Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland - Life

Life

Northumberland was the son of Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy, by his first wife, Mary, daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (1281?–1346); he was born in 1342. In 1369 he married Margaret, daughter of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby, and widow of William de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros; in that year and the next he was a leader of troops in the French war, and was knighted before October 1360, in which month he appears as one of the guarantors of the Treaty of Brétigny at Calais. He was appointed to treat with David II of Scotland in 1362, being then a warden of the marches towards Scotland. In 1366 he was made a knight of the Garter, and the next year was a warden of the east marches towards Scotland.

On the death of his father in 1368 he succeeded to his barony, and did homage for his lands, was appointed a warden of the east marches towards Scotland, and constable of Jedburgh Castle. When the war with France broke out again in 1369 he was ordered to go with others to secure Ponthieu, but the French took possession of the province before the expedition sailed. He crossed with the Duke of Lancaster to Calais in August, and took part in his campaign in France. In 1370 he was appointed a warden of the west, as well as the east, marches towards Scotland. He joined the abortive expedition undertaken by Edward III in 1372 in the hope of relieving Thouars.

Disputes having arisen between him and William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas (1327?–1384), in 1373, with reference to Jedburgh Forest, the king appointed commissioners to settle their quarrel. In that year he bought the constableship of Mitford Castle, Northumberland, of the crown, and the wardship of the lands of the heirs of the Earl of Atholl in that county, and in the summer took part in the expedition of Lancaster against France. On the meeting of the 'Good Parliament' in April 1376, the commons having requested to be assisted in their deliberations of the lords, Percy was one of the magnates chosen to advise with them; they upheld the commons in their resolve to make supply dependent on redress of grievances. He was held to be specially zealous in his desire for the public good, and brought before parliament an accusation against Lord Latimer, the king's chamberlain, whom he charged with suppressing a letter sent to the king from La Rochelle, and with imprisoning the bearer. At first Latimer tried to avoid producing the prisoner, and the Londoners were highly indignant at seeing Percy confounded through his having taken up the cause of a man whom he could not find. When the parliament was dissolved, Percy was won over by Lancaster to the court party by the promise of the office of Marshal of England. He was believed to have dissuaded the duke from taking the life of Sir Peter de la Mare, the late speaker, but his defection from the popular cause was bitterly resented, and made him as much disliked as he had before been loved. He entered on the marshal's office on or about 1 Dec., though his formal appointment is dated later.

In common with Lancaster he took up the cause of John Wycliffe, and when on 19 Feb. 1377 Wycliffe was summoned before the bishops at St. Paul's, Percy walked before him as marshal, and used violence to the people in order to clear the way through the crowd in the church. The bishop of London William Courtenay declared that he would have no such doings in the church, and an altercation ensued. When the lady-chapel was reached, Percy demanded that Wycliffe should be allowed to sit before his judges, eaying that the more the charges were that he had to answer, the more need he had of a comfortable seat. On that day he and Lancaster had advised the king to supersede the mayor by appointing a captain over the city, and to authorise the marshal to execute his office within the city; and this, together with their insults to the bishop, greatly excited the citizens against them. The next day Lord Fitzwalter appeared before the common council, and declared that a prisoner was detained in the marshal's house contrary to law, and warned the citizens that if they let such things pass they would live to repent it. The citizens took arms, broke into the Marshalsea, brought the prisoner out, burnt the stocks in which he had been set, and searched every room to find the marshal. Not finding him, they rushed to the duke's palace, the Savoy, thinking to find him there. Percy and the duke were dining together at the house of a certain William Ypres. They were warned of their danger by one of the duke's knights, and escaped by water to Kennington, to the house of the Princess of Wales, who gave them shelter. When a day or two later Percy returned to parliament, he went to Westminster attended by an armed retinue. On 8 May he received his formal appointment as marshal of England, and was further made captain in the marches of Calais. Shortly before the king's death Sir John Menstreworth, lying in the marshal's prison under sentence of death, entrusted him with a letter to the king, and it was believed that Percy suppressed it.

