Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy
Encyclopedia
Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick (1273–1314) was the son of Henry de Percy and Eleanor de Warenne, daughter of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey and Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey, half sister of Henry III
.
He fought under King Edward I of England
in Wales and Scotland and was granted extensive estates in Scotland, which were later retaken by the Scots under King Robert I of Scotland
. He added Alnwick
to the family estates in England, founding a dynasty of northern warlords. He rebelled against King Edward II
over the issue of Piers Gaveston
and was imprisoned for a few months. After his release he declined to fight under Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn
, remaining at Alnwick, where he died a few months later aged forty one. He married Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Arundel
and was succeeded by his son Henry.
in Sussex on 25 March 1273, seven months after his father's death, saving the family line from extinction, as two older brothers had died in infancy, and all six uncles had died without leaving any legitimate heir. He was fortunate in having the powerful Earl Warenne as his maternal grandfather.
and Yorkshire
in 1293 and the following year married Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Arundel
. He then proceeded to change the family coat of arms to a blue lion rampant on a gold background. Blue and gold were the Earl Warenne's colours and a gold lion rampant had been the Arundel's arms. This emphasised his royal and noble connections and marked his ambition. This was also the year he went to war for the first time, summoned to fight in France, but then diverted to Wales to join Edward I
in suppressing a Welsh rebellion. There he learned the grim business of medieval warfare, and command and supply of armies in the field.
By the summer of 1295 Henry was in the north with his grandfather Earl Warenne. Edward I's deliberately humiliating treatment of King John I of Scotland and his nobles was making war inevitable. Warenne was King John's father in law, used as an intermediary by Edward. In 1294 Philip IV of France
had taken back Aquitaine
from the English crown and now negotiated a treaty with the Scots to wage war on Edward on two fronts. During March 1296 Edward I's army surrounded Berwick on Tweed, then the largest town in Scotland and an important seaport. It was here on 30 March that Henry Percy was knight
ed by the King. Later on the same day the town was taken and the ruthless king, apparently provoked by the inhabitants previously baring their buttocks at him, ordered the city put to the sword "whatever the age or sex" and according to the Scotichronicon 7,500 were executed. Percy under Warenne's command was sent north to Dunbar
where the castle was held by the Earls of Mar, Menteith and Ross, together with many lesser nobles. After they had beaten a Scottish force outside the castle the king joined them, and the castle soon surrendered. The rest of Scotland was occupied in the space of a few weeks and English administrators installed. King John Balliol was forced to abdicate and Warenne appointed to govern Scotland as a province. Having proved his ability Henry Percy was given the task of governing Ayr
, Galloway
and Cumberland
, based at Carlisle Castle
. With King Edward now turning his attention to affairs in France there was only a year or so of peace before the situation in Scotland began to unravel. In the summer of 1297 William Wallace
murdered the English sheriff of Lanark
and was joined by Robert Bruce, Bishop Lockhart, James Stewart and Sir William Douglas in the Scottish lowlands
while Andrew Murray
started a Highland uprising. Working closely with Robert Clifford from Westmorland
Percy confronted the other rebels at Irvine
while Wallace was in central Scotland, and negotiated their submission, subduing southern Scotland for a while. Warenne then began an expedition to hunt down Wallace and Murray, finding them waiting north of the River Forth
near Stirling Castle
. The ensuing Battle of Stirling Bridge
was a disaster for the English army. Percy and his fellow commanders could only watch helplessly from the castle as their infantry, caught on the far side of the one narrow bridge were slaughtered. Murray was however killed in the battle. The English were temporarily expelled from Scotland and on the defensive, with the Scots raiding northern England. In the following spring of 1298 King Edward returned from France and assembled a large army, including many Welsh longbow
archers, to begin a new and determined assault on Scotland. They caught up with Wallace at Falkirk
on 22 July where Henry Percy was part of the fourth reserve division of experienced and highly mobile cavalry.
