Berkshire History for Kids: The Battle Bruised Earl of Salisbury

The Battle Bruised Earl of Salisbury

The Earls of Salisbury lived at Bisham ‘Abbey’ Manor in Medieval Times.
Richard Neville was the son of the Earl of Westmorland by his second marriage to Joan Beaufort, the grandaughter of King Edward III.
Richard married the daughter of the old Earl of Salisbury and was made Earl of Salisbury himself.
They had lots of children. The eldest was also called Richard and he later became the Earl of Warwick.
The new Earl of Salisbury sometimes lived at Bisham, but he also had lots of castles up North. He was well connected at the Royal Court too. His sister was married to the Duke of York who thought he should be King instead of his cousin, Henry VI.
When a war broke out between these two, the Earl of Salisbury and his son helped the Duke of York. They fought many bloody battles together.
This war was called the ‘War of the Roses’.
In 1460, the Earl of Salisbury was captured by the friends of King Henry VI at the Battle of Wakefield in Yorkshire.
He was imprisoned in Pontefract Castle but a mob dragged him out and cut off his head. His head was sent to York and stuck on a spike on the city gate!
The Earl of Warwick had the rest of his body buried at Bisham Priory, next to his manor house. His battered monument is now at Burghfield.