Henry Percy (Hotspur)
Sir Henry Percy Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Westmorland | |
---|---|
Father | Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland |
Mother | Margaret Neville |
Sir Henry Percy
Career
Henry Percy was born 20 May 1364 at either
During the next few years Percy's reputation continued to grow. Although not 30, he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Cyprus in June 1393 and appointed Lieutenant of the Duchy of Aquitaine (1394–98) on behalf of John of Gaunt, Duke of Aquitaine.[2] He returned to England in January 1395, taking part in Richard II's expedition to Ireland, and was back in Aquitaine the following autumn. In the summer of 1396, he was again in Calais.[3]
Percy's military and diplomatic service brought him substantial marks of royal favour in the form of grants and appointments,[4] but despite this, the Percy family decided to support Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV, in his rebellion against Richard II. On Henry's return from exile in June 1399, Percy and his father joined his forces at Doncaster and marched south with them. After King Richard's deposition, Percy and his father were "lavishly rewarded" with lands and offices.[3]
Under the new king, Percy had extensive civil and military responsibility in both the East March towards Wales, where he was appointed
Rebellion, death and exhumation
In spite of the favour that Henry IV showed the Percys in many respects, they became increasingly discontented with him. Among their grievances were:
- The king's failure to pay the wages due them for defending the Scottish border
- The king's favour towards Dunbar
- The king's demand that the Percys hand over their Scottish prisoners
- The king's failure to put an end to Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion through a negotiated settlement
- The king's increasing promotion of his son's (Prince Henry) military authority in Wales
- The king's failure to ransom Henry Percy's brother-in-law, Sir Edmund Mortimer, whom the Welsh had captured in June 1402[5]
Spurred by these grievances, the Percys rebelled in the summer of 1403 and took up arms against the king. According to J. M. W. Bean, it is clear that the Percys were in collusion with Glyndŵr. On his return to England shortly after the victory at Homildon Hill, Henry Percy issued proclamations in Cheshire accusing the king of 'tyrannical government'.[3]
Joined by his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, Percy marched to Shrewsbury, where he intended to do battle against a force there under the command of the Prince of Wales. The army of his father, however, was slow to move south, and it was without the assistance of his father that Henry Percy and Worcester arrived at Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403, where they encountered the king with a large army. The ensuing Battle of Shrewsbury was fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides but, when Henry Percy himself was struck down and killed, his own forces fled.[3]
The circumstances of Percy's death differ in accounts. The chronicler Thomas Walsingham stated in his Historia Anglicana that "while he led his men in the fight rashly penetrating the enemy host, [Hotspur] was unexpectedly cut down, by whose hand is not known". Another account states that Percy was struck in the face by an arrow when he opened his vizor for a better view.[6] This is the view taken by Alnwick Castle, home of Hotspur’s descendants and place where a statue of him is exhibited. The legend that he was killed by the Prince of Wales seems to have been given currency by William Shakespeare, writing at the end of the following century. The Earl of Worcester was executed two days later.[7]
King Henry, upon being brought Percy's body after the battle, is said to have wept. The body was taken by
Marriage and issue
Henry Percy married
Name | Lifespan | Notes |
---|---|---|
Henry | 3 February 1393 – 22 May 1455 | 2nd Earl of Northumberland; married Eleanor Neville, by whom he had issue. He was slain at the First Battle of St Albans during the Wars of the Roses.[11] |
Elizabeth
|
c.1395 – 26 October 1436 | Married firstly John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford, slain at the Siege of Meaux on 13 March 1422, by whom she had issue, and secondly Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland (d. 3 November 1484), by whom she had a son, Sir John Neville.[12]
|
Sometime after 3 June 1406, Elizabeth Mortimer married, as her second husband,
Legacy
Henry Percy, 'Hotspur', is one of Shakespeare's best-known characters. In Henry IV, Part 1, Percy is portrayed as the same age as his rival, Prince Hal, by whom he is slain in single combat. In fact, he was 23 years older than Prince Hal, the future King Henry V, who was a youth of 16 at the date of the Battle of Shrewsbury. The Shakespearean version of Hotspur is the central character of Abigail Thorn's 2022 play The Prince.