On 15 July the young king, Richard II, the influence of Lancaster being in the ascendant, created Percy Earl of Northumberland, and he thus became earl-marshal. Nevertheless Margaret, elder daughter of Thomas of Brotherton (1300–1338), second son of Edward I, who had been earl of Norfolk and earl-marshal, asserted her right to the office, and claimed to execute it by deputy at the coronation. It was, however, declared that the office was in the king's gift, and, forasmuch as there was no time to hear and finally decide the case, that Percy should hold the office temporarily, saving the rights of all concerned. The new earl therefore acted as marshal at the coronation on the 16th, and on that and the preceding day showed so much courtesy and forbearance to the crowd that he regained no small part of his former popularity. He then resigned the marshal's staff, alleging the pressure of his private affairs, and being, it was thought, unwilling to contest the office with the Countess Margaret. His presence was needed in the north, for the Scots, under the Earl of Dunbar, pillaged and burnt Roxburgh. Northumberland retaliated by entering Scotland with a large force and wasting the lands of Dunbar, burning everything that he came across in three days' march.

On 12 December he was again appointed a warden of the east and west marches, and on 22 Oct. 1378 a joint commissioner to treat with Scotland. Hearing towards the end of November that the Scots had surprised Berwick, he, in company with his eldest son, Sir Henry, called Hotspur, attacked the place, and retook it after a fierce struggle. In 1380 he had a dispute with the men of Newcastle and Hull about a Scots ship which they had taken, and which he claimed as a prize, either wholly or in part, on behalf of the crown. The ship was finally taken possession of by a Hull man, and the earl's claim failed. A serious inroad of the Scots was made across the border in the summer; they wasted parts of Cumberland and Westmorland, pillaged Penrith, threatened Carlisle, and carried off great booty, doing the earl damage to the amount of more than one thousand marks. He was preparing to take vengeance on them when he was forbidden to proceed by the king. He at once went to the council at London, was received with flattering words, and was bidden to wait and bring his complaint before the next marchers' court. In June 1381 he was appointed captain against the rebels in Yorkshire.16

On the outbreak of the Peasant's Revolt the Duke of Lancaster made a truce with the Scots. This seems to have offended the earl, who probably thus lost the power of forcing them to make him amends. A violent quarrel ensued; it seems probable that the earl, seeing that the duke was unpopular and that his power in England was lessened, was not unwilling to break with him. Lancaster laid his complaints against him before the king, and the earl was summoned to appear before the council at Berkhampstead, which was attended by nearly all the earls in the kingdom. Lancaster kept his temper, and stated his charges quietly; but the earl behaved with vehemence, answered him with abuse, and refused to be silent when the king bade him. His disobedience was punished by arrest, as though he had been guilty of treason, but he was bailed by the Earls of Warwick and Suffolk. He attended parliament in November, accompanied by armed followers, and was received with favour by the Londoners, with whom he was again popular. The duke was also attended by an armed force, and the peace of the kingdom was endangered. Vain efforts were made in parliament for some time to compose their quarrel, and at last the king interfered and compelled them to be reconciled. Writs were again issued appointing the earl a warden of the marches towards Scotland, and in November 1383 he was made admiral of the north, and held that office for fourteen months.18 In that year he made a raid into Scotland in company with the Earl of Nottingham, and wasted the country as far as Edinburgh. The Scots revenged themselves later by ravaging his lands.

In December 1384, while he was attending parliament, the Scots, through the treachery of his lieutenant, obtained possession of Berwick Castle, which was in the earl's custody. Lancaster is said to have gladly seized this opportunity of spiting his enemy, and to have procured that the lords should pronounce sentence of forfeiture against him for having thus lost one of the royal castles; but the king remitted him all penalty. He gathered an army and besieged the castle. The garrison soon surrendered on condition of receiving two thousand marks of English gold, and being allowed to march off with their goods. Again, in 1385, the Scots and their French allies invaded England, destroyed the villages round Alnwick, and did much mischief in Northumberland, but retreated on hearing that the earl and other English lords were marching to meet them. The earl took part in the king's invasion of Scotland which followed.

In 1387 the king, who was set upon overthrowing the party of reform then in power, sent Northumberland to arrest one of its leaders, the Earl of Arundel, at Reigate Castle. Northumberland, however, found the earl at the head of a strong force, and did not therefore carry out his commission. He was probably not anxious to do so, for when in November the king contemplated resisting Gloucester and the other lords by war, Northumberland told him plainly that they were loyal, and were acting for his good, but were aggrieved by his evil advisers, and urged him to behave wisely and to invite them to state their grievances.

