Henry Percy

Um, this is the result of a rebellion that has been, uh, concocted in the north.

Uh, the leader on the field of the, of the enemy is gonna be Henry Percy, uh, known more kind of colloquially as Hotspur.

And, uh, it's a surprise that when, when, when Hotspur raises the flag of rebellion, uh, nobody's ready for it.

Uh, nobody at all.

And the king is, uh, sort of races up to meet, this is, uh, King Henry IV, uh, the new king, right? 'Cause he's, he's deposed, uh, the last one.

But we, we do have other sources that say this, that, that though he's been hit, they wanna take him off the field, and he says no.

And that sort of right around, like, the timing, who kind of knows, but right around the same time, the right wing of the king's army, um, has dissolved, um, and is dissolving off the field.

And Hotspur's reb-rebel forces are on the charge.

Right at the start of Henry IV Part 1, the king bemoans his feckless son.

Why can't Hal be more like Harry Hotspur? Now there's a boy whose father I envy.

A son who is the theme of honor's tongue, amongst a grove the very straightest plant, who is sweet fortune's minion and her pride.

Over the course of this Part 2 and Henry V, we'll see Hal develop from one of the lads to a serious and eventually utterly lonely ruler.

He becomes a king who understands how he has to navigate his godlike duties while being aware of his own all too human failings.

And what about Harry Hotspur? That word honor does for him.

He believes he's fighting against Henry IV on principle, since the king failed to pay him for some prisoners he had held onto in Scotland.

Nothing matters more to him than winning respect.

The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself, And with uplifted arms is safe arrived At Ravenspurgh.

Now God in heaven forbid! O, madam, 'tis too true, and that is worse, The Nor- the Lord Northumberland, his young son Henry Percy, the Lords of Ross, Beaumont, and Willoughby, with all their powerful friends, are fled to him.

Why have you not proclaimed Northumberland And the rest of the revolted faction traitors? We have; whereupon the Earl of Worcester Hath broke his staff, resign'd his stewardship, And all the household servants fled with him To Bolingbroke.

So, Green, thou art the midwife of my woe, And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir.

But this the weary lords Shall make their way seem short, as mine hath done, By sight of what I have, your noble company.

Of much less value is my company Than your good words.

But who comes here? Enter Henry Percy.

'Tis my son, young Harry Percy, Sent from my brother Worcester, whensoever.

And so, you know, she, she is not, she is not from nowhere.

Um, you can trace her way, all the way back, her ancestry, back to Harry Hotspur, who died in the Wars of the Roses.

Um, so this is, this is a family like many families, um, who have deep roots in the nation's history.

And the fact that she's young is nothing but a good thing.

He was enthusiastic when it came to learning all aspects of government, but he was absolutely enthralled when it came to military matters.

being said he was still a young man one with absolute wealth power and privilege and he'd like to use them to his advantage when it came to letting his hair down several medieval sources described henry as being somewhat of a party boy in his youth or an assiduous cultivator of lasciviousness to use contemporary parlance however it seems that he got over his wild teenage phase pretty fast by the time he ascended to the throne he was better known for his piety than his partying from a young age it became clear that henry was a skilled warrior and commander his father king henry iv not only encouraged his son's interest in all things military but practically demanded it he knew that all the books and training in the world were no substitute for the real thing so he thrust his son into the heat of battle from an early age this was partially done out of necessity since king henry iv had to contend with several rebellions during his reign and he needed all the good commanders that he could get his hands on Prince Henry of Monmouth distinguished himself at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 when he was only 16 years old against his former guardian and teacher, Sir Henry Hotspur Percy.

Although Hotspur had originally been an ally of Henry IV and helped him seize power from Richard II, he eventually rebelled and managed to amass a large army of people who wanted the king gone from the throne.

The battle turned into a decisive victory for King Henry IV after Hotspur was killed in battle, but the king almost lost his heir when Prince Henry of Monmouth was injured in battle.

And who but Rumor, who but only I, make fearful musters and prepared defense, whilst the big ear, sworn with some other grief, is thought with child by the stern tyrant war, and know such a matter? Rumour is a pipe blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures, and of so easy and so plain a stop that the blunt monster with uncounted heads, the still-discordant wavering multitude, can play upon it.

But what need I thus my well-known body to anatomize among my household? Why is Rumour here? I run before King Harry's victory, who in a bloody field by Shrewsbury hath beaten down young Hotspur and his troops, quenching the flame of bold rebellion even with the rebels' blood.

But what mean I to speak so true at first? [laughs] My office is to noise abroad that Harry Monmouth fell under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword and that the king, before the Douglas' rage, stooped his anointed head as low as death.

This have I rumored through the peasant towns between that royal field of Shrewsbury and this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone where Hotspur's father, old Northumberland, lies crafty sick.

The posts come tiring on, and not a man of them brings other news than they have learnt of me.

[laughs] From Rumour's tongues they bring smooth comforts false, worse than true wrongs.

With that, he gave his able horse the head and, bending forward, struck his armored heels against the panting sides of his poor jade up to the rowel head, and starting so, he seemed, in running, to devour the way, staying no longer question.

Huh.

As each arch-devil had twenty, thirty, or forty legions of inferior spirits under his command, and a legion was composed of six hundred and sixty-six devils, it is not surprising that the latter did not obtain distinguishing names until they made their appearance upon earth, when they frequently obtained one from the form they loved to assume; for example, the familiars of the witches in Macbeth: Paddock, toad; Grimalkin, cat; and Harper, harpy possibly.

Is it surprising that, with resources of this nature at his command, such an adept in the art of necromancy as Owen Glendower should hold Harry Percy, much to his disgust, at the least nine hours "in reckoning up the several devils' names that were his lackeys"? Of the twenty devils mentioned by Shakespeare, four only belong to the class of greater devils.

Hecate, the principal patroness of witchcraft, is referred to frequently, and appears once upon the scene.

The two others are Amimon and Barbason, both of whom are mentioned twice.

hath beaten down

young Hotspur and his troops, quenching the flame of bold rebellion, even with the rebel's blood.

But what mean I to speak so true at first? My office is to noise abroad that Harry Monmouth fell under the wrath of noble Hotspur's sword, and that the king, before the Douglas's

rage,

stooped his anointed head as low as death.

rumoured.

through the peasant towns, between

that royal field of Shrewsbury and this worm-eaten hold of ragged stone, where Hotspur's father, Old Northumberland, lies crafty sick.