One of England's football clubs, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., is named after Hotspur, who lived in the region and whose descendants owned land in the neighbourhood of the club's first ground in the Tottenham Marshes.[15][16][17]
A 14-foot (4.3 m) statue of Henry Percy was unveiled in Alnwick by the Duke of Northumberland in 2010.[18]
Tom Glynn-Carney portrayed Hotspur in The King (2019).
Sean Connery potrayed Hotspur in Henry 1V - Part 1 (1960 film) with Robert Hardy as Prince Hal. The production was part of a BBC series "An Age of Kings," with the episodes (3 & 4) featuring Harry Hotspur first broadcast in summer, 1960
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Richardson III 2011, p. 341; Walker 2004.
- ^ a b c d Richardson III 2011, p. 341; Cokayne 1936, p. 713; Walker 2004.
- ^ a b c d e f Walker 2004.
- ^ a b c d e Cokayne 1936, p. 713; Walker 2004.
- ^ Walker 2004; Pugh 1988, pp. 14, 37; Richardson III 2011, pp. 193–195; Holmes 2004; Tout 2004; Bean 2004.
- ISBN 978-1-84884-028-7.Campaign Chronicles series.
- ^ Bean 2004.
- ^ Brown 2004
- ^ Cokayne 1936, p. 714.
- ^ Richardson III 2011, p. 341.
- ^ Richardson III 2011, pp. 343–344.
- ^ Richardson I 2011, p. 507; Richardson III 2011, p. 250.
- ^ Cokayne 1912, p. 508; Richardson I 2011, pp. 398–399.
- ^ Leland 2004.
- ^ "Harry Hotspur – Home grown hero of Alnwick", bbc.com, 18 June 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ "Harry Hotspur Exhibition Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine", Alnwick Castle website. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ "Alnwick 1 Tottenham Hotspur 0", itv.com, 8 November 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
- ^ Daniel, B. "Duke of Northumberland unveils Harry Hotspur statue Archived 25 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine", The Journal, 21 August 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
References
- Bean, J. M. W. (2004). "Percy, Henry, first earl of Northumberland (1341–1408)". required.)(subscription required)
- Brown, A. L. (2004). "Percy, Thomas, earl of Worcester (c.1343–1403)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21955. Retrieved 24 February 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)(subscription required)
- Cokayne, George Edward (1912). The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday. Vol. II. London: St. Catherine Press. pp. 506–510.
- Cokayne, George Edward (1936). The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday. Vol. IX. London: St. Catherine Press. pp. 713–714.
- Holmes, George (2004). "Mortimer, Edmund (III), third earl of March and earl of Ulster (1352–1381)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19342. Retrieved 29 September 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Lee, Sidney, ed. (1895). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 44. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Leland, John L. (2004). "Camoys, Thomas, Baron Camoys (c.1350–1420/21)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4461. Retrieved 26 September 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.) (subscription required)
- Pugh, T. B. (1988). Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415. Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-86299-541-8
- Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.
{{
ISBN 1-4499-6637-3 - Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.
{{
ISBN 1-4499-6639-X - Tout, T. F., rev. R. R. Davies (2004). "Mortimer, Sir Edmund (IV) (1376–1408/9)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19343. Retrieved 29 September 2012.required.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) (Subscription or UK public library membership - doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/21931. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
External links
- Percy, Charles. "The Ancient House of Percy".
- For an account of the Battle of Shrewsbury and Henry Percy's death see "Plantagenet of Lancaster". English Monarchs.
- Statue of Henry Percy, 'Hotspur':
- "Alnwick". fickr. 28 August 2010.
- "Harry reborn in bronze". Northumberland Gazette. 22 July 2010. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
- For fictional treatments see:
- Rose, Alexander. "Kings in the North". alexrose.com.
- Donsbach, Margaret. "A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter". historicalnovels.info.