Sir Ralph PERCY
- Born: 1425
- Marriage (1): Unknown
- Marriage (2): Eleanor ACTON
- Marriage (3): Jane TEYE
- Died: Apr 25, 1464, Hedgeley Moor, Northumberland, England at age 39
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Ralph Percy (died 1464) was a knight , a Governor of Bamburgh Castle and a supporter of the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses . Percy was the grandson of Sir Harry (Hotspur) Percy .
Percy married, firstly, Eleanor Acton and they had five children:
Sir Ralph Percy
Sir Henry Percy
Sir Ralph married, secondly Jane Teye. They had a child, Catherine Percy.
During 1462 and 1463, the Lancastrians attempted to destabilise the kingdom, ruled by their Yorkist enemy, Edward IV . These attempts were concentrated in the north of England and directed by the Lancastrian Queen, Margaret of Anjou ( Henry VI 's queen).
The Earl of Warwick led campaigns to neutralise the Lancastrians in the north in the early 1460s. As a result Sir Ralph Percy surrendered Bamburgh Castle to Edward IV, on Christmas Eve 1462 in return for a free pardon. Sir Ralph swore allegiance to Edward IV and, as part of Edward IV's policy of conciliation, Percy's lands were then returned to him. Sir Ralph took control of both Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles, under his surrender agreement with Edward.
Fighting in the north continued, exacerbated by a Scottish invasion. When the Scots sued for peace and Lord Montague was sent to arrange terms. On 26 April 1464, Montague was on his way to Norham. The Duke of Somerset (who had surrendered and sworn allegiance with Percy) and Percy, foreswearing their oaths, attacked Montague with 5,000 men. The site of that battle was Hedgeley Moor, seven miles south of Wooler. Percy led Somerset's van and was killed.
http://home.att.net/~a.junkins/percy.html: Born in 1425. Was seneschal of his father's court at Alnwick. He died on the battlefield of Hedgeley Moor in April 1464. Percy's Cross was erected there to honor his gallantry when he refused to save his skin by fleeing, at the expense of "the bird in his bosom". Parents: HENRY PERCY (Y32) and ELEANOR NEVILLE (Y33). Siblings: 1) Sir Henry Percy. Third Earl of Northumberland. Born July 25, 1421. Married Eleanor Poynings about June 25, 1435. He died on March 29, 1461.
Fight they must sooner or later; and it was as well to fight then even, though outnumbered as to delay until the foe had been still further reinforced. Under the circumstances Percy counselled an attack. At first Somerset and his lords seemed to hearken to this advice and the queen's army advanced to within bow shot of the Yorkists. But before the trumpets sounded to the onset a disgraceful thing came to pass. Somerset, Hungerford and Roos, stricken with a sudden panic turned, their horses heads and without drawing sword galloped from the field. Utterly demoralised by the cowardly conduct of their leaders, most of the archers and men at arms followed in headlong rout. Only Sir Ralph Percy and the brave hearts that had defended Dunstanburgh with him remained to face the enemy. In compact files they calmly awaited the Yorkist onfall, protecting by this heroic stand the wild flight of Somerset and his army. There is a grim reticence among the contemporary historians respecting the fate of the devoted band, but enough can be gathered from the various accounts to show that Percy himself and nearly all who fought by his side fell in the affray. In the simple words of Grafton, Hedgeley Moor is thus summed up: "Sodaynely the sayde Lordes Somerset Hungerford and Roos without stroke stryking fled and onely Syr Rauf Percie abode and was there manfullie Slayne."
So stooped the Gledd of Dunstanburgh for the last time. Those who left him cravenly to his fate were not long destined to keep the lives, which they had saved at such a cost. After the battle of Hexham, on the following 15th of May, when the power of Lancaster was once more crushed, the very lords who had deserted Ralph Percy at Hedgeley Moor perished, one and all, beneath the headman's axe.
Upon the spot where Sir Ralph fell, a column, roughly carved with badges of the house of Northumberland, was subsequently erected -- probably by his nephew, the fourth earl. It stands to this day and is known as Percy's Cross. Nor far away upon the moor is a spring called "Percy's Well," whence say the country folk, the loyal knight took his last draught. Even his dying words are preserved by tradition; for we are told that glorying in his allegiance to the Lancastrian kings, "he cried with his last breath I HAVE SAVED THE BIRD IN MY BOSOM."
A History of the House of Percy From the Earliest Times Down to the Present Century By Gerald Brenan, William Alexander Lindsay
Slain at the battle of Hedgely Moor
Noted events in his life were:
• Occupation: Knight. The Gledd of Dunstanburgh. Govenor of Bamburgh castle Northumberland.
Ralph next married Eleanor ACTON.
Ralph next married Jane TEYE.