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Warwick the Kingmaker
During the Wars of the Roses, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, exercised more than regal power. His death, in battle with a king he put in power and then tried to overthrow, marked the end of an important era in English history.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
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About the author
Paul Murray Kendall
21 books23 followersPaul Murray Kendall was an American academic and historian. A 1928 graduate from Frankford High School, Kendall studied at the University of Virginia, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1932, and master's in 1933. In 1937, while studying for a Ph.D, he became an instructor in English at the Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1939, and continued as professor at Ohio University until his retirement in 1970, after which he served as head of the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Kansas.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 26, 2021
He's a legend with ruthless, consuming ambition that deserves to be known.
December 7, 2022
Following his masterful biography of Richard III, Paul Murray Kendall has given us this readable, and often eloquent portrait of Richard Neville, a man who dominated English politics during the middle of the fifteenth century. A man whom Kendall describes as being relegated to a famous oblivion—so well known and so little known about. He became the Earl of Warwick through his marriage to Anne Beauchamp and jumped into a position of power in the Duke of Yorks’ regime doing little more than being a second to his father’s power. Thereafter, he achieved renown with his actions at the first battle of St. Albans, a Yorkist victory. (Kendall fails to mention that Warwick backed the Yorkists because of the Neville-Percy rivalry and because of his dispute with Somerset over the Beauchamp inheritance.)
It was as Captain of Calais that Warwick gained widespread popularity. Not only did his swashbuckling exploits appeal to the xenophobia of the mass of Englishmen, but his actions, such as harassing the Easterlings, were in support of London and the merchant class. In contrast, court lords often instigated acts of piracy against alien shipping which enriched themselves but jeopardized the merchants’ trade. Also, Queen Marguerite’s favorites issued licenses to their adherents and their Italian agents which allowed them to avoid the Staplers’ monopoly on the sale of wool. One incident illustrates Warwick’s sympathy for the Staplers and the other London traders when he learned that a group of Italian traders had licenses to avoid the Wool Staple. He encouraged some of the Calais garrison and his sailor friends at Sandwich to sail up the Thames and seize the three Italian ships and carry them off to Calais. The government complained to the London magistrates, demanding restitution of the goods and punishment of the malefactors, but “Londoners did nothing at all—except cheer the Earl of Warwick.”
When the Duke of York made his claim to the throne, Warwick, with the approval of the duke’s son, Edward, worked to soften the duke’s stubbornness and brokered a parliamentary compromise that recognized York and his heirs as Henry VI’s successors. With Edward IV’s accession to the throne, foreign rulers, in particular Louis XI of France, viewed Warwick as the true ruler of realm. A view that Warwick himself seemed to share. Even before Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, Louis was dangling Normandy before Warwick as a prize. Later when hostilities erupted between Edward and Warwick, Louis offered Zeeland and Holland.
According to Kendall, Warwick could never be satisfied with being anything less than being England’s ruler, but he was never completely successful. During the time Warwick held Edward as his prisoner, “[h]e had won almost all that he had asked for, but he had utterly failed to get what he wanted—the master of the realm.” His intent from the time he was forced to flee England was to make a Lancastrian alliance with Marguerite of Anjou. It was not Louis XI’s idea—it was Warwick’s, although the former agreed to help his good friend, the Earl. Indeed, Warwick’s presence—and all the plunder he had acquired by raiding merchant shipping in the channel—raised substantial diplomatic problems for the spider king. The book deals at considerable length with the complex political situation on the continent at this time. Louis wrote that he wanted Warwick to return to England as much as to avoid the problems which would arise on account of his remaining as to see him come out on top. But Warwick’s second stint as ruler was fraught with problems—lack of money, distrustful Lancastrians, and—this should be interesting to Ricardians—complaints from Londoners about rampaging Northerners who came down every time Warwick crooked his finger.
What did the forces that faced each other at Barnet represent? The Lancastrians fought for a feeble-witted king and offered the realm a return to the past. On the other side, Edward Plantagenet, with Warwick’s help, had forged a strong monarchy based on middle class support and independent of baronial control. “What did the Earl of Warwick represent? . . . . He stood only for himself.”
It was as Captain of Calais that Warwick gained widespread popularity. Not only did his swashbuckling exploits appeal to the xenophobia of the mass of Englishmen, but his actions, such as harassing the Easterlings, were in support of London and the merchant class. In contrast, court lords often instigated acts of piracy against alien shipping which enriched themselves but jeopardized the merchants’ trade. Also, Queen Marguerite’s favorites issued licenses to their adherents and their Italian agents which allowed them to avoid the Staplers’ monopoly on the sale of wool. One incident illustrates Warwick’s sympathy for the Staplers and the other London traders when he learned that a group of Italian traders had licenses to avoid the Wool Staple. He encouraged some of the Calais garrison and his sailor friends at Sandwich to sail up the Thames and seize the three Italian ships and carry them off to Calais. The government complained to the London magistrates, demanding restitution of the goods and punishment of the malefactors, but “Londoners did nothing at all—except cheer the Earl of Warwick.”
