Henry, eldest son of Henry, 16t earl of Northumberland, was born on March 20, 1364 in England.
Six years later he was associated with his father in the wardenship of the eastern march of Scotland, and his zeal in border warfare won the name of Hotspur for him from his opponents.
He was knighted by King Edward III in April 1377, together with the future Kings Richard II and Henry IV. In 1380, he was in Ireland with the Earl of March, and in 1383, he travelled in Prussia. He was appointed warden of the east march either on 30 July 1384 or in May 1385, and in 1385 accompanied Richard II on an expedition into Scotland. 'As a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack' on the Scottish borders, the Scots bestowed on him the name 'Haatspore'. 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.
In the summer of 1388 the Scots invaded England by way of Carlisle, sending a small body under the earls of Douglas, Mar and Moray to invade Northumberland.
In hand-to-hand fighting before the walls of Newcastle, Douglas is said to have won Sir Henry's pennon, which he swore to fix upon the walls of Dalkeith.
The Scots then retreated to Otterburn, where Percy, who was bent on recovering his pennon, attacked them on a fine August evening in 1388.
Hotspur was released on the payment of a heavy ransom, to which Richard II contributed £3000, and in the autumn his term as warden of Carlisle and the West March was extended to five years.
Henry IV gave the charge of the West March to Northumberland, while Henry Percy received the castles of Bamburgh, Roxburgh and Berwick, and the wardenship of the East March, with a salary of £3000 in peace time and £12, 000 in war.
Henry also gave him a grant of the island of Anglesey, with the castle of Beaumaris.
Meanwhile he wrote demanding arrears of pay, with the threat of resignation if the money were not forthcoming, but the king intimated that the loss of Conway had been due to his negligence, and only sent part of the money.
The Scots again invaded England in the autumn of 1402, headed by the earl of Douglas and Murdoch Stewart, son of the duke of Albany.
Northumberland and Hotspur barred their way at Millfield, near Wooler, and the Scots were compelled to fight at Humbledon, or Homildon Hill, on the 14th of September.
The English archers were provided with a good target in the masses of the Scottish spearmen, and Hotspur was restrained from charging by his ally, George Dunbar, earl of March.
The Scottish army was almost destroyed, while the English loss is said to have been five men.
Disputes with the king arose over the disposal of the Scottish prisoners, Percy insisting on his right to hold Douglas as his personal prisoner, and he was summoned to court to explain.
High words followed, in the course of which Henry called Percy a traitor, struck him on the face, and drew his sword on him Percy is said to have answered this defiance with the words, " Not here, but on the field. "
This was late in 1402, and in 1403 Hotspur issued a proclamation in Cheshire stating that Richard II was alive, and summoning the inhabitants to his standard.
He made common cause with his prisoner Douglas, and marched south to join forces with Glendower, who was now reconciled with Mortimer.
When he arrived at the Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury, early on the 216t of July, and demanded provisions, he found the king's forces had arrived before him.
He retired in the direction of Whitchurch, and awaited the enemy about 3) m. from Shrewsbury.
After a long parley, in which a truce of two days was even said to have been agreed on, the Scottish earl of March, fighting on the royal side, forced on the battle in the afternoon, the royal right being commanded by the prince of 1 The dissatisfaction of the Percys seems to have been chiefly due to the money question.
Sir J. H. Ramsay (Lancaster and York) estimates that in the four years from 1399 to 1403 they had received from the king the sum of £41, 750, which represented a very large capital in the 14th century, and they had also received considerable grants of land.
Hotspur was killed, the earls of Douglas and Worcester, Sir Richard Venables of Kinderton, and Sir Richard Vernon were captured, and the rebel army dispersed.
Worcester, Venables and Vernon were executed the next day.
Sir Henry percy led successive rebellions against Henry IV of England and was slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 at the height of his career.
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. By her he had two children.
