John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford

For other people named John Clifford, see John Clifford (disambiguation).

Clifford Coat of Arms

John Clifford, 9th Baron de Clifford, also 9th Lord of Skipton (1435 – 28 March 1461) was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses. For a period, he was the right-hand man of Margaret of Anjou.

Early life

The son of Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron de Clifford and Joanna or Joan de Dacre, He inherited the barony and the family seat at Skipton Castle on his father's death at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455. Possibly motivated by a desire to avenge Thomas, John Clifford came to the forefront of the Lancastrian cause. He was hereditary High Sheriff of Westmorland from 1455 until his own death.

Military career

Clifford led the Lancastrian right wing at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460, a surprise attack on the Yorkist stronghold of Sandal Castle. The battle was a complete Lancastrian victory in which the Yorkist army was destroyed, their leader the Duke of York killed and his son Edmund and brother-in-law the Earl of Salisbury were captured.

Clifford is perhaps most famous for the killing of Edmund following the battle, an act contemporary chroniclers agreed he committed himself rather than ordering done. The killing went against tradition as captured sons of nobles were usually ransomed. Because Edmund was 17, the second (of four) sons rather than a leader or heir apparent, militarily inexperienced (Wakefield is his only known battle he fought in), and was wounded and defenceless when he was killed, his death was viewed as murder by the Yorkist faction and looked upon with disfavour by his fellow Lancastrian leaders, though Clifford defended the killing as a just execution no different than the beheading of Edmund's uncle the Earl of Salisbury following the battle (though Salisbury was elderly and had participated in numerous battles against the Lancastrians). The act earned no formal disapproval from Queen Margaret, regent for her son Prince Edward during the mental illness of her husband King Henry VI, thus Clifford suffered no repercussion, though it infuriated Edmund's older brother Edward (who was in Wales at the time of the battle) who vowed vengeance and may have given Clifford his nickname "the Butcher". (In much later histories Clifford was also referred to as "Black-faced Clifford".)

Clifford was killed at the Battle of Ferrybridge in the following year, struck by an arrow in the throat after having carelessly removed his gorget. When Edward Duke of York became King Edward IV the widowed Lady Clifford, fearing her son Henry would be killed as retaliation for the new king's brother, sent him into hiding. The youth was placed under attainder and the family estates were confiscated. The attainder was lifted and Skipton Castle was restored to him following the accession to the throne of Lancastrian claimant Henry Tudor in 1485 whose victory over Richard III and marriage to Elizabeth of York effectively ended the Wars of the Roses.

Legacy

Clifford is a major character in William Shakespeare's play, Henry VI, Part 3, in which he is portrayed as thirsty for revenge following the death of his father, and personally responsible for the death of Edmund, Earl of Rutland. Modern works in which he is depicted include Sharon Kay Penman's novel The Sunne in Splendour.

Family life

He married Margaret Bromflete (1436–1493), who died on 12 April 1493, and had:

• Henry Clifford, 10th Baron de Clifford
• Richard Clifford
• Sir Thomas Clifford, married to Ellen Swarby
• Elizabeth Clifford, married to Sir Robert Aske, of Aughton near Selby, a scion of an old Yorkshire family, the parents of Robert Aske

References

Peerage of England
Preceded by Thomas Clifford	Baron de Clifford 1455–1461	Succeeded by Henry Clifford