This Day in History: 1469-06-01
In June 1469, Edward IV, together with his younger brother, Richard, lord of Sandal, and his Woodville in-laws, Lord Rivers, Anthony Woodville and his younger brother, Sir John, set off north to address the Yorkshire insurgency against a regional tax levy which had been led by ‘Robin of Holderness’. Albeit ‘Robin’ had been captured and executed at York and a commission established to investigate the disturbances, Edward took a ‘leisurely’ journey through Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Fotheringhay and Newark before retreating to Nottingham Castle on hearing of a resurrected insurgency led by another folk hero, ‘Robin of Redesdale’, who reputedly had an army three times that of the king. This latest uprising had burst out of Richmondshire, an area dominated by Edward’s kith-and-kin, in the form of the Earl of Warwick’s fortress at Middleham and George, Duke of Clarence’s lordship of Richmond. Rumours abounded that ‘Robin’ was Sir John Conyers, Warwick’s household steward at Middleham and former Sheriff of Yorkshire with other leading protagonists members of the extended Neville family. Familial treachery in the Yorkist regime was becoming increasingly evident.