Percy (noble family)

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Original coat of arms of those of Percy
Coat of arms of the current head of the family, Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland

Percy (originally also Perci) was the most powerful family in northern England for much of the Middle Ages.

The family goes back to the Norman nobleman William de Percy from Percy-en-Auge in Normandy . This had taken part in the Norman conquest of England .

Members of the family were first promoted to Earl of Northumberland in 1377 and Duke of Northumberland in 1766 , and continue to use these titles to this day. Similar to their rival, the House of Neville , the name Percy was passed on even if it was inherited in the female line.

history

The Percy are said to be descended from a Danish robber baron named Mainfred who settled in the Pays de Caux northwest of Rouen in the 9th century . After his relocation to England, his descendant William de Percy was enfeoffed with the feudal barony of Topcliffe in North Yorkshire as part of the Harrying of the North in 1172 . At the time of King Henry I , the family was represented by his great-granddaughter Agnes de Percy, the heir to William de Percy and Adelaide de Clare , whose wealth brought the king's second wife, Adelheid von Leuven , to her with her illegitimate half-brother Joscelin , called frater reginae (brother of the queen), to marry (see also: Stammliste der Reginare ). The third Henry Percy acquired Alnwick Castle in 1309 , which became the family seat, and the fourth Henry Percy rebuilt it as it is known today. The two Henrys are better known as Henry Percy, 1st and 2nd Baron Percy of Alnwick.

In 1377 the next Henry Percy was named Earl of Northumberland by King Richard II after his coronation . His son was the famous Henry Hotspur , who was killed in the Battle of Shrewsbury while his father was alive . Since father and son had revolted against King Henry IV , the title was declared lapsed in 1405. King Heinrich V revoked this withdrawal in 1416.

The male line of the descendants of Joscelin de Louvain went extinct in 1670 with Josceline de Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland. His daughter Elizabeth married Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset , in 1682 , and their granddaughter married a Yorkshire knight , Hugh Smithson , who became the first Duke of Northumberland in 1766 .

Master list (extract)

First line Percy

  1. William de Percy († before 1099) , 1st Lord of Topcliffe
    1. Alan de Percy († before 1136), 2nd Lord of Topcliffe
      1. William de Percy († around 1175), 3rd Lord of Topcliffe, ⚭ Adelaide de Clare
        1. Agnes de Percy (1134–1205) ⚭ Joscelin von Löwen († 1180), 4th Lord of Topcliffe → Second line Percy

Second line Percy

  1. Agnes de Percy (1134–1205) ⚭ Joscelin von Löwen († 1180), 4th Lord of Topcliffe
    1. Henry de Percy († before 1198)
      1. William de Percy (1197-1245), 6th Lord of Topcliffe
        1. Henry de Percy (1228-1272), 7th Lord of Topcliffe
          1. Henry Percy, 1st Baron Percy (1273-1314)
            1. Henry Percy, 2nd Baron Percy (1301-1352)
              1. Henry Percy, 3rd Baron Percy (around 1321–1368) ⚭ Mary of Lancaster
                1. Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (1341–1408), ⚭ (1), ⚭ (2) Maud Lucy, 5th Baroness Lucy
                2. Sir Henry Percy , alias "Harry Hotspur" (1364 / 66–1403)
                  1. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland (1394-1455)
                    1. Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland (1421–1461)
                      1. Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland (1449-1489)
                        1. Henry Algernon Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland (1478–1527)
                          1. Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland (1502-1537)
                          2. Sir Thomas Percy (around 1504–1537)
                            1. Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland (1528–1572)
                            2. Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland (1532–1585)
                              1. Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (1564–1632) ⚭ Lady Dorothy Devereux
                                1. Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland (1602–1668)
                                  1. Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland (1644-1670)
                                    1. Henry Percy, Lord Percy (1668–1669)
                                    2. Elizabeth Percy (1667–1722) ⚭ Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset
                                      1. Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset (1684–1750)
                                        1. Elizabeth Percy, 2nd Baroness Percy (born Seymour, 1730–1776) ⚭ Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (born Smithson, around 1714–1786) → Third line Percy
                  2. Thomas Percy, 1st Baron Egremont (1422–1460)
                    1. John Percy, 2nd Baron Egremont (around 1459–1497)
                  3. Sir Richard Percy (around 1426–1461)
                  4. William Percy (1428–1462), Bishop of Carlisle
                3. Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester (1343-1403)
              2. Thomas Percy (around 1332-1369), Bishop of Norwich
              3. Margaret de Percy (around 1318-1375)
    2. Richard de Percy (before 1181-1244), 5th Lord of Topcliffe

Third line Percy

  1. Elizabeth Percy, 2nd Baroness Percy (née Seymour, 1730–1776) ⚭ Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (née Smithson, around 1714–1786)
    1. Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland (1742-1817)
      1. Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland (1785–1847)
      2. Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland (1792-1865)
    2. Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley (1750-1830)
      1. George Percy, 5th Duke of Northumberland (1778–1867)
        1. Algernon Percy, 6th Duke of Northumberland (1810-1899)
          1. Henry Percy, 7th Duke of Northumberland (1846-1918)
            1. Alan Percy, 8th Duke of Northumberland (1880-1930)
              1. Henry Percy, 9th Duke of Northumberland (1912-1940)
              2. Hugh Percy, 10th Duke of Northumberland (1914–1988)
                1. Henry Percy, 11th Duke of Northumberland (1953-1995)
                2. Ralph Percy, 12th Duke of Northumberland (born 1956)
                  1. George Percy, Earl Percy (* 1984)
            2. Eustace Percy, 1st Baron Percy of Newcastle (1887-1958)

literature