Sir Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy, Knight, 2nd Earl of Northumberland

Sir Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy, Knight, 2nd Earl of Northumberland

Male 1364 - 1403  (39 years)

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  • Name Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy 
    Title Sir 
    Suffix Knight, 2nd Earl of Northumberland 
    Birth 20 May 1364  Alnwick, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    Gender Male 
    Death 21 Jul 1403  Shrewsbury, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2
    • in the Battle of Shrewsbury...
    Person ID I37054  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 28 Apr 2014 

    Father Sir Henry Percy, Knight, 1st Earl of Northumberland,   b. 10 Nov 1341, Alnwick, Northumberland, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Feb 1408, Bramham Moor, Yorkshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 66 years) 
    Mother Lady Margaret Neville, Baroness of Ros,   b. 12 Feb 1329, (Raby Castle, Staindrop, Durham, England) Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 May 1372 (Age 43 years) 
    Marriage 12 Jul 1358  [3, 4
    Family ID F13648  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, Countess of Percy,   b. 12 Feb 1371, Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 20 Apr 1417, Trotton, Sussex, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 46 years) 
    Marriage Bef 10 Dec 1379  Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 5, 6
    • Elizabeth was a Child Bride at the age of 9
    Children 
     1. Sir Henry Percy, VI, Earl of Percy,   b. 3 Feb 1394, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England NE66 1NQ Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 22 May 1455, St. Albans, Hertford, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 61 years)
     2. Lady Elizabeth Percy,   b. ~ 1395, Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England NE66 1NQ Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Oct 1437 (Age ~ 42 years)
    Photos
    Lady Elizabeth Mortimer Percy (1370-1417)
    Lady Elizabeth Mortimer Percy (1370-1417)

    A romanticised painting of Elizabeth Mortimer and her first husband Henry "Hotspur" Percy.

    16th grandmother to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)
    17th grandmother to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)
    Family ID F13651  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 20 May 1364 - Alnwick, Northumberland, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - Bef 10 Dec 1379 - Usk, Monmouthshire, Wales Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 21 Jul 1403 - Shrewsbury, England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Sir Henry 'Harry Hotspur' Percy (1364-1403)
    Sir Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy (1364-1403)

    commonly known as Sir Harry Hotspur, or simply Hotspur, was a late mediaeval English nobleman. He was known as one of the most valiant knights of his day, and was a significant captain during the Anglo-Scottish wars. He later led successive rebellions against Henry IV of England, and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his career.

    17th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985) ...
    Warkworth Castle
    Warkworth Castle

    is a ruined medieval building in the town of the same name in the English county of Northumberland and the home of Henry "Hotspur Harry" Percy...
    A 19th century artist's impression of Hotspur's death
    A 19th century artist's impression of Hotspur's death

    Sir Henry Percy (1364-1403) 2nd Earl of Northumberland

    16th grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)
    17th grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985)

  • Notes 
    • 17th great grandfather to the grandchildren of Vernia Swindell Byars (1894-1985) ...

      http://thehennesseefamily.com/relationship.php?altprimarypersonID=&savedpersonID=&secondpersonID=I3&maxrels=1&disallowspouses=0&generations=30&tree=hennessee&primarypersonID=I37054

      Click here to view maps & history of Warkworth Castle ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle

      * [7, 8]
    • Sir Henry Percy KG (20 May 1364 - 21 July 1403), commonly known as Sir Harry Hotspur, or simply Hotspur, was a late-medieval English nobleman. He was a significant captain during the Anglo-Scottish wars. He later led successive rebellions against Henry IV of England and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his career.

      Career

      Arms of Hotspur
      Henry Percy was born 20 May 1364 at either Alnwick Castle or Warkworth Castle in Northumberland, the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph de Neville, 2nd Lord Neville of Raby, and Alice de Audley.[1] He was knighted by King Edward III in April 1377, together with the future Kings Richard II and Henry IV.[2] In 1380, he was in Ireland with the Earl of March,[3] and in 1383, he travelled in Prussia.[4] He was appointed warden of the east march either on 30 July 1384 or in May 1385,[4] and in 1385 accompanied Richard II on an expedition into Scotland.[1] 'As a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack' on the Scottish borders, the Scots bestowed on him the name 'Haatspore'.[2] In April 1386, he was sent to France to reinforce the garrison at Calais and led raids into Picardy. Between August and October 1387, he was in command of a naval force in an attempt to relieve the siege of Brest.[4] In appreciation of these military endeavours he was made a Knight of the Garter in 1388.[4] Reappointed as warden of the east march, he commanded the English forces against James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas, at the Battle of Otterburn on 10 August 1388, where he was captured, but soon ransomed for a fee of 7000 marks.[2]

