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Henry Percy (b.1341-1408), the Earl of Northumberland did not remain quiet for long following the Battle of Shrewsbury and the death of his eldest son Sir Henry in 1403. He first had to answer for the crimes and treasons of his son which he denied involvement in and successfully distanced himself from despite strong supporting evidence that he knew and supported his late son’s rebellion. As a leading lord of the kingdom he must have been deeply troubled by the great upheavals caused by Welsh wars, the Scottish raids into his own lands, and the rebellion of his son now dead eldest son and heir which just been crushed by the king at  Shrewsbury  field. See Sir Hotspur's Uprising: The Battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403 , for more. 18th century engraving of the elderly Earl of Northumberland As a father he must have grieved deeply, swearing atonement for his son and heir whose head now adorned the gate above the city of  York  as a lesson to would-be traitors and usurpe...

See the Battle between House Percy and Clan Douglas during the Anglo-Scots border conflict: Otterburn to Homildon Hill 1388-1402  for more. The motivations behind Sir Henry Percy, known to the Scots as 'Hotspur' (b.1364-1403), transformation from loyal knight in service to the realm regardless of whom was sitting on the throne in Westminster into a rebel and attainted traitor looking to kill his lawful king in battle, were complex. There is still some doubt historically as to exactly what Hotspur looked to accomplish in his rising. Certainly a catalyst for Hotspur's rebellion was a reaction to a society in both himself and his father were apart of. This hegemony and societal structure defined by the tenets of feudal service in the age of chivalry (coming to an end by the mid 1400's), amidst the violent life of the Anglo-Norman knight. Death of Hotspur on the field at Shrewsbury Both henry and his father the Earl of Northumberland expected titles, a moderately high salar...

The violent life of the medieval knight and men-at-arms was defined by the societal structures of feudalism, crucial to the early periods of Anglo-Scottish conflict from the First Edwardian War (1296-1328) into the start of the 15th century when the English turned their attention to the kingdom of the Scots yet again. Especially true during King Edward I’s early reign when the major battles of the Scottish War of Independence were being decided in 1296-1314, ending with the Treaty of Northampton in the year 1328 which made Robert the Bruce (b.1274-1329), Robert I, King of Scots. [1] King Robert the Bruce, slays the English knight Sir Henry De Bohun at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 Shortly the signing of the treaty in a letter dated July 1328, King Robert sent a letter to Henry de Percy, second Baron of Alnwick [2] (b.1299-1351) affirming Baron de Percy and his heirs their rightful claim to the southern territories of the Scottish Kingdom. Of the several notable Scottish knights wh...