William Neville (poet)

William Neville
Modern Pinvin, Worcestershire, where William Neville once resided
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Greville
Issue Richard Neville Mary Neville Susan Neville
Noble family	House of Neville
Father	Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer
Mother	Anne Stafford
Born	15 July 1497
Died	c. 1545 (aged 47–48)

William Neville (15 July 1497 – c. 1545) of Penwyn and Wyke Sapie, Worcestershire, was the son of Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer, and the author of The Castell of Pleasure. In 1532 he was accused of treason and dabbling in magic.

William Neville, born 15 July 1497, was the second son of Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Latimer, and Anne Stafford, daughter of Sir Humphrey Stafford of Grafton, Worcestershire, and Katherine Fray (12 May 1482), the daughter of Sir John Fray, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by Agnes Danvers (d. June 1478), the daughter of Sir John Danvers (died c.1448). William Neville had five brothers and six sisters:

After the death of Anne Stafford, Neville's father married, by licence dated 5 July 1502, Margaret (d. 16 December 1521), the widow of Sir James Strangways.

According to Edwards, Neville may have served in the household of Cardinal Wolsey in his youth. From 1524 on he was from time to time a commissioner of the peace for Worcestershire. He held lands in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire, some of which had been bequeathed to him and to his wife by her father, Sir Giles Greville. During the late 1520s and 1530s these were the subject of litigation.

In December 1532 Thomas Wood accused Neville of treason, alleging he had prophesied the King's death, and that he himself would become Earl of Warwick. In addition there were other allegations that Neville had dabbled in magic, including the claim that at one time 'he tried to make himself a cloak of invisibility of two layers of linen with one between of buckskin, the whole to be treated with a mixture in which horse bones, skin, chalk, rosin and powdered glass were the chief ingredients.’ His former chaplain, Edward Legh, made similar allegations in March 1533. It appears Neville, and his brothers George and Christopher, who were also drawn into the investigation, escaped from these charges relatively unscathed. In 1534 Neville petitioned Thomas Cromwell, claiming that owing to great losses he was so impoverished that he could not afford to go to law to obtain redress of wrongs done to him.