Battle of Shrewsbury

Death of Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy, from a 1910 illustration by Richard Caton Woodville, Jr.

Date	21 July 1403
Location	Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England
Result	Decisive royalist victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of England

Rebel forces

Commanders and leaders

Henry IV of England
Henry, Prince of Wales (WIA)

Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy †

Strength

14,000

<14,000

Casualties and losses

3,000+

2,000+

The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King Henry IV and a rebel army led by Henry "Harry Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland. The battle, the first in which English archers fought each other on English soil, demonstrated "the deadliness of the longbow" and ended the Percy challenge to King Henry IV of England.

Part of the fighting is believed to have taken place at what is now Battlefield, Shropshire, England, three miles north of the centre of Shrewsbury. It is marked today by Battlefield Church and Battlefield Heritage Park.

The Percys had previously supported Henry IV in a war against King Richard II of England, which ended when Henry IV took the throne in 1399. The Percys subsequently supported Henry IV in Wales, early in the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr, and in Scotland, in both negotiations and conflict against the Scots.

King Henry IV had been supported by a number of wealthy landowners to whom he had promised land, money and royal favour in return for their continued support. When the war ended, lands in and around Cumberland promised to the Percys were instead given to a rival. The promised money never materialised, and so the Percys revolted. Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester publicly renounced their allegiance to King Henry IV. They charged him with perjury because he claimed the throne in addition to his old lands and titles, taxed the clergy despite his promise not to without the consent of Parliament, imprisoned and murdered King Richard II, did not allow a free Parliamentary election, and refused to pay a just ransom to Owain Glyndŵr, who was then holding Edmund Mortimer. The King also retained custody of the Scottish nobles captured at Homildon Hill as prisoners of war rather than permitting the Percys to release them for ransom.

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Wikipedia