When the Duke of York made his claim to the throne, Warwick, with the approval of the duke’s son, Edward, worked to soften the duke’s stubbornness and brokered a parliamentary compromise that recognized York and his heirs as Henry VI’s successors. With Edward IV’s accession to the throne, foreign rulers, in particular Louis XI of France, viewed Warwick as the true ruler of realm. A view that Warwick himself seemed to share. Even before Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, Louis was dangling Normandy before Warwick as a prize. Later when hostilities erupted between Edward and Warwick, Louis offered Zeeland and Holland.
According to Kendall, Warwick could never be satisfied with being anything less than being England’s ruler, but he was never completely successful. During the time Warwick held Edward as his prisoner, “[h]e had won almost all that he had asked for, but he had utterly failed to get what he wanted—the master of the realm.” His intent from the time he was forced to flee England was to make a Lancastrian alliance with Marguerite of Anjou. It was not Louis XI’s idea—it was Warwick’s, although the former agreed to help his good friend, the Earl. Indeed, Warwick’s presence—and all the plunder he had acquired by raiding merchant shipping in the channel—raised substantial diplomatic problems for the spider king. The book deals at considerable length with the complex political situation on the continent at this time. Louis wrote that he wanted Warwick to return to England as much as to avoid the problems which would arise on account of his remaining as to see him come out on top. But Warwick’s second stint as ruler was fraught with problems—lack of money, distrustful Lancastrians, and—this should be interesting to Ricardians—complaints from Londoners about rampaging Northerners who came down every time Warwick crooked his finger.
What did the forces that faced each other at Barnet represent? The Lancastrians fought for a feeble-witted king and offered the realm a return to the past. On the other side, Edward Plantagenet, with Warwick’s help, had forged a strong monarchy based on middle class support and independent of baronial control. “What did the Earl of Warwick represent? . . . . He stood only for himself.”
March 10, 2017
Kendall delivers another of his quite excellent character portraits of the Wars of the Roses. This was a fairly even-handed treatment of a very colorful character, and therefore more in line with the author's biography of Louis XI than his decidedly partisan coloring of Richard III (not that I minded that book, belonging to the same partisan camp).
As always, the little snippets and episodes of daily life put this book head-and-shoulders above usual biographies of the period which tend to be fairly dry, colorless recordings of major events. One particular excerpt dealt with a fascinating charade / diplomatic coup that Warwick & Louis played out with the help of one of the former's envoys named John Boone in order to ensnare the Count of Foix in his own double-dealings with Edward IV. Both men's joie-de-vivre and appreciation of a good joke comes through clearly, even as they engage in the deadly-serious business of 15th-century statecraft.
Highly recommended if you're at all interested in the period or the man
As always, the little snippets and episodes of daily life put this book head-and-shoulders above usual biographies of the period which tend to be fairly dry, colorless recordings of major events. One particular excerpt dealt with a fascinating charade / diplomatic coup that Warwick & Louis played out with the help of one of the former's envoys named John Boone in order to ensnare the Count of Foix in his own double-dealings with Edward IV. Both men's joie-de-vivre and appreciation of a good joke comes through clearly, even as they engage in the deadly-serious business of 15th-century statecraft.
Highly recommended if you're at all interested in the period or the man
October 19, 2025
Paul Murray Kendall's Stylistic Biography Chronicles The Rise & Fall Of Richard Neville, 16th Earl Of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, firstborn son of the same-named Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, was a prominent English nobleman who championed the Yorkist cause of King Edward IV in his struggle with the Lancaster faction, led by King Henry VI & his wife, Margaret of Anjou, during the climactic Wars of the Roses -- a series of internal conflicts which wracked England from 1455 to 1487. Warwick's father Richard had married Alice Montague, the 5th Countess of Salisbury, & through their union had come to hold the title of Earl of Salisbury. Both the houses of Lancaster & York were considered junior branches of the powerful Plantagenet dynasty which had ruled England since the coronation of Henry II on 19 December 1154. In the preface to Paul Murray Kendall's Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses, the author provides a very-much abbreviated summary of Warwick's life & military career before describing in eloquent fashion one of the more enigmatic figures in medieval history: "Warwick has been called the last of the barons, but his identification of himself with the figure he persuaded the world to believe in gives some cause for him to be considered one of the first of the moderns. His career was a gigantic failure, not so much because he reached higher than he was able to grasp but because he poisoned his character in the course of reaching--sold what he was for what he ought to be. Yet there was magnanimity in him, & if he is not quite a tragic protagonist, he is a memorable human being. He refused to admit that there were disadvantages he could not overcome & defeats from which he could not recover, & he had the courage, & vanity, to press his game to the end." Kendall's biography of Warwick was originally published in 1957, & it is written in a theatrical, almost romantic style which is reminiscent of the written works of E.R. Chamberlin. His unique brand of dramatic, narrative prose is wonderfully old-fashioned, a product of a bygone era which should resonate with readers who can appreciate the elegant literary style of an author who vividly brought his characters to life with endearingly antiquated language that stirs the emotions & piques the imagination.
