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Henry IV Hotspur Hotspur was killed after being brought down in a last-ditch charge aimed at killing the king In the melee that followed, no one knows who struck the decisive blow 1399-1413 Henry IV The story of a king on an unstable throne, and how the close-fought Battle of Shrewsbury eventually legitimised his rule P HENRY IV England, 1367-1413 The tenth king of England from the House of Plantagenet, Henry seized control from Richard II but found his own reign plagued by other upstarts, eager to for him what he had done for the previous king: depose him, preferably violently In the Battle of Shrewsbury he saw off a challenge from the fiery young Henry Hotspur, son of Henry Percy, the First Earl of Northumberland Brief Bio erhaps ironically considering that his reign began with the seizure of the crown from the sovereign monarch, Henry IV of England’s kingship was an insecure one He was beset by rebellions from those who were either dissatisfied with his rule, believed themselves to be more credible claimants to the throne, or who saw the precedent that he started as part of a new status quo; one that allowed for the strongest to seize power, with birthright having been reduced – by virtue of Henry’s original rebellious act – to a mere technicality The event that came the closest to putting a premature end to Henry’s rule was the Battle of Shrewsbury, the culmination of a rebellion by the Percy family: chiefly Thomas Percy, the Earl of Worcester; his elder brother Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland; and his nephew, Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy Having assisted Henry with his successful overthrow of Richard II in 1399, the Percys found themselves increasingly dissatisfied with Henry’s rule, in large part to his refusal to lend them sufficient funds to defend their lands against the Scots in the north (due to the parlous state of the royal treasury) or to grant them additional titles or lands, with one noteworthy sticking point being when the king gave the justiciarship of Wales – previously in the possession of Northumberland and Hotspur – to his son, Prince Henry, the future Henry V Allying themselves with Owen Glendower, the Welsh leader who was in open rebellion against English rule at the time, Hotspur gathered his forces from nearby Cheshire – including a large vk.com/englishlibrary force of archers – and marched south towards Shrewsbury, where he planned to meet forces led by Northumberland and Glendower However, Henry heard about the attack, and immediately mobilised his forces, sending a small force ahead to hold the town, along with a group led by Prince Henry, while the rest of his army marched towards Shrewsbury from the east When Hotspur arrived, not only did he find the town held against him, but with the king coming from the east, he was caught between the town, the nearby river and an army, effectively cutting him off from Glendower’s reinforcements and leaving him with little choice but to choose a place of attack With the primary aim of the rebels being to kill Henry himself, he disguised two knights in his own attire as diversions Even with this clever precaution, however, the battle was closely fought, with the rebels getting the better of the early stages thanks to the devastating attacks from their archers, which decimated and scattered the royal vanguard Despite this, a two-pronged attack from father and son turned the battle in their favour, forcing Hotspur into a desperate last-ditch charge at the King that resulted in his own death With the rebel leader dead and his surviving forces fled, the most serious challenge to Henry’s rule was at an end His rule had been legitimised, and his son’s military prowess, later to achieve legendary status at the Battle of Agincourt, became clear for everyone to see The Earl of Northumberland would later make another attempt at rebellion in the Battle of Bramham Moor in 1408, which also resulted in his defeat and death vk.com/bastau 55