Warwick

wor'ik, Richard Neville, Earl of (1428-1471), an English soldier and statesman. He was one of the most powerful noblemen in England. He had vast estates scattered all over the length and breadth of the land. He kept 500 mounted retainers. Six oxen were required daily to furnish his table. He was a frank, cordial man, idolized by the people, who believed that in the crowd of baser nobles he alone had the interests of England at heart. He is known in history as "The Kingmaker." He was one of the prominent figures in the Wars of the Roses. He was related to both the Yorkists and the Lancastrians. At the opening of the war he took the side of York, but, having quarreled with that party, he marched on to London and placed the Lancastrian Henry VI on the throne. His biography is a series of military exploits. Sometimes victorious, sometimes defeated, he fought first on one side, then on the other, making and unmaking kings. He was defeated by Margaret of Anjou at St. Albans. He was slain finally at the battle of Barnet, April 14, 1471. Bulwer-Lytton's The Last of the Barons is a powerful story founded on the fortunes of Warwick.