. Correspondence in late 1301 shows Percy at his estate at Leconfield
in Yorkshire, where his wife probably lived, at a safe distance from Scottish raiding parties. In February 1303 Percy was sent north in a cavalry force led by Johannes de Seagrave which was defeated at Roslin
. He then joined King Edward's summer offensive, reaching Dunfermline
in early November. Robert Bruce had already changed sides to support Edward and in February 1304 most of the Scots negotiated a settlement with the English king. Henry Percy is known to have played a prominent role in the negotiations. Only Stirling Castle
now remained to be subdued, and was battered by catapults during the spring of 1304, while King Edward's militant queen, Marguerite of France , watched from a specially built wooden shelter. The siege culminated in the commissioning of Warwolf
, a giant trebuchet
which flattened the curtain walls. The defenders had tried to surrender four days earlier, but had been made to wait by the king while he tried out his new toy. In September 1305 the first joint English and Scottish parliament met at Westminster to agree a constitution for the unified state, with Percy playing a leading role in the negotiations, but Robert Bruce, a leading representative of the Scots, was already conspiring to rebel. On 25 March 1306 Robert Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey
, upon which Edward confiscated his lands and gave them to Henry Percy. The King now appointed Percy to command northwest England and southwest Scotland, with orders to suppress the rebellion without mercy. Bruce's army was soon defeated in battle, but Bruce escaped to wage a guerilla campaign against the English from the wild countryside of Galloway
. For several years afterwards the English Barons held the castles of southern and central Scotland, but were ambushed and harried in the countryside.
, asked his assembled barons to give the succession to his only surviving son Edward
. He also asked them to maintain the banishment Piers Gaveston
from England. Henry Percy was not present, being left in charge of southern Scotland. The death of Edward I, with the conquest of Scotland incomplete, was a personal disaster for Percy. After years of hard fighting he now had extensive land holdings in southern Scotland, but this was of less interest to Edward II who promptly recalled Gaveston and made him Earl of Cornwall, an office of great wealth. Gaveston, a formidable tournament fighter in the melee
, openly despised and insulted the old king's stalwart warriors. Edward II left Scotland in August 1307 after replacing his father's loyal and experienced commanders, Clifford, Valence and Percy who was sent home, only to be recalled to Scotland in October. By then however Robert Bruce had escaped from Galloway to the Highlands, and had raised new forces and taken eastern Scotland by the end of the year. In August 1308 Bruce captured Argyll
, previously loyal to King Edward and then raided Northumberland
. Percy and Clifford were again summoned to defend Galloway, at their own expense, against an onslaught by Robert Bruce's surviving brother Edward. They were able to hold the castles, but not the countryside. Percy had travelled south to Westminster
in February that year for the king's coronation, where he would have seen Gaveston's arrogance. The ceremony was delayed for a week while the French delegation, alarmed that the king preferred Gaveston's company to that of Isabella
, his twelve-year-old French bride, threatened to boycott the coronation. In the event Gaveston was given precedence over the other Earls. At the following feast Gaveston dressed in an outfit of royal purple and pearls, and called the king over to sit with him, instead of Queen Isabella. The French delegation walked out and one earl drew his sword and had to be restrained from attacking Gaveston. During the spring of 1308 the barons in parliament pressed the king to exile Gaveston, developing the Doctrine of Capacities, distinguishing between loyalty to the king and loyalty to the crown. On June 16, 1308 Gaveston was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, to get him out of the country, with Henry Percy as a witness.
In 1309 Henry was able to buy Alnwick Castle
from Anthony Bek, the Prince Bishop of Durham
, giving him a base near to the action in Scotland and a substantial annual income of about £475 from the associated lands. To make the purchase price of £4666 he borrowed £2666 from Italian merchant bankers, the Lombard Society. When William Vesci had died in 1297 without a legitimate heir, Bek had been entrusted with the estates of the Vesci family on behalf of his son, the illegitimate William Vesci of Kildare. Vesci of Kildare did receive the other family lands in Yorkshire
and Lincolnshire
and it is unclear whether he was defrauded by the greedy bishop over the sale of Alnwick. In the same year Henry obtained a royal licence to fortify his mansion at Petworth
and two mansions in Yorkshire
.
