The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403 The Battle of Shrewsbury Rent a Castle Whether it's a folly for 2 or a fort for 20, try our castles for rent page. By Ellen Castelow , Contributing Writer | Comments Although the powerful Percy family had supported the Lancastrian King Henry IV when he took the throne from Richard II in 1399, the rebellion of 1403 stemmed from the king’s failure to sufficiently reward the family for the costs they had incurred in doing so. In addition, as if to add insult to injury, the infamous Sir Henry Hotspur Percy (so named for his fiery temperament) who had been successfully campaigning against the rebellious Welsh patriot Owain Glyndŵr had not received payment for his services. A tad annoyed with the king, the Percys formed an alliance with Glyndŵr and Edward Mortimer to conquer and divide up England. With a hastily mustered force Hotspur set off for Shrewsbury to join forces with the other rebels.

By the time he reached the town Hotspur’s army had grown to around 14,000 men; most notably he had recruited the services of the Cheshire archers. Hearing of the plot against him, the king had hurried to intercept Hotspur and both armies faced each other on 21 July 1403. When negotiations for a happy compromise failed, the battle finally started a few hours before dusk. For the first time on English soil, massed troops of archers faced each and demonstrated "the deadliness of the longbow ". In a closely fought encounter Hotspur was killed, apparently shot in the face when he opened his visor (as shown on the picture to the right). With the loss of their leader, the battle came to abrupt end. To quash rumours that he had in fact survived the battle, the king had Hotspur quartered and put on display in various corners of the country, his head being impaled on York’s north gate. The brutal lesson learned in the effectiveness of the longbow would be remembered by Prince Henry, later Henry V, just a few years later on the battlefields of France.

Alnwick Castle | Harry Hotspur Alnwick Castle Welcome to one of Britain's most iconic castles What's on 30 Oct 2016 - 30 Mar 2017 Alnwick Castle will reopen on 31st March 2017 Downton Abbey Harry Hotspur Harry Hotspur, Alnwick Castle's most famous son, lived a life fraught with battle and intrigue. Immortalised by Shakespeare and celebrated in his own time, Hotspur is now remembered as one of England's best and most fearsome medieval warriors. The Percy Family: c.1364-1403 (Harry Hotspur in more detail) Cloaked in mystery O gentlemen, the time of life is short! To spend that shortness basely were too long If life did ride upon a dial’s point, Still ending at the arrival of an hour. And if we live, we live to tread on kings, If die, brave death, when princes die with us!...

-- Harry Hotspur in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, Act V, Scene 2 Henry Percy, son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland, is better known by the name given to him by his enemies due to the eagerness (and impetuousness) with which he would ride into battle: Harry ‘Hotspur’. Hotspur is the most famous character in the history of the Percy family, and is one of the most famous knights in English history. However, he never became Earl of Northumberland due to predeceasing his father. Many of the details of Hotspur’s life remain a mystery. Even the year and place of his birth are unknown; he may have been born in either Northumberland or Yorkshire, in either 1364 or 1366. He did describe himself as being 'of Alnwick' during his lifetime, however, and it is known that he died at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403.

Hotspur’s Life … thou makest me sad and makest me sin In envy that my Lord Northumberland Should be the father to so blest a son, A son who is the theme of honour's tongue… -- Henry IV in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, Act I, Scene 3 In 1377, the year his father was made 1st Earl of Northumberland by King Richard II, Harry Hotspur was knighted; he would only have been a teenager at this time, if not younger. Two years later, he married Elizabeth Mortimer. Elizabeth and her family could be considered to have a claim to the throne; her maternal great-grandfather was King Edward III. This fact becomes significant when Hotspur, together with his father and uncle Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, deposed Richard II and replaced him with Henry IV. The elder Percys seemed set on Henry as the new king, but it has been suggested that Hotspur may have believed his brother-in-law, the Earl of March, would be placed on the throne. This did not occur, of course, but may have been a contributing factor in the tension present in the relationship between Henry IV and Hotspur.

Elizabeth and Harry had two children; their son Henry, born in 1393, became the 2nd Earl of Northumberland. Later in his life, Harry became a Knight of the Garter, and due to his reputation for seeking glory, honour and battle, was a celebrity in his own lifetime. Battles ... I profess not talking; only this- Let each man do his best, and here draw I A sword, whose temper I intend to stain With the best blood that I can meet withal In the adventure of this perilous day. Now Esperance! Percy! And set on. Sound all the lofty instruments of war, And by that music let us all embrace, For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall A second time do such a courtesy. -- Harry Hotspur in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, Act V, Scene 2 Hotspur probably witnessed his first combat situation as a child, accompanying his father in France, and led his first siege at Berwick in 1378. There is a story that Harry once met a soothsayer, who told him he would lose his sword in Berwick and die thereafter.

This prophecy did apparently come true, but not in a way that Hotspur could have predicted. Conflict and battle were intertwined with Hotspur throughout his life. He fought the Scots on the Borders and Welsh rebels in Wales, made trouble in Calais with his brother Sir Ralph, and finally died fighting Henry IV in England. His most famous battle against the Scots was at Otterburn in 1388. Two forces led by members of the Douglas family attacked England’s border regions on the west and the east, one aiming for Carlisle and the other Durham and Newcastle. When the Earl of Douglas took Newcastle, Hotspur and a force of soldiers rode to meet them. After a skirmish which may have included hand-to-hand fighting between Hotspur and Douglas, Douglas captured Hotspur’s pennant (a flag or standard; an object with great family pride attached to it) before riding west to join the rest of the Scottish army. Hotspur was advised to wait for reinforcements, but pursued Douglas regardless, marching his men 32 miles before reaching the Scottish camp at Otterburn as night fell. Douglas was killed in the ensuing battle, but the Scots won decisively, and Harry and Sir Ralph Percy were both taken prisoner.

