John Neville, 1st Baron Neville ★

Born Abt in England. He married Abt and worked as baron neville. He died March 29, 1461, at Dintingdale, near Saxton, Yorkshire, England (slain in battle).

Family Background and the Neville Rivalry

John Neville was born around 1410, second son of Sir John Neville and Elizabeth Holland, from a senior but impoverished branch of the Neville family that had been disinherited in favor of a younger branch headed by his half-uncle Richard, Earl of Salisbury. During the 1430s John and his brother Ralph, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, waged what amounted to a private war against their uncle over the disputed inheritance, described in a 1438 letter as involving "great routs and companies" and "slaughter and destruction." A settlement in 1443 papered over the dispute, but left deep resentment that shaped the family's opposing loyalties once the Wars of the Roses began.

Rise During the Lancastrian Ascendancy

When the Yorkist lords were routed at Ludford Bridge in October 1459, John benefited directly, receiving the forfeited estates and offices of the Earl of Salisbury and being raised to the peerage as Lord Neville on November 20, 1459, gaining control of Middleham and Sheriff Hutton castles among other holdings in County Durham.

The Wars of the Roses

After the Yorkist victory at Northampton in July 1460, John appeared to accept the new regime, but secretly rejoined the Lancastrians and mustered with Queen Margaret of Anjou's forces in Yorkshire. He fought at the Battle of Wakefield on December 30, 1460, where by one account Richard of York was drawn out from the safety of Sandal Castle expecting Neville reinforcement, only for Neville to switch sides against him.

Marriage

Before February 1452 John married Anne Holland, daughter of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter and widow of his own nephew; she outlived him by twenty-five years and later remarried James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas. Their son Ralph Neville later became 3rd Earl of Westmorland.

Death at Dintingdale

In March 1461, during the Yorkist resurgence that followed Wakefield, John commanded forces alongside his cousin Lord Clifford and ambushed the Yorkist vanguard at the Battle of Ferrybridge on March 28. Retreating toward the main Lancastrian army, his force was caught in a counter-ambush by his uncle William, Lord Fauconberg, at a valley called Dintingdale near Saxton, and John was killed there along with Clifford and most of their men. He was attainted that November, though his son had the judgment reversed in 1472.