This 1973 U.K. paperback edition of Paul Murray Kendall's 1957 Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses was published by Cardinal, & its 332-page main text is split into 28 chapters that are grouped into 6 parts, & an epilogue. There is also a genealogical chart depicting the descendants of Edward III & a tactical map of the Battle of Barnet, Warwick's final military engagement, which was fought on 14 April 1471, a 4-page bibliography, 21 pages of expanded notes, & an index. The chapters are not conventionally numbered, but instead start over after each part of the book -- for instance, there are chapters 1-2 in Part I - The Yorkist, & then another set of chapters, numbered 1-7, for Part II - The Captain of Calais, instead of chapters 3-9. There are 4 pages with illustrations from the Rous Roll as well as artwork depicting the Bastard of Burgundy, Charles the Rash, & Elizabeth Woodville. In addition to his biographies on Richard III & Louis XI of France, Kendall was also the author of The Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses & My Brother Chilperic: A Chronicle of the Long-Haired Kings, an historical fiction novel concerning the Merovingian kings of France during Europe's Dark Age.
In the preface Kendall limns to his reader that while Warwick's own politics were relatively straightforward, throughout the course of his life's narrative he runs across some of the most complex, nuanced personalities in all of history -- Louis XI, the 'Universal Spider', whose ceaseless plots & intrigues garnered him a sinister reputation across Europe, & the Dukes Philip the Good & Charles the Bold of Burgundy, whose decadent lifestyles & frequent periods of estrangement wreaked havoc on Burgundian court politics & stirred up unrest in the kingdom of France. King Edward IV was as chivalric & valiant a king as ever there was -- when presented with a series of politically advantageous marriage matches, Edward married for love -- to a minor noblewoman, Elizabeth Woodville. And so Kendall rather amusingly admits, "Therefore, I have had to allow King Edward & King Louis & Philip & Charles of Burgundy to intrude their flamboyant selves into this biography." He provides an eloquent description of Charles of Charolais, who later became Duke Charles the Bold in the following passage, excerpted from Part II - Chapter 3, Warwick's Friend the Dauphin: "If Philip modelled himself after King Arthur, Charles had early chosen the antique Roman type, the austere Marcus Aurelius with a hearty dash of Julius Caesar & Trajan...Pomp & ceremony he did not love, as his father did, but fostered as the fitting accompaniment of his high estate. He had a remarkably good education, was a fine musician, composing chansons & motets, played an expert game of chess."
Warwick's early military career included a victory over Lancaster forces at the First Battle of St. Albans which was subsequently followed by a promotion to the captainship of Calais as a reward for his success. Calais was in northern France, but it had been held by the English since the Battle of Crécy in the Hundred Years' War & was a crucial British economic asset that was vital in shipping English wool & manufactured textiles from Flanders & the Low Countries between England & France. Warwick puts the authority of his captainship of Calais to use & endears himself to the English people by conducting a series of raids along the English Channel, plundering a group of vessels from the Hanseatic league carrying large quantities of salt before successfully capturing a heavily-laden carrack & three warships. Kendall describes these exciting events with his customary aplomb, also excerpted from Part II - Chapter 1, As Famous a Knight : "Meanwhile, he never let up his aggressive tactics. When the Channel was quiet, he sent soldiers on raids into France & did not scruple to jab at Burgundian territory now & again, advertising by burnt villages, ransoms, & booty that Calais was a beachhead of power, not a beleaguered town." The biography is rife with both military & diplomatic encounters, & Kendall does an admirable job of maintaining the reader's interest with his clearly narrated descriptions of the battle sequences, making them easy to understand, & although his explanations on politics & diplomacy tend to be almost unnecessarily verbose at times, the quality of the novel does not suffer as a result of it.