Similarly famous was the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402, one of Harry’s greatest victories, which took place near Wooler in Northumberland. Like the 2nd Lord of Alnwick’s defeat of the Scots in 1346, archers were essential in obliterating the Scottish forces, allowing Hotspur to take prisoners of his own – a situation that would eventually lead to his rebellion against the king, and his death. Hotspur’s Final Battle …thou hast robb'd me of my youth! I better brook the loss of brittle life Than those proud titles thou hast won of me; They wound my thoughts worse than sword my flesh: But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool; And time, that takes survey of all the world, Must have a stop. -- Harry Hotspur in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 1, Act V, Scene 4 Before Homildon Hill, Hotspur had been leading a campaign for the king to try to put down the forces of the famous Welsh rebel, Owain Glyndwr. However, Hotspur's soldiers were not being paid.

When Hotspur’s letters to Henry IV asking to rectify this were not answered to his satisfaction (the Crown claimed to be short of funds), he returned to Northumberland and Scottish border warfare. Following Homildon, when Hotspur had taken prisoners for ransom, Henry IV demanded that the ransom money should go to him rather than Harry, which led Hotspur to London to confront the king about the matter. The result of their altercation (which reportedly ended with the king slapping Hotspur across the face and drawing a dagger on him - 'not here, but in the field!' is said to have been Hotspur’s reply) was a full-blown rebellion led by Hotspur against Henry IV. At the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, which took place partly under a solar eclipse, Henry IV dressed several of his knights in his attire and used them as a form of decoy; each time Hotspur killed one, he would think he had killed the King, only to find he hadn’t. Harry Hotspur was killed by an arrow to his eye during the battle.

He and his men had stayed in a small hamlet the night before, and due to the swift arrival of the king’s son, the Prince of Wales, on the battlefield, Hotspur was effectively rushed into battle not fully prepared, and apparently left his sword behind on the morning of the battle. The name of the hamlet was Berwick; the soothsayer, it seems, had been correct after all. Hotspur was buried near the battlefield, but then exhumed, and his head was displayed on the walls of York as a warning to other potential rebels of what would happen to those who went against the king. His body was quartered, and the four pieces displayed in Newcastle, London, Bristol and Chester, again as a warning to others. Hotspur’s final resting place is believed to be an unmarked grave in York Minster. Read the next chapter in Percy history: Earls of Northumberland (1413-1670) Share this The Battle of Shrewsbury (21 July 1403) THE STORY OF THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY By Henrietta E.

Marshall Henry IV knew quite well that he was not the real heir to the throne, although he tried to make people believe that he was. The real heir was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March . Richard II was the son of Edward the Black Prince , who was the eldest son of Edward III . Edmund Mortimer was descended from Lionel of Clarence , who was the third son of Edward III. Henry Bolingbroke [ Henry IV ] was descended from John of Gaunt , who was the fourth son of Edward III. So, of course, Edmund Mortimer had a better right to the throne than Henry Bolingbroke had. But Edmund Mortimer was only a little boy, and, like so many other little princes, he was passed over and forgotten. The people chose rather to have a strong man who could really rule, than a little boy who could rule only in name. But Henry was afraid of Edmund, and kept him a prisoner in Windsor Castle, although he was not otherwise unkind to him. Henry had seized the throne in an unlawful manner, and he found that it was no easy matter to keep it.

No sooner was he crowned than plots thickened around him, and people who had hated Richard were now sorry that they had put Henry on the throne. The Welsh, who had been conquered by Edward I, had never been content to live under the rule of English kings, and Owen Glendower , a Welsh nobleman, now rebelled against Henry. He called himself the Prince of Wales, claiming to be descended from Llewellyn, that Welsh prince whom Edward I had defeated and killed. Nearly all Wales joined Owen Glendower, and although Henry went against them with a large army, he was not able to subdue them. The Welsh took several of Henry's nobles prisoner, among them Sir Edmund Mortimer. This Sir Edmund was an uncle of the young Earl of March, whom Henry kept in prison at Windsor. Henry was quite pleased that Sir Edmund should be a captive, because he was afraid that he might at some time try to put his nephew on the throne. The Scots had meanwhile also been fighting with the English, and had been defeated by the Earl of Northumberland and his young son, who was called Harry Hotspur . He was called Hotspur because he was so quick and brave in battle.

Harry Hotspur and his father had taken the Scottish leader, Douglas, prisoner. They expected to get a large ransom from the Scots for him. But Henry said that Douglas must be given up to him. This made the Percies, as Harry Hotspur and his father were called, very angry. They thought that, as they had taken the Douglas prisoner, they had a right to the money which would be paid for his release. The Percies then asked Henry to send money to Owen Glendower to ransom Edmund Mortimer, for Edmund was Harry Hotspur's dear friend. But Henry refused. He did not wish Edmund to be free, because he was afraid of him. This refusal made the Percies still more angry. The Percies had helped to put Henry on the throne, but now they became so angry with him that they were sorry that they had done so, and they turned against him. Instead of giving up the Douglas to Henry, the Percies set him free, on condition that he should help them to fight against the King. They made friends with Owen Glendower, who set Edmund Mortimer free, and persuaded him also to join them against Henry.

When the King heard of this great rebellion, he marched with a large army to Shrewsbury, and there he defeated the Percies before Owen Glendower could come with his soldiers to their help. King Henry had been told that some of the rebel nobles had sworn to kill him, so he went into battle in plain armor, while four or five knights went dressed like the King. These knights were all killed, Douglas himself killing three of them. "I marvel to see so many kings rise thus one after the other," he said. "I have this day slain three." But the real king was not among them, although he was in the battle fighting bravely. The Prince of Wales [later Henry V ], or Prince Hal, as he was often called, was only a boy, but he did great deeds at this battle, and even when he had been badly wounded, he would not leave the field until victory for his father was sure. Harry Hotspur was killed, the Douglas taken prisoner, and so with this one battle the rebellion was almost at an end. Excerpted from: Marshall, H. E. An Island Story: A History of England, &c.. New York: Frederick A.

