View source for Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland

{{Short description|English nobleman (1564–1632)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox noble|
| name                 = Henry Percy
| title = Earl of Northumberland
| image                = Henry Percy-9th Earl of Northumberland.jpg
| caption              = 
| spouse               =[[Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland|Lady Dorothy Devereux]]
| issue                =[[Dorothy Sidney, Countess of Leicester|Lady Dorothy Percy]]<br>[[Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Lucy Percy]]<br>[[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland]]<br>[[Henry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick|Henry Percy]]
| noble family          =[[House of Percy|Percy]]
| father               =[[Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland]]
| mother               =Katherine Neville
| birth_date        =27 April 1564
| birth_place = [[Tynemouth Castle]], [[Northumberland]], England
| death_place = [[Petworth House]], [[Sussex]], England
| death_date      ={{death date and age|1632|11|5|1564|4|27|df=y}}
|}}
[[File:Arms of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland.svg|thumb|243px|Quartered arms of Sir Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, KG]]
'''Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland''', [[Order of the Garter|KG]] (27 April 1564 &ndash; 5 November 1632) was an [[England|English]] nobleman. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of [[Elizabeth I]]. Under [[James I of England|James I]], Northumberland was a long-term prisoner in the [[Tower of London]], due to the suspicion that he was complicit in the Gunpowder Plot. He is known for the circles he moved in as well as for his own achievements. He acquired the sobriquet '''The Wizard Earl''' (also given to [[Gerald FitzGerald, 11th Earl of Kildare]]), from his scientific and [[alchemy|alchemical]] experiments, his passion for cartography, and his large library.

==Early life==
He was born at [[Tynemouth Castle and Priory|Tynemouth Castle]] in [[Northumberland]], England, the son of [[Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland]], whom he succeeded in 1585. His father died, an apparent [[suicide]], in the Tower of London, where he was being questioned about his allegedly [[treason]]able dealings with [[Mary Queen of Scots]]. His mother was Katherine Neville, daughter and co-heiress of [[John Neville, 4th Baron Latimer]] and [[Lucy Somerset]]. She remarried [[Francis Fitton]] of [[Binfield]].

He was brought up a Protestant, as his father had been, taking instruction from the vicar of [[Egremont, Cumbria|Egremont]]. This did not prevent suspicions in later life, particularly when he associated with [[Charles Paget (conspirator)|Charles Paget]], that he was a [[Crypto-Christianity|crypto-Catholic]].<ref name = "DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Percy, Henry (1564-1632)|volume=44|first=Sidney|last=Lee}}</ref> Around 1586, he first employed the artist [[Nicolas Hilliard]] paying 60 shillings for his portrait.<ref name="Batho1962">{{citation |editor-last=Batho |editor-first=G. R. |title=Household Papers of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland |publisher=Camden Society |date=1962}}</ref>{{rp|64–65}} In 1598 he bought a jewel called the "Rainbow" for £21 from [[John Spilman]].<ref>''HMC 6th Report (Northumberland)'' (London, 1877), p. 227.</ref> The earl had an African servant who was called the "Blackamore" in his accounts. The African servant was brought to the earl in 1586 by [[Robert Crosse (MP)|Mr Crosse's]] servant, who was rewarded with 20 shillings, and the earl bought new clothes for the African servant costing £6-12s-6d.<ref name="Batho1962"/>{{rp|74}} New shoes in 1588 cost 18 pence.<ref>[[Miranda Kaufmann|Kaufmann, Miranda]], ''Black Tudors'' (London, 2017), p. 100.</ref>

Although his earldom was in the north of England, Northumberland also had estates in the south at [[Petworth House]] in [[Sussex]] and also at [[Syon House]] in [[Middlesex]], acquired by his marriage to [[Dorothy Percy, Countess of Northumberland|Lady Dorothy Devereux]] (sister of [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex]]) in 1594.

They had four children:
*[[Dorothy Sidney, Countess of Leicester|Lady Dorothy Percy]] ({{circa|1598}} – 20 August 1659); married [[Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester]], by whom she had six children.
*[[Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Lucy Percy]] (1599/1600 – 5 November 1660); married as his second wife [[James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle]].
*[[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland]] (29 September 1602 – 13 October 1668); married firstly, Anne Cecil, by whom he had five daughters, including [[Elizabeth Percy, Countess of Essex]]; he married secondly, Lady Elizabeth Howard, by whom he had his heir, [[Joceline Percy, 11th Earl of Northumberland]].
*[[Henry Percy, Baron Percy of Alnwick]] (1604 – April 1659); died unmarried.

Though it did produce a male heir, [[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland|Algernon]], the marriage was not successful, and the couple separated after a time, despite efforts by the Queen, who was fond of Dorothy, to reconcile them.

