The History of Sheriff Hutton to 1500
A history of Sheriff Hutton which
will take you to the lands of the Nevilles and Richard III during the Wars of
the Roses
The story focuses
on Sheriff Hutton itself, the Neville family who came to dominate its history
and the Farndale family, a relatively wealthy family who lived in Sheriff
Hutton over three generations. It is also a history of the Wars of the Roses,
which forms an integral backdrop to the local history of the fifteenth century.
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This
is a new experiment. Using Google’s Notebook LM, listen to an AI powered
podcast summarising this page. This should only be treated as an
introduction, and the AI generation sometimes gets the nuance a bit wrong.
However it does provide an introduction to the themes of this page, which are
dealt with in more depth below. Listen to the podcast for an overview, but it
doesn’t replace the text below, which provides the accurate historical
record. |
|
Understanding the Wars of the Roses
Another
page of the website summarises the genealogical complexities between the
dynastic struggles. |
Norman
Conquest
The area
around Sheriff Hutton is a place of ancient human activity. Flint
tools suggest Mesolithic and Neolithic human interaction from perhaps 6,000
BCE.
There is
evidence of a possible Roman enclosure in the area of Sheriff Hutton park and
these lands would have been crossed by the Roman road between Eboracum (York) and Delgovicia
(Malton). There may also have been
a south to north route which passed immediately adjacent to the area of the
later village.
The Domesday Book
of circa 1086 recorded two listings at the place that came to be known as
Sheriff Hutton in the Hundred of Bulford. The Hundred of Bulford comprised a scattering of
settlements to the north of York.
The Hundred of Bulford
The ancient house of Bulmer were probably Saxon Thanes and might
have been of Scandinavian origin. At the time of King Edward the Confessor,
Ligulf was Lord of Bulmer. The Anglo-Saxon word bulemaer means ‘famous bull’. Traditionally the Bulmer family were descendants of Norsemen and reputed
in sagas to have descended from Odin.
The first
settlement recorded in the Domesday Book in the Sheriff Hutton lands consisted
of two ploughlands, which might have been wasteland by 1086, which had
previously been held by Thorkil, Thorsten and Thorulf, but were held directly
by the King after the Conquest.
The second
settlement was a little more substantial. It was a settlement of five
villagers, eleven freemen and four smallholders. It included twelve
ploughlands, with one lord’s plough team and four men’s plough teams. There was
also mixed woodland of 1 league by 2 furlongs (about 5 kilometres by 400
metres).
Prior to the
Conquest the late Anglo-Saxon-Scandinavian landowners of the second larger
settlement were Ligulf, Lord of Bulmer, and Northmann. After the Conquest the
lands were given to Nigel Fossard and his tenant in
chief was Count Robert of Mortain.
There was
also an adjacent settlement called Bulmer and Stittenham
with twenty five villagers and one priest, with two Lord’s plough teams and
eight men’s plough teams. It has been estimated that this was a settlement of
about thirteen households. There were twenty acres of woodland covering an area
of 7 furlongs by 1 furlong (about 1400 by 200 metres). There was a mill and a
church. The estimated value of these lands had fallen from £5 before the
Conquest to £2, which may reflect the devastation of the area during the Harrying of the North.
These settlements also passed to the Fossards, with
Count Robert of Mortain as tenant in chief.
The
overlordship of all these lands, except for a close called Bulfordtoftes
held of the king in chief, seem to have then passed to the Mauleys, lords of
Mulgrave, through the female line of the descendants of the Fossards.
However the Bulmer family seem to have retained their interest, perhaps as
tenants to the Fossards and Mauleys.
The feudal
system created a pyramidal hierarchy of ownership with the King at the top. The
Mauley-Fossard family formed the second tier. The
Bulmer family seemed to have formed the third tier. The fourth tier comprised
the original villein folk who held small pockets of land in return for service
and rent.
The Norman
Church was built in or about 1100. It comprised a tower, a nave and the first
half of the chancel or choir. The earliest recorded reference to the existence
of a church was a gift to St Mary’s Abbey York by Sir Nigel Fossard,
who died in 1120, of the Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross. There is a
small window above the west door that may date from before 1100. The Norman
building may have re-used blocks from York's Roman walls.
The Sheriff
Hutton lands were at the edge of the royal forest of Galtres.
Bertram de Bulmer built the first castle in the village during the reign of
King Stephen, in 1140. The remains of the original castle, with ancient
monument status, are still visible in the south of the churchyard. The
earthworks suggest that the castle was built at a time of technical transition
from the motte and bailey design to the keep and bailey structure.
It was when
Bertram built the first castle that the village adopted its new name. Hutton
stems from the Old English hoh, a projecting
piece of land, and tun, a farmstead. The prefix Sheriff originates in
the association with the Bulmer family, Bertram de Bulmer being sheriff of York
in 1115.
The
Nevilles of Sheriff Hutton
After the
civil war between Stephen and Matilda placed the Angevin Henry II, the first Plantagenet King of England on the
throne, the castle and manor at Sheriff Hutton were seized by the Crown before
the Mauley family were regranted overlordship of the lands from the new King.
The twelfth
century church at Sheriff Hutton was a small aisleless building with a western
tower. The first alteration appears to have been the rebuilding of the chancel
in the first half of the thirteenth century.
The Bulmers continued with the tenancy in chief. Bertram de
Bulmer, the sheriff, died in 1166. It seems that he had no sons who outlived
him, so his lands passed to his daughter Emma. Emma de Bulmer married Geoffrey
de Nevill in 1176, and Geoffrey was called upon to account for her father's
debts. In 1190 Geoffrey was described as Bertram's heir. Sheriff Hutton
therefore came to share in the political intrigue of the House Neville for the next
three centuries.
In 1209
Geoffrey’s son Henry de Neville rendered account of £100 and a palfrey for having his knights' fees in Raskelf and Sutton.
The church
seems to have been retained by the abbey of St Mary, York until the early years
of the thirteenth century, when the abbot relinquished his right to Emma de Humez. Henry de Nevill gave his consent to Emma, his
mother's grant of a pension of 20 marks to the abbot from Sheriff Hutton
Church. Henry died without children in 1229 or 1230.
In 1273
there were two chapels connected with the mother church of Sheriff Hutton, for
which the vicar was made responsible.
The third
Peter de Mauley, as overlord, confirmed grants of land of his Sheriff Hutton
fee to Marton Priory in the later years of Henry III, and the manor of Sheriff
Hutton was held from him as overlord between 1278 to 1331.
Meanwhile,
Henry de Nevill was succeeded by his sister Isabel and her husband Robert FitzMaldred was the Lord of Raby in County Durham. This was
a major landholding family. In the extent of their landed possessions this
family, holding on obdurately to native names for a full hundred years after
1066, was pre-eminent among the lay proprietors within the bishopric of Durham
during the twelfth century.
The FitzMaldred family descended from the Scottish (Annandale) House of Bruce.
Isabell and
Robert’s son and heir was Geoffrey de Neville (c1170 to c1242) who assumed his
mother's Neville surname, though kept his father’s FitzMaldred
coat of arms.
Geoffrey’s son
was Robert de Nevill, 2nd Baron Neville of Raby (c1223 to 1282), who was loyal
to the Crown in the Barons' War and served as Sheriff of York. He died in 1282
and was succeeded by his grandson Ranulph de Neville (18 October 1262 to 18 April 1331), the first Lord
Neville.
Ranulph
married Euphemia de Clavering, and they had fourteen children. Their eldest
son, Robert Neville (c1297 to 1319), the Peacock of the North, died
before Ranulph, so his second son Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville (c 1291 to 5
August 1367) succeeded to the inheritance.
Ranulph
later married Margery de Thwenge, daughter of John de
Thwenge and Joan de Mauley.
The tomb of Sir
Edmund Thweng, who died at the Stirling, though not
the famous Battle of Stirling Bridge against William Wallace of 1297, in the
Anglo-Scottish Wars in 1344, lies in Sheriff Hutton’s Parish Church. He was
born in about 1280 in Cornborough, near Sheriff
Hutton, and was Margery’s brother. He married Isabel Constable and they had a
son, Marmeduke de Thweng.
Sir Edmund de Thwenge of Cornburgh
died on 15 October 1344 and was buried at Sheriff Hutton, where his effigy in
mail armour still lies in the North Chapel.
Ranulph's
son and heir was Ralph Neville, Second Baron Neville of Raby, steward of the
king's household. The fifth Peter de Mauley released to Sir Ralph de Nevill all
his right to his service for the Sheriff Hutton lands so that the Nevilles held
Sheriff Hutton directly from the Crown. Ralph married Alice Audley, the widow
of Ralph de Greystoke, 1st Baron Greystoke (who died in 1323), on 14 Jan 1326
and they had thirteen children.
In the
fourteenth century the church was enlarged by the addition of wide aisles to
the nave extending westward as far as the western face of the tower, in which
was inserted the present west door. The north and south walls of the old nave
were removed and arcades of two bays erected on each side. A difference in
detail shows that the southern bay is somewhat earlier in date. A north chapel
was also added to the chancel.
Ralph’s
wife, Alice Neville had the Neville Chancery Chapel built in the parish Church
at Sheriff Hutton to say mass for deceased members of her family, and assigned 'le
Frith close' and other lands for its support.