had managed to cajole most of his earls into allowing Piers Gaveston
to return to England, although the most powerful earl, Lancaster, was implacably opposed. On 27 June 1309 Gaveston, restored to the Earldom of Cornwall, returned to England and soon proved as obnoxious as before, calling Lancaster "Churl" and Warwick "Black Cur". Henry Percy would have been preoccupied with the purchase of Alnwick at that time and generally tried to stay out of the trouble with Gaveston. At the parliament of February and March 1310 the King was forced to accept the election of twenty one Lords Ordainers to govern the country. In June the king began a campaign in Scotland in which Percy fought, although many barons senior to Percy declined to take part. Robert Bruce continued to fight a guerilla war, refusing to give battle, so little was achieved, while relations between the king and his earls further deteriorated. In May 1311 Gaveston ordered Percy to hold Perth
for the summer with two hundred knights and no infantry, a dangerous task at a time when the king's army was withdrawing to England. Surviving this Percy was back in London in October. The barons now forced the king to send Gaveseston into exile in Flanders
, but he was soon recalled and was in York
with his heavily pregnant wife in January 1312, with his lands restored. Percy was ordered out of Scarborough Castle
and Gaveston took it over. Violence was now inevitable. In April the king and Gaveston were chased out of Newcastle
by the sudden arrival of an army under Lancaster, Percy and Clifford, fleeing to Scarborough. In their haste they left behind Gaveston's wife and baby daughter and a great hoard of treasure, which it took Lancaster, Percy and Clifford four days to catalogue. Lancaster held onto this for future bargaining with the king. Gaveston was soon besieged at Scarborough Castle by Percy, Clifford, and the earls of Warenne and Pembroke, surrendering after a month. Percy remained in York when Gaveston was taken south to Warwick
and then executed.
. Percy, along with five of the earls and many other nobles refused summonses to this campaign because it had not been sanctioned by parliament, as required by the Ordinances. There are no contemporary records of Percy being at Bannockburn and it seems that he remained at Alnwick, defending his land against Scottish raiders. His friend and comrade Robert Clifford did go, and was killed in the battle. Within days of the battle Percy was summoned to Newcastle to prepare an emergency defence of northern England against an invasion. Instead of an all-out invasion, Robert Bruce sent raiding parties to extort money from the northern counties. Only a few months later in the first half of October 1314 Henry Percy died, aged forty one, of unknown causes.
, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel
, and had two sons;
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
.
He fought under King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
in Wales and Scotland and was granted extensive estates in Scotland, which were later retaken by the Scots under King Robert I of Scotland
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
. He added Alnwick
Alnwick
Alnwick is a small market town in north Northumberland, England. The town's population was just over 8000 at the time of the 2001 census and Alnwick's district population was 31,029....
to the family estates in England, founding a dynasty of northern warlords. He rebelled against King Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
over the issue of Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of King Edward II of England. At a young age he made a good impression on King Edward I of England, and was assigned to the household of the King's son, Edward of Carnarvon...
and was imprisoned for a few months. After his release he declined to fight under Edward II at the Battle of Bannockburn
Battle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
, remaining at Alnwick, where he died a few months later aged forty one. He married Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Arundel
Earl of Arundel
The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny...
and was succeeded by his son Henry.
Birth
Henry was born at PetworthPetworth House
Petworth House in Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin...
in Sussex on 25 March 1273, seven months after his father's death, saving the family line from extinction, as two older brothers had died in infancy, and all six uncles had died without leaving any legitimate heir. He was fortunate in having the powerful Earl Warenne as his maternal grandfather.
Coming of Age
Henry came into his inheritance of estates in SussexSussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
in 1293 and the following year married Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Arundel
Earl of Arundel
The title Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and is used by his heir apparent as a courtesy title. It was created in 1138 for the Norman baron Sir William d'Aubigny...
. He then proceeded to change the family coat of arms to a blue lion rampant on a gold background. Blue and gold were the Earl Warenne's colours and a gold lion rampant had been the Arundel's arms. This emphasised his royal and noble connections and marked his ambition. This was also the year he went to war for the first time, summoned to fight in France, but then diverted to Wales to join Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
in suppressing a Welsh rebellion. There he learned the grim business of medieval warfare, and command and supply of armies in the field.
Knighthood and war in Scotland
Philip IV of France
Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...
had taken back Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
from the English crown and now negotiated a treaty with the Scots to wage war on Edward on two fronts. During March 1296 Edward I's army surrounded Berwick on Tweed, then the largest town in Scotland and an important seaport. It was here on 30 March that Henry Percy was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed by the King. Later on the same day the town was taken and the ruthless king, apparently provoked by the inhabitants previously baring their buttocks at him, ordered the city put to the sword "whatever the age or sex" and according to the Scotichronicon 7,500 were executed. Percy under Warenne's command was sent north to Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
where the castle was held by the Earls of Mar, Menteith and Ross, together with many lesser nobles. After they had beaten a Scottish force outside the castle the king joined them, and the castle soon surrendered. The rest of Scotland was occupied in the space of a few weeks and English administrators installed. King John Balliol was forced to abdicate and Warenne appointed to govern Scotland as a province. Having proved his ability Henry Percy was given the task of governing Ayr
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
and Cumberland
Cumberland
Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....