Stokes Company, 1920. 245-247. THE BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY by Sir Charles Oman ...[W]ithin a few months Northumberland was the king 's greatest enemy. The breach between the earl and his master started in the winter after Homildon. But the first signs of trouble that gave warning of the rebellion of 1403 came from another quarter. Sir Edmund Mortimer had now been a prisoner in Glendower 's migratory camp for six months, and was anxious to ransom himself: but despite his repeated petitions, the king refused either to advance him money or to grant him facilities for raising it himself. Apparently he was glad to keep out of the way one who would be the natural leader of any plot that might be made in favour of the young Earl of March , King Richard 's rightful heir: one, too, who was actually nearer to the crown by the strict law of hereditary succession than he was himself.

Whether Mortimer was disloyal at heart before his capture is not known, but in the winter of 1402-3 he made up his mind to throw in his lot with Glendower, and at Christmas married his daughter with great state, and among prophetical hymns of triumph from the bards, who foresaw a notable future for the progeny of such a pair. On December 13 he issued a manifesto to his friends and vassals, informing them that he was leagued with the Prince of Wales [as Glendower called himself] for the purpose of restoring King Richard , if he were still alive, and if he were not, of placing the Earl of March on the throne. Mortimer's treason gave a new aspect to the rebellion; instead of being an anti-English national movement, it might now be considered no more than a branch of a legitimist rising against the usurping house of Lancaster , and many malcontents who would never have joined Owen were ready to adhere to Mortimer. His own vassals in Radnor Forest rose at once, and from thence the movement spread into Brecknock.

The spring and summer of 1403 were a most prosperous time for Glendower: despite the fact that Prince Henry and the Earl of Worcester were collecting an army at Shrewsbury, he resolved to throw himself into South Wales, which had hitherto been undisturbed. On his appearance the country-folk rose to his aid on every side; on July 2 he took Dynevor Castle, on the next day Llandovery, and on the 4th Llandeilo. Two days later he surprised Carmarthen, the largest town of South Wales, slaying fifty of its English inhabitants. But the most striking part of his success was that many strong castles—among them Llanstephan, Dryslwyn, Newcastle Emlyn, Cerig Cennan—were betrayed to him by traitors in the garrisons. Only Pembrokeshire, "little England beyond Wales," remained loyal, and repulsed his marauding bands when they crossed its border. Elsewhere he rode triumphant, and from all the strongholds that still flew St.

George's cross urgent messages went to King Henry, bidding him "come riding night and day with a great army" if he would prevent the whole principality from falling into Owen's hands. But Henry had other business in hand. The Percies had announced their adherence to the cause of Mortimer. For the last six months their discontent had slowly been ripening into treason. Their first grievance had been the king's ingratitude for their good service done at Homildon; he had promised them a great reward, but it took the rather illusory shape of the grant of a palatine earldom across the Scottish border. It was easy to sign away rights over Teviotdale and Nithsdale and Ettrick, but they had to be conquered before the signature had any effect. When Hotspur was sanguine enough to attempt to take possession of the new palatinate, he was repulsed by the first petty castles that he attacked, and returned in wrath. But the main cause of the breach between the Percies and the king was money—the most fruitful source of dissension between all unscrupulous copartners in an enterprise.

Northumberland and his kinsmen, notwithstanding the lavish rewards they had received, still had outstanding claims against Henry, mainly for the pay of the troops which Hotspur had levied against Glendower. The king thought that he had already given them so much, that he need not hurry about discharging new debts. He said that they had from first to last received £60,000 of the public money, and modern research can account for £41,000 actually paid over to them.1 But over and above this quarrel there were other causes of dissension; Mortimer was Hotspur's brother-in-law, and since his lapse into treason the king could not help suspecting his relations. Yet the question of the prisoners of Homildon was the actual topic on which the quarrel broke out. Northumberland had surrendered Murdoch of Fife and several other magnates to the king, but Henry demanded that Douglas and all the other captives of rank should also be made over to him. The earl refused to yield them till all his monetary claims on the crown should be discharged.

After much wrangling, Henry ordered great levies to be made, nominally to invade Scotland, really to overawe the Percies by appearing in their country with an army at his back. This brought matters to a head; before the royal forces had been mobilised the Percies broke into open rebellion. They would brook no refusals from the king they had made, and reckoned that he had outlived his popularity and might be overthrown by a sudden attack. They made elaborate preparations for their enterprise: Hotspur enlisted his captive Douglas and many other Scots in the plot. Communications were opened with Glendower and Mortimer, and it was agreed that they should all unite in proclaiming the Earl of March king, since Richard , as the Percies well knew, was most certainly dead. All the lords of the north were sounded; only Neville of Westmorland returned a wholly uncompromising negative to his old rival's proposals; the Archbishop of York, Richard Scrope , and Skirlaw, Bishop of Durham, lent a favourable ear. Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester , though one of the king's most favoured servants, consented to join the plot without a moment's hesitation.

Northumberland was old, and thought fit to hand over the conduct of the campaign to his son Hotspur , for speed and daring were necessary in order to anticipate the king's projected march to the north. Henry Percy 's plan was to join the two areas of insurrection by marching to join Glendower on the upper Severn. He resolved to throw himself into Cheshire, which had always been loyal to Richard II , and, after raising its levies, to meet the Welsh at Shrewsbury. The weak point of this project was that Glendower was at the moment out of touch, in the far south of the principality. On July 6, the very day upon which Hotspur started his march, Owen captured Carmarthen. The message calling him back to Shrewsbury arrived too late, for the campaign was short and furious. Hotspur started from Northumberland with a following of only 160 lances, among whom were Douglas and twenty other Scottish knights. Riding fast, he reached Chester on the 9th, and was there joined by the Earl of Worcester , who had slipped away secretly from Prince Henry 's side.

The possession of Chester, which links Wales to the north, was a strategic gain of high importance, but there was a weak point in the arrangements of the rebels. Northumberland , who was busy collecting the main body of his retainers in Yorkshire, would not be ready to join his son for some days; Glendower was far away in the south. Till they should come up, Hotspur, with the van of the insurgent host, was left isolated and exposed to King Henry 's attack. Though all Cheshire had joined him, he had probably not more than 3,000 or 4,000 men in hand. His fate depended on whether the king would strike before Northumberland and the Welsh arrived. Meanwhile he published a fiery proclamation in which he accused Henry of having violated all the promises that he had made in 1399, of murdering Richard II by slow starvation, of raising illegal loans and taxes, packing his parliaments by intimidation, and ignoring the rights of the Earl of March. All was true enough, but it did not come with a good grace from the mouth of the Percies, the usurper's chief confederates.