In the biography's initial chapters Warwick cultivates his reputation as a champion of the English people in the vein of Julius Caesar, & his fiery, charismatic personality is aptly suited to complement his superior skills as a battlefield commander. This is evinced by Kendall's articulate, silver-tongued description of the Earl, excerpted from Part II - Chapter 3, The Calais Earls, as he visits his troops during a raid on Calais conducted by the Lancastrian Duke of Somerset, who hoped to gain control of the fortress: "Down to the wharves strode the Earl of Warwick, in polished armour & rich furs, accompanied by his knightly retinue & a guard of archers. He gave the sailors his best welcome, shaking the hands of their captains, calling many of the men by name, thanking them for their trusty service & sending them off with coins jingling in their pockets to fill their stomachs with meat & drink." Paul Murray Kendall possesses an eloquent literary prose style, & his poignant descriptions, even if added for dramatic effect, are the glue holding this stylistic written work of art together & assist in smoothing out the jarring perspective shifts as his rousing tale of intrigue & high adventure unfolds. This is a story as much about the vibrant historical personalities who ruled western Europe in the mid-to-late fifteenth century as it is about Warwick himself -- Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI, Edward IV, Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, & lurking behind them all, Louis XI -- & in order to tell Richard Neville's story it becomes necessary to tell their stories as well. As a powerful nobleman, Warwick had a degree of independence which allowed him to conduct his affairs as he saw fit, & yet he could never quite escape being pulled into the orbits of these fascinating monarchs in one way or another.
The Battle of Towton was a decisive military engagement which occurred in the sixth year of the Wars of the Roses, ultimately leading to the defeat & exile of the Lancaster king, Henry VI, & the ascension of his York rival, Edward IV. It was fought in Yorkshire, England, between the towns of Saxton & Towton just north of the River Aire, & appears in Part II: Chapter 7,Warwick's Protégé According to Wikipedia, the fighting lasted well-nigh over ten hours, involving a combined estimated total of 50,000-60,000 troops, & is considered one of the largest & costliest battles ever fought in England. Kendall's stirring description of the two armies leading up to the engagement is very illustrative, & the reader can all but imagine marching in the middle of a snowstorm with the Yorkist army as it encounters its Lancaster adversaries: "Palm Sunday, March 29, came in with a grey & bitter dawn. A harsh wind drove snow in the faces of the Yorkists as they formed up in battle order. Lord Fauconberg, a grizzled little man with the heart of a lion, commanded the left wing; Warwick, the centre; the King, the reserve. Though Norfolk with the right wing was still on the road & the Yorkists knew themselves to be outnumbered, their lines of armed men trudged doggedly forward in the snow. Fauconberg, Warwick, & the King, with their household knights & captains clustered about them, marched at their head. Now the wind was shifting uneasily, blowing in gusts from every quarter." The Lancastrian faction were led in truth by the ambitious, capable Queen Margaret of Anjou, & their armies were commanded by seasoned generals who had just won a decisive victory at Wakefield & were eager to meet their bitter rivals on the field of battle. Kendall's vivid recounting of their marshaled forces is equally as impressive as his description of the Yorkists: "They stood ranged in massive steel ranks--most of the chivalry of England, such as it had become--a forest of banners flaunting beneath the leaden sky the colours of their long lineage. The Lancastrian lords had come to the field with their tenantry & retainers, determined to crush the parcel of upstart nobles who had dared rouse the ordinary people of England to overthrow the old comfortable way of things." He continues, later in the passage : "Some twenty-five thousand strong the Lancastrian host stood, the full muster of the Queen's cause, the greatest armament ever assembled for battle on the soil of England."
Despite Warwick's best efforts he cannot help but become ensnared in the Byzantine political plots & schemes woven by France's 'Spider King', Louis XI 'the Prudent', as a combination of ambition & necessity cause the earl to attempt to pressure his own sovereign, Edward IV, into signing a series of treaties with the French crown, but Edward is more concerned with brokering a marriage between his sister, Margaret of York, to Charles the Bold & thus cementing an alliance with the Burgundians. Upon becoming king, Louis tirelessly traveled to the furthest reaches of his realm, journeying with his entourage & doing what he enjoyed best -- governing. Kendall describes Louis' irregular traveling regimen in the following passage: "Louis took his whole household with him, so that he was always at home & always equipped for the business of ruling. Along the dusty roads he hurried on his destriers, accompanied by his officers & servants & archer guard & followed by a long line of pack horses & carts carrying his bedding, trunks, food, furniture, wine cellar." He goes on: "He maintained no fixed itinerary, changing direction abruptly to investigate a village or adore a relic. A poor clerk of Evreux, leaving the royal cavalcade to take a message to his Chapter & immediately setting forth with their reply, had to ride for sixty-six days before he caught up with his perequitating sovereign." Louis, true to his character, does not hesitate to use Warwick in any way possible to further his own position, including maneuvering the Kingmaker & his former enemies, Margaret of Anjou & the Lancastrians, into forming their own unlikely confederation, an enterprise which was to be doomed to failure in the end. Kendall's superb narrative skill describes Louis trademark style of rule in the following passage, excerpted from Part III - Chapter 4, Warwick's Friend the King of France: "The moment he was crowned, he set about governing his realm with the zeal & impatience of a man too long kept out of his own. He hated the policy & officers of his father's regime. He wanted to know everything, control everything, reform everything, & at once...He removed taxes that pressed heavily on the middle class, meanwhile levying new ones here & there; he lopped off hundreds of offices that he thought inefficient." The French king knew the way to Warwick's heart, & his most fervent desire was to rule a realm of his own, in his own right -- Louis first enticed him with the reward of Normandy after his rebellious dukes who had formed the League of the Public Weal had been crushed, then he tempted Neville with Holland & Zeeland following the demise of the House of Burgundy, which he hoped to bring about sooner rather than later. But the meeting ultimately achieved nothing, save a further widening in the gulf of mistrust that was growing between Warwick & King Edward, his liege lord.