, based at Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is situated in Carlisle, in the English county of Cumbria, near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. The castle is over 900 years old and has been the scene of many historical episodes in British history. Given the proximity of Carlisle to the border between England and Scotland, it...
. With King Edward now turning his attention to affairs in France there was only a year or so of peace before the situation in Scotland began to unravel. In the summer of 1297 William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
murdered the English sheriff of Lanark
Lanark
Lanark is a small town in the central belt of Scotland. Its population of 8,253 makes it the 100th largest settlement in Scotland. The name is believed to come from the Cumbric Lanerc meaning "clear space, glade"....
and was joined by Robert Bruce, Bishop Lockhart, James Stewart and Sir William Douglas in the Scottish lowlands
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
while Andrew Murray
Andrew Murray
Andrew or Andy Murray may refer to: * Andrew Murray, often spelt Andrew Moray, leader of the Scots during the Scottish Wars of Independence...
started a Highland uprising. Working closely with Robert Clifford from Westmorland
Westmorland
Westmorland is an area of North West England and one of the 39 historic counties of England. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974, after which the entirety of the county was absorbed into the new county of Cumbria.-Early history:...
Percy confronted the other rebels at Irvine
Irvine, North Ayrshire
Irvine is a new town on the coast of the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. According to 2007 population estimates, the town is home to 39,527 inhabitants, making it the biggest settlement in North Ayrshire....
while Wallace was in central Scotland, and negotiated their submission, subduing southern Scotland for a while. Warenne then began an expedition to hunt down Wallace and Murray, finding them waiting north of the River Forth
River Forth
The River Forth , long, is the major river draining the eastern part of the central belt of Scotland.The Forth rises in Loch Ard in the Trossachs, a mountainous area some west of Stirling...
near Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
. The ensuing Battle of Stirling Bridge
Battle of Stirling Bridge
The Battle of Stirling Bridge was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence. On 11 September 1297, the forces of Andrew Moray and William Wallace defeated the combined English forces of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Hugh de Cressingham near Stirling, on the River Forth.-The main...
was a disaster for the English army. Percy and his fellow commanders could only watch helplessly from the castle as their infantry, caught on the far side of the one narrow bridge were slaughtered. Murray was however killed in the battle. The English were temporarily expelled from Scotland and on the defensive, with the Scots raiding northern England. In the following spring of 1298 King Edward returned from France and assembled a large army, including many Welsh longbow
Longbow
A longbow is a type of bow that is tall ; this will allow its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw....
archers, to begin a new and determined assault on Scotland. They caught up with Wallace at Falkirk
Battle of Falkirk (1298)
The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence...
on 22 July where Henry Percy was part of the fourth reserve division of experienced and highly mobile cavalry.
Baron and Scottish landowner
Early in 1299 the King granted the estates of Ingram Balliol, who had been involved in the Scottish rebellions, to Henry Percy, including land in England and south west Scotland. This not only gave him greater income and status, but also a vested interest in the continuing conquest of Scotland. The king also summoned Percy to attend parliament as a peer of the realm, making him a baron by writ. His family had previously had the courtesy title of baron because of their land holdings. Percy had proved himself an able soldier and administrator and found royal favour. The rest of the year was spent skirmishing with Scottish guerrilla groups, and the following summer campaigning with the king although little was achieved other than the capture of Caerlaverock CastleCaerlaverock Castle
Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle, built in the 13th century, in the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve area at the Solway Firth, south of Dumfries in the southwest of Scotland. In the Middle Ages it was owned by the Maxwell family. Today, the castle is in the care of Historic...
. Correspondence in late 1301 shows Percy at his estate at Leconfield
Leconfield
Leconfield is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately north west of Beverley town centre and lies on the A614 road....
in Yorkshire, where his wife probably lived, at a safe distance from Scottish raiding parties. In February 1303 Percy was sent north in a cavalry force led by Johannes de Seagrave which was defeated at Roslin
Battle of Roslin
The Battle of Roslin was a battle of the First War of Scottish Independence, taking place on 24 February 1303 at Roslin, Scotland. It is the subject of an extremely highly-coloured account written by Walter Bower in the mid-15th century which bears no relationship to the contemporary evidence.It...
