This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Richard Neville Earl of Salisbury
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury depicted in the Salisbury Roll,c. 1483–1485, with tinctures of Neville arms transposed in error. He displays the arms of Montagu quartering Monthermer in thedexter position of honour.
Born	1400 Raby Castle,Staindrop,County Durham
Died	31 December 1460 (aged 60) Pontefract,Yorkshire
Cause of death	Beheaded
Resting place	Bisham Priory,Berkshire
Spouse	Alice Montagu, 5th Countess of Salisbury
Children	Joan, Countess of Arundel Cecily, Duchess of Warwick Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick Sir Thomas Neville Alice, Baroness FitzHugh John, Marquess of Montagu George, Archbishop of York Eleanor, Baroness Stanley Katherine, Baroness Hastings Margaret, Countess of Oxford
Parents	Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (father) Joan Beaufort (mother)
Family	Neville

Richard Neville, 5th Earl of SalisburyKG (1400 – 31 December 1460) was an English nobleman and magnate based innorthern England who became a key supporter of theHouse of York during the early years of theWars of the Roses. He was the father ofRichard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker".

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

He was born in 1400 atRaby Castle inCounty Durham, the third son (and tenth child) ofRalph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, by his second wife,Joan Beaufort, the youngest of the four legitimised children and only daughter ofJohn of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (third surviving son of KingEdward III), by his mistress, later wife,Katherine Swynford.

The Neville lands were primarily inCounty Durham andYorkshire, but both KingRichard II and KingHenry IV (Joan's cousin and half-brother respectively) found the family useful to counterbalance the strength of thePercys on theScottish Borders. This led to Ralph's earldom being granted in 1397, and to his appointment asWarden of the West March in 1403.

Ralph's marriage to Joan Beaufort, at a time when the distinction between royalty and nobility was becoming more important, can be seen as another reward; as a granddaughter of KingEdward III, she was a member of the royal family.

The children of Ralph's first wife, Margaret Stafford, made good marriages to local nobility, and his eldest son had married into royalty in the person of Elizabeth Holland, but his Beaufort children married into even greater families. Three of Richard's sisters married dukes, the youngestCecily, marriedRichard, Duke of York.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Richard marriedAlice Montagu, daughter and heiress ofThomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury. The date of Richard and Alice's marriage is not known, but it must have been before February 1421, when as a married couple they appeared at the coronation of QueenCatherine of Valois. At the time of the marriage, the Salisbury inheritance was not guaranteed, as not only was Thomas Montacute still alive, but in 1424 he remarried (toAlice Chaucer, granddaughter of the poetGeoffrey Chaucer). This second marriage was without issue and when Thomas Montagu died in 1428, Richard Neville and Alice were confirmed as the Earl and Countess of Salisbury.^[1]

Salisbury came into possession of greater estates than, as a younger son underprimogeniture, he could reasonably have expected. Strangely, his eldest half-brotherJohn Neville apparently agreed to many of the rights to the Neville inheritance being transferred to his step-mother Joan Beaufort, and her son Salisbury inherited these on her death in 1440.

He also gained possession of the lands and grants made jointly to Ralph and Joan. Ralph's heir (his grandsonRalph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland) as the representative of the senior line, disputed the loss of his inheritance, and although he agreed to a settlement in 1443, it was on unequal terms – Salisbury kept the great Neville possessions ofMiddleham andSheriff Hutton, as well as the more recent grant ofPenrith.

OnlyRaby Castle, the family's most ancient possession, returned to the senior branch. The resultantNeville–Neville feud was later to become absorbed into the destructivePercy-Neville feud. Salisbury's marriage gained him his wife's quarter share of theHolland inheritance. Ironically, his Salisbury title came with comparatively little in terms of wealth, though he did gain a more southerly residence atBisham Manor inBerkshire.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved. Find sources: "Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The defence of the Scottish Border was carried out by twoWardens – that of theEast March (based atBerwick-upon-Tweed) and that of theWest March atCarlisle. Both offices had been held by the Percy family in the fourteenth century, and their support of KingHenry IV seemed to have paid off in 1399, whenHenry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland was appointed Warden of the West March and his sonHenry Percy ("Hotspur") as Warden of the East March. However, Hotspur rebelled, and his father was held to be complicit in his treason.

