Medieval Magnates - A Study Of The Percys - March 9Mickie O’Neill gave us a family tree for the Percy family who came over with William the Conqueror and settled in Yorkshire. William was a popular family name followed by Henry. The 11th Baron and 4th Lord Percy of Alnwick was called Henry. He became 1st Earl of Northumberland and was the father of the ill - fated Hotspur or Harry Percy, slain at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Hotspur’s son Henry was a stout Lancastrian who was slain at the 1st Battle of St Albans in 1455. The family continued to support the Lancastrians and the next Henry was slain at Towton. Three of his brothers also died in battles.
Finally we came to Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. Edward IV tried to tempt him away from Lancastrian sympathies and he did work alongside Richard Duke of Gloucester in ruling the north for Edward. But at the Battle of Bosworth he didn’t help Richard. The people of Yorkshire didn’t forget and when Henry VII set him collecting taxes in 1489 he was murdered at Topcliffe. He is buried in Beverley Minster.