Europe, British Isles, England, North Yorkshire, Middleham Castle [Map]
Middleham Castle [Map]. A Norman keep surrounded by a curtain wall around half a mile from the River Ure.
In 1451 Thomas Stanley 1st Earl of Derby (age 16) and Eleanor Neville Baroness Stanley (age 4) were married in the Chapel at Middleham Castle [Map]. She the daughter of Richard Neville Earl Salisbury (age 51) and Alice Montagu 5th Countess of Salisbury (age 44). They were third cousins. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward I of England. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Edward III of England.
On 31 Oct 1454 or 01 Nov 1454 John Neville 1st Marquess Montagu (age 23) and Thomas Neville (age 24) captured Thomas Percy 1st Baron Egremont (age 31) and Richard Percy (age 28) in a skirmish known as the Battle of Stamford Bridge. [Note. The second battle at Stamford Bridge [Map] with the first being in 1066]. The brothers were taken to Middleham Castle [Map]. Thomas Percy 1st Baron Egremont was subsequently fined £11,200 in damages which, with an income of £100, he was unlikely to ever pay. He was, therefore, taken to Newgate Prison, London [Map] in which he stayed until he escaped in 1456.
Around 1460 Anne Neville Queen Consort England (age 3) spent her childhood at Middleham Castle [Map].
Patent Rolls Edward IV 1461. 07 May 1461. Middleham Castle [Map]. Grant to the king's (age 19) kinsman Richard, Earl of Warwick (age 32), of the custody of all lordships, manors and lands with knight's fees and advowsons held by the king's uncle George Neville (age 54), knight, lord Latymer, within the county of York or elsewhere, during the idiotcy of the latter, even though no inquisition has been taken. By other letters patent.
Patent Rolls Edward IV 1461. 07 May 1461. Middleham Castle [Map]. Grant for life to the king's kinsman Richard (age 32), Earl of Warwick, of the office of constable of the king's castle of Dover, and al rents and services called 'castelwarde', and herbage and advowsons pertaining to the same, and the wardenship of the Cinque Ports and all forfeitures, 'shares', wreck of sea and other profits; and also 300l yearly for the sustenances of himself and priests, servants, watchmen, and other officers there, in the same manner as Humphey, late Duke of Gloucester, viz 146l frin the wards pertaining to the castle and 154l from the fee farm of the town of Southampton. By other latters patent.
Patent Rolls Edward IV 1461. 07 May 1461. Middleham Castle [Map]. Appointment for life of the said earl (age 32), as great chamberlain of England, with the accustomed fees. By other latters patent.
Patent Rolls Edward IV 1461. 07 May 1461. Middleham Castle [Map]. The like (Grant for life) to the said earl (age 32), the office of Master of the King's Mews and Falcons and a messuage called 'le Mewehous' at Charryng by Westminster, co Middlesex, with all houses and other profits pertaining to the same, in the same manner as John, duke of Bedford, deceased; and appointment of him to take the king's right prises of falcons, goshawks, sakers, sakrets, lanners, lannerets and ger-falcons sold within the realm, paying the accustomed price viz 20s for each tercel of goshawk, saker, lanner or lanneret. By other latters patent.
Patent Rolls Edward IV 1461. 07 May 1461. Middleham Castle [Map]. The like (Grant for life) to the said earl (age 32) of the offices of steward of the manor or lordship of Fekenham, co Worcester, and master forester and rider of the kings forst of Fekenham with the custody of the king's park of Fekenham and the stank there, with the accustomed fees. By other latters patent.
On 28 Feb 1463 John Lovell 8th Baron Lovel 5th Baron Holand (age 30) died. On 28 Feb 1463 His son Francis Lovell 1st Viscount Lovell (age 7) succeeded 9th Baron Lovel of Titchmarsh, 6th Baron Holand at around eight years of age. He became a ward of King Edward IV of England (age 20) who gave his wardship to Richard "Kingmaker" Neville Earl Warwick, 6th Earl Salisbury (age 34) spending his childhood at Middleham Castle [Map] with the young (future) King Richard III of England (age 10).
