John Neville KG (abt. 1431 - 1471)

Born about 1431 in England

Ancestors

Husband of Isabel (Ingoldesthorpe) Neville — married 25 Apr 1457 in England

Descendants

Died 14 Apr 1471 at about age 40 in Barnet, Hertfordshire, England

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Biography

John Neville, K.G., third son of Richard Neville, K.G., 5th Earl of Salisbury^[1] and Alice Montagu,^[2] was born about 1431.^[3][4][5][6] His birthplace is unknown as his father held lands in several counties.

John was knighted by Henry VI at Greenwich on Christmas Day 1449.^[3][6]

John held lands in: Shenley, Hertfordshire (1458);^[7] Oakford, Devon; Gaunts Earthcott, Gloucestershire; Eastney and Efford, Hampshire; Knowle and Goathill, Somerset, etc. In right of his wife, he also held Melksham, Wiltshire.^[3]

Marriage and Children

On 25 April 1457, John married Isabel (or Elizabeth) Ingaldesthorpe, daughter and coheiress of Edmund Ingoldsthorpe, Knt. and Joan (or Jane) Tiptoft.^[3][5][6] They had one son and five daughters:

• George, made Duke of Bedford^[3] in 1469/70 and was betrothed to Edward IV's daughter Elizabeth;^[5] George was born about 1465 (aged 10 or 11 at his father's death) and died unmarried and a minor on 4 May 1483,^[6] leaving four of his sisters as co-heiresses along with his nephew John Stonor, who was his sister Anne's heir^[7]
• Anne, married Sir William Stonor,^[3][5] died by 1486 and left issue^[6]
• Elizabeth, married first to Thomas, 6th Lord Scrope of Masham; married second to Henry Wentworth, K.B.;^[3][5] she was born about 1464 (aged 22 in 1486) and died September 1517 without issue^[6]
• Margaret, married first to Sir John Mortimer; married second Charles Brandon, K.G., 1st Duke of Suffolk;^[5][6] married third Robert Downes, Gent.^[3] (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Complete Peerage say she may have married first to Thomas Horne - neither source mentions a marriage to Downes). See more discussion here.
• Lucy, married first to Sir Thomas FitzWilliam; married second Sir Anthony Browne^[3][5][6]
• Isabel, married first William Huddleston, Esq.;^[5] married second Ranulph Dacre, Esq.; married third Sir William Smyth^[3][6]

Life

Sometime before 1453, an argument between John Neville and Sir Thomas Percy developed into a clan war throughout the northern counties and was a prelude to the Wars of the Roses.^[3][6] In July 1453, commissioners were sent to the north "to make them keep the peace on pain of loss of their lands, etc". In 1456 John and Thomas Percy fought at Stamford Bridge (or perhaps Castleton Bridge) and Thomas Percy and his brother Richard were captured and sent to Newgate.^[6]

During the civil war, John fought alongside the Yorkists in the first Battle of St. Albans (22 May 1455).^[3] He fought beside his father at the Battle of Blore Heath (23 September 1459), where the Lancastrians were defeated.^[5][6] During the battle, John and his brother Thomas were captured.^[5] John was imprisoned at Chester Castle and was attainted in Henry VI's Parliament on 20 November 1459.^[6] In the summer of 1460, the Lancastrians were defeated at Northampton and John was released.^[6] On 22 August 1460, John and his wife were restored their lands and his attainder was reversed by parliament in October.^[5] In the fall of 1460, John was appointed Chamberlain to the King and in January 1460/1, he was a Privy Councillor.^[3][6]

John's father and brother Thomas died at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460 along with Richard, Duke of York, and his son Edmund.^[5] John's father had been beheaded by the Lancastrians on that date.^[6] John had stayed in London with his brother, Richard, Earl of Warwick, while his father and brother went to battle.^[5]

John was created Lord Montagu, probably soon after his father's death, as he witnessed a council minute as ‘J. Montagu’ on 28 January 1461.^[5] On 17 February 1461, John fought alongside his brother Richard at the second Battle of St. Albans. John was captured^[6] and was sent to York. He was detained at York until Edward IV's victory at Towton on 28 March 1461.^[5] On 23 May 1461 John received a summons to parliament as Lord Montagu.^[5][6]