Victorian Plan of the Church at
Sheriff Hutton
It must have
been in about 1332 that William
Farnedale of Shyrefhoton
was born, probably the son of Walter
de Farndale, a vicar who travelled across England in various ecclesiastical
appointments. William
Farndale became chaplain of Derleye by 1358, probably
a reference to Darley, about 10 kilometres northwest of Harrogate, and was
pardoned for the death of John of Spaldington in
1370. Sometime after that William came to live in Sheriff Hutton.
In 1335,
Esmon de Claveryng, knight to Ralph de Nevill, lord
of Raby issued a receipt for an instalment of a pension charged on Ralph's
manor of Sheriff Hutton.
Ralph
Neville led the English forces to victory against King David II of Scotland at the
Battle of Neville's Cross on 17 October 1346. In 1348 Ralph de Nevill, for his laudable
bearing in the battle by Durham against David Brus, obtained licence to
alienate considerable property to two chaplains who were to celebrate daily at
the altar of St. Mary and St. Peter in the parish church of Sheriff Hutton for
the souls of himself and his kindred.
In 1347, the
Chancery, Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum, taken as a result of applications to the
Crown for license for alternate land, recorded that Ralph de
Nevill of Raby to grant a messuage, land, and rent in Sheriff Hutton to two
chaplains in the church there, retaining the manor of Sheriff Hutton. In 1350
Ralph de Nevill, knight, lord of Raby made a further grant to Robert de Mustroll, of Bubwith, and Robert
de Ulram, chaplains in the church of Sheriff Hutton,
confirmed by William la Zouche, archbishop of York.
In 1347,
Lord Ralph Neville developed the chapel of St Mary and St Peter. The church was
dedicated in, and probably before, 1375 to St Mary, and later, in 1443 to St
Helen and St Cross, later becoming the Church of St Helen and the Holy Cross.
In 1367
Sheriff Hutton passed from Ralph Neville to his son John Neville, the third
Baron Neville de Raby (1322 or 1328 to 17 October 1388), who had fought with
his father in the Battle
of Neville's Cross in 1346 and served in the French wars.
For the next
one and a half centuries, the Neville family, from their base founded on
Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, were to become the most dominant family in the
course of the national story. This was a
period of dynastic upheaval which would lead to the War of the Roses, in which
the Nevilles would play a key role. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick became
known as the Kingmaker and his mother, Cecily Neville and his daughters Isabell
and Anne Neville married into the Yorkist and Lancastrian families. Therefore,
for the next 150 years, the history of Sheriff Hutton, the Nevilles, and the
nation, are intricately entwined.
In order to
understand the history which would lead to the Wars of the Roses, it is helpful
to understand the
complications of the Royal Dynasty.
The
traditional feudal system had evolved over the past centuries, and as a system
of the provision of livelihood within royal estates in exchange for rent and
service, it was the source from which an army could be drawn when it was
required. In the late fourteenth century, relying on this system, Edward III
had created duchies for his sons, including the Duchies of York and Lancaster.
Administration was devolved and a new powerful class of rival nobility emerged.
The feudal bond was mutual, so the ordinary classes of folk demanded protection
in return. The duchies grew wealthy and grew in power, able to raise powerful
armies to protect their interests. This was all fine during the reign of Edward
III, but the seeds of turmoil were sown for the following decades.
The period
was satirically summarised in the 1930s in that classic of R J Sellar and
Yeatman, 1066
and All That.
It must have
been sometime in the 1370s that William
Farnedale of Shyrefhoton
arrived in Sheriff Hutton with his wife Juliana, his sons Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton and William,
and his daughters Helen and
Agnes.
On Edward
III’s death in 1377, his grandson Richard II was crowned, at the age of ten.
Richard II was the son of The Black Prince and Joan (of Stuteville descent), the Fair
Maid of Kent, owner of the estates which included Farndale.
The young
Richard II’s reign was one of crisis and revolt. He increased his income to
manage the threats against him. A medieval arms race began. Unpopular taxes led
to the Peasant’s Revolt, but Richard II nevertheless lost land in France.
Discontent spread amongst the noble class.
The young Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton may
have served in the Hundred Years Wear in Brittany as an archer in 1380, perhaps
the beginning of his long military
career.
In 1382 John Neville was granted a licence to crenellate, or fortify,
which allowed him to choose a different site for a new larger castle, similar
in design to Bolton Castle, with tall corner towers four or five storeys high
and domestic buildings which were almost as tall arranged around a courtyard.
He started to build a second castle on a new site in the village, the castle
whose ruins remain today.
The new castle was built to the west
of the earlier site. The new castle became the heade
and capitall residence of his heirs and later the
dwelling of many key
players in the national story.
Victorian
Plan Sheriff Hutton Castle
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An
aerial journey. |
There is a
record of 1382 that John de Nevill, lord of Raby to Robert de Coverham made appointment of William de Hoton
of Tudhoe (Todow) as
attorney to
receive seisin of lands, etc, in Sheriff Hutton.
John Lord
Nevill died in 1388, and his son and heir was Ralph Neville, First Earl of Westmoreland (1346 to
1425). In 1388 William de Blakeden and Ralph lord of Nevill were parties to a
document which concerned Tudhoe (Tuddowe),
Newton-Hansard (Newton-haundard) [In Elwick],
Deighton (Dyghton) [in Northallerton], Grewelthorpe (Growelthorpp) [in
Kirkby-Malzeard], Raskelf
(Rascall) [in Easingwold], Lillings-Ambo (Lillyng and Lillyng) [in
Sheriff-Hutton].
Ralph
Neville
Ralph
Neville supported Richard II's proceedings against Thomas of Woodstock and the
Lords Appellant, and as a reward he was created Earl of Westmorland on 29
September 1397. When Richard
Farendale of Sherifhoton
had served in the Hundred Years Wear in Brittany in 1380, he had served under
Thomas of Woodstock’s command.
The
Nevilles support for a royal power grab - Neville Lancastrian support
Ralph’s
loyalty to Richard II was tested shortly afterwards. His first wife, Margaret
Stafford, had died on 9 June 1396, and Neville's second marriage to Joan
Beaufort before 29 November 1396 made him the son-in-law of Richard II 's
uncle, John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster.
It was at this time that William Farnedale of Shyrefhoton died on or about 23 February 1397,
leaving his will. In the name of God Amen. I, William Farnedale,
on 23 February 1398, in good memory, make my testament in this manner. Firstly,
I bequeath my soul to God and the Blessed Mary and all the Saints, and my body
to be buried in the Churchyard at Schyrefhoton. Item,
I bequeath as mortuary payment, the best animal I have. I bequeath to be burned
around my body, as candles, 8lbs of wax. Item, I bequeath to the High Altar for
sins forgiven, 4s. Item, I bequeath to a Chaplain to celebrate divine services
for my soul in the Parish Church of Schyrefhoton for
a whole year, 100s. Item, I bequeath to the fabric of St Peter’s York, 6s 8d.
Item, I bequeath to Sir John Ferriby, Robert Gyllyng
and William Barneby, 6s 8d each (20s). I bequeath to the Church of Schirefhoton for putting lead on the south roof, 20s. Item,
I bequeath to each Canon of the Monastery of Marton 12d. I bequeath to every
Chaplain ministering on the day of my funeral, 6d. Item, I bequeath to my wife
Juliana, 4li and to my son Richard, 4li. Item, I bequeath to every poor person
on the day of my burial 1d. Item, I bequeath to my son Richard my small sword
with all my knives. Item, I bequeath to my daughter Helen, two cows. Item, I
bequeath to my daughter, Agnes 2 bullocks and two plough beasts. Item, I
bequeath to Richard Batlay 2 bullocks, Item, I
bequeath to Margaret Batlay 2 bullocks and 2 plough
beasts. I bequeath the rest of my goods to my wife Juliana, my son Richard and
my daughter Helen. And I appoint Sir John Alwent,
Rector of the Parish Church of Midelham, Juliana
Farndale, Richard Farndale and William Huby, my executors. In witness whereof I
have set my seal. Witnesses: Sir Robert de Hoton,
Prior of Marton and Sir John de Park, Chaplain and many others, date as above.
It seems that William Farndale’s son,
William the Younger, had left Sheriff Hutton and took new lands at Gowthorpe near Stamford Bridge, about 20 km southeast of
Sheriff Hutton, where he held three bovates by 1428. William the elder was
clearly a wealthy man by his death. He was able to fund a year of prayers for
his soul by paying 100s. He gave 6s to St Peter’s in York and 20s for
re-leading the south roof of the church at Sheriff Hutton. He was able to
donate 1d to every poor person in the parish on the day he died. He gave his
sword and knives to his soldier son, Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton. He gave two cows to Helen and 2
bullocks and two plough beasts to Agnes. He gave other animals to Richard and
Margaret Batlay. The residue of this estate went to
his wife, Juliana and to Richard.
The focus of
the Nevilles meantime was on castle building. The second castle started by John
Neville in 1382 was completed by Ralph Neville in 1398. In that year there was
an appointment by Ralph Nevill, earl of Westmorland, lord Nevill, and Joan, his
wife, of John Convers and John de Seton, as their attorneys to receive seisin
of the manor and castle of Sheriff Hutton.
The
relationship between Henry Bolingbroke and Richard II came to a crisis in that
same year, 1398. A remark about Richard's rule by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of
Norfolk, was interpreted as treason by Henry Bolingbroke, who reported it to
the king. The two dukes agreed to undergo a duel of honour at Gosford Green
near Caludon Castle, Mowbray's home in Coventry.
However before the duel could take place, Richard II decided to banish Henry
from the kingdom to avoid further bloodshed. It was claimed that this was with
the approval of Henry's father, John of Gaunt. It is not known where he spent
his exile. Mowbray was also exiled for life.
