In The Path of The King Maker: The Places Warwick Made His Own
By Will Barber Taylor
In August 1469, the servants of Middleham Castle saw an extraordinary sight. Edward the Fourth, King of England was taken into the castle under the armed guard of the castle’s owner. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick was one of the most powerful men in England and the man who only eight years before, had metaphorically put the crown on Edward’s head. This singular episode decided the fate of Richard Neville and led him onto a path of destruction, misery and ultimately death. This was part of a series of events that would bring down the man known as The Kingmaker.
Warwick the Kingmaker was born on the 28th of November 1428, 19 years after his grandfather died during the siege of Orleans, part of the Hundred Years War between England and France. Whilst in later life he would be associated with the south of England, Warwick was from a staunchly Northern family — Middleham Castle was his central power base in England and was used by Warwick to launch both his plan to put Edward IV on the throne and dethrone him.
Warwick’s early life was marked by his growing kinship with his cousin, Richard, Duke of York. York claimed that he was the rightful King of England, being descended from Richard II’s true heir who had been missed out of the line of succession when Henry IV deposed Richard in 1399. Rumours began to spread that Richard was attempting to gain support for a move to depose Henry VI, Henry IV’s grandson and the incompetent incumbent of the English throne.
Many of these initial meetings are likely to have taken place at Middleham, possibly in the great hall, and at Warwick’s other castles in the north of England such as Sheriff Hutton, making them ideal places to visit if you want to find out about the Warwick story. Warwick was Captain of Calais, England’s last colony in France and the perfect place to start an invasion of England. In 1459, after years of service to Henry, Warwick crossed the channel to join York in an attempt to seize the English crown.
Warwick met with York, who returned from Ireland where Henry had sent him to govern the country, and made a plan to take the throne. York announced that he would take the throne from Henry. Many in the King’s council were shocked by this. York and Henry made an agreement but this soon broke down and York was killed by the forces of Margaret of Anjou, Henry’s Queen, as the Battle of Wakefield.
Not only did York die but Warwick’s father and younger brother were both killed in the battle. Warwick was forced to flee after a subsequent battle and his prospects looked bleak. York’s fatherless children, Richard and George, the future Richard III and George, Duke of Clarence were able to hide out at Middleham Castle providing further reason to visit the fascinating building.
However, Warwick was soon able to recoup his forces. Warwick had many friends and supporters in the North of England and his castles, like Sheriff Hutton, were bases for him to begin his insurrection against Henry IV with York’s eldest son, Edward, Earl of March.
Just before their official joining together of forces, Edward won a decisive victory at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross, crushing his opponents into a bloody pulp. Buoyed by his success, he and Warwick — known to his followers as “The Ragged Staff” — took London and Edward was declared King on the 4th of March 1461.
After declaring himself King, Edward went north to ensure that his throne was secure. Warwick knew the North of England well and with his mass of supporters he was crucial to the victory that followed. On the 29th of March 1461, the forces of Edward — estimated to be somewhere between 26,000 and 30,000 met with those of Henry, whose army was significantly larger at Towton in Yorkshire.
They were ready for battle and Henry’s commanders seemed confident of victory. Warwick’s uncle had a plan. Using the Yorkist’s superior archers, he sent a flight of arrows into the air hitting Henry’s troops effectively and savagely. Because of the geography of Towton and Edward’s troops being in a superior area to Henry’s, his archers were unable to use their weapons as effectively.
Edward’s archers kept shooting arrow after arrow, often using the arrows that their enemies had shot at them but failed to hit. In the ensuing madness, the two armies clashed on the open field of Towton. Some 28,000 men are estimated to have died, making it one of the bloodiest battles in all of English history. Evidence of the sheer brutality of what happened at Towton can be found in the remains excavated from the site.