John's brother Richard, Earl of Warwick, (often called "the kingmaker") came into great power after helping to restore Edward VI to the throne in 1461. On 21 July 1461, John was made steward of the duchy of Lancaster lands in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire.^[5] He was invested as the 189th Knight of the Garter^[8] in March 1461/2,^[2] taking his father's stall.^[5][6] In May 1462 he was granted nine manors in Norfolk, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire.^[5]

John was appointed Warden of the East Marches toward Scotland,^[3] on 26 May 1463,^[6] while his brother Richard held the west.^[5] He was created Earl of Northumberland on 27 May 1464^[3][5] "in reward for breaking the Lancastrian power". In August, he was granted all the Percy estates in Northumberland that had been forfeited after Towton,^[6] including Alnwick, Warkworth, and Prudhoe.^[5]

In March 1466 John was granted the duchy of Lancaster honours and castles of Tickhill, Knaresborough, and Pontefract, along with other lands, which were intended as payment towards the money due to him as warden of the east march.^[5] John was appointed Sheriff of Northumberland^[3] for life^[5] on 28 July 1466.^[6]

In 1469, John's brother Richard rebelled with the king's brother, George, Duke of Clarence, while John Neville stayed loyal to the king.^[5][6] For John's loyalty, the king betrothed his daughter Elizabeth to John's son George and created George as Duke of Bedford in January 1470.^[6] Although Richard Neville was forgiven for his rebellion, on 27 October 1469, Edward IV decided to release Henry Percy, son and heir of the third earl of Northumberland, from captivity in the Tower. This was done to "install a counterweight to the Nevilles" in the north and would greatly reduce the lands controlled by the Neville brothers, who had greatly benefitted from the Percy forfeiture. ^[5]

On 22 February 1470 John surrendered his share of the Percy estates. Soon afterward he was granted lands of the earldom of Devon including Tiverton, Plympton, and Okehampton for his service against the Scots and rebels.^[5] On 25 March 1470, Henry Percy was restored to the earldom of Northumberland and its estates^[6] and, in return, John Neville was made Marquess of Montagu (Somerset).^[3][5] As the title came with no estates, John felt cheated and objected and, in doing so, he lost the trust of the king.^[6] On 24 June 1470, John had to surrender the wardship of the east march to Henry Percy;^[5] soon after, John would decide to join forces against the king with his brother Richard.^[6]

Richard Neville and the Duke of Clarence had rebelled again in the spring of 1470 and had been exiled. Again, they had held their rebellion without John's support. However, during their exile, John had been stripped of his earldom and lands and, when the two returned to the south of England in September 1470 with French and Lancastrian backing, John sided with them. Edward IV fled with his supporters and Henry VI was restored as king of England.^[5][6]

Henry VI restored John's wardenship of the east march^[6] and also gave him the manor of Wrassle (a former Percy property previously disputed).^[5] John was also named Lieutenant North of Trent^[3] on 21 December 1470.^[6] Unfortunately, with the Percys back in power in the north, John had lost much of his influence there.^[5]

Death

Edward IV returned to England, landing in Holderness on 14 March 1471.^[5] John initially took no action against the king, allowing him and his men to move south.^[6] However, John later joined forces with his brother at Warwick and they fought against Edward at Barnet on 14 April 1471, where they were defeated and both the brothers were killed.^[2][3][5][6]

The bodies of John and Richard Neville were taken to London and displayed at St Paul's,^[5] exposed for three days on the pavement "so that all might see that they were dead". Their bodies were then given to their brother, George, Archbishop of York, to see to their burial.^[6] John was buried at Bisham Priory in Berkshire,^[3][5] with his brother Richard.^[6]

John's heir was his son George. George was also heir to his uncle, Richard Neville.^[5] Although John had not been attainted, Sheriff Hutton and other manors were taken from his estate in the Parliament of 23 February 1474/5.^[6] Accordingly, George did not inherit the Neville lands. In 1478, George lost his dukedom on the grounds that he could not support the estate. George died on 4 May 1483,^[5] leaving four sisters and a nephew as his heirs.^[7]