In William
Shakespeare play of Richard II, Act 1, Scene 3, Henry Bolingbroke mourned his
sentence of exile: How long a time lies in one little word! Four lagging
winters and four wanton springs End in a word; such is the breath of kings.
Indeed the
breath of Kings would now rock the lands of England, and particularly the
ancestral Neville lands, for generations.
Richard II’s
rule was increasingly arbitrary and unpopular. In Shakespeare’s depiction, as
the Lancastrian John of Gaunt lay dying in 1399, he mourned where Richard had
taken his Kingdom.
|
The Lancastrian
Patriarch’s lament for this sceptred isle. |
Methinks I am a prophet new inspired
and thus expiring do foretell of him. His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot
last, for violent fires soon burn out themselves. Small showers last long, but
sudden storms are short. He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes with
eager feeding food doth choke the feeder. Light vanity, insatiate cormorant,
consuming means, soon preys upon itself.
This royal throne of kings, this
sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden,
demi-paradise, this fortress built by Nature for herself against infection and
the hand of war, this happy breed of men, this little world, this precious
stone set in the silver sea, which serves it in the office of a wall or as a
moat defensive to a house, against the envy of less happier lands, this blessèd plot, this earth, this realm, this England. This
nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings, feared by their breed and famous by
their birth, renownèd for their deeds as far from
home for Christian service and true chivalry as is the sepulcher
in stubborn Jewry of the world’s ransom, blessèd
Mary’s son. This land of such dear souls, this dear dear
land, dear for her reputation through the world, Is now leased out, I die
pronouncing it, like to a tenement or pelting farm.
England, bound in with the triumphant
sea, whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege of wat’ry
Neptune, is now bound in with shame, with inky blots and rotten parchment
bonds. That England that was wont to conquer others hath made a shameful
conquest of itself. Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life, how happy then
were my ensuing death!
(Richard II, William Shakespeare, Act
2, Scene 1)
The tension
came to a head when Richard II was campaigning in Ireland. His banished cousin,
Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, seized the throne and became Henry IV,
the start of the House of Lancaster.
|
The
son of the Fair Maid of Kent, proprietor of the Farndale lands, laments that
the King after all is the same as his subjects. |
Of
comfort no man speak. Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs, make dust
our paper, and with rainy eyes, write sorrow on the bosom of the earth. Let’s
choose executors and talk of wills. And yet not so, for what can we bequeath
save our deposèd bodies to the ground? Our lands, our
lives, and all are Bolingbroke’s, and nothing can we call our own but death and
that small model of the barren earth which serves as paste and cover to our
bones.
For God’s
sake, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.
How some have been deposed, some slain in war, some haunted by the ghosts they
have deposed, some poisoned by their wives, some sleeping killed, all murdered.
For
within the hollow crown that rounds the mortal temples of a king keeps Death
his court, and there the antic sits, scoffing his state and grinning at his
pomp, allowing him a breath, a little scene, to monarchize, be feared, and kill
with looks, infusing him with self and vain conceit, as if this flesh which
walls about our life were brass impregnable; and humored
thus, comes at the last and with a little pin bores through his castle wall,
and farewell, king!
Cover
your heads, and mock not flesh and blood with solemn reverence. Throw away
respect, tradition, form, and ceremonious duty. For you have but mistook me all
this while. I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief, need friends.
Subjected thus, how can you say to me I am a king?
(Richard II,
William Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 2)
Shakespeare
depicted Edmund Duke of York handing the Crown to Henry, Great Duke of
Lancaster, I come to thee, from plume-plucked Richard, who with willing soul
adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields to the
possession of thy royal hand. Richard II had given up the Plantagenet
Dynasty, With mine own tears I wash away my balm. With mine own hands I give
away my crown.
The
Lancastrian dynasty had thus begun and the Nevilles had supported its rise.
Underlying
tensions between the rival factions of the Houses of York and Lancaster,
created by Edward III, continued. The then Duke of York had an alternative
claim to the throne, which was arguably a better claim.
For now,
Ralph Neville’s support for Henry IV’s assumption of the Crown from Richard II
was rewarded with a lifetime appointment as Earl Marshal on 30 September 1399,
a lifetime grant of the honour of Richmond, and several wardships.
The English
invasion of Scotland of August 1400 was the first military campaign undertaken
by Henry IV of England after deposing Richard II. Henry IV took urgent steps to
defend the Anglo-Scottish border, and to overcome his predecessor's legacy of
failed military campaigns. Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton may
have served in an expeditionary force to Scotland in 1400.
It was early
in the 15th century that three arches were added in the north, south and east
walls of the tower in the church at Sheriff Hutton, and shortly afterwards a
belfry stage was added. In the middle of the century the north chapel was
rebuilt and the vestry added to the east of it by Thomas Witham and his wife,
the former east window being removed and inserted in the north wall. At the
altar of St Nicholas and St Giles in this chapel a chantry was later founded by
Thomas Witham. Soon after the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt, the side
walls being raised and a new roof added. The south wall was entirely rebuilt
with an arcade of two bays opening into a new south chapel, the east end of the
south nave aisle being replaced by an open arch, and the former east window
being re-used in the end wall of the chapel.
Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton may have served with Henry V in the
Agincourt campaign or afterwards, possibly at Harfleur and the Siege of Mantes.
His daughter Margorie Farndale was born in about 1409, Agnes Farndale in about 1411 and Alice Farndale in about 1413.
Henry V died in 1422 and left a nine
month old baby son, Henry VI. The inter noble rivalry would soon pick up again.
The
bubbling cauldron
The descendants
of Edward III were beginning to form themselves into two camps. The dethroning
of Richard II had ended the interest of the main Plantagenet line. The throne
had been taken by the descendants of John of Gaunt, the House Lancaster. The
descendants of Edmund, First Duke of York, with an arguably better claim to the
throne, for the time being remained loyal to the new Lancastrian dynasty. The
family who were to wield increasing influence over the events which would next
unfold, was the House Neville,
the heart of whose ancestral lands, was by then focused on Middleham and
Sheriff Hutton.
The
Lancastrian Henry VI had no father to guide him to Kingship and he relied on
his advisors. He became timid and passive and he focused on his piety. At this
point in history, the nobility needed strong leadership to control their
ambitions. After the expensive battles in France, financial resources were
depleted. The young king was easily controlled by the rival noble families.
It was at
this time in 1435 that Richard
Farendale of Sherifhoton
died leaving his will. The Will of Richard Farendale,
proved at Sherifhoton 21 Dec 1435. ‘In the name of
God Amen, 8th December 1345. I Richard Farndell being of sound mind make my
will in this manner. Firstly, I bequeath and Commend my soul to God Almighty,
My Creator, and my body to be buried in my said Parish Church. Item. I bequeath
a grey horse with saddle and reins and my armour, viz: a bascinet, a breast
plate, a pair of vembraces and a pair of rerebraces with leg harness as my mortuary payment. And I
bequeath 3 lbs of wax to be burned around my body on the day of my burial.
Item. I bequeath to the Vicar of my Parish Church 6s 8d and to every chaplain
taking part in my burial service Mass, 4d. And I bequeath 26s 8d for mending a
service book for the use of the parish church. And to the fabric of the
Cathedral Church of St Peter York, 12d. And I bequeath to my daughter Margorie
at her marriage 10 marks, if she live to be marriageable age. And if she die
before she arrives at her years of discretion, I wish the said 10 marks to be
divided equally between my daughters Agnes and Alice. And I bequeath to Joan Brantyng 40s and a bed. And to the four orders of friars
mendicant of York 20s and two quarters of corn to be divided in equal portions.
And to John Pyper 2s. And as regards the rest of my funeral expenses, I wish
them to be paid at the discretion of my executors. The rest of my goods, not
bequeathed above, my debts having been paid, I bequeath to the said Margorie,
my daughter, to be divided among them in equal parts. And I make the said
Thomas Robynson and John Couper and Margorie my
daughter, my executors, faithfully to implement the terms of my will.
Witnesses; Robert, Vicar of the Church of Hoton,
William Huby of the same, John Burdley of the same
and many others.
After
Richard Farndale died, the three daughters of the old veteran soldier, Margorie
Farndale, Agnes
Farndale and Alice
Farndale, assuming they lived until the 1480s, would have lived through the
Wars of the Roses, in the lands of the Nevilles and Richard Duke of Gloucester,
later Richard III.
A
division of Neville lands
Ralph’s son,
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury (1400 to 1460) (“Richard Neville The
Elder”) came into possession of far greater estates than, as a younger son
under the primogeniture rules, he might reasonably have expected. His eldest
half-brother John Neville seems to have agreed to many of the rights to the
Neville inheritance being transferred to his step-mother, the Lancastrian Joan
Beaufort, so that it was her son Richard who inherited these on her death in
1440. No doubt the powerful Lancastrian family were able to influence the
direction of the succession.
Richard
Neville
Richard also
gained possession of the lands and grants which had been made jointly to Ralph
and Joan.
Yet Ralph's
true feudal heir was his grandson Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland who
was the son of Ralph’s older son, John Neville (1397 to 1420) who had
predeceased Ralph. John had marred Elizabeth Holland, daughter of Thomas
Holland, the Second Earl of Kent. It was therefore Ralph Neville, Earl of
Westmoreland, who represented the senior line of the Nevilles.
Ralph of
Westmoreland later disputed the loss of his inheritance to Richard Neville The
Elder, and although he agreed to a settlement in 1443, it was something of a
fudge.
Richard
Neville the Elder retained the great Neville possessions of Middleham and
Sheriff Hutton, as well as a more recent grant of Penrith.
However, by
the settlement, Raby Castle, the family's most ancient possession, returned to
the senior branch of the family.