The king was at Lichfield on the 11th, when he received the news that Hotspur had seized Chester. His levies were not yet assembled, but he saw the necessity of striking before the rebels had united, and hastily gathered the contingents of the nearer midland shires. His army had grown to some size by the 18th, and he marched on Shrewsbury, rightly judging that this was the point at which Hotspur would strive to join Glendower. Prince Henry was holding the town with a small force which he had collected for an expedition into Wales. On the afternoon of the 20th, the king advancing from Lichfield, and Hotspur marching from Chester, reached Shrewsbury almost simultaneously. The rebels thereupon drew back a short way, seeing that they had arrived too late to secure the town. On the next morning Hotspur drew up his host in an open space called Hately Field, two miles and a half north of Shrewsbury.

He occupied a rising ground, partly taken up by cultivated enclosures covered by a dense crop of peas, and approachable only through narrow lanes, which the royalists would have to pass before they could deploy for the fight. Henry , however, was resolved to push matters to an issue, and marched out of Shrewsbury at dawn as far as the field now known as the King's Croft, where he ranged his army in two divisions, one commanded by himself, the other by his fifteen-year-old son, the Prince of Wales . He decidedly outnumbered the rebels, but they had all the advantage of the ground. Before the battle, several hours were spent in insincere negotiations; the Earl of Worcester took the chief part in the parley, and finally broke it off, taunting his late master with being a king whose word no man would trust. About noon the royalists advanced; they were delayed by the peafields and the narrow lanes, and suffered severely from the archery of the Cheshire men, before they could get to close quarters and make their superior numbers tell.

When the king had at last got his bowmen to the front, and the exchange of shafts was growing deadly, Hotspur and Douglas resolved to try the effect of a down-hill charge upon the royal right, where Henry was present in person. Their impetuous rush almost achieved its purpose; the king's banner was beaten down, and the Scottish earl slew with his own hand Sir Thomas Blount, one of two knights who had donned a surcoat with the royal arms, in order to distract attention from their master. But when the impetus of the rebel charge was spent, the royalists enclosed on both sides the wedge of assailants which had penetrated into their line, and at the same time the Prince of Wales on the left outflanked and drove back the right wing of the Percies. Though in danger of being surrounded, the enemy continued fighting fiercely till their leaders were struck down. Douglas was felled by a wound in the groin, Hotspur killed outright by an unknown hand in the thick of the melee. When the cry "Harry Percy dead" was raised by the king's men, the Cheshire levies broke and dispersed.

They were pursued for three miles, and many scores of knights and squires, the flower of the county which had been so loyal to King Richard, were slain or taken, with a great proportion of their archers and billmen. The Earl of Worcester, Sir Richard Vernon, and Sir Richard Venables, the three chief prisoners, were beheaded next day; their heads were sent to decorate the spikes on London bridge, while that of Hotspur was reserved for the gate of York. The victory had been a costly one for the king; there fell in his host the Earl of Stafford, Constable of England [Edmund, 5th Earl Stafford], nine knights, and a great multitude of the commons. Some years later Henry erected a church and hospital on the site of the central combat, where 1,600 corpses of both sides were buried in long trenches about the spot where the royal banner had stood. 1. See Sir James Ramsay's calculation in Lancaster and York, i. 57. Oman, Charles. The History of England. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1906. 178-183.

Other Local Resources: Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 Battlefield Church of St Mary Magdalene Harry Hotspur Welsh Marches Shropshire England English Battle of Shrewsbury 1403 SJ 512-173 The church of St Mary Magdalene was built in 1406, as a memorial to those who fell in battle on the 21st July 1403. On the ridge to the north of the church, the rebel troops of Henry 'Hotspur' Percy formed up and to the south was the army of King Henry IV, with Prince Henry, the Prince of Wales. The battle started with an advance of the royalists troops, which was received by a storm of arrows from the rebels, Hotspur then led a charge into the King Henry's army heading directly towards the king's standard but when he was killed and Prince Henry attacked the right flank and rear of the Hotspur's army, the rebel army broke.

UK Battlefields Resource Centre - Medieval - The Battle of Battle of Shrewsbury Battle of Shrewsbury 21st July 1403 When Henry Bolingbroke had usurped the throne of England from his cousin Richard II in 1399, becoming King Henry IV, he did it with the assistance of the powerful Percy family, including Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland . But the relationship between Northumberland and the king was far from amicable. By 1403 the Percys were demanding payment for outstanding debts from 1399 amounting to £20,000; an exorbitant figure. Added to this was their severe displeasure at the King’s insistence of keeping the Scottish nobles captured at Homildon Hill the previous year as prisoners of war rather than applying for their ransom. To Northumberland, who had led the victorious English troops, this was adding insult to injury and further depriving him of what he considered to be due reward. Henry was unlikely to have been deliberately withholding payment, he simply did not have the resources.

Northumberland’s son, the infamous Sir Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, had been given high office in Wales, where he had completed several successful campaigns against the rebellious Owain Glyndwr, in 1401 and 1402. But he too awaited payment for services. In a complete reversal of allegiance the Percys now formed an alliance with Glyndwr and Edward Mortimer. Mortimer was uncle to the Earl of March, still in his minority, as well as brother-in-law to Hotspur and son-in-law to Glyndwr. In an effort to gain support and justify their actions the Percys now claimed that they had only supported Henry in 1399 on the understanding that he only sought to reclaim his confiscated lands and that they had no idea he intended to usurp the throne. They also accused Henry of starving Richard to death in his castle at Pontefract. The Percys now supported the Earl of March as rightful heir to the throne.