After Hotspur was killed at theBattle of Shrewsbury in 1403, Ralph Neville was employed by KingHenry V to capture the elder Percy. His reward was to succeed the Percys as Warden of both Marches. Under King Henry V, the Percys were restored to their lands, and eventually in 1417, to the East March.

Salisbury became aKnight Bachelor and was named Warden of the West March in 1420. It was one of the most valuable appointments in England, worth £1,500 in peacetime and four times that if war broke out withScotland. Although unlikeCalais, it did not require a permanent garrison, the incessant raiding and border skirmishes meant that there would always be a ready supply of trained and experienced soldiers at the Warden's command. Salisbury must have been high in Henry V's estimation, as he was also appointedJustice of the Peace inCumberland,Westmoreland, and Durham. In 1431, he accompanied the young KingHenry VI to France for his coronation, and on his return was made Warden of the East March.

In 1436, he resigned from both posts, although this may have originally been intended as a means of forcing the crown to make good its arrears of payment. When his resignation was accepted, he accompanied his brother-in-lawRichard, Duke of York, to France, taking 1,300 men-at-arms and archers with him. He returned the following year, and in November became a member of the King's Council.

He did not resume either of the Wardenships, as the Percy-Neville dispute took up most of his time, but when this was resolved in 1443 he resumed the Wardenship of the West March. Although this was at a reduced fee of just under £1,000, the money was secured on specific sources of Crown income, not on the frequently uncollectable tallies.

He was invested as a Knight of theOrder of the Garter (K.G.) in 1436. He was invested as aPrivy Counsellor (P.C.) the following year, in 1437.

At the end of 1443, from his principal seat atMiddleham Castle inWensleydale, Salisbury was a member of the King's Council and Warden of the West March. His brotherRobert Neville was theBishop of Durham, and another of his brothers,William Neville, 1st Earl of Kent, had the custody ofRoxburgh Castle. He had seven children, four boys and three girls. In 1436 the two oldest children, Cicely andRichard, made excellent marriages to the son and daughter ofRichard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick.^{[citation needed]}

It was becoming apparent that the rise of the Nevilles was coming to an end. The king, who during the late 1430s had started to exercise personal rule, was more concerned to promote the fortunes of his closest relatives – and Salisbury was only related by a junior, legitimised and female line. In this context, the local rivalry between the Nevilles and the Percys in the north of England was likely to take on greater importance. A strong and capable ruler would be able to control such feuds, or even profit from them. A weak king could find the disputes spreading from local to regional or national conflict.^{[citation needed]}

The Percys had lands throughout northern England, while the northern lands of the Nevilles were concentrated in north Yorkshire and in County Durham. As Warden of the West March, Salisbury was in a position to exert great power in the northwest, in spite of holding onlyKendal andPenrith. The Percys resented the fact that their tenants in Cumberland and Westmorland were being recruited by Salisbury, who even with the reduced grant of 1443 still had great spending power in the region. The senior Neville line (now related by marriage to the Percys) still resented the inequitable settlement of their inheritance dispute.^{[citation needed]}

The fifteenth century could be regarded as the peak of "bastard feudalism" – when every subject needed a "good lord". In return for a commitment by the retained man to provide (usually) military support, the lord would give his retainer a small annual fee, a badge or item of clothing to mark his loyalty (livery) and provide help for him in his disputes with his neighbours (maintenance). Northern England was a long way from thePalace of Westminster, and rapid legal redress for wrongs was impossible.^[2] With his economic power as Warden, Salisbury could provide better support for Percy tenants thanNorthumberland, unpaid in regard to the East March for years, could hope to.^{[citation needed]}

In 1448, during the renewal of the war with Scotland, Northumberland took his forces through Salisbury's West March – a grave breach of etiquette. Northumberland was defeated at theBattle of Sark, and his sonHenry Percy, Lord Poynings was captured. The fact that Salisbury lost 2,000 horses trying to respond to this attack, and was then excluded (along with Northumberland) from the subsequent peace negotiations, can only have inflamed relations between the two families. Over time, the ill will might have receded, but Northumberland's second son,Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, spent the next few years stirring up trouble in Yorkshire – particularly at York, situated between the Percy estates ofSpofforth andHealaugh, and Neville's castle atSheriff Hutton.^{[citation needed]}