Here lay the
germs of a Neville–Neville feud, which was later to become absorbed into a
destructive Percy-Neville feud.
Before her
death in 1440, Ralph’s widow Joan Neville (nee Beaufort) had therefore
transferred her rights in Sheriff Hutton to the eldest son of her marriage with
Ralph Neville, Richard Earl of Salisbury.
An order of
1440 from Richard, Earl of Salisbury to Henry [Beaufort] the Cardinal
of England and Bishop of Winchester, William Felter, clerk, Alexander Nevile,
John Constable, and Richard Haryngton, Knights, and
others related to the demise of
the castle and manor of Sheriff Hutton, the manor of Raskelf,
and the wapentakes of Hang, Halykeld and Gilling co.
Yorks, the manors of Clavering and Catmer, co Essex, the castle and manor of Penrith, the manor of
Sowerby, etc.
The
cauldron starts to boil over
By the
1430s, Henry V’s son, Henry VI had started to exercise personal rule, and began
to promote the fortunes of his closest relatives. The Nevilles risked losing
their influence. Meantime the local rivalry between the Nevilles and the Percys
in the north of England started to become a major force in Yorkshire politics.
In 1445
Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou, an effort to promote a lasting peace
between England and France. Margaret would prove to be the strong character in
the camp of Lancaster. In the early years though, concerns about the
Lancastrian dynasty were growing and Margaret was blamed for the absence of an
heir.
Meantime
Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York (“Richard of York”) had married Cecily
Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, Richard Neville the Elder’s sister.
Richard of York was given command of the King’s army in France. He became
increasingly dissatisfied with the King’s conduct regarding the French wars and
particularly his failure to send him reinforcements. Richard of York had to
fund his troops from his own estates. To make matters worse, Richard of York
was replaced in his command by his personal rival, the Duke of Somerset.
Somerset began to influence Henry VI against Richard of York. To rub salt into
the wounds, despite his influence and wealth, Richard of York was not appointed
to the royal council.
In 1447
Richard of York was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. This was a prestigious
appointment, but probably made by a cautious Henry VI eager to have Richard
placed away from England and France. There was distrust and misunderstanding
between Richard of York and King Henry. Richard of York was offended by Henry’s
actions and declining of his advice, whilst in turn Henry felt threatened by
Richard of York.
As commander
of the English Army, the Duke of Somerset squandered Richard of York’s
successes.
In 1449
Rouen was surrendered to France without a siege and the French recovered
Normandy and Aquitaine.
There was
serious unrest and Richard of York demanded stronger government and a rounding
up of the traitors who had been so disastrously conducting the war. There were
grievances at high taxation and a desire for legal stability.
This was Yevgeny Prigozhin
in fifteenth century England. Not daring to denounce the King directly, Richard
of York was strongly critical of the King’s advisers.
Threateningly
Richard of York returned from Ireland to England without permission, with his
own army, and distributed pamphlets which championed his proposals for good
governance, implicitly implying the administrative shortcomings of Henry’s
regime. He built support.
This led to
his arrest and he was forced to swear an oath of allegiance to the King.
In 1452 Richard
of York and Cecily Neville had a son Richard, “Richard of Gloucester”, one day
to become Richard III, who was born in Fotheringay
Castle, Northamptonshire. He was born into a world of strife, just as the Wars
of the Roses were about to begin.
The war
which was about to unfold was not a civil war between the counties of York and
Lancashire, but a baronial war between the Houses of Lancaster and York, who
each had widespread interests across the country. The leading families in the East and West
Riding of Yorkshire supported the House of Lancaster, but in the North Riding
loyalty was divided.
The Nevilles
of Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, the Scropes of
Bolton, the Latimers of Danby and the Mowbrays of
Thirsk supported the House of York.
The powerful
House of Percy, the Clifford of Skipton, Ros of Helmsley and Talbot of
Sherfield supported the House of Lancaster.
On 24 August
1453, Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, assembled a force of men-at-arms and archers
perhaps as large as 1,000 strong, intending to intercept Richard Neville the
Elder and his family at Heworth Moor, outside York, as he made for Sheriff
Hutton. Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury arrived unscathed at Sheriff Hutton,
but this marked the beginning of what was virtually a private war between the
Houses Percy and Neville.
After
further setbacks in France, and the recovery by France of Gascony, Henry’s
mental health declined. He was smitten with a frenzy and his wit and reason
withdrawn.
Richard of
York took control of the situation and established a regency. He imprisoned the
Duke of Somerset in the Tower of London.
Queen
Margaret of Anjou was furious, but was then in a late stage of her pregnancy.
She then gave birth to a son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (“Edward
Prince of Wales”). The depressed King failed to recognise Edward as his heir
which would later give rise to issues with his illegitimacy.
Margaret of
Anjou stepped in to take a more proactive role in the preservation of
Lancastrian interests. She is probably unfairly maligned as a scheming female
protagonist. Rather she was naturally protecting her family’s interests.
In 1455,
Henry made a surprise recovery from his mental illness. Richard of York’s
council was dissolved and he was forced out of court. He now faced the risk of
charges of treason. The stakes had become higher.
The Wars of the Roses
Richard of
York therefore started to recruit an army. His two principal allies were
Richard Neville the Elder and his son, Richard Neville, the Earl of Warwick
(“Richard Neville the Kingmaker”). Richard Neville the Kingmaker was a
political manoeuverist, a master of political spin.
It was probably the Kingmaker who spun tales which painted Margaret of Anjou in
a bad light. Richard of York benefitted from his own cunning strategist.
|
The
painting depicts the fictional scene by Shakespeare, from Henry VI, Part 1,
of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset being challenged by Richard of York,
3rd Duke of York to choose between the White Rose of York and the Red Rose of
Lancaster. |
In
Shakespeare’s play, Richard of York demanded Since you are tongue-tied and
so loath to speak, In dumb significants proclaim your
thoughts: Let him that is a true-born gentleman And stands upon the honour of
his birth, If he suppose that I have pleaded truth, From off this brier pluck a
white rose with me.
The Duke of
Somerset replied Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer, But dare
maintain the party of the truth, Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.
Richard
Neville the Kingmaker responded I love no colours, and without all colour.
Of base insinuating flattery. I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet.
The Earl of
Suffolk added I pluck this red rose with young Somerset. And say withal I
think he held the right.
The nobleman
Vernon then scalded Stay, lords and gentlemen, and pluck no more, Till you
conclude that he upon whose side The fewest roses are cropp'd
from the tree Shall yield the other in the right opinion.
(Henry VI
Part 1, Act II, Scene 4)
In May 1455
Richard of York marched south towards London. The royal army was taken by
surprise. On 22 May 1455, they met at St
Albans where Henry IV’s army, commanded by the Duke of Buckingham as
Constable of England, alongside his ally Lord Clifford, were mustered. The
pacific Henry IV was there himself. This was his first experience of battle.
Richard of
York’s force positioned themselves on the road from the north and barricaded
the gateways.
The Prigozhinest Yorkists still didn’t dare to oppose royal
authority directly, but had demands purportedly to protect the King from his
poor advisers. Richard of York suggested he was not opposing the King directly,
but demanded the surrender of the King’s forces, and for his rival the Duke of
Somerset to stand trial. However the force of arms which he had assembled
revealed that this was really a coup. And Richard of York was not for
compromise.
Knowing that
reinforcements were on the way to support the hastily drawn together royal
army, Richard of York decided to take advantage of his numbers and attacked the
barricades. Richard of York’s ally, Richard Neville the Kingmaker led an attack
of archers. The Kingmaker outmanoeuvred the royal forces and they abandoned
their positions. The Duke of Somerset was hacked to death, as were Clifford and
other nobles. A street battle followed and Henry himself was wounded.
This was the
start of a civil war that came to be known as the
Wars of the Roses between two rival branches of the House of Plantagenet,
the Houses of Lancaster and York.
After the
battle the victorious Richard of York bent the knee to Henry VI in a chapel of
St Albans church, though some say it was in a smelly tanner’s shop. Having
disposed of his enemies, Richard of York apologised for the wounding of the
King and assured him of his loyalty. The weak Henry VI did not then act
decisively, but forgave those who had fought against him at St Albans.
Richard of
York became principal advisor and Constable of England. Richard Neville the
Kingmaker was made Commander of the English forces in France.
Henry VI
became a broken man. However Margaret of Anjou gathered support amongst the
nobility in resistance to Richard of York. There was high tension in court over
the following years. By 1456, Margaret of Anjou had resumed effective control
of the government.
In 1458
Richard Neville participated in The
Love Day, a solemn procession on 24 March 1458 which was the culmination of
Henry VI’s personal attempt to prevent a spiralling of the civil war following
the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455. The public display of unity
instigated by a peace-loving, but ‘simple-minded’ monarch was ineffective. The
rivalries within the nobility ran deep. Within a few months petty violence had
broken out, again and within the year Yorkists and Lancastrians faced each
other at the Battle of Blore Heath.
In 1459, the
six year old Richard of Gloucester, son of Richard of York, was moved to the
Yorkshire stronghold of Ludlow Castle, west of Birmingham.
In 1460,
Henry VI summoned Richard of York, Richard Neville the Kingmaker, and his
father Richard Neville the Elder to an inquiry into their actions. The three
men declined the summons, but rallied at Ludlow Castle. The young seven year
old Richard of Gloucester, the future Edward IV’s brother, must have been
thrilled at the excitement of the Yorkist forces who came to Ludlow Castle, in
his father’s cause. The young Richard and his brother George remained at
Ludlow.
