On the 24th August 1453, a large number - at least 700 - of Percy supporters and retainers gathered at Heworth, just north of York. They were led by Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont (2nd son of the Earl of Northumberland) and his younger brother Ralph. Their intention was to attack and if possible kill members of a wedding party which had left Tattershall in Lincolnshire some days before and was making for Sheriff Hutton. In the wedding party were Sir Thomas Neville, his new wife Maud, Thomas's brother John and their father Richard Earl of Salisbury. Maud was the niece of Ralph, Lord Cromwell, and (with her sister) his heir. Cromwell had, among his many estates, possession of the castle, manor and park of Wressle. Her marriage would mean that Wressle would soon (Ralph was elderly and infirm) pass into the hands of the Nevilles.
The Neville entourage must have been large or well-armed, as although there was a certain amount of rough play the attack never took place and the Neville family group continued on their way north. The "battle" has become to be seen as one of the starting points of the Wars of the Roses - where what had been a local dispute between two rival families gradually became a national issue for dominance at Henry VI's court, and ended with the 1st battle of St Albans and the start of a civil war.
How did Wressle come to play such an important part in English history?
The manor of Wressle had belonged to a minor branch of the Percy family since at least the early part of the 14C. By 1368 it had become part of the main branch of the family, when it was entailed by Henry, 3rd baron Percy on his younger son Thomas, who was created Earl of Worcester in 1397
It was Thomas who built the castle and created the park and the gardens. The castle should perhaps be seen, not as a fortress but rather as a noblemans house with a riverside location - very much as Cawood Castle was for the Archbishop of York.
In 1403, Thomas Percy and his nephew Henry (Hotspur) rebelled against the king, Henry IV. They accused the king of breaking an oath to them that - when he returned from exile - he wanted only the return of the Duchy of Lancaster, not the throne. Hotspur died at the battle of Shrewsbury; Worcester was captured, and executed two days later. Worcester's brother Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland was accused of treason but acquitted and allowed to keep his lands; however any esate belonging to Hotspur or Worcester was confiscated. So Wressle passed into the hands of the Crown.
Worcester was executed in late July 1403 - in August Henry IV was in Yorkshire to deal with the confiscated estates. He made Robert Babthorpe constable of Wressle castle, steward of the manor and custodian of the park, all these being for life. Babthorpe came from the village of the same name, just a couple of miles from Wressle via the ferry at Loftsome. This was his first appointment. He went on to have a distinguished carreer not only for Henry IV, but also his son Henry V (with whom he fought at Agincourt) and his grandson Henry VI. He married into the Waterton family - see below.
Later in 1403 the castle and manor of Wressle (along with Loftsome and Brighton(Breighton)) were granted to Henry IV's new wife Joan of Navarre, widow of the Duke of Brittany. This was confirmed in 1406 when it was explained that it was part of her dowry of 100,000 marks a year.
In July 1404 Henry IV was back in Yorkshire and on the 19th there is an entry in the Close Roll dated at Wressle. In that same month the contents of the castle were granted to Robert Waterton. Waterton had been a trusted retainer of Henry's before his exile, and was among the first to join him when he landed at Ravenser. He played a major part in the suppression of the Percy revolt, so this gift would have seemed a just reward. The description of the contents comprise several beds, some carpets, bed and table linen, with an alb, chasuble and alter cloths; these imply a chapel and priest. A good quality bed with all its hangings could be worth over £100 - at least £40,000 today - so this was a generous gift.
From 1406 the title to Wressle becomes obscure and ambiguous, and probably no longer capable of being proved beyond doubt. From Joan of Navarre it seems to have passed into the hands of either Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmoreland or been granted to Robert Waterton. Neither the Inquisition Post Mortem of Ralph Neville (d. 1425) or his wife Joan (d. 1440) list Wressle as part of their estate. One explanation is that the income from the manor had become separated from the occupation of the castle gardens and park. Many of the confiscated estates of the Percies had been granted to John, Duke of Bedford (Henry V's younger brother) and the entire Wressle estate eventually found its way into his hands.
One of the Inquisitions Post Mortem on the death of Bedford was held at Wressle, and it has a description of the estate...
Wressle, the manor and castle. There is a manor and castle, with a garden around the castle, worth nothing yearly; 70 a. demesne land, worth 58s. 4d. yearly; 10 a. meadow, worth 11s. 8d. yearly; 22d. and 1lb cumin free rent from two tenants, payable at Christmas; 8 messuages and 14 bovates of land, worth 110s. yearly; 15 cottages, worth 20s. yearly; 12 wasted crofts, worth nothing yearly; a park, worth 40s. yearly; a fishery, worth 6s. 8d. yearly; a windmill, worth 6s. 8d. yearly; the following in Breighton, parcel of the manor and castle – 4 messuages, worth 13s. 4d. yearly; 3 cottages, worth 3s. 6d. yearly; 4 wasted crofts, worth nothing yearly; and 60 a. land and meadow, worth 40s. yearly.