With a hastily mustered force, gathered largely in Cheshire, along with George, Earl Douglas (a captive from the battle of Homildon Hill the previous year but now allied with Percy), Hotspur headed towards Shrewsbury to join forces with the other rebels. That town was garrisoned by the King’s eldest son, Harry (later to become arguably our most famous military commader, Henry V), but this small force was unlikely to withstand an attack from the combined rebel forces. So, on the advice of the Scottish Earl of March, George Dunbar, the king headed north-west to intercept Hotspur before he could join forces with Glyndwr. The race for Shrewsbury was won by the king, who reached the town shortly before Hotspur on the 20th September. Percy was now isolated on the north side of the town, with the River Severn and the king’s army between him and reinforcements from Wales. Withdrawing from the town, Percy spent the night some 3 miles north-west of Shrewsbury at the village of Berwick.

The following morning, with no sign of Glyndwr but with the king’s forces advancing out of Shrewsbury, Percy hurriedly left Berwick and headed away from the river towards Harlescott. A battle was now inevitable. The battle of Shrewsbury was significant in military terms as it was the first occasion where massed troops armed with the longbow were pitted against each other on English soil, in the tactical formations that would be so effective in the coming decades against the French. The effectiveness of this tactical use of the weapon was apparent to all. In political terms it was also important: Henry was lenient to the Earl of Northumberland himself, grieving for his son who was killed at Shrewsbury, but the might of the Percy family was broken. The battlefield remains almost wholly undeveloped agricultural land, though now fully enclosed as hedged fields. The Shrewsbury by-pass (A5124) crosses the very southern edge of the battlefield, from east to west, along the probable line of Henry’s deployment.

Battlefield Church, which was built within a few years of the battle at the behest of King Henry ‘for the souls of those who fell’, is believed to sit close to the centre of the action. Access is via metalled and fenced public footpaths laid out by the local authority in a circular route around the battlefield, and including the church. A viewing mound and car park to the south has also been provided. In 2008 ‘Battlefield 1403’, an exhibition centre on the battle together with a café and farm shop was opened in converted farm buildings just north of the registered battlefield and a new permissive path leads from the centre down to the battlefield itself. For more information on the Shrewsbury 1403 battlefield centre please CLICK HERE KEY FACTS Historical Triumphs and Disasters: The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403 Historical Triumphs and Disasters Sunday, 20 March 2016 The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403 The Battle of Shrewsbury was fought on 21st July 1403 between the forces of King Henry IV and those of the powerful Percy family of Northumberland.

The Percys had helped to protect England from the marauding Scots, but they were disappointed in the level of recognition and reward they were getting from the king as a result. They claimed that Henry had promised them a large tract of land in Cumbria, but this was given to another supporter. The Percys’ response was to rise in revolt, with the aim of seizing the throne for themselves. At the head of their forces was Harry ‘Hotspur’ Percy, who had been given his nickname by the Scots after they had observed his tireless pursuit of them in the border country. The battle was a decisive victory for King Henry and his own son Harry, who was aged 16 at the time. It featured in William Shakespeare’s play ‘King Henry IV Part 1’, in which Hotspur is killed by ‘Prince Hal’, who would succeed his father to become King Henry V. It is, however, unlikely that this was what happened, with contemporary accounts stating that Hotspur was killed by a sword blow from an unknown hand (or possibly by an arrow) when he lifted his visor to wipe sweat from his face.

Hotspur’s head was later displayed over the gates of York to dissuade anyone else from rebelling, and the head of his brother Thomas (who was executed after the battle) was placed over London Bridge. The battle is notable for being the first example of English longbowmen facing each other in battle. It proved to be a useful rehearsal for young Prince Hal, who only fought one other pitched battle in his lifetime, namely that of Agincourt in 1415. Although the challenge of the Percy family to the throne of England was ended by the Battle of Shrewsbury, the name Hotspur has lived on. When a 19th century cricket club in North London played on land that belonged to the Duke of Northumberland they adopted the name ‘Hotspur Cricket Club’ in Harry Percy’s honour. When the cricketers started playing football they took the name with them, and the club they founded has been Tottenham Hotspur ever since.

© John Welford Henry Percy (Hotspur) | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit Arms of Hotspur Henry Percy was born 20 May 1364 at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland , and Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph de Neville, 2nd Lord Neville of Raby , and Alice de Audley. [1] He was knighted by King Edward III in April 1377. [2] In 1380 he was in Ireland with the Earl of March , [3] and in 1383 travelled in Prussia . [4] He was appointed warden of the east march either on 30 July 1384 or in May 1385, [4] and in 1385 accompanied Richard II on an expedition into Scotland. [1] 'As a tribute to his speed in advance and readiness to attack' on the Scottish borders, the Scots bestowed on him the name 'Haatspore'.

[2] In April 1386 he was sent to France to reinforce the garrison at Calais, and led raids into Picardy. Between August and October 1387 he was in command of a naval force in an attempt to relieve the siege of Brest. [4] In appreciation of these military endeavours he was made a Knight of the Garter in 1388. [4] Reappointed as warden of the east march, he commanded the English forces against James Douglas, 2nd Earl of Douglas , at the Battle of Otterburn on 10 August 1388, where he was captured, but soon ransomed for a fee of 7000 marks. [2] During the next few years Percy's reputation continued to grow. He was sent on a diplomatic mission to Cyprus in June 1393, and appointed deputy to John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , in the Duchy of Aquitaine . [2] He returned to England in January 1395, taking part in Richard II's expedition to Ireland, and was back in Aquitaine the following autumn.

In the summer of 1396 he was again in Calais. [3] His military and diplomatic service brought Percy substantial marks of royal favour in the form of grants and appointments, [4] but despite this the Percy family determined to support Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV , on his return from exile in June 1399. Percy and his father joined Bolingbroke's forces at Doncaster, and marched south with them. After King Richard's deposition, Percy and his father were 'lavishly rewarded' with lands and offices. [3] Under the new king, Percy had extensive civil and military responsibility in both the east march towards Scotland and in north Wales, where he was appointed High Sheriff of Flintshire in 1399. He was however under increasing pressure in north Wales as a result of the rebellion of Owain Glyn Dŵr .