Warkworth's Chronicle 1464. 15 May 1464. Also in the iiijth yere of the Kynge Edwarde, the monethe of Maij, the Duke of Somersett, the Lorde Roos (deceased), the Lorde Moleyns (age 33), Talboys the Earl [Baron] of Kyme (age 49), Sire Phylippe Wenterworth (age 40), Sire Thomas Fynderne, gadred a grete peple of the northe contre1. And Sere Jhon Nevelle, that tyme beynge Earl of Northumberlonde, with 10,000 men come uppon them, and there the comons fleede that were with them, and ther the forseide lordes were takene and afterward behedede3. But thenne the Lorde Montagu (age 33), the Earl of Warwick (age 35)s brothere, whiche the Kynge had made Earl of Northumberlonde, was mighty and strong by the same, &c. And for so moche as the Kynge and his counselle thought that he wolde holde with his Earl of Warwick, therfor the Kyng and his counselle made the countre to desire that they might have the ryghtfull heyre Percy, sonne to Henry Percy that was slayne at Yorke Feld, to be the Earl of Northumberlond, and so it was doone. And after this the Kynge made Lorde Montagu, Marquyus Montagu, and made his sonne (age 3) Duke of Bedford, whiche schulde wedde the princesse, the Kynges heldest doughter, whiche, by possibylite, schuld be Kynge of England, and so he hade many fayre wordys and no lordeschyppys, but alwey he promysed he wuld do, &c,
Note 1. Gadred a grete peple of the northe contre. The following very curious document is from a MS. in the College of Arms (L.9):— "Anno Edwardi quarti quarto et mensis Maij die xxvij. scilicet in die san[c]te Trinitatis.
The Kyng lay in the Palois of York, and kept his astate solemply; and tho there create he Sir John Nevelle, Lord Mowntage, Earl of Northumberland. And than my lorde of Warrewike toke upon hym the jorney, by the Kynges commandement and auctoritee, to resiste the Rebellions of the Northe, acompanyed with hym my sayde Lorde of Northumberland his brother.
"Item, the xxiijti, day of Juyne, my saide Lorde of Warrewike, with the puissaunce, cam before the castelle of Alwike, and ad it delivered by appointement; And also the castell of Dunstanboroughe, where that my said Lord kept the feest of Saint John Baptist."
"Item, my said Lorde of Warrewike, and his broder Earl of Northumberland, the xxv. day of Juyn, leyede siege unto the Castelle of Bamburghe, there within being Sir Rauf Grey, with suche power as attendid for to keepe the said castelle ayen the power of the Kinges and my said Lord, as it apperith by the heroudes reporte, by the whiche my Lord sent to charge them to delyvere it under this forme, as ensewithe; Chester, the Kinges heroude, and Warrewike the heroude, had this commaundement, as foloweth, -to say unto Sir Rauf Gray, and to other that kept his Rebelliouse oppynyon, that they shule delivere that place contynent aftyr that summacion, and every man for the tyme being disposed to receyve the Kynges grace, my said Lord of Warrewike, the Kinges lieutenant, and my Lord of Northumbreland, Wardeyn of themarches, grauntith the Kyng['s] grace and pardon, body, lyvelodes, reservyng ij. persounes, is understoude, Sir Humfrey Neville and Sir Rauf Grey, thoo tweyn to be oute of the Kinges grace, without any redempcion. Than the answere of Sir Rauf Grey followithe unto the said heroudes, he clerely determynyng withinne hymself to liffe or to dye within the said place; the heroudes, according to my Lordes commandement, charged hym with all inconveniences that by possible might fall in offence ayenst Allemighty God, and sheding of bloode; the heroude saying in this wise, My Lordes ensurithe yow, upon their honour, to susteyne siege before yowe these vij. yeres, or elles to wynne yowe."
Item, my sayde Lorde Lieutenant, and my Lord Wardeyn, hath yeven us ferther comaundement to say unto yowe, if ye deliver not this Juelle, the whiche the king our most dradde soverain Lord hath so gretly in favour, seing it marcheth so nygh hys awncient enemyes of Scotland, he specially desirethe to have it, hoole, unbroken, with ordennaunce; if ye suffre any greet gunne laide unto the wal, and be shote and prejudice the wal, it shall cost yowe the Chiftens hede; and so proceding for every gunne shet, to the leest hede of any persoune within the said place. Than the saide Sir Rauf Grey deperted from the saide heroud, ant put hym in devoir to make deffence.