. He then joined King Edward's summer offensive, reaching Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
in early November. Robert Bruce had already changed sides to support Edward and in February 1304 most of the Scots negotiated a settlement with the English king. Henry Percy is known to have played a prominent role in the negotiations. Only Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
now remained to be subdued, and was battered by catapults during the spring of 1304, while King Edward's militant queen, Marguerite of France , watched from a specially built wooden shelter. The siege culminated in the commissioning of Warwolf
Warwolf
The Warwolf, or War Wolf or Ludgar , is believed to be the largest Trebuchet ever made. It was created in Scotland by order of King Edward Longshanks of England, during the siege of Stirling Castle, as part of the Scottish Wars of Independence.When disassembled, the weapon would fill 30 wagons...
, a giant trebuchet
Trebuchet
A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of...
which flattened the curtain walls. The defenders had tried to surrender four days earlier, but had been made to wait by the king while he tried out his new toy. In September 1305 the first joint English and Scottish parliament met at Westminster to agree a constitution for the unified state, with Percy playing a leading role in the negotiations, but Robert Bruce, a leading representative of the Scots, was already conspiring to rebel. On 25 March 1306 Robert Bruce was crowned King of Scotland at Scone Abbey
Scone Abbey
Scone Abbey was a house of Augustinian canons based at Scone, Perthshire , Scotland. Varying dates for the foundation have been given, but it was certainly founded between 1114 and 1122....
, upon which Edward confiscated his lands and gave them to Henry Percy. The King now appointed Percy to command northwest England and southwest Scotland, with orders to suppress the rebellion without mercy. Bruce's army was soon defeated in battle, but Bruce escaped to wage a guerilla campaign against the English from the wild countryside of Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
. For several years afterwards the English Barons held the castles of southern and central Scotland, but were ambushed and harried in the countryside.
A new monarch
Edward I, on his way to launch a new campaign against the Scots, died on 7 July 1307 before crossing the border. The dying Edward IEdward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, asked his assembled barons to give the succession to his only surviving son Edward
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
. He also asked them to maintain the banishment Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of King Edward II of England. At a young age he made a good impression on King Edward I of England, and was assigned to the household of the King's son, Edward of Carnarvon...
from England. Henry Percy was not present, being left in charge of southern Scotland. The death of Edward I, with the conquest of Scotland incomplete, was a personal disaster for Percy. After years of hard fighting he now had extensive land holdings in southern Scotland, but this was of less interest to Edward II who promptly recalled Gaveston and made him Earl of Cornwall, an office of great wealth. Gaveston, a formidable tournament fighter in the melee
Mêlée
Melee , generally refers to disorganized close combat involving a group of fighters. A melee ensues when groups become locked together in combat with no regard to group tactics or fighting as an organized unit; each participant fights as an individual....
, openly despised and insulted the old king's stalwart warriors. Edward II left Scotland in August 1307 after replacing his father's loyal and experienced commanders, Clifford, Valence and Percy who was sent home, only to be recalled to Scotland in October. By then however Robert Bruce had escaped from Galloway to the Highlands, and had raised new forces and taken eastern Scotland by the end of the year. In August 1308 Bruce captured Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
, previously loyal to King Edward and then raided Northumberland
Northumberland
Northumberland is the northernmost ceremonial county and a unitary district in North East England. For Eurostat purposes Northumberland is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "Northumberland and Tyne and Wear" NUTS 2 region...
. Percy and Clifford were again summoned to defend Galloway, at their own expense, against an onslaught by Robert Bruce's surviving brother Edward. They were able to hold the castles, but not the countryside. Percy had travelled south to Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
in February that year for the king's coronation, where he would have seen Gaveston's arrogance. The ceremony was delayed for a week while the French delegation, alarmed that the king preferred Gaveston's company to that of Isabella
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
, his twelve-year-old French bride, threatened to boycott the coronation. In the event Gaveston was given precedence over the other Earls. At the following feast Gaveston dressed in an outfit of royal purple and pearls, and called the king over to sit with him, instead of Queen Isabella. The French delegation walked out and one earl drew his sword and had to be restrained from attacking Gaveston. During the spring of 1308 the barons in parliament pressed the king to exile Gaveston, developing the Doctrine of Capacities, distinguishing between loyalty to the king and loyalty to the crown. On June 16, 1308 Gaveston was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland, to get him out of the country, with Henry Percy as a witness.
