[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.
[9] King Edward was, however, slow in responding to these multiple threats ("and slower still to link them with Neville treason", says Ross).
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.
[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.