And than my Lorde lieutenant had ordennede alle the Kinges greet gonnes that where charged at oons to shute unto the said Castelle, Newe-Castel the Kinges greet gonne, and London the second gonne of irne; the whiche betyde the place, that stones of the walles flewe unto the see; Dysyon, a brasin gonne of the Kinges, smote thouroughe Sir Rauf Grey's chamber oftentimes; Edward and Richard Bombartell, and other of the Kinges ordennaunce, so occupied by the ordonnaunce of my said Lord, with men of armes and archirs, wonne the castelle of Bamburg with asawte, mawgrey Sir Rauf Grey, and tooke hym, and brought hym to the Kynge to Doncastre, and there was he execut in this fourme as followith. My lorde Earl of Worcestre, Connestable of Englond, sitting in jugement, told hym jugement, and remambrid hym, saying unto hym; "Sir Rauf Grey, thou hast take the ordir of Knyghthode of the Batthe, and any soe taking that ordir ought to kepe his faithe the whiche he makes; therfor remembre the[e] the lawe! wilt thou shall procede to jugement? thees maters shewith so evidently agayn the, that they nedithe not to examyn the of them, by certein persounes of the Kinges true subgettes, the whiche thou hast wounded, and shewithe here that thou canst not deny this; thou hast drawen the with force of armes unto the Kyng oure most natural soverain Lorde, the whiche tho wotest wele yave unto the suche trust, and in suche wise mynystred his grace unto the, that thou haddist his castels in the Northe partie to kepe; thou hast betraied Sir John Asteley Knyght, and brother of the gartier, the whiche remaignethe in the hand of the Kynges oure soverain Lord enemyes in Fraunce.
Item, thou hast withstoud and maade fences ageynst the Kynges maiestie, and his lieutenant the worthy Lorde my broder of Warrwike; it apperith by the strookes of the greet gunnes in the Kyng walles of his castell of Bamburghe. For the[se] causes, dispost the to suffre thy penaunce aftyr the lawe. The Kyng had ordenned that thou shuldest have hadd thy sporys striken of by the hard heles, with the hand of the maister cooke, that whiche is here redy to doo, as was promysed at the tyme that he tooke of thy spurres; he said to yee, as ys accustumed, that 'And thou be not true to thy soverain Lord, I shal smyte of thy sporys with this knyf herd by the helys,' and so shewne hym the maistre cooke redy to doo his office, with apron and his knyff.
"Item, Sir Rauff Grey, the Kyng had ordenned here, thou maist see, the Kynge of armes and heroudes, and thine own propre cote of armes, that whiche they shuld teere of thy body, and so thou shuldist as wel be disgraded of thy worshipp, noblesse, and armes, as of the order of Knyghthode; and also here is an oder cote of thin armes reversed, the which thou shuldest have werne of thy body, going to that dethe warde, for that belongethe aftyr the lawe. Notwithstanding, of the disgrading of knygthode, and of thine armes, et noblesse, the King pardons that for thy noble grauntfader, the whiche suffrid trouble for the Kynges moost noble predecesseurs2. Than, Sir Rauf Grey, this shal be thy penaunce, -thou shalt goo on thy feet unto the towneseend, and there thou shalt be laide downe and drawen to a scaffold maade for thee, and that thou shalt have thyne hede smite of thi body, to be buriede in the freres; thi heede where it pleased the Kyng."
Note 2. Sir Ralph Grey, of Wark, Heton, and Chillingham (lineal ancestor of the Earls of Tankerville, as well as of the present Earl Grey) was the grandson of Sir Thomas Grey, beheaded at Southampton with the Earl of Cambridge, Aug. 5, 1415. See the whole sheet pedigree of Grey in Raine's North Durham. - J.G.N.