In the biography's final portions, Part V - Setter-up & plucker-down of kings & Part VI - The Lancastrian Kendall explores the final years of Warwick's life & career, chronicling his wars with his sovereign king, Edward IV, including the Battle of Edgecot, waged between a band of Warwick-aligned English rebels led by Robin of Redesdale, & King Edward IV's royal army, which was commanded by the Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, & his brother Richard. The king's forces were expecting reinforcements from Stafford of Southwick, the Earl of Devon, with his skilled companies of Welsh pikemen & West County bowmen, but were ambushed & defeated by Robin of Redesdale's northern force & Warwick's advance host, the latter of which arrived in the midst of the battle & managed to turn the tide. Part VI - The Lancastrian focuses upon Warwick's alliance with Louis XI of France & his former foes, the Lancastrian faction, describing the defection of Warwick's brother, John Neville, the former Earl of Northumberland from the York royalists to the side of Warwick & Margaret of Anjou, as well as the inevitable political machinations & jockeying for position that resulted from effectively having two kings of England at the same time, Henry VI Lancaster & Edward IV York. The last chapter is devoted to the Battle of Barnet, the Kingmaker's final engagement, which was fought at 4 a.m. in the midst of a murky fogbank between the loyalist forces of Edward IV of York, his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, & William of Hastings, & Warwick's Lancaster host which was led by himself & John Neville, Marquess of Montague, & supplemented by regiments led by Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, & John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Overall, Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses is an engaging historical biography which should appeal to readers who prefer their history seasoned with the flowery, eloquent descriptions & witticisms of yesteryear -- Paul Murray Kendall's writing style in this title is very reminiscent of another of his written works, Louis XI: The Universal Spider, & the degree of convergence in the lives of Louis & Warwick throughout their professional careers render the aforementioned title a solid companion piece to this one. I hope you enjoyed the review, thank you so much for reading!
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, firstborn son of the same-named Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, was a prominent English nobleman who championed the Yorkist cause of King Edward IV in his struggle with the Lancaster faction, led by King Henry VI & his wife, Margaret of Anjou, during the climactic Wars of the Roses -- a series of internal conflicts which wracked England from 1455 to 1487. Warwick's father Richard had married Alice Montague, the 5th Countess of Salisbury, & through their union had come to hold the title of Earl of Salisbury. Both the houses of Lancaster & York were considered junior branches of the powerful Plantagenet dynasty which had ruled England since the coronation of Henry II on 19 December 1154. In the preface to Paul Murray Kendall's Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses, the author provides a very-much abbreviated summary of Warwick's life & military career before describing in eloquent fashion one of the more enigmatic figures in medieval history: "Warwick has been called the last of the barons, but his identification of himself with the figure he persuaded the world to believe in gives some cause for him to be considered one of the first of the moderns. His career was a gigantic failure, not so much because he reached higher than he was able to grasp but because he poisoned his character in the course of reaching--sold what he was for what he ought to be. Yet there was magnanimity in him, & if he is not quite a tragic protagonist, he is a memorable human being. He refused to admit that there were disadvantages he could not overcome & defeats from which he could not recover, & he had the courage, & vanity, to press his game to the end." Kendall's biography of Warwick was originally published in 1957, & it is written in a theatrical, almost romantic style which is reminiscent of the written works of E.R. Chamberlin. His unique brand of dramatic, narrative prose is wonderfully old-fashioned, a product of a bygone era which should resonate with readers who can appreciate the elegant literary style of an author who vividly brought his characters to life with endearingly antiquated language that stirs the emotions & piques the imagination.
