created Earl of Northumberland. At around the same time, however, his brother Warwick became increasingly dissatisfied with his relationship with the king, and began instigating rebellions against Edward IV in the north, finally capturing him in July 1469. At first, Montagu helped suppress this discontent, and also encouraged Warwick to release Edward. Eventually, however, his brother went into French exile with the king's brother George, Duke of Clarence, in March 1470. During Warwick's exile, King Edward stripped Montagu of the Earldom of Northumberland, making him Marquis of Montagu instead. John Neville appears to have seen this as a reduction in rank, and accepted it with poor grace. He seems particularly to have complained about the lack of landed estate that his new marquisate brought with it, calling it a "pie's nest". When the Earl of Warwick and Clarence returned, they distracted Edward with a rebellion in the north, which the king ordered Montagu to raise troops to repress in the king's name. Montagu, however, having raised a small army, turned against Edward, almost capturing him at Olney, Buckinghamshire; the king, with his other brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, fled into exile in Burgundy. While in exile, Warwick had allied with the old king, Henry VI and his Queen, Margaret of Anjou, Henry was restored to the throne, and Warwick now effectively ruled the kingdom, This return to Lancastrianism did not, however, last long; within the year, Edward and Gloucester had returned. Landing only a few miles from Montagu in Yorkshire – who did nothing to stop them – the Yorkists marched south, raising an army. Montagu followed them, and, meeting up with his brother at Coventry, they confronted Edward over a battlefield at Barnet. John Neville was cut down in the fighting, Warwick died soon after, and within a month Edward had reclaimed his throne and Henry VI and his line was extinguished. Youth and early career Montagu was the third son of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, and Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury, and a younger brother of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, "the Kingmaker." John Neville's upbringing and career was entwined with that of the north of England and specifically, the marcher areas, the eastern and western borders between Scotland and England, controlled from Berwick and Carlisle respectively. His early activity there consisted of diplomatic meetings with the Scots, at which he acted as a