On 13th November 1467, King Edward IV granted to his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, the custody of the orphaned eleven-year-old ninth baron Lovell, Francis Lovell. This, as was common for such grants also included the "custody of all lordships, manors, lands, rents, services and possessions with advowsons, kinghts` fees, franchises, liberties, warrens, courts leet and other commodities late of John Lovell, knight, deceased, tenant in chief, or Joan his wife or any ancestor of Francis, his son and heir during the minority of said Francis", as well as his "marriage without disparagement".
Because of this grant, it is often assumed that Francis only arrived in Warwick`s household in late 1467. Which is of course a very logical assumption, but nonetheless one that is most likely untrue. All that it definitely says is that with the grant, Warwick legally had the wardship of Francis and his possessions. It does not state if this was simply an affirmation of rights Warwick had informally held for a while, and if not, who else had custody of Francis and his inheritance.
Since a similar grant to someone else between the death of Francis`s father and 1467 would have been recorded, it follows that either the king himself held Francis`s custody and lands, as he indeed did from mid-1473 until Francis came of age in late 1477, or that Warwick did so informally.
Both is, of course, possible, but it seems likely that Warwick had at least some control over Francis as soon as his father died, for only around five weeks after John Lovell`s death, he was married to Warwick`s niece Anne FitzHugh. This could mean that Warwick already had full power of decision over Francis, but it could also mean that Edward granted him the right to pick a bride for the young boy - perhaps as a compensation for marrying his sister-in-law Margaret Woodville to Warwick`s nephew Thomas FitzAlan - but not his entire lands.
Of course, all this does is show that Warwick had some control over young Francis in 1465. It does not indicate exactly how many, or where Francis lived. In 1465, Francis`s mother was still alive, so it is possible that after the marriage, the little boy continued living with her. If it was indeed Edward IV holding his inheritance at that point, this is somewhat more likely than if it was the Earl of Warwick; there is no indication Francis ever lived at court, and it might not have mattered much to Edward whether the eight-year-old boy was raised in the households of one of his men, or in his mother`s household.
However, Francis`s mother Joan died on 5th August 1466, leaving him and his sisters Joan and Frideswide full orphans, with neither father nor mother left to take charge of their upbringing if they were so allowed. There is no definite proof where they went immediately after their mother`s death, but evidence indicates that at least Joan and Frideswide - and Francis if he was indeed still living in his mother`s household when she died - were raised in the household of Alice and Henry FitzHugh following their mother`s death. They were recorded to be there, together with Francis, in 1470, in the pardon for Henry FitzHugh`s rebellion, their inclusion clearly suggesting that they had not just newly arrived there but were considered established members of the FitzHughs` household and extended family.
It is, of course, possible that they only arrived at their household when their brother Francis`s wardship was granted to the Earl of Warwick, but there is no obvious reason to assume this was so. The only other households they could have likely stayed at after their mother`s death would have been that of their paternal grandmother, Alice Deincourt, and her husband Lord Sudeley, or that of their stepfather William Stanley. For neither of whom any documents contradict that they stayed there, but they were both apparently still in good health and finances, allowing them to take care of the children well after 1467. Though Francis might have been forced to leave to join the Earl of Warwick`s household when his custody was granted to him, there would have been no reason for his sisters to leave either the Stanley or the Sudeley household, had they stayed there, at the same time, or really at any time between their mother`s death and 1470.
It seems, therefore, that at least Joan and Frideswide were raised with the FitzHugh children from 1466 on. It stands to reason, therefore, that Francis was either with them or in Warwick`s household at the time. The fact that a grant of 1000 pounds to the Earl of Warwick, for "costs and expenses incurred by him on behalf of the Duke of Gloucester, the king`s brother, and for the exhibition and marriage of the son and heir of the Lord Lovell" exists from 1466 suggests it was the latter. While Warwick could have been compensated for the costs of the the children`s wedding without Francis having to live with him, the fact that "exhibition" was included suggests that he was also responsible for his education and upbringing as a lord, with all that entailed.
The grant is also interesting in that the 1000 pounds were in fact taken from revenues which were part of Francis`s inheritance. This suggests that it was Edward, not the Earl of Warwick, who controlled them at this point, and that the right to arrange Francis`s marriage had been especially granted to the earl, not been part and parcel of getting custody of him and his lands. The fact Edward reimbursted the earl for his upbringing suggests that he had sent Francis to his household, probably to raise him as a good, loyal, lord - like he did with his own brother Richard, equally mentioned in the grant.
It seems pretty certain, therefore, that Francis was in the earl`s household from at least summer 1466 on. It is less certain where he was immediately following his father`s death, but given the customs of the days, it is quite likely Edward made arrangements for him to be sent to be raised in one of his lords` households then, rather than after his mother`s death. The fact that his "exhibition and marriage" were mentioned together in the grant made the earl also suggest so, although this of course speculation.
Why the earl was granted custody of Francis and his inheritance in late 1467, we do not know. Perhaps it was an attempt by Edward to save the slowly fracturing relationship with the earl, or it was a reward for something. However, it seems that for Francis and his upbringing at the time, the grant made no difference, since he had been in the earl`s household for quite a while by then.
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