Battle of Bramham Moor

The Battle of Bramham Moor on 19 February 1408 was the final battle in the Percy Rebellion of 1402 – 1408, which pitted Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, leader of the wealthy and influential Percy family, against the usurper King of England, King Henry IV. The Percys had previously aided Henry IV in his coup d'etat against his cousin King Richard II in 1399.The Percy RebellionKing Henry and Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland had fallen out in the aftermath of the Battle of Homildon Hill in 1402, a victory over an invading Scottish army by an English force led by Northumberland which succeeded in capturing a large number of Scottish nobles. As was the tradition of the day, a captured noble could buy his freedom though a ransom, and Percy stood to make a large sum of money from his success. However, King Henry was suffering a financial crisis due to the chaotic state of affairs following the coup, wars in Wales as well as Scotland, and the disobedience of several parts of the country still loyal to the deposed (and murdered) Richard II.Seeking to aid his ailing Treasury as well as impose his authority on Northumberland, which was ruled as almost a private fief by the Percys, he demanded the handover of the hostages, offering a token reimbursement in their place. The infuriated Percy declared his support for a different pretender to the throne, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, and marched against Henry until he was defeated, and his son Henry 'Hotspur' Percy killed, at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Retreating to Scotland, Percy emerged again in 1405 to further defeat before attempting one final time to seize the throne, gathering together an army of lowland Scots and loyal Northumbrians and marching south once more toward York.