In recent posts, we discussed the children of Edward III and the varying claims to kingship of Richard II and Henry IV. Today, we’re going to unravel a few more lines and see why Henry IV continues to need to defend his position. To do this, we’ll look at several key players in the Henriad: The Northumberland Percys and the Mortimers.

In Richard II, Northumberland and his son Henry Percy (Hotspur) both support Henry Bolingbroke’s return to England from exile, and they seem even supportive of his rise to power over Richard II. However, by the time the second play begins, their support is waning, and they begin to challenge and even rebel against his rule.

The Northumberland of these plays was made an Earl by Richard II. His family was a significantly powerful family with mild ties to the royal family (his grandfather had married Mary of Lancaster, who was the granddaughter of Henry III: remember him from the end of King John?). Also, confusingly, there are NINE GENERATIONS of the family all named Henry Percy, so they have to be identified by their titles and numbers.

Northumberland did have a younger brother named Thomas, who in this play is called Worcester. He is the most vocally rebellious against Henry IV at first, and his manipulation gets him and his nephew Hotspur killed.

Their rebellion is in part connected to Hotspur’s marriage to “Kate” Mortimer.

Who were the Mortimers?

Remember the children of Edward III?

Well, Lionel of Antwerp’s daughter Philippa married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, and they had four children:

Notice that Lionel is older than John of Gaunt, so his line is potentially stronger for the throne, and YET, one has to go through the female heir, something that was sometimes debated, but usually allowed in England. (See the arguments for Edward III’s claims or Henry V’s claims at the beginning of each of those plays.) Of the four grandchildren of Lionel, three are going to have a huge impact on the next several plays. Elizabeth (called Kate in Shakespeare) married Hotspur, connecting the Percy family with the Mortimer family and giving them a link to the throne. Roger was named heir by Richard II before Henry Bolingbroke took over, but Shakespeare seems to shift the claim onto Edmund in the play. Edmund Mortimer is the Mortimer in the play who was captured by the Welsh Owain Glyndŵr and married his daughter Catrin. The claim of the Mortimer line through Philippa and Lionel is what inspires the Percys to rebel against Henry IV.

Ultimately, all of these characters in rebellion will fail and be killed. However, the Mortimer line will continue and continue to inspire rebellion and civil war:

Roger Mortimer had two notable children (and some I’m ignoring), named Edmund and Anne. This younger Edmund had a conflicted relationship with the royal family: Henry IV imprisoned him for a while, but Henry V released and had a good relationship with him. In fact, during the Southampton Plot, when Scrope, Grey, and Cambridge tried to overthrow Henry V (as seen near the beginning of Henry V), Edmund was the one who revealed the treason.

Anne married Richard of Cambridge (the same rebellious Cambridge from the Southampton Plot) but died young. She did, however, have an heir, a son named Richard Plantagenet, who is going to become Duke of York and lead the House of York in the Wars of the Roses with a prominent role in the Henry VI plays. His claim all the way back through the Mortimer family, through Philippa, and through Lionel is going to lead to the massive conflict of the next Henriad.

Wow! Next time, I’ll have to get into unpacking John of Gaunt’s other children (The Beauforts) and Henry IV’s other children to examine these significant characters in the next few plays. I hope you’re enjoying this read-through as much as I am!