Margaret of
Anjou gathered a large army to prevent the forces from meeting, but when the
royal army engaged with Richard Neville the Elder’s army at Blore
Heath near Market Drayton, as Richard was travelling south from Middleham,
many of her troops switched allegiance and attacked the rear of her own force.
The Yorkist force won the battle decisively.
There are
traditions that Margaret watched the battle from a church tower and fled, after
the battle was lost, on a horse whose shoes were reversed to confuse her
pursuers. In reality she was unlikely to have been there.
However the
Earl of Warwick’s troops then defected. The Yorkists did not seize power at
this stage, and Richard of York fled to Ireland and Richard Neville the Elder
and Richard Neville the Kingmaker fled to France. Ludlow castle was then sacked, and everything
stolen from the castle, witnessed by the horrified young future Richard III.
The Nevilles
were declared traitors and they were disinherited of their lands by an Act of
Attainder. Cecily Neville negotiated an income for her and her younger
children, including Richard Duke of Gloucester. Richard of Gloucester had been
forced to grow up quickly as he witnessed these events during these tumultuous
years.
The Yorkists
in exile had nothing to lose. In 1460 Richard Neville the Kingmaker, returned
with another army, with Edward of York, Richard of York’s eldest son.
The Yorkist
army gathered support in London and then headed to Margaret of Anjou’s
defensive position at Northampton.
Once again a large section of Margaret’s army defected and the Yorkist victory
was swift. King Henry VI was taken prisoner again.
Richard of
York then returned from Ireland. He arrived in Parliament and provocatively
placed his hand on the throne, which shocked even his own supporters. An Accord
was agreed whereby Henry VI would continue to rule but Richard of York would
succeed him. In reality the discord between factions was such that the
compromise only enhanced the existing divisions. Henry’s son Edward the Prince
of Wales was disinherited and Margaret Anjou was furious. She took Edward to
their relatives in Wales, the Tudors.
Margaret of
Anjou continued to rally to the Lancastrian cause, but having secured the
Accord, Richard of York protested that this was illegal. So he marched an army
north, purportedly under the King’s authority, reverting to his old role as
Lord Protector.
Richard of
York was forced to retreat in the face of Lancastrian opposition to Sandal
Castle near Wakefield. The Lancastrian army was led by the new Duke of
Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland and Lord Clifford of Skipton. On 30
December 1460 at the Battle
of Wakefield, Richard, perhaps unwisely, left the security of the castle
and attacked the Lancastrian force. The Yorkists were initially the superior
force, but then Lord Clifford (whose father had been butchered at St Albans)
attacked from the rear. This was the first of two great Wars of the Roses
battles fought in Yorkshire.
Richard of
York, husband of Cecily Neville, was soon swamped by Lancastrian soldiers and
was killed. His younger son Edmund was also killed in the battle. Richard of York’s head was hung on the city
wall at Middlegate, York, with a paper crown on its head. Richard Neville the
Elder had also returned to England with Richard of York, and was slain on 30 to
31 December 1460, the night after the Battle of Wakefield.
The young
future Richard III was sent to the Netherlands for safety.
So Richard
of York and Richard Neville the Elder were both dead.
Richard
Neville the Elder’s son, Richard Neville the Kingmaker (22 November 1428 to 14
April 1471) now became the key player in the events of the next decade. In 1436
at the age of eight, he had married Lady Anne Beauchamp, daughter of Richard de
Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. This made him heir not only to the earldoms of
Salisbury and Warwick, but also to a substantial part of the Montague,
Beauchamp, and Despenser inheritance. He would therefore become the 16th Earl
of Warwick and 6th Earl of Salisbury.
Richard
Neville, the Kingmaker
After the Battle
of Wakefield, the Lancastrians marched towards London, but the recently killed
Richard of York’s son, Edward of York still relied on the Accord signed by the
King for his claim to the throne.
On 1
February 1461, Edward of York led an army of 5,000 to intercept the Lancastrian
army near Mortimer’s
Cross, close to the Yorkist stronghold of Ludlow Castle. Before the battle
the armies saw three suns rise at dawn, a phenomenon called a parhelion caused
by the reflection of ice crystals, which was taken by the Yorkists as a
positive omen and later incorporated into the Yorkist arms. Edward won the
battle.
Margaret of
Anjou marched south from the north of England and the Earl of Warwick marched
north to make a stand, this time with the Yorkists on the defensive, at St
Albans where the armies would face each other for a second time. The second
battle at St Albans was once again a battle of urban warfare and this time
the Yorkist army disintegrated and King Henry VI was recovered found singing
under a tree.
The
Lancastrians returned to London with Henry VI.
Richard
Neville the Kingmaker then began a propaganda campaign, portraying Margaret of
Anjou as an apocalyptic woman at the head of a Viking like army, about to
threaten the folk of southern England. He promoted a probably unfair legend of
Margaret of Anjou as evil. Edward of York was a powerful, charismatic
individual, easily contrasted to Henry VI and he insisted on his claim to the
throne which he argued had been agreed by Henry VI in the Accord. The argument
was advanced that Margaret of Anjou had broken the agreement at the Second
Battle of Albans.
Queen
Margaret’s army was still in Yorkshire and regrouped and she set up her force
in position near Tadcaster.
There Edward
of York won a decisive victory against Henry VI at the Battle of Towton on
29 March 1461. Towton is about ten kilometres southwest of York, twenty
kilometres southwest of Sheriff Hutton. This was the second of two great Wars
of the Roses battles fought in Yorkshire. The battle was fought in a snowstorm.
Edward attacked before his reinforcements from the Duke of Norfolk had arrived.
They surprised the Lancastrians with volleys of arrows carried by the wind up
the hill into the Lancastrian army. To reinforce their success, the Duke of
Norfolk then arrived. It was probably one of the largest battles ever fought on
English soil, with over 50,000 combatants and most of England’s nobility. The
rivers were said to have run red with blood for days after the battle.
Henry VI,
Margaret, and their son the Prince of Wales fled to York and then on to
Scotland, while Edward marched south to London.
On 28 June
1461 Edward Plantagenet was crowned King Edward IV at Westminster. The
Coronation was lavish.
Richard of
York’s younger son, Edward IV’s brother, Richard of Gloucester remained for a
time in the care of the Archbishop of Canterbury and was then sent to the
lavish household of Richard Neville the Kingmaker at Middleham. There he
started training as a soldier and courtier.
Richard of
Gloucester spent several years during his childhood at Middleham Castle in
Wensleydale, under the tutelage of the Kingmaker, who supervised Richard's
training as a knight. In the autumn of 1465, Edward IV granted the Kingmaker
£1,000 for the expenses of his younger brother's tutelage. With some
interruptions, Richard stayed at Middleham from late 1461 until early 1465,
when he was 12.
The young
Richard of Gloucester met Warwick’s daughter and heir, Anne Neville at
Middleham. Perhaps they fell in love in their youth, which might make a happier
backstory to their later marriage than Shakespeare chose to provide to us. It
is possible that even at this early stage the Kingmaker was considering the
king's brothers as strategic matches for his daughters, Isabel and Anne. Young
aristocrats were often sent to be raised in the households of their intended
future partners, as had been the case for Richard of Gloucester’s father,
Richard of York who had married Cecily Neville.
Richard
Neville the Kingmaker continued to pursue the Lancastrians in Ireland and in
May 1464 defeated a Lancastrian force at Hexham.
Henry escaped south. In 1465, the former
Henry VI was discovered at Waddington in Yorkshire, close to the border with
Lancashire, sheltering with Lancastrian sympathisers. He was captured and
returned to the Tower of London.
That year,
Edward IV and Richard of Gloucester’s brother, George Plantagenet, was
appointed Archbishop of York.
In 1468 a
warrant gave Morris Arnold, the king's serjeant porter, the sum of £9 6s 8d for
delivering a grey horse to Lord Wenlock, who then delivered it to a servant of
the marquess of Farrowe; and also for the costs and
expenses of two persons by him conducted from London to Sheriff Hutton to the
earl of Warwick.
Lancastrians
restored
Relationships
between Edward VI and Richard Neville the Kingmaker then became strained.
Edward negotiated with the Duke of Burgundy to restart the war with France. The
Kingmaker instead sought an alliance with France through a marriage between
Edward and the French King’s daughter. However Edward married a commoner,
Elizabeth Woodville, in secret, the widow of a Lancastrian knight. The
Kingmaker was furious as the Woodville family were promoted into positions of
power.
The Nevilles
had found a new enemy in the Woodvilles.
As the
relationship between the King and the Kingmaker became strained, Edward IV
opposed the match of his brothers and the Nevilles, which Richard Neville had
been keen to promote.
Edward then
removed Richard Neville the Kingmaker’s brother from the office of Lord
Chancellor, and the Neville family influence seemed to be in decline.
However
Richard Neville recruited George, Duke of Clarence, the King’s younger brother,
and persuaded him to marry his daughter Isabel and to start a rebellion against
the King. During Warwick's lifetime, George was the only royal brother to marry
one of his daughters, the elder, Isabel Neville, on 12 July 1469, without the
king's permission.
Neville
Lancastrian support
The
troublesome George joined his father-in-law's revolt against his brother the
king, while Richard of Gloucester remained loyal to Edward, even though Edward
was rumoured to have been having an affair with Anne Neville.
In April
1469 the Kingmaker and George travelled north purporting to suppress a revolt
in Yorkshire, but they were really plotting to replace the King with George,
his brother and Richard Neville would thereby be rewarded with his own daughter
as Queen.
