Christopher Conyers (bailiff of Richmond)

Last updated

Christopher Conyers of Hornby, Yorkshire (d. 1461 x 1465), was a member of the fifteenth century English gentry, prominent in the local politics of northern England (specifically Yorkshire) and the early years of the Wars of the Roses. [1]

Contents

Early years, marriages and children

The son and heir of John Conyers of Hornby (d. c. 1412), he married Ellen, the daughter of Roleston in November 1415. After Ellen's death in 1433, he married one Margaret Waddesley. Between his two wives he produced twenty-five children, twelve being sons; 'unusually,' notes Rosemary Horrox, he was able to provide for many of his younger sons, rather than just the eldest, as was usual. Horrox puts this down to the fact that his heir had married the daughter and coheir of Philip, Lord Darcy, which provided Conyers with a source of income, as well as the fact that he arranged good marriages for many of them. His ability to do so, she continues, demonstrates his 'good standing' in the region. [1] This standing is also reflected in his acting as a feoffee for local man John Waddesford of Kirklington, North Yorkshire, [2] and bearing witness to the exchange of deeds in a property exchange between Richard Clairvaux and John, Lord Scrope of Bolton. [3]

Service of the Nevilles

Although never knighted or made Sheriff of his county, he was appointed bailiff of the Honour of Richmond in 1436, during the earl of Salisbury's tenure of the Honour. The same year, Conyers acted as feoffee to uses of Salisbury's will, [1] (due to Salisbury's appointment to royal service in France, in the latter days of the Hundred Years' War) which meant that if his mother died whilst the earl was abroad, her estates would be controlled by Conyers and others on Salisbury's behalf, rather than temporarily returning to the king. [4]

Later career

In 1464 he was commissioned (alongside Salisbury's son, the earl of Warwick, and Lords Greystoke and Fitzhugh) to recapture castles in Northumberland (Bamburgh, Alnwick and Dunstanburgh) that were held by the remnants of the Lancastrian army. [5]

Related Research Articles

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick 15th-century English noble

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander. The eldest son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, he became Earl of Warwick through marriage, and was the wealthiest and most powerful English peer of his age, with political connections that went beyond the country's borders. One of the leaders in the Wars of the Roses, originally on the Yorkist side but later switching to the Lancastrian side, he was instrumental in the deposition of two kings, which led to his epithet of "Kingmaker".

Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury 15th-century English noble

Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury was an English nobleman and magnate based in northern England who became a key supporter of the House of York during the early years of the Wars of the Roses. He was the father of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker".

John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu was a major magnate of fifteenth-century England. He was a younger son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and the younger brother of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the "Kingmaker".

Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland was an English nobleman and military commander in the lead up to the Wars of the Roses. He was the son of Henry "Hotspur" Percy, and the grandson of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. His father and grandfather were killed in different rebellions against Henry IV in 1403 and 1408 respectively, and the young Henry spent his minority in exile in Scotland. Only after the death of Henry IV in 1413 was he reconciled with the Crown, and in 1414 he was created Earl of Northumberland.

Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland An English magnate in the 15c

Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, was an English magnate.

John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Fifteenth-century English magnate

John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a fifteenth-century English magnate who, despite having a relatively short political career, played a significant role in the early years of the Wars of the Roses. Mowbray was born in 1415, the only son and heir of John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and Katherine Neville. He inherited his titles upon his father's death in 1432. As a minor he became a ward of King Henry VI and was placed under the protection of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, alongside whom Mowbray would later campaign in France. He seems to have had an unruly and rebellious youth. Although the details of his misconducts are unknown, they were severe enough for the King to place strictures upon him and separate him from his followers. Mowbray's early career was spent in the military, where he held the wartime office of Earl Marshal. Later he led the defence of England's possessions in Normandy during the Hundred Years' War. He fought in Calais in 1436, and during 1437–38 served as warden of the east march on the Anglo-Scottish border, before returning to Calais.

John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford 15th-century English noble

John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford, 9th Lord of Skipton was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses in England. The Clifford family was one of the most prominent families among the northern English nobility of the fifteenth century, and by the marriages of his sisters John Clifford had links to some very important families of the time, including the earls of Devon. He was orphaned at twenty years of age when his father was slain by partisans of the House of York at the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of St Albans in 1455. It was probably as a result of his father's death there that Clifford became one of the strongest supporters of Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI, who ended up as effective leader of the Lancastrian faction.

John Neville, Baron Neville was an English nobleman who fought for the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses. He belonged to a senior but impoverished branch of the Neville family of northern England, which had earlier been disinherited in favour of a younger branch headed by John's half–uncle, Richard, Earl of Salisbury. John Neville and his brothers spent several years feuding with Salisbury over the contested inheritance and, when the dynastic wars broke out, John sided with the Lancastrians whilst the junior Nevilles sided with the House of York.

Hornby Castle, North Yorkshire

Hornby Castle is a grade I listed fortified manor house on the edge of Wensleydale between Bedale and Leyburn, in the county of North Yorkshire, England.

Readeption of Henry VI

The Readeption was the restoration of Henry VI of England to the throne of England in 1470. Edward, Duke of York, had taken the throne as Edward IV in 1461. Henry had fled with some Lancastrian supporters and spent much of the next few years in hiding in the north of England or in Scotland, where there was still some Lancastrian support. Henry was captured in 1465 and was held as a prisoner in the Tower of London. Following dissent with his former key supporter, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, Edward was forced to flee in 1470. Henry was then restored to the throne, although he was deposed again the following year.