In March 1402 Henry IV appointed Percy royal lieutenant in north Wales, and on 14 September 1402 Percy, his father, and the Earl of Dunbar and March were victorious against a Scottish force at the Battle of Homildon Hill , taking prisoner among others Archibald Douglas, 4th Earl of Douglas . [1] Rebellion and death File:Henry Hotspur Percy.jpg The Percys had become increasingly discontented with Henry IV, however. Among their grievances was the King's failure to pay the wages due to them for defending the Scottish border, his favour towards Dunbar, his demand that the Percys hand over their Scottish prisoners, his failure to put an end to Owain Glyn Dŵr's rebellion through a negotiated settlement, his increasing promotion of his son Prince Henry's military authority in Wales, and his failure to ransom the Percys' kinsman, Henry Percy's brother-in-law, Sir Edmund Mortimer (1376–1409), whom the Welsh had captured in June 1402, and who had a claim to the crown as the grandson of Lionel, Duke of Clarence , second surviving son of King Edward III .

[5] Spurred on by these grievances, in the summer of 1403 the Percys rebelled and took up arms against the King. According to Bean, it is clear that the Percys were in collusion with Glyndŵr. On his return to England shortly after the victory at Homildon Hill, Henry Percy issued proclamations in Cheshire accusing the King of 'tyrannical government'. [3] Joined by his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester , he marched to Shrewsbury where he intended to do battle against a force there under the command of the Prince of Wales . However the army of his father, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland was, for reasons never fully explained, slow to move south as well, and it was without Northumberland's assistance that Henry Percy and Worcester arrived at Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403, where they found the King with a large army. The ensuing battle was fierce, with heavy casualties on both sides, but when Henry Percy himself was struck down and killed, his own forces fled. [3] The Earl of Worcester was executed two days later.

[6] Prince Henry, upon being brought Percy's body after the battle, is said to have wept. The body was taken by Thomas Neville, 5th Baron Furnivall (d.1407), to Whitchurch, Shropshire for burial; however when rumours circulated that Percy was still alive, the King 'had the corpse exhumed and displayed it, propped upright between two millstones, in the market place at Shrewsbury'. [3] That done, the King dispatched Percy's head to York, where it was impaled on one of the city's gates; his four quarters were sent to London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bristol, and Chester before they were finally delivered to his widow. She had him buried in York Minster in November of that year.

[7] In January 1404, Percy was posthumously declared a traitor, and his lands were forfeited to the Crown.[ citation needed ] Marriage and issue Elizabeth Percy (c.1395 – 26 October 1436), who married firstly John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford , slain at the Siege of Meaux on 13 March 1422, by whom she had issue, and secondly Ralph Neville, 2nd Earl of Westmorland (d. 3 November 1484), by whom she had a son, Sir John Neville. [10] Sometime after 3 June 1406 Elizabeth Mortimer married as her second husband, Thomas de Camoys, 1st Baron Camoys , by whom she had a son, Sir Roger Camoys. [11] Thomas Camoys distinguished himself as a soldier in command of the rearguard of the English army at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415.

[12] Shakespeare and Henry Percy Edit Warkworth Castle, the home of Henry Percy Henry Percy, 'Hotspur', is one of Shakespeare's best-known characters. In Henry IV, Part 1 Percy is portrayed as the same age as his rival, Prince Hal, by whom he is slain in single combat. In fact he was 23 years older than Prince Hal, the future King Henry V , who was a youth of 16 at the date of the Battle of Shrewsbury. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Henry Percy .

Footnotes Henry Percy (de Percy), Sir (1364 - 1403) - Genealogy Henry Percy Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland Wife: May 28 1364 - Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, England Death: May 28 1364 - Alnwick, Northumberland, , England Death: July 30 1403 - Shrewsbury, Shropshire, , England Mother: Margaret De Neville Of Raby Wife: Lady Elizabeth De Percy (born Mortimer) Children: Joan de Percy, Elizabeth De Percy Brother: 1364 - Warkworth Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England Death: Elizabeth Percy, Baroness Camoys (born Mortimer) Children: May 20 1364 - Alnwick, Northumberland, England Death: July 21 1403 - Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England Parents: Henry de Percy, Margaret de Percy (born Neville) Wife: May 20 1364 - Alnwick, Northumberland, England Death: July 21 1403 - Shrewsbury

, Shropshire, England Parents: Henry de Percy, Margaret de Percy (born Neville) Wife: Henry de Percy, Lady Elizabeth Percy, Elizabeth Percy Brother: May 20 1364 - Warkworth Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England Death: July 21 1403 - Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, Shrewsbury, England Parents: Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (born De Percy), Margaret De Neville (born Percy De Neville) Brother: Elizabeth Percy, Baroness of Camoys (born De Mortimer) Son: About Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy a short summary from Wikipedia: Harry Hotspur (Sir Henry Percy) Spouse: Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland Lady Elizabeth Percy Noble family House of Percy Father: Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland Mother: Margaret Neville Died: 21 July 1403 (aged 39) Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England ===================================================================== "Sir Henry Percy KG (20 May 1364 – 21 July 1403), commonly known as Sir Harry Hotspur, or simply

 Hotspur, was the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, and Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby, and Alice de Audley.

He was the most famous soldier of his day, but was slain leading the losing side at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403." ===================================================================== ==================================================================== Citations / Sources: [S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 95. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Family. [S125] Richard Glanville-Brown, online <e-mail address>, Richard Glanville-Brown (RR 2, Milton, Ontario, Canada), downloaded 17 August 2005. [S6] G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H.

White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 volumes in 14 (1910-1959; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester, U.K.: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000), volume XII/2, page 550. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage. [S6] Cokayne, and others, The Complete Peerage, volume IX, page 712. [S1257] #248 A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank; but Uninvested with Heritable Honors (1834-1838), Burke, John, (4 volumes. London: Published for Henry Colburn, by R. Bentley, 1834-1838), FHL book 942 D2bc., vol. 4 p. 358.

