Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland

“ Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, son of Henry Lord Percy and Mary his wife, sister of Henry Duke of Lancaster, was created the first Earl of Northumberland of that surname, at the coronation of King Richard II. in 1377. He and Henry Percy his son, called Hotspur, gained the battle of Hallidown Hill, against the Scotch, in 1402. After the battle of Shrewsbury, being supposed to be disaffected, he was committed to the Tower of London; but having been liberated from thence, he, with Lord Bardolph, came out of Scotland in the ninth year of Henry IV. with considerable forces against Henry ”

“ PERCY, HENRY, eighth Earl of Northumberland (1532?–1585) , born at Newburn Manor about 1532, was second of the two sons of Sir Thomas Percy who was executed in 1527 as a chief actor in the northern rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. Brought up with his elder brother Thomas, seventh earl [q. v.] , he took part as a youth in border warfare, and on Queen Mary's accession was appointed governor of Tynemouth Castle. He was returned to the House of Commons in 1554 as M.P. for Morpeth, was knighted in 1557, and became deputy warden of the east and middle marches. ”

“ Percy, Henry, 2nd Baron Percy: for Barton read Burton 399 i 17 Percy, Sir Henry, called Hotspur: for fourth earl read third earl ii 9 Percy, Sir Henry, 1st Earl of Northumberland: for 1381? read 1281? 404 i 21 ⁠for Wilton-le-Wear read Witton-le-Wear 405 i 36 ⁠for before 1402 read in March 1387 406 ii 82 Percy, Henry, 2nd Earl of Northumberland: omit [see Percy, Thomas] 6 f.e. ⁠omit [q. v.] 407 ii 17 f.e. ⁠for a son read among other sons 16 f.e. ⁠after [q. v.] , insert and Sir Ralph Percy [q. v.] ”

“ About six weeks later the men of Shropshire write to the Council complaining of the ravages of the Welsh rebels, and praying that some men-at-arms and archers should be sent to protect them till the Prince himself should come.
The King had now to meet a more formidable combination of enemies than he had yet encountered. Henry Percy, eldest son of the Earl of Northumberland, the Harry Hotspur of Shakespeare, had been a trusted lieutenant of Henry. He had served in Wales against Glendower, and had been employed both in negotiations with the Scotch and in military action against them. ”

“ Thomas Percy, a native of Beverley, an ancient and historic town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, was therefore a Yorkshireman by birth. He was the son of Edward22 Percy and Elizabeth his wife. Though not the ringleader of the band of conspirators, Thomas Percy must have cut the greatest figure in the eyes of the public at large. For he was a “kinsman” of Henry, ninth Earl of Northumberland, according to the testimony of the Earl himself, [16] and through this nobleman Thomas Percy had been made Captain of the Pensioners-in-Ordinary — Gentlemen of Honour — in attendance at Court. ”

“ Whilst I was in this situation, my lord Percy, the earl of Northumberland’s eldest son, by an accident of losing his way after a fox-chase, was met by my father, about a mile from our house; he came home with him, only with a design of dining with us, but was so taken with me that he stayed three days. I had too much experience in all affairs of this kind not to see presently the influence I had on him; but I was at that time so entirely free from all ambition, that even the prospect of being a countess had no effect on me ”

“ Henry de Percy became the leader of the Border barons, and, although living at Alnwick only five years, seems to have rebuilt most of the castle, his son completing it. The Percies became the Earls of Northumberland, and such warlike lives did they lead (as, for instance, young Henry Percy, "Hotspur") that it is noted that Henry Algernon, the fifth earl, was the first of the race who died in bed. The next of the line was executed for rebellion, and the next was beheaded at York for conspiring against Queen Elizabeth. ”

“ THE third son of Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland, by Dorothy, daughter of Walter Devereux, Earl of Essex. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, under Robert Hughes, the celebrated mathematician, and in 1616 was one of the youthful Knights of the Bath, at the creation of Charles Prince of Wales. ”

“ The subject of this poem, which was written by Skelton, is the death of Henry Percy, fourth earl of Northumberland, who fell a victim to the avarice of Henry VII. In 1489 the parliament had granted the king a subsidy for carrying on the war in Bretagne. This tax was found so heavy in the North, that the whole country was in a flame. The E. of Northumberland, then lord lieutenant for Yorkshire, wrote to inform the king of the discontent, and praying an abatement. But nothing is so unrelenting as avarice: the king wrote back that not a penny should be abated. ”

“ It would seem that she was genuinely in love with Lord Percy, and that Wolsey was ordered by the then captivated and jealous King to put an end to their intrigue and their desire to marry. Anne is supposed never to have forgiven Wolsey for this, and by a dramatic irony it was her former lover, Percy, then become Earl of Northumberland, who was sent to arrest the fallen Cardinal at York. It is said that he treated Wolsey in a brutal manner, having his legs bound to the stirrup of his mule like a common criminal. ”

