Percy, Thomas, 1729-1811

Poet, translator, and antiquarian Thomas Percy is best remembered today for his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765), which inspired widespread interest in British folk literary forms such as ballads and verse tales as well as contributing to the late eighteenth century formation of a British literary canon.

Percy, Henry, Lord, 1364-1403

An English knight and rebel who fought in campaigns against Scots on the Anglo-Scottish border as well as the French in the Hundred Years' War, Henry Percy was nicknamed "Hotspur" by the Scots for his speed and attack readiness. Percy aided Henry IV in the usurpation of Richard II, but eventually, Percy led a series of uprisings against Henry IV. Percy is a major character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1.