On 21 July 1403 Sir Henry Percy - better known as Hotspur - led a rebel
army out at Shrewsbury to face the forces of the king Henry IV. The
battle was both bloody and decisive. Hotspur was shot down by an arrow
and killed. Posthumously he was declared a traitor and his lands
forfeited to the crown. This was an ignominious end to the brilliant
career of one of the most famous medieval noblemen, a remarkable
soldier, diplomat and courtier who played a leading role in the reigns
of Richard II and Henry IV. How did he earn his extraordinary
reputation, and why did Shakespeare portray him as a fearsomely brave
but flawed hero who, despite a traitor's death, remained the mirror of
chivalry? These are questions John Sadler seeks to answer in the first
full biography of this legendary figure to be published for over twenty
years.
Hotspur's exploits as a soldier in France during the Hundred Years War,
against the Scots in the Scottish borders and at the battles of
Otterburn, Homildon Hill and Shrewsbury have overshadowed his diplomatic
role as a loyal royal servant in missions to Prussia, Cyprus, Ireland
and Aquitaine. And, as the heir to one of the foremost noble families of
northern England, he was an important player not only in the affairs of
the North but of the kingdom as a whole. So, as John Sadler reveals in
this highly readable study, Hotspur was a much more varied and
interesting character than his narrow reputation for headstrong attack
and rebellion suggests.