Wars of the Roses Dynastic civil war in England from 1455 to 1487

The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century, fought between supporters of two rival cadet branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: Lancaster and York. The wars extinguished the male lines of the two dynasties, leading to the Tudor family inheriting the Lancastrian claim. Following the war, the Houses of Tudor and York were united, creating a new royal dynasty, thereby resolving the rival claims.

Thomas de la More was a fifteenth-century Sheriff of Cumberland. Little is known of his early life, but he was a loyal royal official in Cumberland and Westmorland for all his adult life, serving as Member of Parliament, Escheator and Justice of the Peace on multiple occasions. A man of social and political significance in the area, he eventually became involved in the struggle for local supremacy in the 1450s between the Neville and Percy families. This led to him and his men being beaten and threatened by Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont, over which he petitioned the royal council in 1455. De la More played no active part in the Wars of the Roses which broke out the same year. He is known to have married twice. His first wife, called either Idione or Maud, died first, but his second, Margaret, survived him.

James Harrington (Yorkist knight)

Sir James Harrington of Hornby was an English politician and soldier who was a prominent Yorkist supporter in Northern England during the Wars of the Roses, having been retained by Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, who was brother-in-law to the head of the House of York, Richard of York. He was the second son of Sir Thomas Harrington, who had died with the king's father at the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460. James himself had fought with Salisbury at the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459, where he had been captured and imprisoned by the Lancastrians until the next year. He was a significant regional figure during the reign of King Edward IV, although the early years of the new king's reign were marred by a bitter feud between him and the Stanley family over a castle in Lancashire. On the accession of King Richard III in 1483, he was appointed to the new king's Household, and as such was almost certainly with him at the Battle of Bosworth Field two years later. It is likely that he fell in battle there, although precise details of his death are now unknown.

Sir John Conyers, one of twenty-five children of Christopher Conyers, was a pre-eminent member of the gentry of Yorkshire, northern England, during the fifteenth century Wars of the Roses.

Sir Thomas Harrington of Hornby was a 15th-century English northern knight. He was originally a loyal servant of the Lancastrian crown, but gave his loyalty to Richard of York in the early years of the Wars of the Roses, and died in battle in his service.

Sir Robert Ogle, 1st Baron Ogle (1406–1469), was son and namesake of Sir Robert (V) Ogle of Ogle (c.1370–1436) and his wife Maud, daughter of John Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville. (questionable)

Neville–Neville feud Fifteenth-century feud within an English noble family

The Neville–Neville feud was an inheritance dispute in the north of England during the early fifteenth century between two branches of the noble Neville family. The inheritance in question was that of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, a prominent northern nobleman who had issue from two marriages. Westmorland favoured as his heirs the children of his second wife, Joan Beaufort, closely related to the royal family, over those of his first wife, Margaret Stafford.

Sir Thomas Neville was the second son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, a major nobleman and magnate in the north of England during the fifteenth-century Wars of the Roses, and a younger brother to the more famous Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the 'Kingmaker'. Thomas worked closely with them both in administering the region for the Crown, and became a significant player in the turbulent regional politics of northern England in the early 1450s, especially in the Neville family's growing local rivalry with the House of Percy. His wedding in August 1453 is said to have marked the beginning of the armed feud between both houses, in which Thomas and his brother John led a series of raids, ambushes and skirmishes across Yorkshire against the Percy family. Historians describe the feud as setting the stage for the Wars of the Roses, the dynastic struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne, and Thomas played a large role in the Neville family's alliance with his uncle, Richard, Duke of York.

Loveday, 1458 Arbitration event during the Wars of the Roses

The Loveday of 1458 was a ritualistic reconciliation between warring factions of the English nobility that took place at St Paul's Cathedral on 25 March 1458. Following the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, it was the culmination of lengthy negotiations initiated by King Henry VI to resolve the lords' rivalries. English politics had become increasingly factional during his reign, and was exacerbated in 1453 when he became catatonic. This effectively left the government leaderless, and eventually the King's cousin, and at the time heir to the throne, Richard, Duke of York, was appointed Protector during the King's illness. Alongside York were his allies from the politically and militarily powerful Neville family, led by Richard, Earl of Salisbury, and his eldest son, Richard, Earl of Warwick. When the King returned to health a year later, the protectorship ended but partisanship within the government did not.

Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury was a fifteenth-century English northern magnate. He was the eldest son by the second wife of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, from whom he inherited vast estates in Yorkshire and the North West of England. He was a loyal Lancastrian for most of his life, serving the king, Henry VI, in France, on the border with Scotland, and in many of the periodic crises of the reign. He finally joined York in his last rebellion in the late 1450s and became a Yorkist leader during the early parts of the Wars of the Roses. This led directly to his death following the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460, when he was captured and subsequently put to death in Pontefract Castle.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Horrox, Rebecca. "Conyers, Christopher". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/61160.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. Pollard, J., The North-East of England During Wars of the Roses : Lay Society, War and Politics, 1450–1500 (Oxford, 1990), 111
  3. Pollard, J., The North-East of England During Wars of the Roses : Lay Society, War and Politics, 1450–1500 (Oxford, 1990), 113
  4. Jacobs E.F., The Fifteenth Century, 1399–1485 (Oxford, 1969), 323
  5. Hicks, M.A., Warwick the Kingmaker (Oxford, 1998), 246 n.98