Sir Richard de Percy 5th Baron Percy

Baron Percy

The title Baron Percy has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The first, in 1066 a Feudal Barony rather than a peerage, became extinct in 1299. The second, in 1299, became extinct in 1517. The third, in 1557, became extinct in 1670. The present creation was in 1722, by writ of...

, was a Magnate from the North of England

Kingdom of England

The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

, and a participant in the First Barons' War

First Barons' War

The First Barons' War was a civil war in the Kingdom of England, between a group of rebellious barons—led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France—and King John of England...

.

He was the son of Agnes de Perci, suo jure Baroness Percy, the heiress of the Percy estates, and her husband Joscelin of Louvain, who was styled "brother of the queen" (referring to Adeliza of Louvain

Adeliza of Louvain

Adeliza of Louvain, sometimes known in England as Adelicia of Louvain, also called Adela and Aleidis; was queen consort of the Kingdom of England from 1121 to 1135, the second wife of Henry I...

, second wife of Henry I

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

). It is from this marriage descends the House of Percy

House of Percy

The House of Percy were the most powerful noble family in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages, having descended from William de Percy who crossed from Normandy to England with William I in early December 1067 and was rebuilding York Castle in 1070...

, following the assumption of the name Percy by Louvain.

Percy was one of the twenty five barons appointed to enforce the observance of Magna Carta

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...

. Along with his nephew William (c. 1183-1245), latterly the 6th Baron Percy, he was amongst the lords who rose in arms against King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 and his estates declared forfeit. Upon John's death Percy immediately his made peace with Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

, and had his lands restored to him.

Baron Percy died in 1244, and is buried at Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey

Whitby Abbey is a ruined Benedictine abbey overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the auspices of Henry VIII...

.

Sources

Brenan, Gerald. Lindsay, W.A.

William Lindsay (officer of arms)

William Alexander Lindsay, CVO, FSA was a long-serving officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Lindsay was the son of Hon. Colin Lindsay and Lady Frances Howard. On 7 May 1870, he married Lady Harriet Gordon, a daughter of the 5th Earl of Aberdeen and Mary Baillie...

edit.-A History of the House of Percy, IIVols. Freemantle, London 1902.

• Dictionary of National Biography
  Dictionary of National Biography
  The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...