Henry Percy (Hotspur)

Henry Percy, known as Hotspur, was an English nobleman and soldier whose career was shaped by the violent Anglo-Scottish border and the political upheaval that brought Henry IV to the throne. The eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, he fought the Scots from an early age and earned a reputation for speed and aggression in war. He took part in the Percy family’s support for Henry Bolingbroke’s seizure of the crown from Richard II in 1399.

Relations between the Percys and Henry IV deteriorated over money, offices, prisoners and policy toward Scotland and Wales. In 1403 Hotspur joined his father and uncle Thomas Percy in rebellion, seeking support from other opponents of the king. His own army met Henry IV at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July before Northumberland’s force could join it. Hotspur was killed during the battle, and the rebel army collapsed. Shakespeare later transformed him into a famous dramatic foil for Prince Hal.

Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 provides the most influential literary Hotspur, while G. A. Henty’s Both Sides the Border, Griff Hosker’s King Henry IV, Anne O’Brien’s Queen of the North and A. W. Boardman’s The Two Horns of the Moon use the same border and rebellion politics. Boardman’s non-fiction Hotspur and Richard Woodman’s War for the Throne address the historical Percy challenge to Henry IV.