General Notes

Warwick, Richard Neville, Earl of (1428-71), English statesman, called the
Kingmaker, eldest son of the 1st earl of Salisbury. In 1449, Henry VI, king of
England, granted Neville the earldom of Warwick, which had belonged to
Neville's wife's family. During the Wars of the Roses, he supported the
Yorkist faction. He was rewarded with the governorship of Calais in France in
1456. He took part in the Yorkist victories at Northampton in 1460 and at
Towton in 1461. Henry was deposed from the throne of England and the Yorkist
Edward IV was proclaimed king in 1461. Warwick then virtually ruled the
kingdom until 1464. Increasingly at odds with Edward, he fled to France in
1470 and allied himself with Margaret of Anjou, whose husband, the deposed
Henry VI, was being held prisoner in the Tower of London. That same year
Warwick invaded England as a Lancastrian and defeated Edward IV. Warwick had
Henry released from imprisonment in September 1470 and restored him to the
throne. When Edward IV returned and the Yorkists rallied to his banner,
Warwick was outmaneuvered. He was slain in the Battle of Barnet.