Percy, Henry, 1st Baron Percy

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Percy, Henry, 1st Baron Percy (1273–1314). Percy's father Sir Henry, who died seven months before his son was born, fought for Henry III at Lewes and married the daughter of John de Warenne, earl of Surrey, by the king's half-sister. Young Percy accompanied his grandfather on the Dunbar campaign in 1296, was knighted, and subsequently summoned to Parliament as a baron. Most of the rest of his life was devoted to warfare against the Scots. In 1310 he joined the Ordainers in their opposition to Edward II and was present at the capture of Gaveston, though not party to his murder. He was summoned for the campaign which ended at Bannockburn, but it is not certain that he attended, and he was dead four months later. He is said to have excelled at knightly arts, purchased the estate of Alnwick, and laid the foundations of the great border family. His son Henry fought with success at Neville's Cross in 1346 when David II of Scotland was captured.

J. A. Cannon

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