On 24 August 1453,Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, assembled a force of men-at-arms and archers perhaps as large as 1,000 strong, intending to waylay Salisbury and his family atHeworth Moor, outside York, as he made for Sheriff Hutton. Salisbury had been attending the wedding of his son Thomas inTattershall Castle, Lincolnshire, and although his escort would have been smaller, it would have been better armed than Egremont's York craftsmen and tradesmen. Salisbury and his retinue fought them back, arriving unscathed atSheriff Hutton, but the episode marked the beginning of what was virtually a private war. The bride, Maud Stanhope, was the widow of Lord Willoughby of Eresby, his son^{[citation needed]} would become a Yorkist. Another of the Yorkist party, John Neville, was later Lord Montagu. Maud^{[citation needed]} was due to inherit the manors of Wressle and Burwell from her uncle,Lord Cromwell, who had obtained them from the Percys through litigation. Historian John Sadler argues this^{[citation needed]} was the first incident in the Yorkist/Lancastrian affinities lawless squabble leading to civil war.^[3]

Salisbury changed his allegiance toRichard, Duke of York, who made himLord Chancellor in 1455. This enabled Salisbury to advance the interests of his retainers against the Percies; for exampleThomas de la More petitioned against Lord Egremont, whom de la More claimed had threatened to kill him years earlier.^[4] When King Henry VI tried to assert his independence and dismiss York as Protector, Salisbury joined him in fighting at theFirst Battle of St Albans, claiming that he was acting in self-defence. In 1458 he participated inThe Love Day, an attempt at reconciliation held in London. He was notably successful in theBattle of Blore Heath, but after the Yorkist army collapsed in theRout of Ludford Bridge, Salisbury escaped toCalais, having been specifically excluded from a royal pardon. He returned to England with York in 1460, and was slain on 30–31 December 1460, the night after theBattle of Wakefield.^{[citation needed]}

After the defeat of the Yorkists at the Battle of Wakefield, Salisbury himself escaped the battlefield but was captured during the night. Upon discovery, battle-worn and now a traitor to the realm, he was taken to the Lancastrian camp. Although the Lancastrian nobles might have been prepared to allow Salisbury to ransom himself due to his great wealth, he was nevertheless dragged out ofPontefract Castle and beheaded by the local population, to whom he had been a harsh overlord.^[5]

He was buried first atPontefract, but his sons transferred his body to the family mausoleum atBisham Priory inBerkshire where they erected a monument to his memory. The effigy from this was brought to St Mary's Church atBurghfield, nearReading, after theDissolution of the Monasteries. The effigy of a lady alongside him wears a headdress which is not thought to be of the right date to be his wife, but she may represent one of the earlier Countesses of Salisbury buried at Bisham.^{[citation needed]}

He marriedAlice Montacute (1407–1462), daughter and heiress ofThomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury (1388–1428), by whom he had twelve children:

Sons

• Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (1428–1471), "The Kingmaker", eldest son and heir, who marriedLady Anne Beauchamp and had issue.
• Sir Thomas Neville (c. 1429–1460),^[6] who was knighted in 1449 and died at theBattle of Wakefield. He was the second husband of Maud Stanhope (30 August 1497), who married firstlyRobert Willoughby, 6th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (died 25 July 1452), and thirdlySir Gervase Clifton, beheaded 6 May 1471 after theBattle of Tewkesbury.^[7]
• John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (c. 1431–1471), married Isabel Ingaldesthorpe and had issue.
• George Neville (1432–1476), who becameArchbishop of York andChancellor of England.
• Ralph Neville (b. 1440 approx.), did not survive infancy
• Robert Neville (b. 1446 approx.), did not survive infancy

