Education
English College.
English College.
A Catholic convert aged 14, he went first to Reims, in 1586, then to the English College, Rome, 1589-1594. He was, however, arrested by the Dutch, tortured, and sent prisoner to London. He was seized at Great Harrowden (November, 1605) at the time of the Gunpowder Plot, but was eventually banished at the request of the Spanish ambassador (1606).
He was again imprisoned and condemned to death (1610).
In these disputations King James himself and William Laud took a leading part. Percy was eventually released in 1625 and ordered to banishment in 1635.
But he was allowed to remain in London until his death.
He had already begun to write on current controversies, and when James I of England desired a series of disputations in 1622, Percy, who was then in a prison in London, was required to defend the Catholic side.