[S2420] #11886 The Golden Grove books of pedigrees (filmed 1970), (Manuscript, National Library of Wales manuscript number Castell Gorfod 7. Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950), FHL microfilms 104,349-104,351., book 9 p. G1134, 1186; book 16 p. M1925. [S2411] #11915 British Genealogy (filmed 1950), Evans, Alcwyn Caryni, (Books A to H. National Library of Wales MSS 12359-12360D. Manuscript filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1950), FHL microfilms 104,355 and 104,390 item 2., book 6 p. F4, 9.

[S673] #1079 A History of Monmouthshire from the Coming of the Normans into Wales down to the Present Time (1904-1993), Bradney, Sir Joseph Alfred, (Publications of the South Wales Record Society, number 8. Five volumes in 13. London: Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1904-1993), FHL book 942.43 H2b., vol. 3 p. 8. [S712] #1039 Pedigrees of Anglesey and Carnarvonshire Families: with Their Collateral Branches in Denbighshire, Merionethshire (1914), Griffith, John Edwards, (Horncastle, England: W.K. Morton, 1914), FHL book Folio 942.9 D2gr; FHL microfilm 468,334., p. I, 305.

[S2] The Visitations of Yorkshire in the years 1563 and 1564, made by William Flower, esquire, Norroy king of arms, Flowers, William and Charles Best Norcliffe, (London : Harleian Society, 1881), FHL book 942 B4h vol. 16; microfilm 162,050 item 2., vol. 16, p. 242. [S452] #21 The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant (1910), Cokayne, George Edward (main author) and Vicary Gibbs (added author), (New edition. 13 volumes in 14. London: St. Catherine Press,1910-), vol. 2 p. 508; vol. 3 p.

293 [S266] #379 [7th edition, 1992] Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists, Who Came to America Before 1700 (7th edition, 1992), Weis, Frederick Lewis, (7th edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, c1992), FHL book 974 D2w 1992., p. 8 line 5:33, p. 23 line 19:32. [S394] #230 [5th edition, 1999] The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215 (5th edition, 1999), Adams, Arthur, (5th edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1999), FHL book 973 D2aa 1999., p. 46 line 36:10, p. 64 line 44:7.

Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy's Timeline 1364 Warfare History Blog: Sir Hotspur's Uprising: The Battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403 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 salary, and a greater degree of autonomy in general. These men had additional personal grievances against King Henry IV and his household. Greatest amongst these were the apparent nullification of funds owed to the two men for service in Wales fighting for the King. Evidence supports that Hotspur may have had designs of his own in regards to the throne of England and/or Northumberland in 1402-1403, his motives are lost to history. No theory has ever been proven nor debunked by modern historians. [1] Hotspur's Rising 1402-1403 Nearing forty years old in the summer of 1402, the knight Sir Henry Percy began his rebellion with a proclamation which was entirely based on a lie crafted with the sole purpose of raising support in Cheshire, where former kings men and veterans of the Cheshire Guard, the household guard of the the deceased & dethroned ‘Good King Richard’, King Richard II, still resided by the hundreds.

Hotspur had apparently made earlier calims that King Richard was returning from exile to ride at the head of the rebel army and that his father the Earl of Northumberland was bringing a Northern host to meet them and the Welsh as well. His pro Ricardian stance certainly won him admirers and soldiers within a few days time in the city of Chester with hundreds of former Cheshire Guard archers and ‘watchmen’ flocking to his standard. [2] For More see the post Prelude to Wars of the Roses, Usurpation, Rebellion, and medieval warfare 1387-140 3 . As Hostpur continued his march south in later June and into July, he began to collect a diverse rebel host made up of Northumbrian men, Cheshire, Welshmen, and Scotsmen. He began even to hear whispers of king associated with his name when the Cheshire men soon realized that King Richard would not be rising from the dead to lead them into London. It was clear in late June that it would be Hotspur alone who would lead this army south to face the royal army led by King Henry and the young Prince of Wales.

King Richard II, who from beyond the grave inspired numerous plots against King Henry IV from his imprisonment to death 1399-1400, until the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury July 1403 The single most intriguing event taking place before the Battle of Shrewsbury was the defection from the royal army(and therefor from the Kings' Peace) of Hotspur’s uncle the Earl of Worcester just days before the battle was fought. Almost nothing is known about the events surrounding his betrayal of the Prince of Wales who the Worcester had known well. He had been a retainer and battle-companion of young Prince Henry as a commander during the King's campaign in Wales, 1400-1403. The impact militarily on paper at least was significant, the Earl of Worcester bringing 1,000 men, mostly archers and lightly armed men of foot, over to Hotspurs rebel army. Another interesting caveat pertaining to the composition of Hotspurs army was the appearance, amongst the many other varying banners of the rebel army, of the ‘heart of Robert the Bruce’ and stars of Clan Douglas [3].

Since the Northern victory at Homildon Hill in September 1402 a number of Scottish knights had been held captive by the Percys. The most notable among them Archibald the fourth Earl of Douglas (b.1372-1424), who along with twenty or so others were allowed to fight with Hotspur at Shrewsbury , their motives maybe fed by a simple lust for battlefield honors and glory. Most probably they were fighting for their release from Northern custody. Historically no accounts survive which can equivocally answer the question, what did Hotspur hope to gain in leading a rebel army south? His personal grievances and dispute with King Henry over the Anglo-Welsh conflict aside, historians have debated his motives and greater ambitions for centuries. Was he a would-be usurper or a rebel knight hoping to threaten King Henry’s power for his own vain glory? Or was Hotspur the legitimate heir to a Northern throne, capable of uniting the North and the Midlands under the banner of the blue lion? Most likely not.

