WARWICK, RICHARD NEVILLE, Earl of, ma., popularly. named the king-maker, was eldest son of Richard, earl of Salisbury, and Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Montaente. He was born about 1420, shortly before the accession of Henry VI. Lord Richard Neville, as he was then styled, early manifested his distinguished bravery and brilliant personal qualities in a hostile incursion across the Scottish marches, in which he accompanied his father, the earl of Salisbury. lie became the most powerful noble man in the kingdom, by his marriage with Anne, daughter and heiress of. Richard de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. He not only acquired by this alliance the broad lands of the Warwick family, but was created earl of Warwick, with succession to the heirs of his wife. He is the most prominent figure in the civil war of the roses, one of the dark est periods of English history. The duke of York gained his support by his marriage with lady Ceeille Neville; and when the barons declared the incapacity of Henry VL, and chose the duke to be protector of the kingdom, Warwick led into the field his well tried borderers of Wales. The Yorkists and the Lancastrians first met at St. Albans in 1455. when Warwick, rushing suddenly into the town at the head of his men, mainly won the battle by his impetuous onset. He was rewarded with the government of Calais—" then," says Comines, " considered as the most advantageous appointment at the disposal of any Christian prince, and that which placed the most considerable force at the disposal of the governor." He also obtained command of the fleet for five years. In 1458 he sailed from Calais with five large and seven small vessels, and attacked a fleet of 28 ships, belonging to the free town of Lubeck. After a battle of 6 hours, he took 6 of the enemy's vessels. In 1460 he landed in Kent at the head, of his troops, and entered London amid the acclamations of the people. He defeated the queen's army, near Northampton, with great slaughter, and obtained possession of the person of the king. Richard, duke of York, now advanced his claim to the throne. Queen Margaret raised an army to rescue the king; and the duke committed the idiotic monarch to the custody of the duke of Norfolk and Warwick, while he advanced to Wakefield to attack the Lancastrians. The duke was taken, and put to death; and Warwick's father, the earl of Salisbury, with twelve other 'Yorkist chiefs, was beheaded at Pontefract. Another battle at St. Albans was won by the Lan but Edward, earl of March, now duke of York, accompanied by Warwick, marched boldly upon London, which was throughout Yorkist, and Edward was pro claimed king by the style of Edward IV. The next battle was that of Towton, near York. The Lancastrians had retaken the pass of Ferrybridge, on the river Aire, and Warwick, in despair at the loss of so good a position, rode up to Edward, and dis mounting, shot his own horse through the head, as a signal for an attack from which there could be no retreat, exclaiming: " Sir! let him flee who will flee; but by this cross" (kissing the hilt of his sword) "I will stand by him who will stand by me!" The Lancastrians were defeated with immense loss; and Edward, returning to London in triumph, was crowned June 22, 1461. The battle of Hexharn was followed by the cap
ture of Henry; and Warwick, who had been left in command in London, placed the deposed king on a horse, under whose belly his feet were fastened, and thus led him through Cheapside to the tower. Warwick having been authorized to negotiate with Louis XI. of France for the marriage of his sister-in-law, the princess Bonne, of Savoy, to king Edward, could not brook the king's sudden marriage with Elizabeth. Woodville, and seemed inclined to show that he could pull down as well as set up kings. He was now at the height of his power. To the earldoms of Warwick and Salisbury, with the estates of the Spencers, he. added the offices of high-admiral and berlain, together with the lord-lieutenancy of Ireland and the government of Calais. Comines states the income of his offices at 80,000 crowns a year, besides the immense revenues accruing from his patrimony; yet he had the meanness to accept a secret pen sion and gratuities from Louis Xl. After being sent into honorable banishment by means of embassies to France, Burgundy, and Brittany, he gave his daughter in mar riage to George, duke of Clarence, without asking Edward's permission. He soon after ward broke out into revolt against Edward, and concluded a treaty with queen Mar garet, by which it was agreed that her son, princeEdward, should espouse Anne Neville, Warwick's (laughter, and that in failure of issue, the crown should devolve on Clarence. King Edward escaped to Holland, and Henry VI. resumed the sovereignty. Edward, however, raised a body of Flemings and Dutchmen, and, landing near Hull, advanced toward London. He gave battle to king lienry's army, commanded by Warwick, at Barnet, April 14, 1471. The battle was memorable and important. Warwick and his brother, Montague, were left dead on the field, and with them fell the greatness of the house of Neville. This fatal battle, followed by the decisive engagement of Tewkes bury, completed the defeat of the Lancastrians, and concluded the sanguinary war of the roses. It appears (Penn's Letters) that every individual of two generations of the great families of Warwick and Somerset fell on the field or on the scaffold, a victim of these sanguinary contests. Warwick is the most conspicuous personage of these dis turbed times. He kept open house wherever he resided, and daily fed at his various mansions 30,000. He loved turbulence for its own sake, and was ready to make or unmake any king, according to the caprice of the moment, and in order to show his power.