Warwick The Kingmaker

RICHARD OF SALISBURY

CHAPTER THREE

Earl Ralph had fathered no fewer than twenty-three children by his two marriages, outpacing all of his wise and prolific forefathers in the success with which he advanced his money and the vast family he raised. Margaret of Stafford had nine children, while Joan of Beaufort had fourteen. The earldom was given to Ralph the second, a young man of around eighteen, because John, the heir of Westmoreland, had gone away a few years before his father. However, more than half of the other 22 kids lived, and their fates significantly impacted the Neville family's future and the English kingdom, necessitating thorough explanations.

The old Earl focused all of his efforts on arranging the marriages of his children, and due in part to the assistance from the two Henries, in part to wisely purchasing wardships in line with fifteenth-century custom, and in part to capitalize on his neighbours' desire to be allies with the most prominent house in the North Country, he was able to establish a small family group that was already one of the essential forces in English politics by 1425. His youngest daughter Cecily's union with Richard Duke of York, which was arranged with royal approval shortly before the Earl's passing and took place when both parties were still very young—the Duke was about eleven years old, and the young bride was about nine—was by far the most significant of these relationships. Due to this relationship,

Ralph of Westmoreland was destined to be the father of several English kings and queens. Furthermore, it tied the Neville family to the Yorkist cause and turned Ralph's children away from the Lancaster allegiance that had made their father so successful. However, no one could have reasonably predicted the Wars of the Roses when the marriage was arranged, so we may absolve the Earl of any ulterior motives beyond that of boosting the prosperity of his house by a second union with a younger line of the royal family. He could think of nothing finer for the following generation because his union with Joan of Beaufort had benefited him. The older siblings of Cecily of York were nearly universally married to the most significant barons, even if their affiliations were less essential than hers.

Ralph Neville of Bidwell, the second son of the older family—the children of Earl Ralph and Margaret of Stafford—married the co-heiress of Ferrers. Four of the five remaining sisters were married to the heirs of the families of Mauley, Dacre, Scrope of Bolton, and Kyme. One sister passed away while she was young, and another became a nun. The younger generation, Joan of Beaufort's offspring, had even more successful marriages. The youngest of the daughters married Richard of York, as was already mentioned. Her older sisters were married to Earl Ralph's former rival and Hotspur's grandson,

Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, and Earl Ralph Mowbray, respectively. Out of Joan of Beaufort's six sons, Richard, the oldest married Alice Montacute, the heiress to the earldom of Salisbury, and they had the Kingmaker; we shall work closely with him. William, the second son, succeeded in winning the Fauconbridge heiress. Inheritance of his half-uncle John Lord Latimer, George, the third son, ascended to his uncle's barony under a special grant. Robert joined the Church and, because of wise family support, was appointed bishop of Salisbury before he was 25. However, 10 years later, he was transferred to Durham, the most potent diocese in England, where he could utilize its palatial rights to benefit his many relatives.

Lastly, the youngest brother, Edward, Elizabeth Beauchamp, the heiress of Abergavenny, was secured.

Since the third Edward's rule, the number of English barons had been steadily declining; additionally, no more than 35 peers had ever been called to a Parliament in the early years of Henry the Sixth. One grandchild, three sons, and five sons-in-law of Earl Ralph could be found in this tiny group. Later, one son and one grandson were added to the Neville kindred's peers, and it appeared likely that by the weddings of the following generation, half of the English House of Lords would be discovered to be sprung from the illustrious Raby line.