Hotspurs’ military campaign south began and ended on the 21st of July 1403, when his rebel army met the royalist van commanded by King Henry and the Prince of Wales near Shrewsbury in Shropshire county not far from the Welsh border. The location of the battle hints that he may have been trying to join his army with the Welsh rebels in arms under Sir Owain Glyndŵr after all. Prince Henry who was just sixteen but already proving to be a ruthless but effective campaign and battlefield commander having served in Wales , held Shrewsbury. From here he led the Shrewsbury garrison and his own in raids across the border designed to stymie the Glyndŵr rebels. Minor skirmishing had taken place on Hotspur’s approach to the town on the 19th and 20th with houses being set ablaze on the outskirts of the town, assumingly caused by flaming arrows and pitch. Though not fought in the town itself, it is thought that Berwick field where the modern day ‘ Battlefield archers commanded by Hotspur.

Thomas Walsingham, writing in the Historia Anglicana, notes the effectiveness of the Cheshire rebels’ fire during the opening to battle, poetically remarking that “men fell on the king’s side as leaves fall in the autumn after a hoar frost.” The king’s army in turn sent a volley back, killing many rebels as the order was given soon after by King Henry to advance and attack the rebel vanguard. The carnage inflicted on the royalist battle lines was significant. Hundreds were killed or very seriously wounded within a matter of minutes under the rebel arrow storm, which must have been particularly frightening for the younger, inexperienced royalist soldiers who had never been under that kind of thick, deadly fire before. Two out of the three of the royalist battles were maimed in the arrow storm at the Battle of Shrewsbury; the Prince of Wales seriously injured by a Ricardian arrow to his cheek, the Earl of Stafford was killed by an arrow as well, most of his men fleeing in panic after his death.

[8] The royal army of King Henry seemed at first to have been on the cusp of defeat, their infantry slaughtered by the longbow volley as the Scots had been charging down Homildon Hill into their demise in 1402. Historically the infamous Hotspur lust for combat and battle honors has been the main reason given by historians for why he chose to charge the kings household in a wild attempt to slay him, to win the battle and the crown with one swing his sword. Looking at the military realities of the Battle of Shrewsbury however, one can surmise that Hotspur and the Earl of Douglas must have observed the effect that the arrow storm had on the royalist army. They were jolting, not broken yet but at a very critical stage in their deployment onto the battlefield itself, where the melee would inevitably take place. Charge of Hotspur and the Tyneman at the Battle of Shrewsbury, 21st of July 1403 Though their background as Anglo-Scots border warriors may have influenced their strategies during the battle in a general sense, both men more than likely realized that their force could not hope to survive a renewed assault by King Henry’s army.

The decision to charge the king, though seemingly an unwise one because it exposed Hotspur to enemy fire during the hastened advance, was actually a wise decision from a tactical and strategic standpoint. The rebel army stood a strong chance of being routed, captured, and executed en masse if they meekly awaited the onslaught of the royalist army still greatly outnumbering them. Instead, as Hotspur might have agreed, “Fortune favors the bold” and he decided to make a charge for the standard of King Henry, daring to meet the king and his knights face-to-face in order to win the battle by the sword or die in the effort. The high water mark of Hotspur’s rebellion came just moments later as Hotspur, the Earl of Douglas, and around fifty of their household knight’s charged the royalist banners. This was a furious and ultimately costly attempt to capture or kill Henry and rout his army. Though it is popularly believed that the charge was made on horseback by hundreds of Percy knights, the reality, as it so often is, was much less magnificent or dramatic.

The rebels most likely made the fateful charge dismounted with cries of Esperance (the Percy family motto) filling the evening air at the very height of the battle. A melee ensued at the king’s royal standard just feet from King Henry, with every major account differing as to what happened next. From what is known from the surviving accounts of the battle, Sir William Blount the king’s standard bearer was slain, his helmet and skull caved in with a powerful blow from the Earl of Douglas’ warhammer. At some point during the melee however, as the rebels reached the king, Hotspur was either cut down by an enemy knight, or killed by a stray arrow to face as he lifted his visor to survey the field. Cries came from both sides saying their leaders had been killed, but it was Hotspur who turned up dead at the conclusion of the battle, a decisive victory for King Henry and his royal army. Fighting continued until twilight set in and the whispers of Hotspur’s death began to echo across the battle lines.

By nightfall the rebels had begun a full retreat, the dead rebel lords' army disintegrating as his men attempted to flee back home or merely for their lives as they tried to evade capture from the vindictive royalists executing any rebels in arms. Death of Hotspur by Richard Caton Woodville Though Hotspur’s body was recovered from the fray, and taken for burial by a Neville cousin to a nearby church, the King eager to prove to all of England that the rebel was dead, intercepted the body. From here his body suffered the indignity of a ritualized & symbolic post-mortem execution, despite Hotspur’s standing as the one time preeminent knight of North England , and of maybe the whole country. The Earl of Worcester was apprehended after the battle and beheaded in the Shrewsbury marketplace a day later, after which he was quartered, his head stuck on a pike above Old London Bridge, the rest of his corpse sent to the four corners of England. Surprisingly the Earl of Douglas who was captured in the rout escaped death as well.

Ransomed by the king he would live to fight the English again, suffering his last major defeat with his death at the Battle of Verneuil, in Normandy during the Hundred Years' Wars in 1424. So ended the July 1403 Uprising of Hotspur, a usurpation plot hardly realized and most certainly not imaginative. Most certainly a a decisive victory for the Lancastrians it is arguably the most important battle fought in the British Isles between 1350-1455. Related Posts [1] Duby, Georges The Chivalrous Society (University of California-Berkeley Press, 1980) pgs. 100-152 [2] History of England under Henry IV, Vol I [3] Reference Picture II. The Douglas clan earned the heart in their heraldry after Robert the Bruce ordered Sir James Douglas, the ‘Black Douglas’ to carry his heart to Jerusalem, in part to atone for the murder of Sir John Comyn, the Red, a political rival, inside a Greyfriars church in 1306.

The Earl of Douglas failed however, loosing his life in Moorish Spain at the Battle of Teba in 1330. [4] War for the Throne: Battle of Shrewsbury, Battle Geography and Topography [5] War for the Throne: Battle of Shrewsbury Posted by B.Sparks at

Question: in which battle of 1403 was Harry Hotspur killed?
Answer: Shrewsbury