[page 128] - The autumn of 1400 saw the start of an intractable guerrilla war in Wales.   It began just as a local quarrel between a Welsh squire, Owen Glendower, and his English neighbour, but quickly flared into a notional uprising.   Glendower's successful resistance was certainly one of the causes of a far more serious crisis which erupted in 1403 with the revolt of Henry IV's hitherto most powerful supporters, the Percys.

The Earl of Northumberland's son Henry Percy, better known as Hotspur, had taken umbrage when the King refused him the ransom of an important Scottish prisoner, the Earl of Douglas.   He also had some grievances about the lack of support he had received while serving as Henry's lieutenant in North Wales.   These seem slender grounds for revolt, but Hotspur was a vain, impetuous man and he carried the rest of his family with him.   To make matters worse, the Percys were connected with Glendower by marriage.   Glendower's daughter was married to Edmund Mortimer, uncle of Richard II's heir and brother of Hotspur's wife.

It was the most testing crisis of Henry IV's reign and he solved it with his usual speed and decision.   He at once marched west to Shrewsbury, which was held by Prince Henry, and there brought Hotspur and his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, to battle before they could join the Earl of Northumberland.   The savage battle fought near Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403 ended in a royal victory when Hotspur himself was slain.

Worcester was executed two days later but Northumberland was spared after promising to surrender his castles and his office as Constable.   Henry IV's restraint earned him little credit, for the Earl proved an implacable conspirator.

Early in 1405 Thomas Mowbray, the Earl Marshal and son of the late Duke of Norfolk, was involved in a plot to spirit the Earl of March away from Windsor to Wales.   The fugitives were caught by Henry IV himself at Cheltenham.   The nineteen-year- old Earl of March was pardoned and promptly made off to join Northumberland in another armed rising.   In the meantime Northumberland was said to have signed a compact with Glendower and Mortimer partitioning England between them.   Richard Scope, Archbishop of York, was also persuaded to join the plot, and posted on the church doors a manifesto accusing Henry IV of usurping the throne against his oath, murdering King Richard and levying taxes he had promised to abolish.   The rebel army was dispersed and the Archbishop and the Earl Marshal captured by the Neville Earl of Westmorland before Henry IV arrived.   This time there was to be no mercy.   A great scandal ensued when not only Mowbray but also the Archbishop were executed, and the unidentified illness which partially paralyzed Henry IV shortly afterwards was said to be God's punishment for this impiety.

Northumberland fled to Scotland and was not finally called to account until February 1408 when he died in a skirmish with the Sheriff of Yorkshire's men on Bramham Moor.

After Northumberland's death Henry IV's throne was secure.   The Scottish border had been relatively quite since 1406, when the young King James I was captured on his way to France.

[page 170] - In 1403 the powerful northern Percy family decided to ally themselves with Glendower and Mortimer.   The chief of the Percy clan was the earl of Northumberland, who had once adhered to Henry IV's cause and had been described by Shakespeare's Richard II as the "ladder wherewithal the mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne."   The son of Northumberland was Henry, usually called "Hotspur".   In 1402 the two Percies, holding the border against the Scots, had captured several Scotsmen in battle, including the Scottish nobleman Earl Douglas.

Henry IV had insisted that the captives be handed over to him.   The Percies refused to obey because they wanted to claim the ransom money.   They had already become dissatisfied with their meager reward for loyally helping Henry.   They were also annoyed at Henry's treatment of the family of the young earl of March, who was related to Hotspur's wife.

Thus they deserted the king, raised the Cheshire archers, and set out to join forces with the Celtic insurgent Glendower.

Hotspur marched towards the forces of Glendower, ten in the south of Wales.   Before he could reach his ally he found his road blocked by Henry IV and his son "Prince Hal" at Shrewsbury.   In the resulting battle Hotspur was defeated and killed.

Northumberland was captured and imprisoned for six months, then released and pardoned. The redoubtable Glendower resisted for several years before his forces were finally rolled back and scattered by English arms.

After "Harry Percy's spur was cold" there were other rebellions. One was led by the intriguing earl of Nottingham and Scope, the archbishop of York.   It was crushed and the leaders executed after a mock trial.   No moral earthquake followed Scope's death; the age of Thomas Becket was long past.   In the north the earl of Northumberland rose again in 1405; he saved himself by fleeing to Scotland.   In 1408 he tried a third revolt and died in battle.

Two years earlier James Stuart, heir to the Scottish throne, was captured by English pirates and handed over to Henry IV.   The chronic wars with Scotland were ended, for a time.   In 1407 the French, beset by internal disputes, made a truce with the English.   England was finally at peace and the Lancastrian throne secure.

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