John Neville
Marquess of Montagu
Bornc. 1431
Died14 April 1471
Noble familyHouse of Neville
Spouse(s)Isabel Ingoldesthorpe
IssueAnne Neville
Isabelle Neville
Elizabeth Neville
John Neville
Margaret Neville
George Neville, Duke of Bedford
Lucy Neville
FatherRichard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury
MotherAlice Montagu, Countess of Salisbury

John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu KG (c. 1431 – 14 April 1471) was a Yorkist leader in the Wars of the Roses, best-known for eliminating Lancastrian resistance in the north of England during the early part of the reign of Edward IV of England.

Montagu was a younger son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury and Alice Montagu, Countess of Salisbury, and thus a brother of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and George Neville, the Archbishop of York.

He was knighted by Henry VI at Greenwich in 1469. He was the effective leader of the Neville family forces, based at Middleham Castle in Yorkshire, in their longrunning feud with the Lancastrian Percy family of Northumberland.

During the Wars of the Roses he fought with his father and brother Thomas at the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459 and was captured and imprisoned in Chester Castle by the Lancastrians. After the Yorkist victory at Northampton he was released, but was captured again at the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461.

Following his second release from imprisonment, he led the Yorkist forces in the north of England, defeating the Lancastrians at Hedgeley Moor and again at Hexham (both 1464).

In reward for driving out the Lancastrians, the new Yorkist King Edward IV invested him in 1462 as a Knight of the Garter and the following year appointed him warden of the east march. In 1464 he was also created Earl of Northumberland, a title which had long been held by the disgraced Percy family, and awraded the Percy estates confiscated after the Battle of Towton. However, when Henry Percy was rehabilitated in 1470, Montagu was forced to give up the earldom and many important offices in favour of his former foe. This was possibly due to Edward fearing troops from Northumberland would not be loyal to John.

He was in compensation created Marquess of Montagu, but without suitable estates or income to support such a dignity. Now set against Edward IV, he changed his allegiance and joined his brother Richard, Earl of Warwick, in the short-lived restoration of the Lancastrian King Henry VI. Montagu returned to high office in the north, but was killed with brother Richard fighting the Yorkist forces at the Battle of Barnet in 1471.

Marriage and children

He married Isabel Ingoldesthorpe (1441–1476), daughter and co-heiress of Sir Edmund Ingoldesthorp of Newmarket, and had seven children:

Isabel married a year after his death, to Sir William Norreys.

Ancestry

Family of John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu

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