John Neville (died 1420)
John Neville (presumably bef. 1 December 1387[1] – shortly bef. 20 May 1420),[2] English nobleman, was the eldest son of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, (c. 1364 – 1425) by his first wife, Margaret Stafford (d. 1396).[3] Little is known of his upbringing or youth, but he was clearly expected to inherit his father's powerful position in northern England. John acquired a castle at Kirkbymoorside, which was about 13 miles north of his father's caput of Sheriff Hutton.[4] Ralph had been Warden of the West March since 1403, and John took his place in 1414. He played a significant part in helping his father achieve the return of the young Henry Percy from Scotland (where his father, the Earl of Northumberland, had exiled them both), in order that Percy marry John's half-sister, Eleanor.<<Ross, thesis, 25>>
However, sometime before 1396 his father had married Joan Beaufort, an illegitimate daughter of John of Gaunt, and soon after, and possibly as a direct consequence, the earl commenced a long string of enfeoffments in favour of the children he was now having with Joan, particularly the eldest, Richard, later Earl of Salisbury. This effectively disinherited John who, curiously, seems to have "acquiesced" in the process as, on one occasion at least, he personally acted as a witness to one of the transfers.<<Ross, thesis>> It is possible that Ralph did not intend to deprive John of as much as he eventually did: Ralph made a will in 1404 which, many years later, John's son (also Ralph) appears to have believed very much favoured his side of the family. This will was in any case superseded by a much later one, written after John had predeceased his father,[3] which happened whilst he was in France (probably at Verneuil-sur-Avre)[5] in May 1420.
His demise led to a dispute between his sons and siblings for the distribution of the inheritance of the Earl of Westmorland. This created lasting divisions within the Neville family, resulting in the Neville–Neville feud, which later subsumed into the Wars of the Roses.
It has been suggested that John Neville is one of the figures represented in the Neville Book of Hours of c. 1431.[6]
Marriages and issue
John Neville married Elizabeth Holland (c. 1388 – c. 1423), daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, around sometime after 1394. They had three sons and one daughter:
- Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland (4 April 1406 – 3 November 1484).
- Sir Thomas Neville (c. 1407 – 22 February[7] c. 1459).
- Margeret Neville (c. 1408 – c. 1426), who married Sir Thomas Lucy.
- John Neville, Baron Neville (c. 1410 – 29 March 1461)[8][9][10][11][12][13]
References
- ^ Cokayne 1959, p. 548 fn. 'a'.
- ^ Cokayne 1959, pp. 548, 899.
- ^ a b Tuck 2004.
- ^ Emery 1996, p. 136 n. 20.
- ^ Cokayne 1959, p. 548 fn. 'l'.
- ^ Laynesmith 2017, p. 192 n. 36.
- ^ Cokayne 1916, pp. 126–7.
- ^ Richardson 2011, p. 249.
- ^ Richardson III 2013, p. 238.
- ^ Richardson II 2013, p. 246.
- ^ Richardson III 2013, p. 435.
- ^ Richardson III 2013, p. 659.
- ^ Richardson IV 2013, p. 237.
- Cokayne, G. (1916). Vicary Gibbs; H. Doubleday (eds.). The Complete Peerage. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.).
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Unknown parameter|editorlink=ignored (|editor-link=suggested) (help) - Cokayne, G. (1959). G.H. White (ed.). The Complete Peerage. Vol. 12.2 (2nd ed.).
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Emery, A. (1996). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500, Volume I: Northern England. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-49723-7.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Laynesmith, J. (2017-07-13). Cecily Duchess of York. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4742-7225-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Richardson, D. (2011). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4499-6639-3.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Richardson, D. (2013). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Royal Ancestry. Vol. 2. Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4635-6168-0. OCLC 840828655.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Richardson, D. (2013). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Royal Ancestry. Vol. 3. Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4635-6168-0. OCLC 840828655.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Richardson, D. (2013). Kimball G. Everingham (ed.). Royal Ancestry. Vol. 4. Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1-4635-6168-0. OCLC 840828655.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Tuck, A. (2004). "Neville, Ralph, first earl of Westmorland (c. 1364–1425)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19951.
{{cite web}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help); Missing or empty|url=(help)
External links
- Lundy, Darryl (ed.). "John de Neville, Lord Neville". The Peerage.