[3] Henry VI was never a strong king like his father; he was unable to keep a firm hand on either government or the nobility, and by the mid-1450s civil war had broken out.
It was not particularly peaceful; until 1464, there were continuous sieges, clashes and encounters in the North of England, until these were eventually crushed by Warwick's brother John.
[5] John was rewarded with the earldom of Northumberland,[6] a title that had traditionally been held by the Nevilles' bitter territorial rivals in the north, the Percy family.
Not only did he disagree with the pro-Burgundian and anti-French foreign policy Edward was pursuing, but the king had made an unpopular marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, whom Warwick appears to have considered of parvenu stock.
[2] The king had also recently dismissed Warwick and John's brother George from the chancellorship—in (says historian Charles Ross) a "pointed" manner.
A captured Lancastrian messenger at the siege of Harlech Castle alleged that Warwick was not only conspiring against the King, but was even by now negotiating with Margaret of Anjou.
[7] England at that time was less peaceful than the King would have wished, and there appears to have been a popular undercurrent of discontent; for example, a mob attacked and pillaged Earl Rivers' estates in Kent,[7] with complaints about heavy levels of taxation being common.
[7] In late April 1469 a large body of dissidents gathered under the leadership of one Robin of Redesdale in Yorkshire; however, Warwick's brother, John Neville, appears to have dispersed them with little trouble.
[7] This rebellion may have been in support of the Percy family's traditional claim to the earldom of Northumberland; this group, too, was scattered by John Neville, and its leader beheaded in York.
In the meantime, the remnants of Robin of Redesdale's original force had regrouped and re-emerged in Lancashire; this rising, at least, is generally considered by historians to have almost certainly been a Warwick construct.
In mid-June the King deemed it necessary to travel to the north in order to suppress Redesdale's rebellion; yet his actions have been described as "lacking urgency".
This alarmed the King, and the rebels defeated the Royal army at the Battle of Edgcote, six miles north-east of Banbury, on 24 July.
After another failed rebellion, thwarted by Edward at the Battle of Losecoat Field in March 1470, Warwick and Clarence fled to France.
There in July they met with Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI and de facto leader of the Lancastrians.
[12] Between the restoration of Henry Percy and the return of Warwick, the King was "walking a tightrope" as to whether Montague would accept the Marquisate as compensation.