Battle of Bramham Moor The Battle of Bramham Moor was the final battle in the Percy Rebellion of 1402 – 1408 , which pitted the Earl of Northumberland , leader of the wealthy and influential Percy family , against the usurper King of England , King Henry IV . The Percys had previously aided Henry IV in his coup d ' etat of his cousin King Richard II in 1399 . The Percy Rebellion . King Henry and Henry Percy , 1st Earl of Northumberland had fallen out in the aftermath of the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402 , a victory over an invading Scottish army by an English force led by Northumberland which succeeded in capturing a large number of Scottish nobles . As was the tradition of the day , a captured noble could buy his freedom though a ransom , and Percy stood to make a large sum of money from his success . However , King Henry was suffering a financial crisis due to the chaotic state of affairs following the coup , wars in Wales as well as Scotland , and the disobedience of several parts of the country still loyal to the deposed ( and murdered ) Richard II . Seeking to aid his ailing Treasury as well as impose his authority on Northumberland , which was ruled as almost a private fief by the Percys , he demanded the handover of the hostages , offering a token reimbursement in their place . The infuriated Percy declared his support for a different pretender to the throne , Edmund Mortimer , 5th Earl of March , and marched against Henry until he was defeated and his son Henry ' Hotspur ' Percy killed at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 . Retreating to Scotland , Percy emerged again in 1405 to further defeat before attempting one final time to seize the throne , gathering together an army of lowland Scots and loyal Northumbrians and marching south once more toward York . Bramham Moor . At Bramham Moor , south of Wetherby , his army was met by a force of local Yorkshire levies and noble retinues which had been hastily assembled to meet the force , led by the High Sheriff of Yorkshire Sir Thomas Rokeby . The exact sizes and compositions of the contending armies are not known , but the armies were far smaller than the thousands who had gathered at Shrewsbury , the rebels failing to gain widespread support or receive aid from other rebellious factions , such as Wales , where Owain Glyndŵr ' s rebellion was collapsing . The course of the battle itself is not well documented either . The action seemingly followed the course of many medieval battles where armies and generals were evenly matched : A violent melee in the centre of the field with little tactical direction . Percy is said to have positioned his men carefully and awaited Rokeby ' s arrival at 2 . 00pm when battle was instantly joined . It is likely that as with other battles of the era between primarily English and Scottish forces , the outcome was largely decided by English use of the longbow to thin the enemy ranks before charging with their main body . After the battle a number of the rebels were executed , including the Abbot of Hailes ( near Gloucester ) , who was dressed in full armour . The Bishop of Bangor was spared because he was wearing his vestments . Aftermath . Percy was defeated , and the Earl himself died fighting a furious rearguard action as his army was routed . His ally Thomas Bardolf , 5th Baron Bardolf was mortally wounded early in the action and later died . Very few of his soldiers escaped the pursuit and returned to Scotland . The Bardolf estates were forfeited , and the power of the Percy family was shattered . The north of England became the domain of their political rivals , the Neville family , whose leader Ralph had become a preferred royal ally and was strengthened as the Earl of Westmoreland . The Percys would later make a comeback and regain their previous standing through a different branch of the family during the Wars of the Roses . A cross was erected on the supposed spot where the Earl fell , the base of which was removed to the entrance of a wood lying close to Toulston Lane . A memorial stone and an information board were erected on Paradise Way , Bramham by Bramham Parish Council and formally opened by the 12th Duke of Northumberland in 2008 to commemorate the 600th anniversary .