David Baldwin - The Kingmakers Sisters: Six Powerful Women in the Wars of the Roses

DAVID BALDWIN

First published 2009

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2011

All rights reserved

David Baldwin, 2009, 2011

The right of David Baldwin, to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 7990 3

MOBI ISBN 978 0 7524 7989 7

Original typesetting by The History Press

1 Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and his countess Anne Beauchamp, from the family tree in the Beauchamp Pageant (British Library, re-drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler)

2 Middleham Castle, Yorkshire where the sisters would have lived as children (author)

3 William Fitzalan and Joan Neville, Earl and Countess of Arundel, effigies, Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel Castle, Sussex (G. Wheeler)

4 Detail of the head of Joan Neville, Countess of Arundel (photographed during restoration in 1982, G. Wheeler)

5 & 6 Henry Beauchamp and Cecily Neville, Duke and Duchess of Warwick, portrayed as weepers on the tomb of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, St Marys Church, Warwick (author)

7 John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester, Cecily Neville (nearest camera), and another wife, effigies, Ely Cathedral, Cambridgeshire (G. Wheeler)

8 Bisham Priory, Berkshire, where the Earl and Countess of Salisbury were re-buried in February, 1463, re-drawn from the painting probably by William Abell (c.1463) in the Salisbury Roll (The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, re-drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler)

9 Cawood Castle Gatehouse, Yorkshire, part of the palace of the archbishops of York where Warwick, his sisters, and many members of the nobility attended the banquet held to celebrate George Nevilles enthronement in September, 1465 (author)

10 Thomas, Lord Stanley, Eleanor Neville, and two others, effigies in Ormskirk Church, Lancashire, drawn by William Dugdale in 1664 (author)

11 The Hastings Tower at Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Leicestershire, home of William, Lord Hastings and Katherine Neville (author)

12 The west tower of Kirby Muxloe Castle, Leicestershire, where Katherine may have spent part of her widowhood (author)

13 Ravensworth Castle, Yorkshire. The early fourteenth-century tower gatehouse and adjoining archway, home of Henry, Lord Fitzhugh and Alice Neville (author)

14 The Marmion Tower. The fifteenth-century gateway tower at West Tanfield, Yorkshire, where Alice Neville spent part of her widowhood and from where she wrote to the mayor, aldermen and council of York (author)

15 John de Vere, Earl of Oxford and Margaret Neville, re-drawn from Daniel Kings original 1653 illustration of their tomb effigies in Colne Priory Church, Essex, destroyed c.1730 (Geoffrey Wheeler)

16 Castle Hedingham, Essex. John de Veres bridge over the now dry moat (www.castleuk.net)

17 Signature of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (from Fenns Original Letters Written during the Reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III, 1787, vol. 2)

18 Signature of Eleanor Neville, Lady Stanley (John Rylands University Library, Arley Charter 30/2, re-drawn by Geoffrey Wheeler)

19 Signature of Alice Neville, Lady Fitzhugh (Fenns Original Letters, vol. 2)

20 Signature of Margaret Neville, Countess of Oxford (Fenns Original Letters, vol. 2)

21 Signature of Katherine Neville, Lady Hastings (Huntington Library, HAP Box 4 (29))

22 Seal of Katherine Neville, Lady Hastings (Huntington Library, HAP Box 4 (29))

TABLE 1

THE CHILDREN OF RALPH NEVILLE, EARL
OF WESTMORELAND AND JOAN BEAUFORT

TABLE 2

THE CHILDREN OF RICHARD NEVILLE,
EARL OF SALISBURY

TABLE 3

THE KINGMAKER S SISTERS
AND THEIR HUSBANDS

Joan (d. 1462) m. William Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel (d. 1487)

Cecily (d. 1450) m. 1. Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick (d. 1446)

2. John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester (ex. 1470)

Eleanor (d. c.1472) m. Thomas, Lord Stanley (d. 1504)

Alice (d. after 1503) m. Henry, Lord Fitzhugh (d. 1472)

Katherine (d. 1503/4) m. 1. William, Lord Harrington (k. 1460)

2. William, Lord Hastings (ex. 1483)

Margaret (d. 1506), m. John de Vere, Earl of Oxford (d. 1513)

TABLE 4

SOME GRANDCHILDREN OF RICHARD
NEVILLE, EARL OF SALISBURY

TABLE 5

THE KINGMAKER, HIS FATHER, HIS
BROTHERS-IN-LAW, AND THEIR SONS,
IN THE WARS OF THE ROSES