The making of the Neville family in England, 1166-1400

by Young, Charles R

The story of the Neville family is a fascinating one. From inconspicuous beginnings in Lincolnshire after the Norman Conquest, by the fourteenth century the Nevilles of Raby were among the most influential families in the north of England, virtually ruling the area by means of the royal offices they held; their political power reached its zenith in the fifteenth century with Richard de Neville, earl of Warwick, the so-called Kingmaker. This new study aims to answer the question of how a family of knightly status but with no special prominence was able to rise to such heights, tracing its growth and development through a careful examination of surviving documents. It also illustrates how the government of medieval England worked with the cooperation of baronial families in a pragmatic manner, quite apart from any abstract legal or constitutional principles.