In March 1388 he was appointed to treat with the Scots. In the summer the Scots made a great raid across the border under the Earls of Douglas, Dunbar, and Moray, and ravaged the land to the gates of Durham, intending to return by way of Newcastle. The earl sent his sons, Sir Henry and Sir Ralph, to Newcastle, while he himself remained at Alnwick, thinking that he might thus take them on both sides. His sons met the Scots in battle at Otterburn, near Wooler, where they were captured. in 1389 he was appointed captain of Calais, and in 1390 was a commissioner to treat with Flanders. He was recalled from Calais in February 1391, and was again appointed to guard the east Scottish march. The Scots made a raid across the east march in 1393, carried off much booty, and slew some men of note. The earl was much blamed for not keeping stricter ward, for he received seven thousand marks a year from the treasury for his expenses. He was present at the interview between the kings of England and France at Guisnes in October 1396, and was one of the four great English lords that acted as the French king's escort. When Richard took vengeance on his enemies and assumed despotic power in 1397, he reckoned on the earl's support. In February 1398 he was appointed by the parliament of Shrewsbury as one of the committee empowered to execute the functions of parliament.

He soon became indignant at Richard's violent proceedings, and both he and his son Henry spoke strongly of the king's misgovernment. Their words were reported to Richard when he was about to set sail for Ireland. The king was wroth, and sent a special summons to the earl to come to him, besides the summons that he had already received to attend him to Ireland. The earl did not obey, and the king sentenced him and his son to banishment. He made arrangements to take refuge in Scotland, but the king's departure caused him to delay, and on the landing of Henry of Lancaster in July 1399 he joined him in Yorkshire with a large force. Richard sent the Duke of Exeter from Conway to Henry, who was then at Chester, requesting him to send the earl to him with a message. On his way the earl, it is said, left his armed retinue in ambush, and proceeded to Conway with only a few attendants. There he had a conference with Richard, persuaded him to ride with him to meet Henry, and it was asserted received from him a declaration that he was ready to renounce the crown. He brought Richard as a captive to Henry at Flint on 19 Aug., and rode with Henry and the fallen king to London. On 29 September he recited before Henry and a great council of the magnates of the kingdom the promise of abdication which he asserted that he had received from Richard, and Henry was the next day accepted as king by parliament. On the same day the new king made the earl constable of England, and shortly afterwards gave him the Isle of Man to hold by carrying at the coronation the sword that Henry wore on landing. Northumberland also received certain lands and constableships in Wales and the border, before held by Roger, earl of March, the captaincy of Carlisle, and the wardenship of the west march, with an income of £1,500 to maintain it in time of peace.27

To Northumberland Henry largely owed the success of his attempt on the crown. For a time the earl was one of the new king's chief supporters, and seems to have been regarded with affection by him. Northumberland was continued in his membership of his privy council, and was, in common with the king, blamed for the leniency shown to the evil counsellors of Richard. He was soon busy with the affairs of the Scottish march, for in August 1400 the king invaded Scotland. On Henry's return the Scots attempted to retaliate, and in December the earl urged the necessity of strengthening Berwick and Carlisle. In February 1401 he was appointed a joint commissioner to treat with the envoys of Rupert, King of Germany, then in London, concerning a proposed marriage between Henry's daughter Blanche and their master's eldest son Louis. In March, April, and May he was engaged in negotiations for peace with Scotland,and in October met the Earl of Douglas at a conference at Yetholm, in Roxburghshire. Nothing was effected, and war began again on the border. Douglas in 1402 sent to Henry declaring that the renewal of the war was due to Northumberland; but this Henry, after consulting with the earl, refused to admit; and he gave the earl authority, together with his son and the Earl of Westmorland, to treat with Scotland at a fitting time, and meanwhile to endeavour to win over to the English side any of the Scottish nobles that were inclined to it. In August a large army of Scots, under Douglas and Murdoch, Earl of Fife, ravaged Northumberland and Durham, and on their way home were intercepted by an English army under the earl, his son Henry, and the Earl of March on 14 September. The Scots took their station on Homildoun, or Humbledon, Hill, near Wooler, the English being drawn up at Millfield-on-the-Till. The English won a complete victory, utterly routing the enemy, and taking a large number of prisoners of high rank, among whom were Douglas and Fife, the Earls of Angus, Moray, and Orkney, and many barons. On the 22nd Henry issued an order that the prisoners were not to be ransomed or set free, promising, however, to respect the rights of the captors.