One man had been slashed across the face, cutting a deep wound that the split the bone. Whilst many died in the bloodbath, it cemented Warwick’s place as one of England’s most important figures. Towton is therefore a vital place to visit if you want to find out more about Warwick — not only to see the site of his great triumph but also to remember the deaths of thousands of men, cut down in the madness of war.
Once Edward’s throne was secure, Warwick became the second most powerful man in the country. He and his family received honour upon honour — his brother, George was made Chancellor of England and his uncle, Lord Fauconberg, was made Earl of Kent.
Warwick himself was tasked with keeping the North of England under control; it was still sympathetic to Henry IV. With Henry on the run after the battle of Towton, it was up to Warwick to keep Edward’s kingdom stable.
Yet problems were already arising. Whilst Warwick had brought Edward to power, Warwick was still not King. Edward was young, ambitious and wanted to do as he wished whilst he left the running of the country to Warwick. Edward was also impetuous and when he wanted his own way, he often got it.
As Warwick tried desperately to find a princess for Edward to marry, he was undermined by the King’s indifference. Finally, Warwick managed to find a match with the King of France’s sister in law, Bona of Savoy, which would help make Edward more powerful than ever. However, Warwick discovered, to his dismay, that there was one problem. Edward was already married.
Aside from making Warwick look a fool, Edward had also angered his supporters by marrying Elizabeth Woodville. Elizabeth’s father was not only a former supporter of Henry VI but had in fact been captured by Warwick and Edward some years before. They had mocked him for being of “in Noble birth” before gaining a ransom from the Woodville family to send him back. Yet Edward had married her and that was that — there was nothing Warwick could do. Or so Edward thought.
Warwick began to plot Edward’s downfall, just as he had with King Henry. Edward had insulted Warwick and began to supplant members of Warwick’s family with members of the Queen’s family in his government. This was enough of an excuse for Warwick to launch an attack on Edward. Warwick captured Edward after the Battle of Edgecote Moor. Warwick’s men executed the Queen’s father and brother not long after the battle as traitors to the crown. Warwick kept Edward at his castle in Warwick before moving him to Middleham. Warwick began to rule in Edward’s name but Warwick was the one clearly in charge.
Warwick soon realised, however, that the government weren’t having any of it. He was soon forced to release Edward and though Edward did not imprison Warwick it was clear things were soon going to come to a head. Warwick decided to flee England for France with Edward’s brother George, now the Duke of Clarence.
At the court of King Louis of France, Warwick met an unlike ally — Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI’s Queen. Deciding that the only way to stay in power was to replace Edward with Henry, Warwick convinced Margaret that she should help him — though he had to beg her for a full hour before she relented. With Henry’s son marrying Warwick’s daughter, the group soon set sail for England.
Warwick entered London easily and was soon able to break Henry IV out of the Tower of London, where he had been imprisoned since he had been found wandering the Yorkshire Moors looking for his lost crown. Warwick restored Henry and Margaret to the throne with himself once again the most powerful nobleman in the realm. It wasn’t to last for long.
Edward had fled to Burgundy, where his wife had relations. Gaining soldiers from them, Edward was able to build a fleet. On the 14th of March 1471, Edward landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, where several decades earlier, Henry IV had landed also to claim the crown. Edward made his way south ready to fight his former mentor and friend.
On the 14th of April 1471, the forces of Edward and those of Warwick met at Barnet, now just outside London. Edward’s brother, George had changed allegiances once again, deciding to return to his brother’s side. As Warwick faced Edward yet again, both men’s lives were on the line. Edward, however had the greater number of soldiers and was able to ravage Warwick’s forces. Warwick, tactical magician though he was, was not able to outmanoeuvre Edward’s army, nearly double his 15,000 men.
As it became clear that the battle would end in death for all those on his side, Warwick began to flee the battlefield but was cut down by Edward’s men. So ended the career of one of the most powerful men in British history, a man who was known as the “setter up and plucker down of Kings”, who had fought all his life for the power he wanted and truly was a Kingmaker.