In the
ensuing battles, Edward IV was captured and taken to Middleham Castle. However
it became clear that Warwick and George did not have the necessary public
support. Edward was released and reconstructed his regime after the 1469
rebellion.
At this
point the Lancastrian Margaret of Anjou exploited the opportunity of intra
Yorkist rivalry and returned to England and met secretly with Richard Neville
the Kingmaker. They reached an agreement whereby another of Warwick’s
daughters, Anne Neville, would marry Margaret’s son, Edward, the once Prince of
Wales, and heir to the Lancastrian claim to the throne.
Richard Neville,
the Kingmaker, and George, Duke of Clarence landed an army in Devon in
September 1470. Edward IV rushed to meet them but was quickly surrounded.
Henry VI was
released from prison in the Tower of London. He was restored to the throne, now
with Richard Neville the Kingmaker, as well as Margaret of Anjou, in support.
George, Duke of Clarance, was rewarded for his treachery to Edward, by becoming
the new Duke of York. After this rivalry between the Yorkist brothers, it was
becoming less clear who was a Yorkist and who was a Lancastrian. The boundaries
of loyalty had become fuzzy.
The true
Yorkists Richard of Gloucester and Edward IV were forced to flee to Burgundy in
October 1470 after the Kingmaker’s defection to the side of the former
Lancastrian queen Margaret of Anjou. In 1468, Richard and Edward’s sister
Margaret had married Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and the brothers
could expect a welcome there.
The
Kingmaker’s daughter Anne Neville was then married to Henry VI’s son, Edward.
Anne
Neville
However the
newly restored Lancastrian dynasty soon found itself isolated, with too many
enemies made from the Kingmaker’s scheming. There were widowed wives and
fatherless sons with long memories who despised Richard Neville.
Edward IV
therefore returned from Burgundy and landed in Yorkshire and built a large army
founded on Richard of Gloucester’s power base in Yorkshire. George, the new
Duke of York, sensed a change of the tide, and joined his brothers, probably
encouraged by Cecily Neville, relinquishing his Yorkist title to revert to the
Duke of Clarence. Edward IV was welcomed back into London and Henry VI was once
again imprisoned in the Tower of London, never to leave again.
The
Yorkists’ power regained
Edward IV
was restored to the throne in the spring of 1471. Richard Neville the
Kingmaker’s troops then confronted Edward’s army at the Battle of Barnet,
just north of London on Easter Sunday in April 1471. The Kingmaker’s army was destroyed
in a foggy encounter. Richard Neville, the Kingmaker fled, and despite Edward’s
orders to the contrary, he was killed brutally. His corpse was displayed at St
Paul’s cathedral so all would know that he had died.
The Bulmer
line which had passed by marriage to the Nevilles, ended their power at the
Battle of Barnet, in 1471, when Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, was slain, and
his estates confiscated.
In a final
rally, the Lancastrian Margaret of Anjou then landed with French reinforcements
on the south coast and they were joined by soldiers from Wales and their Tudor
allies. However they were also wiped out at Tewkesbury.
The young Edward, son of Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, and now first husband
of Anne Neville was killed at Tewkesbury by the Yorkist brothers’ army. Anne
Neville became a widow.
Henry VI
died, probably murdered, in the Tower of London. Lancastrians were executed in
large numbers. Margaret of Anjou fled to France.
There are
many references to the Plantagenet connections with Sheriff Hutton Castle
including the Sun in Splendour of Edward IV and Neville and Dacre shields in
the stained glass, much of it damaged at the Reformation.
When Warwick
the Kingmaker fell at Barnet in April 1471, all the Neville’s property was
forfeited to the Crown in 1471 to be shared between Edward IV’s brothers.
Richard Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III, was given Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, as
well as part of the Cumberland estates. This grant was renewed after the duke's
marriage with Warwick's younger daughter Anne.
Richard,
Duke of Gloucester
Sheriff
Hutton’s association with the Nevilles had ended. Its fortune next lay with
Richard of Gloucester. Sheriff Hutton began a period of assimilation into the
Yorkist interests, particularly following the fortunes of the future Richard
III.
The
18-year-old Richard, Duke of Gloucester, had played a crucial role in the
revival of Yorkist fortunes and was in the thick of the fighting at the Battles
of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
Shakespeare
depicted his famous soliloquy as the Yorkists came to power again. Now is
the winter of our discontent, Made glorious summer by this son of York, And all
the clouds that loured upon our house, In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, Our bruisèd
arms hung up for monuments, Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, Our
dreadful marches to delightful measures. Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his
wrinkled front; And now, instead of mounting barbèd
steeds To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, He capers nimbly in a lady’s
chamber To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
|
Shakespeare’s depiction of an evil Richard III
Whether
Shakespeare’s depiction of Richard of Gloucester is historically accurate, or
simply propaganda, remains the subject of fierce debate. |
But
Shakespeare did not paint Richard of Gloucester as a gallant soldier, bur rather as a scheming hunchback who was already plotting
his own power grab, though this was probably Tudor propaganda. The soliloquy
continued But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks, Nor made to court
an amorous looking glass; I, that am rudely stamped and want love’s majesty, To
strut before a wanton ambling nymph; I, that am curtailed of this fair
proportion, Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, Deformed, unfinished,
sent before my time Into this breathing world scarce half made up, And that so
lamely and unfashionable That dogs bark at me as I halt by them— Why, I, in
this weak piping time of peace, Have no delight to pass away the time, Unless
to see my shadow in the sun And descant on mine own deformity. And therefore,
since I cannot prove a lover To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determinèd to prove a villain And hate the idle pleasures
of these days. Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous, By drunken prophecies,
libels, and dreams, To set my brother Clarence and the King In deadly hate, the
one against the other; And if King Edward be as true and just As I am subtle,
false, and treacherous, This day should Clarence closely be mewed up About a
prophecy which says that “G” Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be. Dive,
thoughts, down to my soul.
(William
Shakespeare, Richard III, Act 1, Scene 1)
The widowed
Anne Neville, object of her father’s treacherous plotting against the Yorkists,
was under house arrest in London.
According to
Shakespeare Anne Neville was disgusted by her future husband Richard and
suspected him as murderer of her former husband, the young Prince Edward of
Wales. William Shakespeare painted Anne Neville mourning the death of her
husband in Richard III, Act 1, Scene 2 telling the bearers’ of her dead husband
Edward’s coffin. Set down, set down your honorable
load if honor may be shrouded in a hearse, whilst I
awhile obsequiously lament Th’ untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster. O, cursèd be the hand that made these holes. Cursèd the heart that had the heart to do it. Cursèd the blood that let this blood from hence.
|
There
is an alternative hypothesis that Richard and Ann, having been brought up
together at Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, loved each other, and Anne’s
marriage to Richard saved her from the new challenging political landscape. |
And when
Richard Duke of Gloucester himself then appeared, Shakespeare’s Anne Neville
asked What black magician conjures up this fiend to stop devoted charitable
deeds? Richard protested I did not kill your husband. Anne replied Why
then, he is alive and Richard said Nay, he is dead, and slain by
Edward’s hands. Anne then cursed Never hung poison on a fouler toad. Out
of my sight! Thou dost infect mine eyes.
Shakespeare
hardly saw them as former lovers at Middleham castle!
In
Shakespeare’s interpretation, after the encounter, Richard wondered whether he
might seduce her and wickedly sees this as something of a challenge. Was
ever woman in this humor wooed? Was ever woman in
this humor won? Shakespeare tells of Anne unable
to resist Richard's advances becoming the Duchess of Gloucester, whilst Richard
engineered the imprisonment of his elder brother, George Duke of Clarence, in
the Tower of London.
We don’t
know whether Richard was motivated by an affection for Anne, with whom he had
grown up, or greed, but he secured Anne’s release from house arrest.
Richard,
Duke of Gloucester was a military hero who had shown bravery in battle. He was
the wealthiest man in Britain after the King.
However
tensions soon started to mount between the two brothers.
The newly
restored Edward IV invaded France with Richard Duke of Gloucester leading the
largest force. Edward later signed a treaty with France which incensed Richard.
Richard was perhaps still influenced by Richard Neville the Kingmaker’s
tutelage during his youth. Perhaps after the Kingmaker’s defection, Richard’s
loyalties were confused.
Edward sent
his young son Edward to Ludlow Castle to be brought up by the Queen’s brother,
Anthony Woodville. His second son, Richard, became Duke of York.
As for
Richard and Anne Neville, if we try to put Shakespeare’s plot to one side, a
marriage to Anne would have reinforced Richard’s claims to the Neville lands,
but it could well be that Anne had approached Richard with the idea of
marriage, for protection in the new world of Yorkist England. The match was
mutually beneficial. Whatever the truth, on 12 July 1472, as Duke of
Gloucester, Richard, later Richard III, aged 20, married Lady Anne Neville,
still aged only 16, of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton, the daughter of the now
dead Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the Kingmaker, widow of Edward of
Westminster, only son of Henry VI, a marriage intended to seal her father's
allegiance to the House of Lancaster. Richard therefore formerly inherited the
vast Neville estates.
The Crowland Chronicle records that Richard agreed to a
prenuptial contract in the following terms. The marriage of the Duke of Gloucester
with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much
of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation
of arbitrators, while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke
of Clarence.
Richard of
Gloucester thereby retained the forfeited Neville estates which he had already
been granted in the summer of 1471 including Sheriff Hutton, Middleham and
Penrith.
Richard
and Anne in stained glass, Cardiff Castle
Richard and Anne Neville with their son Edward from an illumination in
the Rous Roll, 1483
Both the
treacherous George Duke of Clarence, and Richard Duke of Gloucester, had
therefore married the Neville sisters, Isabell and Anne. This gave both Dukes
claims to the Neville lands. Inevitably a bitter rivalry grew between them.
