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20. Hotspur, Sir Harry
Arms: quarterly: 1st and 4th: Or, a lion rampant Azure 2nd and 3rd: Gules, three lucies or pikes haurient Argent, a three pointed label Sable.

SOURCES, NOTES & CREDITS: Both the illustration for background and the text are based on, and adapted from, various internet sites.

Sir Henry Percy, KG 20 May 1364 - 21 July 1403 was commonly known as Sir Harry Hotspur. As a tribute to his speed in the advance and aggressiveness in attacking in the wars against the Scots, they named him “Haatspore” or Hotspur. He was the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland ( and 4th Baron Percy ) and Margaret Neville. Hotspur was made a Knight of the Garter in 1388 by Richard II. Sir Harry married Philippa the eldest daughter of Edmund Mortimer, 3rd earl of March. They had two children: a son Henry born in 1393 and Elizabeth born in 1395.

He and his father worked the marches between Scotland and England aggressively over the years and later against Owen Glendower in the marches of Wales. Over time the Percys began to feel undervalued despite rewards of lands and titles under Richard II. In 1399 they rebelled and supported Henry of Bolingbroke to take England while Richard was fighting in Wales.

They succeeded and Henry became king as Henry IV. The Percys however became unhappy with Henry IV and revolted in 1403. They misjudged speed with which the king and his army moved who caught Hotspur and his army alone not combined with his father’s forces. So at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403, Hotspurs forces were overwhelmed, Hotspur killed and the rest of his men fled. He died at age 39.

Subsequently Hotspur’s son Henry became the 2nd Earl of Northumberland.

Note: Hotspur’s entry is placed in the WA Hundred Years Wars 1337-1453 album as these Anglo-Scottish wars took place in this time period.

The artwork is a rendition of John Hamilton Gaylor

2019 0217

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