Category: The Percy Family Of Alnwick

Henry Percy is Betrayed

19/2/2019

18th February 1408 - Knaresborough, Yorkshire.

In the first months of 1408 a 'great frost and ice' gripped England and a thick covering of snow had fallen, Henry IV was suffering from another attack of a skin disease that had been troubling him for several years, and a rebel force, headed by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and the East Anglian baron Thomas Bardolf, was on the move.

Henry Percy Ist Earl of Northumberland - Illustrated Manuscript held at the British Musuem

The winter was not a time when battles were fought in England, however, in the third week of February Henry Percy's army faced a royalist force at the Battle of Bramham on a moor just west of Tadcaster. Henry Percy had long been a supporter of Henry Bolingbroke and had aided him in his usurpation of the throne in 1399, and it was he who had arrested Richard II at Flint Castle, however, he changed his allegiance being in league with Welsh leader Owain Glyndwr and Edmund Mortimer to topple Henry's crown.

Arrest of Richard II by Henry Percy.

In his cause, Percy not only had the support of the men of Wales, but he had been assured by *Richard Rokeby and one John Skelton that both the men of Yorkshire and Cumbria would side with him. In his work, Scotichronicon, fifteenth-century chronicler Walter Bower wrote '... he trusted more than the others one of his knights called Richard Rokeby, who wrote back to him in Scotland advising him to gather some Scots and enter Northumberland openly' and 'trusting to Rokeby's advice therefore and against the wishes and advice of the governor Percy in seeking to acquire the kingdom or England hastened to his death there.' Encouraged Percy moved to Tadcaster and then from Thirsk made his way to join **Rokeby and the forces he had been promised.

On the 18th of February he approached Knaresborough he found that Rokeby was not waiting to join him but was at the head of the king's forces and was holding the crossing of the River Nidd at Grimbald Bridge. Percy and his men were forced to head towards Wetherby with Rokeby in pursuit.

Following this betrayal, Henry Percy had no option but to do battle, he would face Richard Rokeby's force on high ground at Bramham Moor the following day.

* In 1408 Thomas Rokeby was Sheriff of Yorkshire, historically, it's Thomas Rokeby whom Henry Percy meets at Grimbald Bridge and who leads the king's forces at the Battle of Bramham Moor.
** KrisTowsonPhDThesis.pdf (35.19Mb)

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The Towton Signet Ring

30/7/2018

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Held by the British Museum, who acquired it in 1897, is this late medieval gold signet-ring. It is engraved with a lion and a scroll with the motto 'Now ys Thus' or Now is Thus.

The ring was found in a field in Yorkshire in 1798, an article placed in The Gentleman's Magazine asked

"If any of your correspondence could favour the public with an interpretation it would oblige many of your readers here"

The ring was once considered to have been the property of Henry Percy, the 3rd Earl of Northumberland. One of the reasons for this assumption was because it was found on the site of the Battle of Towton and many of you will know that Henry Percy met his death. A second reason has to do with the image of the lion on the face of the ring.

Henry Percy's seal did indeed depict a lion, three of them in fact, over a shield and plumed helmet. The Percy Arms, as shown on the seal of Henry de Percy 1st Baron Percy who died in 1314, does show one lion rampant. With all this evidence it is understandable why its associated with the Percy's.

However, it probably did not belong to Henry Percy as we can dismiss the lion, many medieval families used it on their insignia, after all its a Plantagenet icon, Henry II and his son John probably used it and we know it was on the Great Seal of Richard I. Also, there is no evidence that the motto "Now is Thus" was ever used by the Percy family.

Whoever owned this ring was a high-status individual who, not only lost his ring but probably his life, along with twenty-eight thousand other men, on that day at Towton in 1461.

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Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland

5/11/2017

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Henry Percy, first Earl of Northumberland was, according to Shakespeare:

"the ladder upon which the mounting Bolingbroke ascends the throne.”

This statement reflects the rise of the Percy family during the reign of Richard II and the subsequent usurpation of the throne by Henry Bolingbroke.

Henry Percy was born on this very day, the 10th November in 1341/2.

The first two decades of Percy's life were unremarkable, however the twenty years following his father's death lead Percy to great heights of power and influence, not only in his own stamping ground but in the country as a whole. Henry Percy headed a family that included his sons Henry 'Hotspur' and Thomas, all three were guardians of the English boarder with Scotland. As Lords of the North, and as the previous statement states, they were involved in the future Henry IV taking the crown of England. However, siding with Henry had its problems, and the Percy's would soon regret helping Bolingbroke take his seat on the throne of England.

We cannot think of the Percy family without considering the part they played in the Wars of the Roses. Many believe that the First Battle of St Albans, in 1455, was as much about the ongoing squabble between the Percy's and their nemesis the Neville's, as it was about the wider squabble, that of the House of York and Lancaster. It cannot be doubted that this battle, for the individual members of these two northern families, was very personal, each trying to destroy the other under the guise of a greater cause.

The origins of Percy/Neville squabble had it roots in land, or the loss of it, bitterness turned to anger, discussion to litigation, skirmishes into outright warfare that initiated 'the beginning of the greatest sorrows in England."

Henry Percy died a traitor at Bramham Moor, the last battle of the Percy's rebellion, on the 19 February 1408 and as was the norm for a traitor, his head was decapitated and sent to London, placed for all to see on London Bridge, it was reunited with his quartered remains and eventually buried in York Minster.

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Execution of Thomas Percy

23/7/2017

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It was today, three days following the Battle of Shrewsbury, that Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester was executed.

Battle of Shrewsbury from the Beauchamp Pageant

Thomas Percy was the younger son of Henry Percy of Alnwick and Mary of Lancaster. As with many a younger son Thomas had little in the way of land and the income that was gained from it. He was the uncle of Henry (Hotspur) Percy.

When Henry, his elder brother inherited their fathers titles in 1368, Thomas was probably in Spain fighting under the banner of the Black Prince, and on his death in 1376 Thomas transferred his loyalties to his son, Richard II. In his years of service under Richard he was rewarded with lordships in Wales and a number of castles and following his support of Richard during an attempted overthrow in 1397, Thomas was granted the title of Earl of Worcester.

Surprisingly, following the murder of Richard II on the order of Henry Bolingbroke in 1400 and his usurpation of the crown Thomas Percy did not suffer any consequences, in fact he was given a number of prominent position in Henry's court including Lieutenant of Wales.

Percy was still in this position in the spring of 1403, and we can only wonder if he had any knowledge of his nephew's grievances with Henry IV's rule. The discontent that Hotspur felt culminated in a rebellion against Henry and eventually his death at the Battle of Shrewsbury on the 21st July. The seeds of Thomas's part in the rebellion may have been set four months previously when the king replaced him as lieutenant of Wales, however he did remain in the kings service until the 17th, but by the 20th Thomas was riding with his nephew against the king.

Percy (played by David Hayman in the Hollow Crown) can be seen being led to his execution.

Henry Hotspur died in battle, Thomas was captured and decapitated, his head eventually stuck on a pole in London where it remained until the end of the year. He was laid to rest Shrewsbury Abbey.

What were the reasons Thomas Percy changed sides? I like to think that his reason was his loyalty to Richard II, maybe he, like me, thought Henry IV shouldn't have been king at all.

History doesn't tell us why Thomas changed his allegiances, but it does tell us battles were won and lost on the actions of men like Thomas Percy - sadly in this battle all Thomas lost was his life.

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Henry Percy is Betrayed

The Towton Signet Ring

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland

Execution of Thomas Percy

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