      During the next few years Percy's reputation continued to grow. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Cyprus in June 1393 and appointed Governor of Bordeaux, deputy to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster, in the Duchy 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 Scotland and in north Wales, where he was appointed High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1399. In north Wales, he was under increasing pressure as a result of the rebellion of Owain Glyndwr. In March 1402, Henry IV appointed Percy royal lieutenant in north Wales, and on 14 September 1402, Percy, his father, and the Earl of Dunbar and March were victorious against a Scottish force at the Battle of Homildon Hill. Among others, they made a prisoner of Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas.[1]

      Rebellion and death

      In spite of the favour that Henry IV showed the Percys in many respects, they became increasingly discontented with him. Among their grievances was the king's failure to pay the wages due to them for defending the Scottish border; his favour towards Dunbar; his demand that the Percys hand over their Scottish prisoners; his failure to put an end to Owain Glyndwr's rebellion through a negotiated settlement; his increasing promotion of his son Prince Henry's military authority in Wales; and his failure to ransom Henry Percy's brother-in-law Sir Edmund Mortimer, whom the Welsh had captured in June 1402.[5]

      Spurred on 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 Glyndwr. 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, he 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 as well, 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 is that he was struck in the face by an arrow when he opened his vizor for a better view.[6] 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.


      Shortly after Henry died in battle, his uncle was executed. An attainder was issued and the family's property, including Wressle Castle in Yorkshire, was confiscated by the Crown.[7]
      The Earl of Worcester was executed two days later.[8]

      King Henry, upon being brought Percy's body after the battle, is said to have wept. The body was taken by Thomas Neville, 5th Baron Furnivall, to Whitchurch, Shropshire, for burial. However, when rumours circulated that Percy was still alive, the king 'had the corpse exhumed and displayed it, propped upright between two millstones, in the market place at Shrewsbury'.[3] That done, the king dispatched Percy's head to York, where it was impaled on the Micklegate Bar (one of the city's gates), whereas his four-quarters were sent to London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bristol, and Chester before they were finally delivered to his widow. She had him buried in York Minster in November of that year.[9] In January 1404, Percy was posthumously declared a traitor, and his lands were forfeited to the Crown.[citation needed]

      Marriage and issue

      Henry Percy married Elizabeth Mortimer, the eldest daughter of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, and his wife, Philippa, the only child of Lionel, 1st Duke of Clarence, and Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Ulster.[10] By her he had two children:

      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, Thomas de Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys, by whom she had a son, Sir Roger Camoys.[13] Thomas Camoys distinguished himself as a soldier in command of the rearguard of the English army at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415.[14]

      Legacy

      Warkworth Castle, the home of Henry Percy
      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 name of one of England's top football clubs, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., acknowledges Henry Percy, whose descendants owned land in the neighbourhood of the club's first ground in the Tottenham Marshes.[15][16][17]

      A 14 feet (4.3 m) statue of Henry Percy was unveiled in Alnwick by the Duke of Northumberland in 2010.[18]

      * [2]

  • Sources 
    1. [S51347] http://famouskin.com/princess_diana/_princess_diana_family_tree_ahnentafel.php?ahnum=568408.

    2. [S10450] "Henry Percy (Hotspur)" biography, abstracted, downloaded and published Sunday, February 19th, 2017 by David A. Hennesse.

    3. [S51342] http://famouskin.com/princess_diana/_princess_diana_family_tree_ahnentafel.php?ahnum=1136817.

    4. [S7172] "Mary of Lancaster, Baroness Percy (1320 - 1 September 1362) Biography", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Lancaster.

    5. [S51524] http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/getperson.php?personID=I9713&tree=00.

    6. [S10451] "Elizabeth Mortimer, Baroness Camoys (12 February 1371 - 20 April 1417)" biography, abstracted, downloaded and published.

    7. [S51422] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_%27Hotspur%27_Percy.

    8. [S51430] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warkworth_Castle.