Warwick The Kingmaker

PLAYING WITH TREASON

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Great ministers who were used to influencing the course of kingdoms and unexpectedly find themselves in shame due to their master's whim are rarely known to sit down in resignation and accept their downfall amicably. A practical statesman seldom exhibits the self-denial and lofty dedication to principles necessary for such behaviour. The deposed preacher may limit himself to lectures on the ingratitude of monarchs if he is sufficiently aged and the fire has left him. His unhappiness may not be hazardous if his grandeur has just been formal and his power only depends on the authority granted to him by his master. Warwick, however, was just forty years old, in the prime of his youth, and he was the most powerful subject in the four seas. King Edward's attempt to drive such a man to despair with a series of purposeful insults was pure insanity.

This wasn't just a typical instance of ungratefulness. Richard Neville created Edward Plantagenet, proving that one man can create another. At the time of the terrible defeat of Ludford, he had taken command of the untrained young man of eighteen. He had given him meticulous training in both warfare and diplomacy. In 1459 and 1461, he had twice intervened to preserve York from inevitable defeat. For his cousin to be able to wear his crown peacefully, he had to spend five years in combat gear. He circumnavigated water and land in embassies to ensure Edward's safety from the home and international enemies. In the service of York, he had witnessed the deaths of his brother and father by axe and sword. He had witnessed the exile of his mother and wife, the burning of his castles and manors, and the murder of his tenants for Richard Plantagenet's son to inherit the rightfully his father's crown.

The lack of thanks from his lord might then leave Warwick feeling very wounded. After the most recent betrayal of him, the French ambassador, it was not surprising that he left the court and delivered a harsh response to Edward's subsequent summons. After the open breach, he had two options: give up on all of his plans and devote himself to the management of his vast estates in silence and bitterness, or try to return to power using the methods that medieval England was all too familiar with methods that had served Simon de Montfort, Thomas of Lancaster, and Richard of York, as well as those that had sent Simon, Thomas, and Richard to their gruesome deaths. The first option was undoubtedly the one that the ideal man, the ideal knight, should have selected. Richard Neville was not flawless, but he was a practical politician who was, in the opinion of someone who had closely examined him, "the cleverest man of his day." As a result of his extended period of dominance, he came to view the top spot in the Council of the King as his right and due. His adversaries, the Woodvilles and Herberts, had pushed him from his well-earned preeminence utilizing deceit and betrayal; What could be more natural than for him to avenge them with the tool he was most equipped to use, the iron fist of force?

Warwick's career up to this point had been straightforward and reliable. He had always backed York's cause and remained loyal to it through thick and thin. Therefore, it must not be assumed that when his dispute with King reached a boiling point, he changed his whole policy. His actions in 1469, while his unappreciative master was in charge, were meant to demonstrate that his only goal was to reclaim the position in the royal Council he had held from 1461 to 1464. Although it is apparent that initially, his only goal was to exterminate the Woodvilles, later circumstances advanced his intentions farther than he had anticipated. His relationship with his prospective son-in-law George of Clarence, was the sole aspect of his plan that posed a possibility of developing into more sinister and treasonous schemes. The attractive young man who demonstrated such loyalty to him, followed his instructions, and enthusiastically participated in the dispute with King seemed to have acquired a deeper place in his heart from the start than Edward had ever managed. Of course, Clarence had his own objectives, but the Earl was still unsure what they were and how far they went.