“ He also presided at the Star-chamber inquest by which (23 June 1580) the suicide and treasons of the Earl of Northumberland were certified [see Percy, Henry, eighth Earl of Northumberland] ; and was a member of the commissions which attainted Northumberland's accomplice, William, grandson of Sir William Shelley [q. v.] , and passed sentence of death upon Anthony Babington [q. v.] ”

“ His grandfather was generally admitted to be Henry Percy ‘of Pavenham’ in Bedfordshire. When, upon the death of Jocelyn Percy, eleventh earl of Northumberland, and son of Algernon, tenth earl [q. v.] , his only daughter Elizabeth, eventually Duchess of Somerset, succeeded to all the transmissible honours of her ancestry, James Percy, who had hitherto successfully followed the trade of trunkmaker in Dublin, came forward and challenged her great inheritance. The eleventh earl died at Turin on 21 May 1670, and the trunkmaker arrived in London in pursuit of his claims on 11 Oct. ”

“ When prices fell after the peace he reduced his rents twenty-five per cent.; and the tenantry, to show their gratitude, erected a memorial column in 1816. But when some gave up their farms in expectation of a further reduction, they were forbidden to compete for them again; this prohibition remained in force till the time of the fourth duke.
Northumberland was elected F.S.A. in May 1787, and F.R.S. on 6 March 1788. When Earl Percy, he presented to the king a petition, with twenty thousand signatures, in favour of Dr. ”

“ This point is further illustrated by the petition of the Commons, that all liveries except those of the King should be forbidden. The nobles had been gathering paid retainers around them, and getting themselves ready for the threatening quarrel. Meanwhile, the King had been crowned, supported by his two great partisans—whose names show the great influence of the North in the late change of government—Percy, Earl of Northumberland, now made Constable of England, and Neville, Earl of Westmoreland, with the rank of Marshall. It by no means suited Henry to excite remark as to his right. ”

“ Queen Elizabeth promised him favour and employment in return for his valuable services. When his brother was a prisoner in Scotland, Percy wrote urging him to confess his offences and appeal to the queen's mercy. In 1571 he was elected M.P. for Northumberland, and on his brother's execution at York in 1572 he assumed, by Queen Elizabeth's permission, the title of eighth earl of Northumberland, in accordance with the patents of creation. ”

“ In worldly wealth he was now comparatively poor, and his fortunes were broken, though the Queen at times, only at times, smiled on him.
At what precise time Hariot, who never deserted Raleigh, became acquainted with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, with whose honored name, next to that of Sir Walter’s, his must ever be associated, does not as yet appear. It is known, however, that there was an intimacy between Raleigh and Percy as early as 1586, when Sir Walter presented Percy with a coat of mail on his going over to Flanders, and soon after a bedstead made of cedar from Virginia ”

“ His talents procured him the appointment of tutor to Prince Henry, and he received substantial encouragement from Algernon Percy, fifth Earl of Northumberland, a nobleman who, in an illiterate period, was an enthusiastic student of letters, and a liberal patron of all contemporary merit. ”

“ HE was the only son of William the seventeenth Earl of Arundel, by Anne, daughter of Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland, and succeeded to the title and estates when about thirty years of age, until which time he had lived apart from public life. ”

“ He was consecrated by the Pope at Avignon, 23rd May 1344. During his episcopate in (Edward III.'s reign) [105] 1349, Norwich was visited by "Black Death"; over 51,000 are supposed to have fallen victims to the dread plague. He founded Trinity Hall at Cambridge, 1350; was sent to Rome on an embassy there. He died January 6, 1354. He was buried at the church of St. Mary of Avignon.
Thomas Percy (1355-69) , brother of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, against the wishes of the monks, was elected to the see. ”

“ He was also chaplain to Henry, earl of Northumberland, during his imprisonment in the Tower, from 1606 to 1621, on suspicion of complicity in the gunpowder plot, and was tutor to his son, Lord Percy. 'Delighting in grammar,' in 1616 he was appointed master of the free school at Croydon, 'where his discipline and powers of instruction were much celebrated.' He held the post till 1629, when he retired to Wales, having been presented to the rectory of Llandilo-Vawr, in Carmarthenshire, in 1626. ”

“ Then wherefore dost thou hope he is not shipp'd?
GREEN. That he, our hope, might have retir'd his power
And driven into despair an enemy's hope
Who strongly hath set footing in this land.
The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself,
And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd
At Ravenspurgh.
QUEEN. Now God in heaven forbid!
GREEN. Ah, madam, 'tis too true; and that is worse,
The Lord Northumberland, his son young Henry Percy,
The Lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby,
With all their powerful friends, are fled to him. ”