In County Durham, Raby Castle raises its nine towers above a deer park: it is one of the most imposing palace-fortresses in England. The seat of the Nevilles, one of the most powerful families of the North, it was in 1569 the very hearth of the last great feudal Catholic uprising against Elizabeth I.
The palace-fortress of the Nevilles
Raby was the great seat of the Nevilles, a dynasty that dominated the North of England for centuries (Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV and Richard III, was born there). With its nine towers, its moat, its Barons' Hall and its medieval chapel, the castle embodied the near-royal power of this house. But this very power was to precipitate its fall, when the Nevilles took the lead of a revolt against the Crown.
The Rising of the North (1569)
In 1569, Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland, and the great Catholic lords of the North prepared at Raby the Rising of the North: a revolt in favour of Mary Stuart and the restoration of the Mass, against Elizabeth I. Tradition holds that the decision to rise was taken at a council held in the Barons' Hall of Raby. The revolt failed tragically: more than 800 rebels were executed, the earl fled into exile, and by the attainder of 1571, the Crown confiscated Raby — ending the great power of the Nevilles in the North. The castle remained in royal hands until its sale to the Vanes in 1626. To see: the nine towers and the moat, the great Barons' Hall, the medieval chapel, the painting collection (Van Dyck, Reynolds), the deer park.
Did you know?
The Rising of the North of 1569, decided it is said in the great hall of Raby, was the last great surge of the old feudal Catholic nobility against the centralising Tudor power. Its failure did not only seal the ruin of the Nevilles and the Percys: it marked the end of a world, that of the great lords of the North able to raise private armies against their sovereign. After 1569, never again would the English nobility rise thus, in arms, against the Crown.
Notes
Raby Castle lies near Staindrop, County Durham; a castle (Vane family, barons Barnard) and park open to the public seasonally. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Which family held Raby Castle?
- The Nevilles
- The Percys
- The Howards
- Which rising was prepared at Raby in 1569?
- The Rising of the North
- Kett's Rebellion
- The Gunpowder Plot
- What became of Raby after the failure of the revolt?
- Confiscated by the Crown (attainder of 1571)
- Enlarged
- Given to the pope