This 1973 U.K. paperback edition of Paul Murray Kendall's 1957 Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses was published by Cardinal, & its 332-page main text is split into 28 chapters that are grouped into 6 parts, & an epilogue. There is also a genealogical chart depicting the descendants of Edward III & a tactical map of the Battle of Barnet, Warwick's final military engagement, which was fought on 14 April 1471, a 4-page bibliography, 21 pages of expanded notes, & an index. The chapters are not conventionally numbered, but instead start over after each part of the book -- for instance, there are chapters 1-2 in Part I - The Yorkist, & then another set of chapters, numbered 1-7, for Part II - The Captain of Calais, instead of chapters 3-9. There are 4 pages with illustrations from the Rous Roll as well as artwork depicting the Bastard of Burgundy, Charles the Rash, & Elizabeth Woodville. In addition to his biographies on Richard III & Louis XI of France, Kendall was also the author of The Yorkist Age: Daily Life During the Wars of the Roses & My Brother Chilperic: A Chronicle of the Long-Haired Kings, an historical fiction novel concerning the Merovingian kings of France during Europe's Dark Age.
In the preface Kendall limns to his reader that while Warwick's own politics were relatively straightforward, throughout the course of his life's narrative he runs across some of the most complex, nuanced personalities in all of history -- Louis XI, the 'Universal Spider', whose ceaseless plots & intrigues garnered him a sinister reputation across Europe, & the Dukes Philip the Good & Charles the Bold of Burgundy, whose decadent lifestyles & frequent periods of estrangement wreaked havoc on Burgundian court politics & stirred up unrest in the kingdom of France. King Edward IV was as chivalric & valiant a king as ever there was -- when presented with a series of politically advantageous marriage matches, Edward married for love -- to a minor noblewoman, Elizabeth Woodville. And so Kendall rather amusingly admits, "Therefore, I have had to allow King Edward & King Louis & Philip & Charles of Burgundy to intrude their flamboyant selves into this biography." He provides an eloquent description of Charles of Charolais, who later became Duke Charles the Bold in the following passage, excerpted from Part II - Chapter 3, Warwick's Friend the Dauphin: "If Philip modelled himself after King Arthur, Charles had early chosen the antique Roman type, the austere Marcus Aurelius with a hearty dash of Julius Caesar & Trajan...Pomp & ceremony he did not love, as his father did, but fostered as the fitting accompaniment of his high estate. He had a remarkably good education, was a fine musician, composing chansons & motets, played an expert game of chess."
Warwick's early military career included a victory over Lancaster forces at the First Battle of St. Albans which was subsequently followed by a promotion to the captainship of Calais as a reward for his success. Calais was in northern France, but it had been held by the English since the Battle of Crécy in the Hundred Years' War & was a crucial British economic asset that was vital in shipping English wool & manufactured textiles from Flanders & the Low Countries between England & France. Warwick puts the authority of his captainship of Calais to use & endears himself to the English people by conducting a series of raids along the English Channel, plundering a group of vessels from the Hanseatic league carrying large quantities of salt before successfully capturing a heavily-laden carrack & three warships. Kendall describes these exciting events with his customary aplomb, also excerpted from Part II - Chapter 1, As Famous a Knight : "Meanwhile, he never let up his aggressive tactics. When the Channel was quiet, he sent soldiers on raids into France & did not scruple to jab at Burgundian territory now & again, advertising by burnt villages, ransoms, & booty that Calais was a beachhead of power, not a beleaguered town." The biography is rife with both military & diplomatic encounters, & Kendall does an admirable job of maintaining the reader's interest with his clearly narrated descriptions of the battle sequences, making them easy to understand, & although his explanations on politics & diplomacy tend to be almost unnecessarily verbose at times, the quality of the novel does not suffer as a result of it.
In the biography's initial chapters Warwick cultivates his reputation as a champion of the English people in the vein of Julius Caesar, & his fiery, charismatic personality is aptly suited to complement his superior skills as a battlefield commander. This is evinced by Kendall's articulate, silver-tongued description of the Earl, excerpted from Part II - Chapter 3, The Calais Earls, as he visits his troops during a raid on Calais conducted by the Lancastrian Duke of Somerset, who hoped to gain control of the fortress: "Down to the wharves strode the Earl of Warwick, in polished armour & rich furs, accompanied by his knightly retinue & a guard of archers. He gave the sailors his best welcome, shaking the hands of their captains, calling many of the men by name, thanking them for their trusty service & sending them off with coins jingling in their pockets to fill their stomachs with meat & drink." Paul Murray Kendall possesses an eloquent literary prose style, & his poignant descriptions, even if added for dramatic effect, are the glue holding this stylistic written work of art together & assist in smoothing out the jarring perspective shifts as his rousing tale of intrigue & high adventure unfolds. This is a story as much about the vibrant historical personalities who ruled western Europe in the mid-to-late fifteenth century as it is about Warwick himself -- Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI, Edward IV, Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, & lurking behind them all, Louis XI -- & in order to tell Richard Neville's story it becomes necessary to tell their stories as well. As a powerful nobleman, Warwick had a degree of independence which allowed him to conduct his affairs as he saw fit, & yet he could never quite escape being pulled into the orbits of these fascinating monarchs in one way or another.