"Quintodecimo die mensis Maij, apud Exham, decapitati sunt Dux Somersett, Edmundus Fizthu miles, Brasdshaw, Wauter Hunt, Blac Jakis. Decimo-septimo die mensis Maii, apud Novum-Castrum, decapitati sunt Dominus de Hungarforde, Dominus Roos, Dominus Thomas Fynderum, Edwardus de la Mare, Nicholaus Massam. Apud Medetham, xviijo die mensis Maii, decapitati sunt Dominus Philippus Wentworth, Willielmus Penyngton, Warde de Topcliff, Oliverus Wentworth, Willielmus Spilar, Thomas Hunt, le foteman Regis Henrici. Apud Eboracum, xxvº die mensis Maii, decapitati sunt Dominus Thomas Husye, Thomas Gosse, Robertus Merfynn, Johannes Butlerus, Rogerus Water, janitor Regis Henrici, Thomas Fenwyke, Robertus Cocfeld, Willielmus Bryte, Willielmus Dawsonn, Johannes Chapman. Apud Eboracum, xxviijo die mensis Maii, decapitati sunt Johannes Elderbek, Ricardus Cawerum, Johannes Roselle, Robertus Conqueror. [On the fifteenth day of May, at Hexham, Northumberland [Map], the Duke of Somerset (age 28), Edmund Fizthu, Bradshaw, Wauter Hunt, and Black Jakis were decapitated. On the seventeenth day of May, at Newcastle, the Lord of Hungerford, Lord Roos, Lord Thomas Fynderum, Edward de la Mare, and Nicholas Massam were decapitated. At Middleham Castle [Map], on the eighteenth day of May, the Lord Philip Wentworth, William Penyngton, Ward of Topcliff, Oliver Wentworth, William Spilar, Thomas Hunt, the footman of King Henry, were decapitated. At York, on the twenty-fifth day of May, Lord Thomas Husye, Thomas Gosse, Robert Merfynn, John Butler, Roger Water, the doorkeeper of King Henry, Thomas Fenwyke, Robert Cocfeld, William Bryte, William Dawsonn, and John Chapman were decapitated. At York, on the twenty-eighth day of May, John Elderbek, Richard Cawerum, John Roselle, and Robert Conqueror were decapitated.]" — MS. Arundel, Coll. Arm. 5, fol. 170, rº.
Hall's Chronicle 1469. 26 Jul 1469. All the kynges doynges were by espials declared to the erle of Warwycke, which lyke a wyse and politique Capitayne entendyng pot to lese so great an auauntage to hym geuen, but trustyng to brynge all his purposes to a fynall ende and determinacion, by onely obteyning this enterprise: in the dead of the nyght, with an elect company of men of warre, as secretly as was possible set on the kynges felde, kylling them that kept the watche, and or the kynge were ware (for he thought of nothynge lesse then cf that chaunce that happened) at a place called Wolney. iiij. myle from Warwycke, he was taken prysoner, and brought to the Castell of Warwicke. And to the entent that the kynges frendes myghte not know where he was, nor what was chaunced of hym, he caused hym by secret iorneys in the nyght to be conueyed to Myddelham Castell [Map] in Yorkeshire, & there to be kept vnder the custody of the Archebishop of Yorke his brother, and other his trusty trendes, which entertayned the kyng, like lis estate, and serned hym lyke a prynce. But there was no place so farre of but that the taking of the kyng was shortly knowé there with the wynde which newes made many men to feare, and greatly to dread, and many to wonder and lament the chauce. Kyng Edward beyng thus in captiuitie, spake euer fayre to the Archebishop and to the other kepers, (but whether he corrupted them with money or fayre promises) he had libertie divers dayes to go on huntynge, and one day on a playne there met with hym syr William Stanley, syr Thomas of Borogh, and dyuers other of hys frcdes, with suche a great bend of men, that neither his kepers woulde, nor once durst moue him to retorne to prison agayn.
Around 15 Aug 1469 King Edward IV of England (age 27) was imprisoned at Middleham Castle [Map]. On 10 Sep 1469 King Edward IV of England was released by Richard "Kingmaker" Neville Earl Warwick, 6th Earl Salisbury (age 40) afer Warwick realised he didn't have sufficient support for an alternative regime.
Around Oct 1469 Thomas Burgh 1st Baron Burgh of Gainsborough (age 38) rescued King Edward IV of England (age 27) from Middleham Castle [Map].
On 22 Sep 1471 Lancastrian Thomas "Bastard of Fauconberg" Neville (age 42) was beheaded at Middleham Castle [Map]. See Paston Letters Volume 5 782.
In Dec 1473 Edward York Prince of Wales was born to King Richard III of England (age 21) and Anne Neville Queen Consort England (age 17) at Middleham Castle [Map]. Coefficient of inbreeding 5.41%.
On 09 Apr 1484 Edward York Prince of Wales (age 10) died at Middleham Castle [Map] leaving his father King Richard III of England (age 31) without an heir. Duke of Cornwall, Earl Salisbury, Earl Chester extinct.
The River Ure rises at Ure Head, North Yorkshire [Map] after which it over Aysgarth Falls [Map], past Middleham Castle [Map], Jervaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire [Map], St Nicholas Church, West Tanfield, North Yorkshire [Map], east of Ripon, North Yorkshire [Map], under the bridge at Boroughbridge [Map] after which it is joined by the River Swale to form the River Ouse.