That the castle and gardens were worth nothing means they were not let out but retained by the lord of the manor. However, Bedford was rarely in England and unlikely to have stayed at Wressle, so we can only speculate on who lived there at that time. He died in 1435, and the inquisition quoted above was taken in June 1437.
After Bedford's death two parts of Wressle returned to the crown, the third being part of the dower of Bedford's wife, Jacquetta of Luxembourg. In 1437 Henry Langton - described as yeoman-usher of the chamber - was appointed porter of Wressle castle with the keeping of the park. He was already keeper of the park at Hawro. Hawro is Haverah, a game park of around 2,000 acres near Knaresborough - in 1439 it had 160 head of deer. It's likely the Wressle post was a sinecure, as he was allowed to perform the duties by a deputy. He was followed as porter and parker by Henry Vavasour. Langton gave up the post explicitly so that Vavasour could have it, and as the Vavasour family were from Yorkshire it's possible he may have performed the duties in person.
In 1438 the crown's part of Wressle was granted to Ralph, Lord Cromwell, at first for life but in 1440 in fee simple - which meant it could be sold or passed on to his heirs. He was also granted the reversion of the remainder - so that eventually the whole estate would be re-united to be held by him or his heirs. Cromwell was, even by the low standards of the time, particularly avaricious, and a great collector and builder of houses. He had properties at South Wingfield in Derbyshire, Lamble in Nottinghamshire, Collyweston in Rutland and Ampthill in Bedfordshire, as well as building Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire. On his death he left £21,100, of which lands worth £5,500 had to be returned to the original owners who had been cheated of them.
To complicate things further in 1439 the Percies obtained an Act of Parliament which enabled them to seek the restoration of estates entailed on Thomas. Earl of Worcester - which had originally been excluded. This now again gave them a claim on Wressle.
Cromwell's marriage was childless, and his heirs were his two nieces, daughters of his sister Maud's marriage to Sir Richard Stanhope. The older, also Maud, was briefly married to Lord Willoughby before his death and her subsequent marriage to Sir Thomas Neville. The younger, Joan, married Humphrey Bourchier, nephew of Richard, Duke of York - who was the brother-in-law of Richard, Earl of Salisbury. Although a long-term servant of the House of Lancaster, Cromwell seemed to be moving into the Yorkist camp.
Is it an exaggeration to describe the squabble over Wressle as the origin of the Wars of the Roses? After Heworth, the violence in Yorkshire continued, drawing Salisbury's son Richard, Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker) into the fray. Warwick had a bitter disagreement with the Duke of Somerset over estates in South Wales, and Somerset and York were deadly enemies. Cromwell had a long-running dispute with the Duke of Exeter over Ampthill, and in January 1454 Exter and Egremont were sworn together.
Henry VI's madness and York's protectorate delayed the settling of scores, but after Henry recovered the first battle of St Albans saw what was effectively the murder of Somerset, Northumberland and his ally Lord Clifford by Warwick and York. Following the battle, when Cromwell tried to justify his actions to the king, Warwick accused Cromwell as the man who had caused all the trouble in the first place. So for one of the leading actors, the fate of Wressle castle was indeed the origin of the Wars of the Roses.
Postcript
Thomas Neville never got to enjoy possession of Wressle Castle. In 1455, before Lord Cromwell's death, it returned to the crown in an act of resumption. In March 1456 it was granted to Sir James Pickering, then in December that year to James Talbot, esquire, John Joskyn, esquire, and Robert Croppell. This latter assignment is described as "by mainprise of Henry Belyngeham of Kendale, co. Westmoreland". Bellingham was a Percy supporter - in May 1454 he led a group of men from Westmoreland to join many Percy tenants who were gathering at Spofforth to join the Duke of Exeter in rebellion.
Finally in 1458 Wressle was back in the hands of a Percy - Thomas, Lord Egremont. It seems he was not to be trusted, as a few weeks later he was granted to leave to depart on a pilgrimage he had promised to undertake; he never went.
Wressle would end up as the favourite residence of Henry Percy, 5th Earl - "The Magnificent" who turned it into one of the finest residences of its day.
Sources
1) Primary - all available on-line
Calendars of Close Rolls
Calendars of Fine Rolls
Calendars of Patent Rolls
thepeerage.com
2) Secondary
Bean, JMW - The Estates of the Percy Family 1416-1537
Griffiths, RA - Local Rivalries and National Politics (in King and Country)
Griffiths, RA - The Reign of Henry VI
Storey, RL - The End of the House of Lancaster
Rose, A - Kings in the North
McFarlane, KB - England in the Fifteenth Century
McFarlane, KB - The Nobility of Later Medieval England
Johnson, PA - Duke Richard of York
Hicks, M - Warwick the Kingmaker
Kendall, PM - Warwick the Kingmaker
Fisher, EJ - Some Yorkshire Estates of the Percy Family - Leeds University Thesis