King Edward was forced to intervene to divide the Neville estates. The Duke of
Clarence didn’t like the deal. He started to spread rumours about Edward’s
legitimacy.
The
poisonous fraternal rivalries that had driven the Wars of the Roses between
Lancastrians and Yorkists now fine tuned themselves to stir up dispute within
the Yorkist House.
In 1473
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was appointed King’s Lieutenant of the North by
Edward IV to solve the problem of the North and the threat of the Scots.
He gained a reputation for his administration. Richard and Anne worked well
together from their base in the Neville lands.
Richard’s
links with Yorkshire were strong from his teenage years, when he had lived at
Richard Neville the Kingmaker’s fine castle at Middleham, in Wensleydale, to
where he returned in his twenties in 1473 to live for a decade with his young
new bride Anne Neville, daughter of the now dead Earl of Warwick.
Richard held
the post of Warden of the West Marches, which included much of modern North
West England. With the symbol of a white wild boar, in effect he was the
Governor, on behalf of the English Crown, of most of the North of England as
the King’s loyal Lieutenant. As a highly respected Lord Protector and High
Constable, Richard soon established himself as a champion of justice and
equality before the law, admired by rich and poor alike as a good and fair
ruler. As Lord of Scarborough, he ordered building of the borough walls and
harbour improvements, encouraging trade from Whitby,
Scarborough and Hull. Having been
granted the Honour of Skipton, he paid for major improvements to the Parish
Church. As King he later became a benefactor of York Minster, ordering a new
chantry and paying for new altars and living accommodation for priests. He and
his wife Anne Neville were members of the Corpus Christi Guild in York.
|
Supporters
of Richard III |
|
Richard’s
association with Middleham. |
The Council
of the North was established at Sheriff Hutton, York and Sandal. The Council
acted as a court of pleas and was a form of devolved government. Members of the
Council included the Earls of Lincoln, Warwick and Northumberland and Miles
Metcalf, the Recorder of York. It continued to operate for over 150 years, in
the manner it had been set up by Richard.
Richard Duke
of Gloucester stayed regularly at Sheriff Hutton and Middleham during this
decade.
For a decade
from 1473 to 1483, Richard of Gloucester governed the north of England. Richard
gained a positive reputation and was well respected, even loved. He was a
champion of law and equity and by reputation protected the ordinary man against
the excesses of the elite classes. He gained a reputation as a good medieval
nobleman. Richard of Gloucester began to concentrate his land holdings in
Yorkshire and used the castles at Middleham and Sheriff Hutton as his power
base.
In 1473, though perhaps as late as 1476, Richard and Anne had
a child, Edward, though he was sickly and stayed at the protection of Middleham
Castle. Richard had
two illegitimate children from before his marriage to Anne, John of Gloucester,
also known as John of Pontefract, and Katherine, Countess of Pembroke, but
Edward was his only true heir.
Isabel
Neville, wife of George, the Duke of Clarence died in 1476. She had been a
calming influence on Richard’s brother and after she died he started to come up
with conspiracy theories. Edward’s
brother George started to misbehave. When his wife died, he tried and executed
one of his ladies in waiting who he accused of poisoning her, and of
witchcraft, but thereby usurped the authority of the King. The offence of les
magiste, or assuming the power of the King, was
an act of treason.
The
troublesome George was executed on 18 February 1478. A rumour quickly spread
that he was drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine.
The castle and
manor of Sheriff Hutton were formerly conveyed to the Duke of Gloucester and
his trustees in 1477 by Sir Ralph Nevill and his wife Isabel, in 1480 by Sir
John Radcliffe and his wife Katherine, lately widow of Sir Oliver Dudley, the
right therein on each occasion belonging to his wife.
In March
1483, Edward IV fell ill during a fishing expedition and died. Upon his death,
his son Edward, only 12 years old, became King Edward V. In a codicil to his
will, written a few days before he died, Edward IV had named his brother
Richard as Lord Protector.
Edward V had
been living with his uncle Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers, brother of the
widowed Queen Elizabeth Woodville. The Woodvilles
tried to use this advantage of control over the new young King to overthrow
Richard as Lord Protector and retain control of the new King Edward V’s destiny
themselves.
In York,
Richard heard of his brother’s death and headed south calling on the Woodvilles to meet him with Edward at Northampton. Edward V
also headed south with the Woodvilles in a long
procession, but did not head for Northampton, but for London. However Richard
took control and seized the Woodvilles, sending Earl
Rivers to Pontefract Castle to be executed. In this chaotic situation, there
was disquiet and rioting in London. At Sheriff Hutton Castle Anthony Woodville
was imprisoned by Richard of Gloucester, and there he made his will before
being removed to Pontefract for execution in 1483.
Richard then
accompanied Edward V to the Tower of London, then a royal residence as much as
it was a prison.
Shakespeare
naturally depicted a scheming Richard, reassuring the princes Where it seems
best unto your royal self. If I may counsel you, some day or two Your Highness
shall repose you at the Tower; then where you please and shall be thought most
fit for your best health and recreation (William Shakespeare, Richard III,
Act 3, Scene 1).
The young
King Edward V was to be prepared for his Coronation in May. Elizabeth Woodville
took sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. Richard then announced a delay to the
Coronation. In June Elizabeth was persuaded to allow her second son, Richard of
Shrewsbury join her brother in the Tower of London.
The Canon of
St Paul’s then declared that Edward IV had been betrothed to another women
before he married Elizabeth Woodville, which made the marriage to Elizabeth
void, and their offspring illegitimate.
The
Coronation was called off. Richard III was crowned King on 6 July 1483. Richard
gave his oath in English. It appears that he wanted the people to understand
his oath as be promised to rule with justice and mercy and to protect the
rights of people and church.
The Princes
disappeared. If they were killed it is generally felt they would have died in
about September 1483. There were subsequent Yorkist Pretender claims by Lambert
Simbel in 1487 and Perkin Warbeck in 1490 who claimed to be the princes Edward
and Richard respectively, but Warbeck was certainly an imposter.
Richard has
been made villein by the Tudor cause, who having seized the Crown from Richard
III had reason to legitimise themselves. This was led by Sir Thomas More during
the reign of Henry VIII, the story later taken up by Shakespeare during
Elizabeth I’s reign. Whether he really was the monster portrayed is a matter of
strong debate, and Richard’s cause is still advanced by the Ricardian Society.
The case
against Richard is that he had control of the princes, the ability to silence
witnesses, the motive to kill them, and the events suggest that he usurped the
Crown.
The case in
his favour suggests that if Richard’s intention was to have usurped the throne
he would more likely have displayed the bodies of the young children to prove
they had died and secure the throne, claiming natural causes or blaming someone
else. There were other suspects, including Margaret Beaufort, who sought the
coronation of her son Henry Tudor.
Richard was
still only thirty years old when he was crowned Richard III, and his past
history, including his governance of northern England, do not suggest a
villainous man. It should be obvious by now in this story that everyone was
plotting against everyone else!
There is no
reason to suppose Richard of Gloucester would have so quickly decided to betray
his brother Edward IV to whom he had shown every loyalty.
The story of
the princes in the tower emerged under the pen of Sir Thomas More in the reign
of Henry VIII and the story was picked up by Shakespeare, probably embellished
by retelling in the period in between. Shakespeare might have written his play
as a veiled parody of the hunchback Robert Cecil. Richard III had scoliosis but
this would not have given him the hunched back with which he has been maligned.
|
A
recap of Richard III’s life. |
In 1483, a
conspiracy arose known as Buckingham’s Rebellion, led by Richard's former ally,
the Duke of Buckingham, among a number of disaffected gentry, many of whom had
been supporters of Edward IV. It is possible that they planned to depose
Richard III and place Edward V back on the throne, and that when rumours arose
that Edward and his brother were dead, Buckingham proposed that Henry Tudor
should return from exile, take the throne and marry Elizabeth, eldest daughter
of Edward IV.
There are
records at this time that Richard III granted several annuities to his servants
from the issues of the manor of Sheriff Hutton. Thomas Wrangwish,
who commanded the city of Tadcaster's forces in June 1483, received an annuity
of 20 marks from the issues of Sheriff Hutton.
The historian P M Kendall described
Sheriff Hutton Castle as a stone chalice holding the royal blood of the house
of York.
The memorial is a cenotaph, not a
tomb, as the body was buried elsewhere at an unknown place. The present
position of the cenotaph in the north east corner of the church is not where it
was intended to stand. From past records, it would seem that the monument has
had several sites within the church. Made of alabaster, it has suffered over
the years and during the twentieth century, it was twice restored at the Ricardian Society’s expense.
Edward’s death created a power
vacuum. There was no heir.
If the old
veteran Richard Farendale of Sherifhoton’s three daughters, Margorie
Farndale, Agnes
Farndale and Alice
Farndale had lived to about 70, they might have witnessed these days of
Richard III’s Sheriff Hutton interests.
Richard III
sent his niece, Elizabeth of York, sister of the brothers in the tower,
and other prominent members of the royal household, to Sheriff Hutton.
Elizabeth was believed to have taken walks at the Neville Oak, a prominent tree
in the deer park, within sight of the castle.
Richard III
visited the chapel himself and authorised a payment of £5 to William Sympson
chauntry prest of our Lady
Chapelle beside the church of Shiriefhotone to
content him for his over due half year’s stipend and
£10 a year as his salary.
