Warwick ‘the Kingmaker’ was a nobleman, a military commander in the Wars of the Roses and an influential politician who would by stealth, cunning and daring be in virtual control of the country for many years until his death at the Battle of Barnet in April 1471.
Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick
He was born Richard Neville on 22nd November 1428, the eldest son of the 5th Earl of Salisbury. He later acquired the title 16th Earl of Warwick through his advantageous marriage to Lady Anne Beauchamp, Countess of Warwick, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, the 13th Earl of Warwick. This was a marriage that proved to be strategically powerful for Neville; a marriage involving not only a title, but also an inheritance of great fortune and land. In 1449 Richard Neville became jure uxoris (by right of his wife) Earl of Warwick.
However the newly titled Earl of Warwick soon found himself in conflict with the Duke of Somerset. The Duke had been granted control of Glamorgan, until then held by Warwick, by King Henry VI. King Henry then fell ill and Somerset, a favourite of the king, virtually took control of government. For this reason Warwick decided to support Richard Duke of York’s bid to oust the incapacitated king.
