Editing Richard III of England (section)

==Marriage and family relationships==
[[File:Rous Roll - Richard and family.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Contemporary illumination ([[John Rous (historian)|''Rous Roll'']], 1483) of Richard, his wife [[Anne Neville]], and their son Edward]]

Following a decisive Yorkist victory over the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury, Richard married Anne Neville on 12 July 1472.<ref name="ipup-timeline">{{cite web |title=Timeline |url=http://richardiii-ipup.org.uk/timeline |website=Richard III: Rumour and Reality |publisher=[[Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past]], [[University of York]] |access-date=8 July 2014}}</ref> Anne had previously been wedded to [[Edward of Westminster]], only son of Henry VI, to seal her father's allegiance to the Lancastrian party.{{sfnp|Hicks|2006}} Edward died at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471, while Warwick had died at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471.{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=21}} Richard's marriage plans brought him into conflict with his brother George.{{sfnp|Ross|1974|p=27}} [[Paston Letters|John Paston's letter]] of 17 February 1472 makes it clear that George was not happy about the marriage but grudgingly accepted it on the basis that "he may well have my Lady his sister-in-law, but they shall part no livelihood".{{sfnp|Hicks|1980|p=115|ps=. The East Anglian Paston family have left historians a rich source of historical information for the lives of the English gentry of the period in a large collection of surviving letters.}} The reason was the inheritance Anne shared with her elder sister Isabel, whom George had married in 1469. It was not only the earldom that was at stake; Richard Neville had inherited it as a result of his marriage to [[Anne Beauchamp, 16th Countess of Warwick]]. The Countess, who was still alive, was technically the owner of the substantial Beauchamp estates, her father having left no male heirs.{{sfnp|Hicks|2009|pp=81–82}}

The [[Croyland Chronicle]] records that Richard agreed to a prenuptial contract in the following terms: "the marriage of the Duke of Gloucester with Anne before-named was to take place, and he was to have such and so much of the earl's lands as should be agreed upon between them through the mediation of arbitrators; while all the rest were to remain in the possession of the Duke of Clarence".{{sfnp|Riley|1908|p=470}} The date of Paston's letter suggests the marriage was still being negotiated in February 1472. In order to win George's final consent to the marriage, Richard renounced most of the Earl of Warwick's land and property including the earldoms of Warwick (which the Kingmaker had held in his wife's right) and Salisbury and surrendered to George the office of Great Chamberlain of England.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956}} Richard retained Neville's forfeit estates he had already been granted in the summer of 1471:{{sfnp|Baldwin|2013|p=58}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Northern Properties and Influence |url=http://richardiii-ipup.org.uk/riii/46 |website=Richard III: Rumour and Reality |publisher=[[Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past]], [[University of York]] |at=CPR 1467–77, p. 260|access-date=7 September 2014}}</ref> Penrith, Sheriff Hutton and Middleham, where he later established his marital household.{{sfnp|Kendall|1956|p=128}}

[[File:King Richard III and Queen Anne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Stained glass]] depiction of Richard and Anne Neville in [[Cardiff Castle]]]]

The requisite papal dispensation was obtained dated 22 April 1472.{{sfnp|Clarke|2005|p=1023|ps=. "In fact, [Richard and Anne] had sought a dispensation to marry from the penitentiary in early 1472, for it was granted on 22 April that year, and they probably married shortly afterwards."}} [[Michael Hicks (historian)|Michael Hicks]] has suggested that the terms of the dispensation deliberately understated the degrees of consanguinity between the couple, and the marriage was therefore illegal on the ground of first-degree consanguinity following George's marriage to Anne's sister Isabel.{{sfnp|Hicks|2006}} There would have been first-degree consanguinity if Richard had sought to marry Isabel (in case of widowhood) after she had married his brother George, but no such consanguinity applied for Anne and Richard. Richard's marriage to Anne was never declared null, and it was public to everyone including secular and canon lawyers for 13 years.{{sfnp|Barnfield|2007|p=85}}

In June 1473, Richard persuaded his mother-in-law to leave the sanctuary and come to live under his protection at Middleham. Later in the year, under the terms of the 1473 Act of Resumption,{{sfnp|Cobbett|1807|p=431}} George lost some of the property he held under royal grant and made no secret of his displeasure. John Paston's letter of November 1473 says that King Edward planned to put both his younger brothers in their place by acting as "a stifler atween them".{{sfnp|Ross|1974|p=190}} Early in 1474, Parliament assembled and Edward attempted to reconcile his brothers by stating that both men, and their wives, would enjoy the Warwick inheritance just as if the Countess of Warwick "was naturally dead".{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=30}} The doubts cast by George on the validity of Richard and Anne's marriage were addressed by a clause protecting their rights in the event they were divorced (i.e. of their marriage being declared null and void by the Church) and then legally remarried to each other, and also protected Richard's rights while waiting for such a valid second marriage with Anne.{{sfnp|Given-Wilson|Brand|Phillips|Ormrod|2005|loc="Edward IV: October 1472, Second Roll", items 20–24}} The following year, Richard was rewarded with all the Neville lands in the north of England, at the expense of Anne's cousin, [[George Neville, 1st Duke of Bedford]].{{sfnp|Ross|1981|p=31}} From this point, George seems to have fallen steadily out of King Edward's favour, his discontent coming to a head in 1477 when, following Isabel's death, he was denied the opportunity to marry [[Mary of Burgundy]], the stepdaughter of his sister Margaret, even though Margaret approved the proposed match.{{sfnp|Hicks|1980|p=132}} There is no evidence of Richard's involvement in George's subsequent conviction and execution on a charge of treason.{{sfnp|Hicks|1980|p=146}}