The Yorkshire Rebellions 1469

Towards the end of the 1460s King Edward again faced opposition to his rule. After the defeat of the Lancastrians a few years of peace ensued but the king’s relationship with his champion and mentor, Warwick, began to deteriorate. The causes were the king’s marriage to a Lancastrian widow, Elizabeth Woodville, the subsequent rise of her prodigious family and the marriage of the king’s sister to the duke of Burgundy whilst Warwick had favoured a French match. The earl then began to draw the king’s younger brother, George Duke of Clarence, to share his discontent.  Meanwhile civil unrest began in the north, possibly as early as April 1469 by ‘Robin of Redesdale’ which was aborted, but followed by a rising in May led by ‘Robin of Holderness’ and finally a major rebellion by ‘Redesdale’ in June and July.  The cause of the May disturbance was the levying of a tax by St Leonard’s Hospital, York, which affected four northern counties (Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland) and may also have been linked to support for Henry Percy being restored to his lands and earldom of Northumberland. Ironically, the title had been bestowed in 1464 on Warwick’s brother - John Neville - who now contained the rebels as they approached the city of York and executed their captain, Robert Hulderne, who may have been Robin of Holderness himself.

The rebellion under ‘Robin of Redesdale’, probably Sir John Conyers who was married to a cousin of Warwick, began in Richmondshire which was Neville territory. A manifesto of their grievances survives but interestingly it was issued from Calais on 12 July, where Warwick and Clarence were then based. The day before, Clarence had married Warwick’s daughter Isabel. The rebels complained of taxation, lawlessness and misuse of power and by early July their army began to march south to Doncaster and then to Derby. Meanwhile the king was in East Anglia on a pilgrimage when news reached him of the rebellion. It appears he failed to make any connection between the news and any treachery by Warwick and he made leisurely preparations to go north. He reached Newark in early July but he retreated back to Nottingham when he learned of the magnitude of the rebel force. A week or so later Warwick and Clarence crossed the channel and landed in Kent on 16 July and made for London where they were reluctantly received by the authorities before marching north, possibly to Coventry with the intention of joining forces with ‘Redesdale’ and his army.

The northern rebels ignored the king at Nottingham and continued south. Near Banbury they crossed the path of royalist reinforcements from Wales under the command of the earl of Pembroke who was supported by a contingent from the west country, led by the earl of Devon, who were heading for Northampton.  On 26 July the armies met near Edgecote and the royalist army was defeated.

On 29 July the king finally left Nottingham for Northampton, unaware that his western army was destroyed. As he approached the city, the news reached Edward that his remaining army had deserted him and he was taken prisoner by Warwick’s brother George, the Archbishop of York.  Edward’s father-in-law and brother-in-law, Earl Rivers and Sir John Woodville, were captured by Warwick and executed. For the time being Warwick was triumphant and the northern rebels returned home. King Edward’s captivity was short-lived and he was released from Middleham Castle in August and was in York by 10 September. In the same month, two Neville brothers, Sir Humphrey Neville of Brancepath and Charles Neville, raised the standard for Henry VI along the northern border. The king and Warwick co-operated in raising troops and the latter easily put down the revolt.

Further Reading:

The Yorkshire Rebellion of 1469 by Keith Dockray. The Ricardian, Dec 1983