Founding a dynasty in Northumberland
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle is a castle and stately home in the town of the same name in the English county of Northumberland. It is the residence of the Duke of Northumberland, built following the Norman conquest, and renovated and remodelled a number of times. It is a Grade I listed building.-History:Alnwick...
from Anthony Bek, the Prince Bishop of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
, giving him a base near to the action in Scotland and a substantial annual income of about £475 from the associated lands. To make the purchase price of £4666 he borrowed £2666 from Italian merchant bankers, the Lombard Society. When William Vesci had died in 1297 without a legitimate heir, Bek had been entrusted with the estates of the Vesci family on behalf of his son, the illegitimate William Vesci of Kildare. Vesci of Kildare did receive the other family lands in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
and Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
and it is unclear whether he was defrauded by the greedy bishop over the sale of Alnwick. In the same year Henry obtained a royal licence to fortify his mansion at Petworth
Petworth House
Petworth House in Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin...
and two mansions in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
.
The return of Gaveston
By the summer of 1309 Edward IIEdward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
had managed to cajole most of his earls into allowing Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of King Edward II of England. At a young age he made a good impression on King Edward I of England, and was assigned to the household of the King's son, Edward of Carnarvon...
to return to England, although the most powerful earl, Lancaster, was implacably opposed. On 27 June 1309 Gaveston, restored to the Earldom of Cornwall, returned to England and soon proved as obnoxious as before, calling Lancaster "Churl" and Warwick "Black Cur". Henry Percy would have been preoccupied with the purchase of Alnwick at that time and generally tried to stay out of the trouble with Gaveston. At the parliament of February and March 1310 the King was forced to accept the election of twenty one Lords Ordainers to govern the country. In June the king began a campaign in Scotland in which Percy fought, although many barons senior to Percy declined to take part. Robert Bruce continued to fight a guerilla war, refusing to give battle, so little was achieved, while relations between the king and his earls further deteriorated. In May 1311 Gaveston ordered Percy to hold Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
for the summer with two hundred knights and no infantry, a dangerous task at a time when the king's army was withdrawing to England. Surviving this Percy was back in London in October. The barons now forced the king to send Gaveseston into exile in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, but he was soon recalled and was in York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
with his heavily pregnant wife in January 1312, with his lands restored. Percy was ordered out of Scarborough Castle
Scarborough Castle
Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England...
and Gaveston took it over. Violence was now inevitable. In April the king and Gaveston were chased out of Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
by the sudden arrival of an army under Lancaster, Percy and Clifford, fleeing to Scarborough. In their haste they left behind Gaveston's wife and baby daughter and a great hoard of treasure, which it took Lancaster, Percy and Clifford four days to catalogue. Lancaster held onto this for future bargaining with the king. Gaveston was soon besieged at Scarborough Castle by Percy, Clifford, and the earls of Warenne and Pembroke, surrendering after a month. Percy remained in York when Gaveston was taken south to Warwick
Warwick
Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...
and then executed.
Imprisonment
The king, seeking revenge for the death of his friend, stopped short of civil war with the rebel earls but made an example of the less powerful Baron Percy by confiscating his lands on 28 July 1312, and having him imprisoned by the Sheriff of Yorkshire. The earls made Percy's release a priority in their difficult negotiations with the king and he was freed in January 1313. and was formally pardoned in October. Gaveston's treasure was returned to the king soon after.The final year
King Edward now prepared for a campaign in Scotland in 1314, culminating in his total defeat at the Battle of BannockburnBattle of Bannockburn
The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...
. Percy, along with five of the earls and many other nobles refused summonses to this campaign because it had not been sanctioned by parliament, as required by the Ordinances. There are no contemporary records of Percy being at Bannockburn and it seems that he remained at Alnwick, defending his land against Scottish raiders. His friend and comrade Robert Clifford did go, and was killed in the battle. Within days of the battle Percy was summoned to Newcastle to prepare an emergency defence of northern England against an invasion. Instead of an all-out invasion, Robert Bruce sent raiding parties to extort money from the northern counties. Only a few months later in the first half of October 1314 Henry Percy died, aged forty one, of unknown causes.
Children
Henry de Percy married Eleanor FitzAlanEleanor FitzAlan
Eleanor Fitzalan is an alleged daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel and his wife Alice of Saluzzo. She became the wife of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy. Their son was Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron Percy....
, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel was an English Norman medieval nobleman.- Lineage :...
, and had two sons;
- Henry, b.1299, who succeeded his father as Henry de Percy, 2nd Baron PercyHenry de Percy, 2nd Baron PercyHenry de Percy, 9th Baron Percy and 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick was the son of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Alnwick, and Eleanor Fitzalan, daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 8th Earl of Arundel....
. - William, who died childless in 1355.