John is memorialized in the stall plates at St. George's chapel in Windsor Castle in the 11th stall on the south side of the quire.^[2] His crest and arms are displayed as follows:

Crest: a griffin with wings displayed gold and a gimmel ring silver and azure in his beak, for difference, sitting in a jewelled gold crown^[2]

Arms: The shield of arms is quarterly: 1 and 4, silver three fusils in fess gules (for Montacute) quartering gold an eagle vert the beak and legs gules (for Monthermer); 2 and 3, gules a saltire silver and a label gobony of silver and azure (for Nevill); with an escutcheon of pretence, quarterly: 1. silver a quarter gules and a rose gold in the quarter (for Bradestone); 2. gules a cross engrailed silver (for Ingoldsthorpe); 3. azure a fess and three leopards heads gold, on a fess a ring azure for difference (de la Pole); 4. silver a dance sable and three bezants on the dance (for de Burgh).^[2]

John was survived by his wife who remarried to Sir William Norreys, with whom she had children. Isabel died 20 May 1476 and was buried with John and Bisham Priory.^[3][5][6] George, Duke of Bedford, was her heir.^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. 1. London: J.B. Nichols, 1834, pp. 300-301. Archive.org
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} W.H.S. Hope. "Plate LXVIII," in Stall Plates of the Knights of the Order of the Garter, 1348-1485. Westminster: A. Constable and Co., Ltd., 1901. Google Books.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol. III. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013, pp. 394-396, INGALDESTHORPE 13: Isabel/Elizabeth Ingaldesthorpe.
4. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd ed., vol. II. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2011, pp. 453-455, INGALDESTHORPE 10. Google Books.
5. ↑ ^{5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 5.17 5.18 5.19 5.20 5.21 5.22 5.23 5.24 5.25 5.26 5.27 5.28 5.29 5.30 5.31 5.32 5.33 5.34 5.35 5.36 5.37 5.38} Rosemary Horrox. "Neville, John, Marquess Montagu (c. 1431–1471), magnate." in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. OxfordDNB.com.
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 6.21 6.22 6.23 6.24 6.25 6.26 6.27 6.28 6.29 6.30 6.31 6.32 6.33 6.34 6.35} George Edward Cokayne and H.A. Doubleday et. al eds. Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Vol. IX: Moels to Nuneham, 2nd edition. London, 1936, pp. 89-93. FamilySearch.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2} William Page, ed. 'Parishes: Shenley', in A History of the County of Hertford. Volume 2. London, 1908, pp. 264-273. British History Online.
8. ↑ Heraldica.org: List of Knights of the Garter
9. ↑ Maskelyne and H. C. Maxwell Lyte, "Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII, Entries 201-250", in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem. Series 2, Volume 1, Henry VII. London, 1898, pp. 61-111. British History Online: IPM of Isabel, John's wife

• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Vol. IV. Salt Lake City, UT: the author, 2013, p. 125, MONTAGU 11.ii.
• Wikipedia.org: John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu
• "Possible C.P. Addition: Margaret Neville's marriage John or Thomas or Robert Horne" 2007 post by Douglas Richardson and others on soc.genealogy.medieval group SGM
• Testamenta Eboracensia, Part 2. London: JB Nicols, 1855, pp. 239-246. Google Books: Will of Richard Neville

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Thiessen-117 on 20 September 2022.

John Neville KG appears in a trail that was identified and badged by the Magna Carta Project from Gateway Ancestors John Nelson and Margaret Nelson to Magna Carta Surety Baron Saher de Quincy in 2015. Other trails were later identified and badged from the Nelsons to surety barons John de Lacy, Gilbert de Clare, Richard de Clare, Hugh le Bigod, Roger le Bigod, and John FitzRobert. All seven of these trails were re-reviewed/updated in July 2022 and can be viewed in the Magna Carta Trails section of John Nelson's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".