John Clifford, 9th Baron Clifford (8 April 1435-26 March 1461) was a Lancastrian military leader during the Wars of the Roses.
Biography[]
John Clifford was the son of Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford, and he was orphaned in 1455 when his father was slain in the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, at St. Albans. Clifford became one of the strongest supporters of the Lancastrians as a result, and he fought against the Neville family in northern England. In 1460, after the Lancastrian defeat at Northampton, he was forced to give back his conquests that he had taken from the Nevilles. He became a prominent commander of the Lancastrians, scoring an important victory at Wakefield on 30 December 1460. He slew Edmund, Earl of Rutland in battle, and he was nicknamed "Butcher Clifford". He was slain in a skirmish with a Yorkist advance party the day before the Battle of Towton in 1461.