Humphrey Neville

Sir Humphrey Neville (c. 1439 – 29 September 1469) of Brancepeth was an English knight and insurgent during the Wars of the Roses. A scion of the noble House of Neville, he was a son of Thomas Neville of Brancepeth and a nephew of Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland, and belonged to a senior but disinherited branch of the family. Humphrey and his family supported the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses, while his junior but richer Neville cousins, chiefly represented by the famous Earl of Warwick, supported the House of York. Humphrey almost single-handedly led the Lancastrian resistance during the early years of the reign of Edward IV, until he was executed in 1469, in the king's presence. Family Humphrey is said to have been born in 1439 at Slingsby Manor, near Malton, in Yorkshire. He was the eldest son and heir of sir Thomas Neville of Brancepeth (d. c. 1459) by Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Beaumont, 5th Baron Beaumont (d. 1413). He had a younger brother, Charles, and also an illegitimate one, George. Thomas Neville and his brothers, the Earl of Westmorland and Lord Neville (Humphrey's uncles), were sons of John Neville, the eldest son and heir of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, a powerful magnate from northern England. The earl's remarriage to Joan Beaufort, a half sister of Henry IV, prompted him to disinherit John, his eldest son, in favour of his issue by Joan, the eldest of which was Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury. Upon Ralph Neville's death, most of the Neville family estates went to Joan Beaufort and her children. The senior Neville branch disputed their disinheritance, resulting in the Neville–Neville feud with the Earl of Salisbury. The dispute became entangled in the Wars of the Roses, with Salisbury and his son Warwick supporting the Yorkists while the senior branch supported the Lancastrians. The 2nd Earl of Westmorland became incapacitated and so the family cause was taken by his brothers. Humphrey's father Thomas died early in the conflict, while his uncle, Lord Neville, was killed at the Battle of Towton in 1461.