hotspur

Henry Percy was born circa 1364, the eldest son of the first Earl of Northumberland (also named Henry Percy, as was his father before him).  Henry earned the nickname "Hotspur" because of his impulsive and passionate temper, and it is by this name he has been remembered.  The Percy family was the dominant force in the north of England, but they were almost constantly under attack from the Scots just above the border.  Perhaps because of this, Hotspur became one of the most seasoned and renowned warriors in England.  He was made Knight of the Garter during Richard II's reign, and he also served as Warden of Carlisle and the West Marches and, for a time, Governor of Bordeaux.  Most of his enery was taken up defending his homelands from Scottish invasion, however.  He suffered one of his few defeats when he fought in the famous Battle of Otterburn (immortalized in the ballad of Chevy Chase) against the Scots in 1388; he was captured and later had to be ransomed by King Richard. 

It could be said that he did not repay Richard very kindly, because only a little over a decade later, Hotspur joined with the rest of the Percy family in backing Henry Bolingbroke in his fight to depose Richard.  After Henry secured the throne, he appointed Hotspur to command the Welsh border.  The Scots were still a concern, though, and Hotspur frequently returned to Northumbria to do battle with them.  He won an impressive victory against Archibald, the Fourth Earl of Douglas, at Holmedon Hill in 1402, but a dispute afterwards over possession of prisoners complicated relations with King Henry.  Henry demanded the prisoners Hotspur had captured at Holmedon, but Hotspur would not hand them over unless King Henry would ransom his brother-in-law Edmund Mortimer from the Welsh, who had taken him captive earlier that year.  The King refused, and, fueled by the Percys' increasing displeasure with the King's failure to reward them for their assistance in putting him on the throne, the quarrel soon launched a full-scale rebellion.  The rebels met with the King's forces at Shrewsbury in July of 1403, and Hotspur fell in that battle.  He was 39 years old.  No one is sure who killed him, and indeed, for a time the people of England refused to believe that he was dead.  To make sure there was no mistake, King Henry had Hotspur's body disinterred, then impaled on a spear and set up for viewing at Shrewsbury.  Later the body was quartered, and a different part sent to each of the four corners of the country to be displayed for the masses.  Finally, in November, Hotspur's remains were returned to his family for reburial.

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