Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy

Seal of Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy

Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy (of Alnwick) (* around March 25, 1273 in Petworth House , Sussex; † between October 2 and 10, 1314 ) was an English nobleman and military man. He acquired Alnwick Castle and thus significantly expanded the position of the Percy family in northern England.

origin

Percy was a younger son of Sir Henry de Percy and his wife Eleanor, daughter of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey . His father died in August 1272, and Percy was born a posthumous son. After the death of his older brother John, who died before June 11, 1294, he became heir to his father's estates in Yorkshire and southern England.

Military career

After Percy had participated in the suppression of the Welsh uprising of 1294 , he took part in the campaigns of the First Scottish War of Independence in the following years . He was involved in the conquest and sacking of Berwick and was knighted by King Edward I on March 30, 1296 . On April 27, 1296, he fought in the Battle of Dunbar , in which he proved himself so much that from now on he was one of the king's leading commanders. In September 1296 he was administrator of Galloway and Ayrshire and justiciar of Dumfries , in the next few years he held these and other offices repeatedly. In July 1297 he was one of the English barons who accepted the submission of the Scottish prelates and nobles. After the Battle of Stirling Bridge in September 1297, he raised a new army to regain British supremacy after this defeat. Together with five other English magnates he provided an army of 500 knights and heavy riders for battle in Scotland, including 50 heavy riders. In 1300 he took part in the siege of Caerlaverock Castle . To crush the Scottish uprising under Robert the Bruce , he was appointed deputy to the king and commander of the English troops in Lancaster , Westmorland , Cumberland , Ayr , Wigtown , Dumfries and Galloway on April 5, 1306 . Percy also took part in the campaign during which Edward I died in July 1307.

For his services as one of the king's leading commanders, he received handsome rewards from the king, which increased with the length of his service. By Writ of Summons he was called to Parliament on February 6, 1299 as Baron Percy . On February 20, 1299 he received his cousin Ingelram de Balliol's possessions in England and Scotland after his heir had apparently rebelled against the king. In addition to two estates in England, this brought Percy the Scottish barony of Urr and Red Castle in Angus . In 1304 he received the Earldom Buchan , which he soon lost after John Comyn , the Scottish title holder, again submitted to King Edward I. Percy was amply compensated for this. Probably in April 1306 he received the Earldom Carrick after the rebellion of Robert the Bruce . In February 1307, Robert the Bruce besieged Percy at Turnberry Castle until Edward I led a relief army to the castle. At least for a time, Percy could control parts of Carrick .

Percy probably came into contact with Bishop Antony Bek of Durham through the wars in Scotland . The bishop of the northern English diocese gave him Alnwick Castle , which was of decisive importance for the further development of the Percy family. With the acquisition of Alnwick, the Percys became the main landowners in North East England. Percy probably still had the hope of being able to recapture his Scottish possessions, so that Alnwick would have formed a link between his possessions in Yorkshire and the claimed possessions in Scotland. The deed of transfer is dated November 19, 1309, but the transfer was a complicated legal process, because according to an agreement of April 1, 1310, the bishop reserved the right of repurchase until the end of September that year. Allegedly Antony Bek administered the castle for William , an illegitimate son of William de Vescy († 1297), the last Vesci of Alnwick. Percy probably had to pay the bishop a handsome sum for the castle, for which he took out a loan from the Italian banker Bellardi from Lucca .

Alnwick Castle, acquired by Percy in 1309, is still the seat of the Percy family today. Photography from 2011

Member of the aristocratic opposition against Edward II.

As one of the most powerful English barons and most important military commanders, Percy also played a major role during the reign of King Edward II . At the beginning of his reign he still had a good relationship with the king and his favorite Piers Gaveston . In contrast to many other magnates, he had followed the king's call in August 1310 and took part in the council in Northampton, where the further course of action in Scotland was discussed. The subsequent campaign to Scotland in the autumn of 1310 was a failure. After the collapse of English supremacy over Scotland, Percy recognized that England could no longer wage wars and that peace was urgently needed. He finally joined the aristocratic opposition to the king and his favorite Gaveston. Although he was not one of the Lords Ordainers who worked out a concept for reforming royal rule, he was one of the king's advisers who on October 5, 1311 announced the ordinances drawn up by the Lords Ordainers in the churchyard of St Paul's Cathedral in London . The Lords Ordainer, who had actually taken over the reign, rewarded Percy on March 20, 1311 by transferring the administration of the temporalities of the diocese of Durham , vacant after the death of Bishop Antony Bek , and on December 2, 1311 he became judge for the forests beyond Trent and administrator of Bamburgh Castle on December 18, 1311 .

When King Edward II openly disregarded the ordinances in 1312 and Gaveston returned from his exile against the prohibition of the Lords Ordainer, Percy was one of the nobles who now took military action against Gaveston. Although the King removed Percy as judge for the Forests beyond Trent and gave this office to Gaveston, Percy, together with Roger de Clifford, oversaw the northern part of England. Together with Clifford, Percy nearly captured the King and Gaveston at Newcastle in early April . Eventually he besieged Gaveston at Scarborough Castle along with the Earls of Pembroke and Surrey . Gaveston surrendered on May 19, 1312 and was surrendered to Pembroke. However, Percy was not involved in Gaveston's execution. Then the king resumed negotiations with his opposition nobles, which led to a superficial settlement. The humiliated king had to forgive Percy on October 16, 1313 for his involvement in the capture of Gaveston.

Percy was probably already sick in the summer of 1314, because he probably did not take part in the campaign against Scotland that year and was therefore not involved in the defeat of Bannockburn . He was buried in Fountains Abbey .

Family and offspring

Before June 1294 he married Eleanor FitzAlan († 1328), a daughter of John FitzAlan and sister of Sir Richard FitzAlan . He had two sons with her:

• Henry Percy, 2nd Baron Percy († 1352)
• William Percy († 1355)

His heir eventually became his eldest son, Henry.

Web links

Commons : Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Henry de Percy, 1st Lord Percy on thepeerage.com , accessed August 18, 2015.
• JMW Bean: Percy, Henry, first Lord Percy (1273-1314). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
• Cracroft's Peerage: Percy, Baron (E, 1299-1406)

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Baron Percy 1299-1314	Henry Percy