Daughters

• Joan Neville (c. 1424–1462), who marriedWilliam FitzAlan, 16th Earl of Arundel, and had issue.
• Cecily Neville (c. 1425–1450), who marriedHenry Beauchamp, 1st Duke of Warwick (1425–1446), and by him had one daughter,Anne Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick (1444–1449), on whose death her title passed toher paternal aunt, who in turn had married her maternal uncle Richard Neville (below named).^[8]
• Alice Neville (c. 1430–1503), who marriedHenry FitzHugh, 5th Baron FitzHugh. Their daughter,Elizabeth, marriedWilliam Parr, thus making them great-grandparents ofCatherine Parr, sixth wife ofKing Henry VIII.
• Eleanor Neville (c. 1438 – before 1472^[9]), who marriedThomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, and had issue.
• Katherine Neville (1442–1504), who married firstWilliam Bonville, 6th Baron Harington, and secondWilliam Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings, had issue.
• Margaret Neville (c. 1444–1506), who marriedJohn de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford.

• Cokayne, G. (1959). Geoffrey H. White (ed.).The Complete Peerage. Vol. 12. St. Catherine Press.
• Griffiths, R. A. (1981).The Reign of King Henry VI. University of California Press.ISBN 978-0-520-04372-5.
• Hicks, M. A. (1998).Warwick the Kingmaker. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.ISBN 978-0-631-16259-9.
• Pollard, A. J. (2004)."Neville, Richard, fifth earl of Salisbury".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19954. Archived fromthe original on 7 February 2019. (Subscription,Wikipedia Library access orUK public library membership required.) The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource: Tait, J. (1894)."Neville, Richard, Earl of Salisbury (1400–1460)" . InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 40. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Richardson, D. (2011). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.).Magna Carta Ancestry. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. pp. 511–13.ISBN 978-1-4499-6637-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Richardson, D. (2011). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.).Magna Carta Ancestry. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.ISBN 978-1-4609-9270-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Storey, R. L. (1966).The End of the House of Lancaster. Sutton Publishing (published 1986).ISBN 978-0-86299-290-3.

• Gibson, J. P. (1 July 1911). "A Defence of the Proscription of the Yorkists in 1459".The English Historical Review.26 (103):512–525.doi:10.1093/ehr/XXVI.CIII.512.JSTOR 549840.
• Griffiths, R. A. (1968). "Local Rivalries and National Politics: The Percies, the Nevilles, and the Duke of Exeter, 1452–55".Speculum.43 (4):589–632.doi:10.2307/2855323.JSTOR 2855323.S2CID 155012397.
• Jacob, E. F. (1988) [1961-12-31].The Fifteenth Century 1399–1485.Oxford History of England. Vol. 6. Oxford University Press.
• McFarlane, K. B. (1945). "Bastard Feudalism".Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research.20 (61):161–180.doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.1945.tb01345.x.
• Mowat, R. B. (1914).The Wars of the Roses 1377–1471. London: Crosby Lockwood and Son.LCCN a14002824.OCLC 4217871.
• Myers, A. R. (1953).English in the Later Middle Ages.
• Sadler, D. J. (2000).War in the North: The Wars of the Roses in the North East of England 1461–1464. Bristol: Stuart Press.ISBN 978-1-85804-154-4.
• Storey, R. L. (1 October 1957). "The Wardens of the Marches of England towards Scotland, 1377–1489".The English Historical Review.72 (285):593–615.doi:10.1093/ehr/LXXII.CCLXXXV.593.JSTOR 557957.

• Royal Berkshire History: Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury (1400–1460)
• Sir Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury
• War of the Roses: Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury (1400–1460)

• Lord chancellors
• 1400 births
• 1460 deaths
• 15th-century English nobility
• Burials at Bisham Abbey
• Earls of Salisbury (1337 creation)
• Executed people from County Durham
• Medieval English knights
• Knights Bachelor
• Knights of the Garter
• Lord chancellors of England
• Members of the Privy Council of England
• Neville family
• Peers jure uxoris
• People executed by the House of Lancaster
• People executed by the House of Plantagenet by decapitation
• People from Bisham
• People of the Wars of the Roses
• People from Staindrop
• Younger sons of earls
• Barons Monthermer
• Barons Montagu
• Executed English nobility

• CS1 maint: location missing publisher
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB
• Pages using cite ODNB with id parameter
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from December 2022
• All articles needing additional references
• Use British English from September 2011
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from September 2025
• Articles with hCards
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2021
• Articles with unsourced statements from September 2019
• Articles incorporating Cite DNB template