, earning his famous nickname. Through marriages and inheritances, Warwick became central to English politics by the 1450s. He first backed King Henry VI, but a land dispute with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, pushed him to ally with his uncle, Richard, Duke of York, against the king. This conflict won him the valuable post of Captain of Calais, which served him well later. The political struggle turned into open rebellion, during which York and Warwick’s father, Salisbury, were killed in battle. York’s son, Warwick’s cousin, then succeeded with Warwick’s help and was crowned King Edward IV. Edward initially governed with Warwick’s backing, but they fell out over foreign policy and the king’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville. After a failed plot to crown Edward’s brother, George, Duke of Clarence, Warwick restored Henry VI to the throne. This victory was brief: on 14 April 1471, Edward defeated and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. Historians have long debated Warwick’s legacy. Opinions swing between viewing him as selfish and reckless, or as a victim of an ungrateful king. Most agree he was widely popular across all social classes and skilled at using public sentiment to gain political support. Background

The Neville family, originally from Durham, rose to power during England’s 14th-century wars with Scotland. In 1397, King Richard II made Ralph Neville the Earl of Westmorland. Ralph’s son Richard—Warwick’s father—was a younger son from a second marriage and not heir to the earldom. Still, he received a good settlement and became Earl of Salisbury by right of his wife, Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury. Richard, the future Earl of Warwick, was born on 22 November 1428; little is known about his childhood. At age eight, in 1436, he married Lady Anne Beauchamp, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, and his wife Isabel Despenser. This made him heir to both the Salisbury earldom and a large portion of the Montague, Beauchamp, and Despenser estates. His fortune grew further. Beauchamp’s son Henry, who had married Richard’s sister Cecily, died in 1446. When Henry’s daughter Anne died in 1449, Richard became Earl of Warwick by right of his wife. However, his claim to the estates was challenged, leading to a long dispute over parts of the inheritance, especially with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who had married a daughter from Beauchamp’s first marriage. The fight was over land, not the Warwick title, since Henry’s half-sisters were barred from inheriting. By 1445, Richard was a knight, likely knighted at Margaret of Anjou’s coronation on 30 May that year. Around this time, his illegitimate daughter Margaret was born (she later married Richard Huddleston on 12 June 1464). Records show he served King Henry VI in 1449, with a grant mentioning his services. He fought in the north with his father and may have taken part in the 1448–1449 war against Scotland. When Richard, Duke of York, unsuccessfully rebelled against the king in 1452, both Warwick and his father sided with Henry VI. Civil war

Discontent at court

In June 1453, Somerset was given custody of the lordship of Glamorgan—part of the Despenser inheritance Warwick held until then—sparking open conflict between the two men. That summer, King Henry fell ill. Somerset, favored by the king and Queen Margaret, effectively controlled the government while Henry was incapacitated. This put Warwick at a disadvantage in his dispute with Somerset and pushed him to collaborate with York. The political mood, worsened by military defeat in France, turned against Somerset. On 27 March 1454, royal councillors appointed York as protector of the realm. York could now rely on support from both Warwick and his father Salisbury, who had become more involved in disputes with the Percy family in northern England. York’s first protectorate was short-lived. Early in 1455, the king recovered enough to return to power, at least in name, with Somerset again holding real authority. Warwick, York, and Salisbury returned to their estates and began raising troops. Marching toward London, they met the king at St Albans, where the two forces fought. The battle was short and not very bloody, but it marked the first armed clash between the Houses of York and Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses.