Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury (22 November 1428 – 14 April 1471), known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, landowner of the House of Neville fortune and military commander. The eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, he became Earl of Warwick through marriage, and was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, with political connections that went beyond the country's borders. One of the leaders in the Wars of the Roses, originally on the Yorkist side but later switching to the Lancastrian side, he was instrumental in the deposition of two kings, which led to his epithet of "Kingmaker".
Through fortunes of marriage and inheritance, Warwick emerged in the 1450s at the centre of English politics. Originally, he was a supporter of King Henry VI; a territorial dispute with Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, led him to collaborate with Richard, Duke of York, in opposing the king. From this conflict, he gained the strategically valuable post of Captain of Calais, a position that benefited him greatly in the years to come. The political conflict later turned into rebellion, where in battle York was slain, as was Warwick's father Salisbury. York's son later triumphed with Warwick's assistance and was crowned King Edward IV. Edward initially ruled with Warwick's support, but the two later fell out over foreign policy and the king's choice to marry Elizabeth Woodville. After a failed plot to crown Edward's brother, George, Duke of Clarence, Warwick instead restored Henry VI to the throne. The triumph was short-lived, on 14 April 1471, Warwick was defeated by Edward at the Battle of Barnet, and killed.
Warwick's historical legacy has been a matter of much dispute. Historical opinion has alternated between seeing him as self-centred and rash, regarding him as a victim of the whims of an ungrateful king. It is generally agreed that he enjoyed great popularity in all layers of society, and that he was skilled at appealing to popular sentiments for political support.
The Neville family, an ancient Durham family, came to prominence in England's fourteenth-century wars against the Scots. In 1397, King Richard II granted Ralph Neville the title of Earl of Westmorland. Ralph's son Richard, the later Earl of Warwick's father, was a younger son by a second marriage, and not heir to the earldom. He received a favourable settlement, however, and became jure uxoris ("by right of his wife") Earl of Salisbury through his marriage to Alice, daughter and heiress of Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury.
Salisbury's son Richard, the later Earl of Warwick, was born on 22 November 1428; little is known of his childhood. At the age of eight, in 1436, Richard was married to Lady Anne Beauchamp, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, and of his wife Isabel Despenser. This made him heir not only to the earldom of Salisbury, but also to a substantial part of the Montague, Beauchamp, and Despenser inheritance.
Circumstances would, however, increase his fortune even further. Beauchamp's son Henry, who had married the younger Richard's sister Cecily, died in 1446. When Henry's daughter Anne died in 1449, Richard also found himself jure uxoris Earl of Warwick. Richard's succession to the estates did not go undisputed, however. A protracted battle over parts of the inheritance ensued, particularly with Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, who had married a daughter from Richard Beauchamp's first marriage. The dispute centred on land, not on the Warwick title, as Henry's half-sisters were excluded from the succession.
By 1445 Richard had become a knight, probably at Margaret of Anjou's coronation on 30 May that year; also around this time, his illegitimate daughter, Margaret (who married Richard Huddleston on 12 June 1464) was born.
He is visible in the historical record of the service of King Henry VI in 1449, which makes mention of his services in a grant. He performed military service in the north with his father and might have taken part in the war against Scotland in 1448–1449. When Richard, Duke of York, unsuccessfully rose up against the king in 1452, both Warwick and his father rallied to the side of King Henry VI.
In June 1453, Somerset was granted custody of the lordship of Glamorgan—part of the Despenser heritage held by Warwick until then—and open conflict broke out between the two men. Then, in the summer of that year, King Henry fell ill. Somerset was a favourite of the king and Queen Margaret, and with the king incapacitated he was virtually in complete control of the government. This put Warwick at a disadvantage in his dispute with Somerset, and drove him into collaboration with York. The political climate, influenced by the military defeat in France, then started turning against Somerset. On 27 March 1454, a group of royal councillors appointed the Duke of York as protector of the realm. York could now count on the support not only of Warwick but also of Warwick's father Salisbury, who had become more deeply involved in disputes with the House of Percy in the north of England.
York's first protectorate did not last long. Early in 1455, the king rallied sufficiently to return to power, at least nominally, with Somerset again wielding real power. Warwick returned to his estates, as did York and Salisbury, and the three started raising troops. Marching towards London, they encountered the king at St Albans, where the two forces clashed. The battle was brief and not particularly bloody, but it was the first instance of armed hostilities between the forces of the Houses of York and Lancaster in the conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. It was also significant because it resulted in the capture of the king, and the death of Somerset.
York's second protectorate that followed was even shorter-lived than the first. At the parliament of February 1456 the king—now under the influence of Queen Margaret—resumed personal government of the realm. By this time Warwick had taken over Salisbury's role as York's main ally, even appearing at that same parliament to protect York from retributions. This conflict was also a pivotal period in Warwick's career, as it was resolved by his appointment as Constable of Calais. The post was to provide him with a vital power base in the following years of conflict. The continental town of Calais, conquered from France in 1347, was not only of vital strategic importance, it also held what was England's largest standing army. There were some initial disputes, with the garrison and with the royal wool monopoly, the Calais Staple, over payments in arrears, but in July Warwick finally took up his post.
After the recent events, Queen Margaret still considered Warwick a threat to the throne, and cut off his supplies. In August 1457, however, a French attack on the English seaport of Sandwich set off fears of a full-scale French invasion. Warwick was again funded to protect the garrison and patrol the English coast. In disregard of royal authority, he then conducted highly successful acts of piracy, against the Castilian fleet in May 1458, and against the Hanseatic fleet a few weeks later. He also used his time on the Continent to establish relations with Charles VII of France and Philip the Good of Burgundy. Developing a solid military reputation and with good international connections, he then brought a part of his garrison to England, where he met up with his father and York in the autumn of 1459.
In September 1459 Warwick crossed over to England and made his way north to Ludlow to meet up with York and Salisbury, the latter fresh from his victory over Lancastrians at the Battle of Blore Heath in Staffordshire. At the Battle of Ludford Bridge in Shropshire their forces were scattered by the king's army, partly because of the defection of Warwick's Calais contingent under the command of Andrew Trollope. As it turned out, the majority of the soldiers were still reluctant to raise arms against the king. Forced to flee the country, York left for Dublin, Ireland, with his second son Edmund, Earl of Rutland, while Warwick and Salisbury sailed to Calais, accompanied by the Duke's son, Edward, Earl of March (the future King Edward IV). Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, was appointed to replace Warwick as Captain of Calais, but the Yorkists managed to hold on to the garrison.