In 1485
having fled to Paris after Buckingham’s failed rebellion, Henry Tudor secured
support from the French regent Anne of Beaujeu, who supplied troops for an
invasion. On 22 August 1485, Richard III met the outnumbered forces of Henry
Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Richard rode a white courser, an
especially swift and strong horse. The size of Richard's army has been
estimated at 8,000 and Henry's at 5,000, but exact numbers are not known,
though the royal army is believed to have substantially outnumbered Henry's.
Thomas, Lord
Stanley, was a close ally of Richard, but also Henry Tudor’s stepfather. He was
a wily strategist and kept his intentions to himself. There were effectively
three armies at the Battlefield of Bosworth. Richard sent a threatening message
to Stanley demanding that he support Richard’s cause. However at the critical
moment, Stanley came to the support of Henry Tudor.
On 22 August
1485, Richard III was defeated at the Battle
of Bosworth. He was killed after losing his horse. His corpse was stripped,
stabbed with blades and treated with disdain. He was taken to Leicester and
hastily buried in a rough grave at Greyfriars. He lay there until his burial
place in a Department of Social Sciences Car Park, under the letter “R” for
“Reserved” (or “Richard” or “Rex” perhaps) was excavated and he was found and
DNA tested.
Aftermath
Henry VII
became the first Tudor King of England.
When in 1485
the estate of Sheriff Hutton had come into the hands of the first Tudor
sovereign the impression still lingered that it belonged to the Neville heirs,
and it was described as in the hands of the king by reason of the nonage of Edward son and heir of Edward late Duke of
Clarence. Somewhat later the revenues of the town were appropriated for the
defence of Berwick, and Sheriff Hutton was declared to have been of the
inheritance of Richard, late Duke of York. In 1495, both manor and castle
were formally declared to have belonged to the Tudor king from the day of his
predecessor's death, and they remained in the Crown until 1525.
Henry VIII
granted the manor and castle at Sheriff Hutton to his only son born out of
marriage, with his mistress Elizabeth Blount, Henry Fitzroy, newly created Duke
of Richmond and Somerset.
The Council
of the North continued to meet and from 1525 alternated between Pontefract
Castle and Sheriff Hutton, though by 1545, the Council met at York.
After the
young Duke of Richmond's untimely death without issue in 1536, Sheriff Hutton
reverted to his father, Henry VIII. Its revenues were once again used to fund
the garrison at Berwick, and it was even proposed that Marton Priory should be
annexed to the manor to make good deficiencies.
From 1547
the castle seems to have been occupied only spasmodically by the Council of the
North and its use for that purpose declined since then.
It is not
evident from public records at what date the manor of Sheriff Hutton finally
passed away from the Crown.
In 1615 Sir Thomas Ingram was appointed to the offices of
ranger and keeper of the Sheriff Hutton park. Sheriff Hutton Park itself, south
of the castle, in the Forest of Galtres, was granted seven years later to
Arthur Ingram, for life, with the remainder to his elder son the younger Sir
Arthur Ingram, keeper of the castle and steward of the honour of Sheriff Hutton
from 1627. In 1621 he built the New Lodge there as his country residence, his
main house being Temple Newsom near Leeds
In 1637 the hall went to Arthur’s third son Sir Thomas Ingram (1614 to 1672), a royalist in the Civil War, who removed large
quantities of stone from Sheriff Hutton castle to build stables and a
brewhouse, the Rangers House. Thus began the final decline of the castle.
Thomas Ingram married Frances Belasyse, daughter of
Thomas Belasyse, 1st Viscount Fauconberg
in 1637, and they had a daughter.
In 1646 Sir Arthur Ingram the Younger
paid £320 to Ralph Radcliffe and his wife Elizabeth for the manor of Sheriff
Hutton, but nothing remains to show that Ralph's interest was more than
nominal, nor did the Parliamentarian surveyors of 1649 record any manorial
rights beyond those of George Kirke by virtue of a grant of Charles I.
In 1649 the deer and timber contained
in the park at Sheriff Hutton were valued at a very high price. At that date
there were two dwelling-places within its enclosure. One of these was the Great
Lodge, a brick messuage with large and handsome rooms, chapel, gallery and
walled-in court and garden wherein are severall litle Mounts with Statues thereon placed.
George Kirke
negotiated with the Long Parliament for the manor in 1648 and sold his rights
in it in 1650 to Lord Maynard. Lord Maynard was suffering imprisonment for a
debt of £4,000 incurred in the purchase of robes and wearing apparel for
his late master when he petitioned Charles II for arrears of rent in 1666. In
the reign of Charles II the house was sold to the Thompson family.
Grants from
the revenues of Sheriff Hutton made in 1668 and 1671 to Viscount Grandison and
Edward Villiers were to take effect after the death of Kirke.
In 1685,
Sheriff Hutton was the property of Sir Arthur's grandson Edward Ingram Viscount
Irvine, who settled a moiety of the manor on his younger brother Arthur. Arthur
Ingram succeeded to the family estates and title in 1688. Five of his six sons
followed him in turn, dying without issue, and Sheriff Hutton was passed to
their nephew and heir Charles Viscount Irvine, lord of the manor in and before
1769. Under the will of Charles Isabella Anne, his elder daughter, inherited it
after her mother's death in 1807, her husband Francis Seymour Conway Marquess
of Hertford then assuming the surname of Ingram.
Originally the house in Sheriff Hutton Park was Jacobean in its architecture.
This house still survives but about one foot inside the present Queen Anne
exterior built in 1732.
The ruins of the castle are
quadrangular, with a large open court in the centre, flanked with high square
towers. A considerable part of the warder's tower, over the eastern gateway,
still remains.
or
Go Straight to Chapter 10 – Medieval
Warfare
The Sheriff Hutton webpage includes a
chronology and reference to source material.
There are Sheriff
Hutton Manorial Records at the National Archives.
Parish
Records of Sheriff Hutton are held at the University of York.
There are
Sheriff Hutton Deeds (WYL100/SH Sheriff Hutton within the Temple
Newsham Collection (National Archives WYL100, held by North Yorkshire
Archives Service, Leeds).
The History of
the County of York North Riding, Volume 2, has a section on Sheriff
Hutton, 1923.
A
History of Yorkshire: County of the Broad Acres, David Hey, 2005 includes
references to Sheriff Hutton’s history.
Sheriff
Hutton and its Lords by Janet Senior, Rosalba Press. The publishing group of
the Yorkshire branch of the Richard 111 Society, ISBN 0 907604 05 6.
Some notes
on the Castle at Sheriff Hutton by Richard W Howarth, September 1993.
Sheriff
Hutton Impressions of a History, a collection of essays written in 2000 to form
a book about the history of the village./
Sheriff
Hutton Website – History
page.
Richard III Society –
Yorkshire Branch.
Sheriff
Hutton FAQs
What is
the historical significance of Sheriff Hutton?
Sheriff Hutton
is a village in North Yorkshire with a rich history dating back to ancient
times. It is known for its association with the powerful Neville family during
the Wars of the Roses and as a key location for Richard III's reign. The
village boasts a Norman church and the impressive ruins of Sheriff Hutton
Castle, built by the Nevilles in the 14th century.
How did
the village get its name?
The name Hutton
derives from the Old English words hoh (projecting
piece of land) and tun (farmstead). The prefix Sheriff is linked
to Bertram de Bulmer, who served as Sheriff of York in 1115. Bertram built the
first castle in the village, leading to the adoption of the Sheriff
prefix.
What role
did the Neville family play in Sheriff Hutton's history?
The Nevilles
acquired Sheriff Hutton in the late 12th century through marriage. They became
one of the most powerful families in England, particularly during the 14th and
15th centuries. John Neville built the second and more formidable Sheriff
Hutton Castle, which served as a key residence for the family and played a
crucial role in the Wars of the Roses.
How was
Sheriff Hutton connected to the Wars of the Roses?
The
Nevilles, based in Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, were key players in the Wars
of the Roses. They initially supported the House of York, with Richard Neville,
Earl of Salisbury, and his son, Richard Neville, the Kingmaker, playing pivotal
roles in Edward IV's rise to power. Sheriff Hutton was a strategic stronghold
during this turbulent period.
What is
the connection between Richard III and Sheriff Hutton?
Following
the death of the Kingmaker and the restoration of Edward IV to the throne,
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, gained prominence. He married Anne Neville,
daughter of the Kingmaker, and inherited the Neville estates, including Sheriff
Hutton. Richard III used Sheriff Hutton as a base for governing northern
England, establishing the Council of the North there. After his son's death,
Richard III held a ceremony at Sheriff Hutton for his son, Edward, Prince of
Wales.
Did
Richard III live at Sheriff Hutton Castle?
While
Richard III held court and administrative meetings at Sheriff Hutton Castle,
his primary residence was Middleham Castle in Wensleydale. However, he spent
considerable time at Sheriff Hutton, particularly after becoming King, and
established a royal household there for his nephew, the young Earl of Warwick.
What
happened to Sheriff Hutton Castle after Richard III's death?
After
Richard III's defeat at the Battle of Bosworth, Sheriff Hutton Castle passed to
the Tudor monarchs. Henry VIII granted it to his illegitimate son, Henry
Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. Following the Duke's death, the castle
reverted to the Crown and was primarily used by the Council of the North until
it fell into disrepair.
Are there
any remnants of Sheriff Hutton Castle today?
Yes, the
ruins of Sheriff Hutton Castle still stand today, showcasing the impressive
scale of the Neville's stronghold. It retains its quadrangular layout, high
square towers, and remnants of the warder's tower over the eastern gateway. The
ruins serve as a tangible reminder of the castle's significant role in English
history.