Arms: Gules, a saltire Argent
SOURCE, NOTES & CREDITS: Source for blazon, Illustration for background and text: Wikipedia articles on the 3rd Baron Neville of Raby and his son the 1st Earl of Westmoreland and from “Katherine” a novel by Anya Seton, 1954 and “Mistress of the Monarchy”, a nonfiction biography of Katherine de Roet and John of Gaunt by Alison Weir, 2009.
Sir John de Neville, KG, 3rd baron Neville de Raby born circa. 1337. In “Katherine”, he is a trusted follower of John of Gaunt in Aquitaine in the wars with France. He succeeded his father as 3rd baron in 1367. In 1370 he was appointed Admiral of the North and was steward of the King’s Household in 1372. He died on 17 Oct 1388 at Newcastle upon Tyne.
His Son, Sir Ralph Neville, KG, PC, 1st Earl of Westmoreland, was born about 1364 by his wife Maud Percy, daughter of Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick, Northumberland. He was knighted by Thomas of Woodstock, Earl of Buckingham and Duke of Gloucester, and for his military service in Brittany serving there with his cousin, Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy.
In 1397 He supported Richard II against Thomas of Woodstock and the Lords Appellant and was then created 1st Earl of Westmoreland. Importantly, in 1396 he married Joan Beaufort, daughter of Katherine de Roet and John of Gaunt after she and her brothers were legitimized by Richard II and the pope.
Richard II seized John of Gaunt’s estates upon his death in February 1399.
Westmoreland moved to support his brother-in-law, Henry of Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV, when Richard II was overthrown. Westmoreland became Earl Marshal. He later helped Henry quash the Earl of Northumberland’s rebellion. And was rewarded with some of the Percy estates in 1405. Ralph Neville, the 1st Earl of Westmoreland died on 21 Oct 1425.
The artwork is an interpretation by John Hamilton Gaylor.
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