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These People Were The Real Power Behind The Throne

Khalid Elhassan July 13, 2023 32 min

A terrified Claudius pleads for mercy, as the Praetorians prepare to enthrone him. Imgur

The Original “Kingmaker”

Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick. Imgur

The term “Kingmaker” was first coined to refer to Richard Neville, 16^th Earl of Warwick (1428 – 1471), the wealthiest and most powerful English nobleman of his era. He was also a capable military commander during the Wars of the Roses between the Yorkist and Lancastrian branches of the royal Plantagenet family. Warwick began the conflict on the Yorkist side, but then switched his support to the Lancastrians, and his role in the ouster of two kings earned him the nickname “Warwick the Kingmaker”.

The conflict began when Richard, Duke of York, backed by the Nevilles, made tried to seize the crown from his cousin, the mentally incapacitated King Henry VI. However, the Duke of York, along with Warwick’s father, were slain in battle. The struggle passed on to the next generation of Yorkists, Warwick, and the Duke of York’s son, Edward. Warwick helped secure victory for the Yorkists, who broke the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton in 1461. Henry VI was deposed and imprisoned, and his place was taken by York’s son, who was crowned as Edward IV.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.