The Battle of Towton was a decisive military engagement which occurred in the sixth year of the Wars of the Roses, ultimately leading to the defeat & exile of the Lancaster king, Henry VI, & the ascension of his York rival, Edward IV. It was fought in Yorkshire, England, between the towns of Saxton & Towton just north of the River Aire, & appears in Part II: Chapter 7,Warwick's Protégé According to Wikipedia, the fighting lasted well-nigh over ten hours, involving a combined estimated total of 50,000-60,000 troops, & is considered one of the largest & costliest battles ever fought in England. Kendall's stirring description of the two armies leading up to the engagement is very illustrative, & the reader can all but imagine marching in the middle of a snowstorm with the Yorkist army as it encounters its Lancaster adversaries: "Palm Sunday, March 29, came in with a grey & bitter dawn. A harsh wind drove snow in the faces of the Yorkists as they formed up in battle order. Lord Fauconberg, a grizzled little man with the heart of a lion, commanded the left wing; Warwick, the centre; the King, the reserve. Though Norfolk with the right wing was still on the road & the Yorkists knew themselves to be outnumbered, their lines of armed men trudged doggedly forward in the snow. Fauconberg, Warwick, & the King, with their household knights & captains clustered about them, marched at their head. Now the wind was shifting uneasily, blowing in gusts from every quarter." The Lancastrian faction were led in truth by the ambitious, capable Queen Margaret of Anjou, & their armies were commanded by seasoned generals who had just won a decisive victory at Wakefield & were eager to meet their bitter rivals on the field of battle. Kendall's vivid recounting of their marshaled forces is equally as impressive as his description of the Yorkists: "They stood ranged in massive steel ranks--most of the chivalry of England, such as it had become--a forest of banners flaunting beneath the leaden sky the colours of their long lineage. The Lancastrian lords had come to the field with their tenantry & retainers, determined to crush the parcel of upstart nobles who had dared rouse the ordinary people of England to overthrow the old comfortable way of things." He continues, later in the passage : "Some twenty-five thousand strong the Lancastrian host stood, the full muster of the Queen's cause, the greatest armament ever assembled for battle on the soil of England."
Despite Warwick's best efforts he cannot help but become ensnared in the Byzantine political plots & schemes woven by France's 'Spider King', Louis XI 'the Prudent', as a combination of ambition & necessity cause the earl to attempt to pressure his own sovereign, Edward IV, into signing a series of treaties with the French crown, but Edward is more concerned with brokering a marriage between his sister, Margaret of York, to Charles the Bold & thus cementing an alliance with the Burgundians. Upon becoming king, Louis tirelessly traveled to the furthest reaches of his realm, journeying with his entourage & doing what he enjoyed best -- governing. Kendall describes Louis' irregular traveling regimen in the following passage: "Louis took his whole household with him, so that he was always at home & always equipped for the business of ruling. Along the dusty roads he hurried on his destriers, accompanied by his officers & servants & archer guard & followed by a long line of pack horses & carts carrying his bedding, trunks, food, furniture, wine cellar." He goes on: "He maintained no fixed itinerary, changing direction abruptly to investigate a village or adore a relic. A poor clerk of Evreux, leaving the royal cavalcade to take a message to his Chapter & immediately setting forth with their reply, had to ride for sixty-six days before he caught up with his perequitating sovereign." Louis, true to his character, does not hesitate to use Warwick in any way possible to further his own position, including maneuvering the Kingmaker & his former enemies, Margaret of Anjou & the Lancastrians, into forming their own unlikely confederation, an enterprise which was to be doomed to failure in the end. Kendall's superb narrative skill describes Louis trademark style of rule in the following passage, excerpted from Part III - Chapter 4, Warwick's Friend the King of France: "The moment he was crowned, he set about governing his realm with the zeal & impatience of a man too long kept out of his own. He hated the policy & officers of his father's regime. He wanted to know everything, control everything, reform everything, & at once...He removed taxes that pressed heavily on the middle class, meanwhile levying new ones here & there; he lopped off hundreds of offices that he thought inefficient." The French king knew the way to Warwick's heart, & his most fervent desire was to rule a realm of his own, in his own right -- Louis first enticed him with the reward of Normandy after his rebellious dukes who had formed the League of the Public Weal had been crushed, then he tempted Neville with Holland & Zeeland following the demise of the House of Burgundy, which he hoped to bring about sooner rather than later. But the meeting ultimately achieved nothing, save a further widening in the gulf of mistrust that was growing between Warwick & King Edward, his liege lord.
In the biography's final portions, Part V - Setter-up & plucker-down of kings & Part VI - The Lancastrian Kendall explores the final years of Warwick's life & career, chronicling his wars with his sovereign king, Edward IV, including the Battle of Edgecot, waged between a band of Warwick-aligned English rebels led by Robin of Redesdale, & King Edward IV's royal army, which was commanded by the Earl of Pembroke, William Herbert, & his brother Richard. The king's forces were expecting reinforcements from Stafford of Southwick, the Earl of Devon, with his skilled companies of Welsh pikemen & West County bowmen, but were ambushed & defeated by Robin of Redesdale's northern force & Warwick's advance host, the latter of which arrived in the midst of the battle & managed to turn the tide. Part VI - The Lancastrian focuses upon Warwick's alliance with Louis XI of France & his former foes, the Lancastrian faction, describing the defection of Warwick's brother, John Neville, the former Earl of Northumberland from the York royalists to the side of Warwick & Margaret of Anjou, as well as the inevitable political machinations & jockeying for position that resulted from effectively having two kings of England at the same time, Henry VI Lancaster & Edward IV York. The last chapter is devoted to the Battle of Barnet, the Kingmaker's final engagement, which was fought at 4 a.m. in the midst of a murky fogbank between the loyalist forces of Edward IV of York, his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, & William of Hastings, & Warwick's Lancaster host which was led by himself & John Neville, Marquess of Montague, & supplemented by regiments led by Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, & John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Overall, Warwick the Kingmaker & The Wars of the Roses is an engaging historical biography which should appeal to readers who prefer their history seasoned with the flowery, eloquent descriptions & witticisms of yesteryear -- Paul Murray Kendall's writing style in this title is very reminiscent of another of his written works, Louis XI: The Universal Spider, & the degree of convergence in the lives of Louis & Warwick throughout their professional careers render the aforementioned title a solid companion piece to this one. I hope you enjoyed the review, thank you so much for reading!
October 29, 2019
This is a great read! Despite being a history buff and having read a number of previous books covering this period, I have struggled a bit with names and chronology (too many Richards etc). A biography seemed an unlikely solution but oh my this is quite superb. By putting everything into the context of Warwick, and following every “you couldn't make it up” twist from St Albans to Barnet, Kendall brings it all to life. Sufficient primary sources miraculously survive (take a bow the Milanese ambassador!) and Kendall I think stays the right side of speculation while still explaining Warwick’s thinking’s and motivations in a credible manner. The writing is always engaging, never stodgy and all the supporting characters have their place too - especially Louis, Edward and the Burgundy Dukes. I had never thought before about how significant France and Burgundy were to this tale of Kingship, avarice, loyalty and betrayal. There are also enough “what if” and “if only” moments to clearly demonstrate the fragile thread that shaped our past. Next time Margaret - just get on the ruddy boat!!! His fate perhaps only determined by some stubborn English fog, this is every bit as gripping a page turner as George RR Martin’s obvious tip of the cap. First written in 1957, it is every bit as alive and driven forward as the man himself! One of the best historical books I’ve ever read.
April 2, 2018
Very often, I find the best biographies are of secondary characters and this can certainly be said for the Earl of Warwick. Paul Murray Kendall examines Warwick's career with an understanding and sympathetic point of view. If reading about the Wars of the Roses is your cup of tea, then this book is a must-read.
February 24, 2023
I didn’t enjoy the writing style of Kendall
Perhaps it was fashionable in 1957 to over complicate sentences , provide details that bore no real purpose in being revealed and include frequent short French quotes without translation
I guess it wasn’t a friendly read and at times it seemed less about Warwick than Louis XI
Perhaps it was fashionable in 1957 to over complicate sentences , provide details that bore no real purpose in being revealed and include frequent short French quotes without translation
I guess it wasn’t a friendly read and at times it seemed less about Warwick than Louis XI
January 12, 2024
First class history! This book, even through written in 1957, has lost nothing of its vitality and erudition. And what a story; if history is your thing, then this is first class history.
So, a combination of a good story and excellent writing make this book a keeper.
So, a combination of a good story and excellent writing make this book a keeper.
December 25, 2022
so good and interesting story
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