==Catholic sympathiser==
The Percy family was still largely Catholic, while Northumberland was at least nominally Protestant. When it became clear that the Protestant [[James VI of Scotland]] was likely to succeed Elizabeth, Northumberland sent his cousin [[Thomas Percy (plotter)|Thomas Percy]], a recent Catholic convert, on a secret mission to James's court three times in 1602. He said that English Catholics would accept James as king if he reduced the persecution of Catholics. Northumberland employed Thomas Percy as a rent collector at Syon House. Thomas was the great-grandson of the [[Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland|4th Earl of Northumberland]], but was unscrupulous, with 34 charges of dishonesty brought against him. Henry wrote to James "It were a pity to lose a good Kingdom for not tolerating a mass in a corner". Through Thomas Percy, Henry received loosely worded assurances of [[religious tolerance]] from James.<ref name="Hogge2005">{{cite book|last=Hogge|first=Alice |title=God's Secret Agents: Queen Elizabeth's Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot|url=https://archive.org/details/godssecretagents00hogg|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-054227-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/godssecretagents00hogg/page/303 303]–305}}</ref><ref name="Brenan1902">{{cite book|first=Gerald |last=Brenan|editor-first= William Alexander |editor-last=Lindsay|title=A History of the House of Percy|date=1902|volume=II| page= [https://archive.org/details/historyofhouseof02bren/page/81 81]|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofhouseof02bren|location=London|publisher=Freemantle & Co.}}</ref>
[[File:Portret van een liggende edelman in een begroeide hof Portret van Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, RP-T-1981-2.jpg|thumb|left|Large [[portrait miniature]] by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], 1590–95.]]
Shortly before James's accession to the English throne in 1603, [[Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury]] through [[Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton|Lord Henry Howard]] particularly warned the king against [[Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham]], [[Sir Walter Raleigh]], and Northumberland.<ref name="Lee2003">{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Christopher |title=1603: A Turning Point in British History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klvFQgAACAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Review|isbn=978-0-7472-3408-1|page=101}}</ref> This theory of the "diabolical triplicity" rested on innuendo, about the occult interests supposedly cultivated by the intellectual circles led by Percy and Raleigh, and possibly on the traitorous intent suggested only by rumours from the 1580s that Percy would marry [[Arbella Stuart]], the next heir to the throne after the King and his offspring.<ref name="Lacey2000">{{cite book|last=Lacey|first=Robert |title=Sir Walter Ralegh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QiNbPwAACAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Phoenix Press|isbn=978-1-84212-089-7|page=274}}</ref><ref name="Gristwood2005">{{cite book|last=Gristwood|first=Sarah |title=Arbella: England's Lost Queen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ofqevhfVQJQC&pg=PA374|year=2005|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=0-618-34133-1|page=374}}</ref> Brooke led the [[Main Plot]] against James, and Raleigh soon lost his freedom. Northumberland, on the other hand, was appointed to the [[Privy Council]].

The Earl of Northumberland bought Walsingham House in London's [[Seething Lane]] for £2,200 in 1603.<ref>G. R. Batho, ''Household papers of Henry Percy ninth earl of Northumberland'' (London: Camden Society, 1962), p. xix.</ref> In 1604, the house was visited by the [[Jesuit]] [[Henry Garnet]] and the Spanish ambassador [[Juan de Tassis, 1st Count of Villamediana]].<ref>Henry Foley, ''Records of the English Province'', 4 (London, 1878), p. 156.</ref>

Thomas Percy went on to become one of the five conspirators in the [[Gunpowder Plot]] of 1605. The goal of this plot was to overthrow the Parliament under King James I. When the plot was discovered, Percy fled and was besieged at [[Holbeche House]] in Warwickshire. On 8 November 1605, a marksman shot dead both [[Robert Catesby]] and Thomas Percy with a single bullet.<ref name="Fraser1997">{{cite book|last=Fraser|first=Antonia |authorlink=Antonia Fraser|title=Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=98bZAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Doubleday|isbn=978-0-385-47190-9|page=186}}</ref>

The Earl of Northumberland was suspected of [[misprision]] (having knowledge of the plot but not notifying the authorities). However, the [[Star Chamber]] did not have sufficient evidence to convict him of misprision and was unable to disprove his claim that he planned to be present at the fatal meeting of Parliament. They had to resort to more minor charges including his appointment of Thomas Percy to the [[Gentlemen Pensioners]], of which Northumberland was captain, without the king's permission and without Percy taking the Oath of Supremacy.<ref name="Lomas1999" /><ref name="Nicholls2009">{{cite journal|last1=Nicholls|first1=Mark|title=The 'Wizard Earl' in Star Chamber: The Trial of the Earl of Northumberland, June 1606|journal=The Historical Journal|volume=30|issue=1|year=2009|pages=173–189|issn=0018-246X|doi=10.1017/S0018246X00021968|s2cid=159672324 }}</ref> Northumberland was sent to the [[Tower of London]] at the king's pleasure and remained there for almost 16 years. He was also fined [[Pound sterling|£]]30,000, {{Inflation|UK|30000|1606|r=-5|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}, but in 1613, the king accepted £11,000 in final payment.<ref name="Lomas1999">{{cite book|last=Lomas|first=Richard |title=A Power in the Land: The Percys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmpmAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Tuckwell Press|isbn=978-1-86232-067-3|pages=127–132}}</ref>

==In the Tower==
Still a rich man, Northumberland made himself comfortable in the Tower of London.  He had spacious apartments in the Martin Tower, which he redecorated and refurbished. He was attended by 20 servants, some of whom he lodged on Tower Hill. He spent £50 per year on books and grew a considerable library. He had his own covered bowling alley and access to facilities for tennis and fencing.<ref name="Lomas1999" /> He regularly met scholars whom he patronised, including [[Thomas Harriot]], [[Walter Warner]] and [[Robert Hues]], who were known as the "Earl of Northumberland's Magi".  Together with [[Sir Walter Raleigh]], who had preceded Northumberland to the Tower with a death sentence hanging over him, they discussed advanced scientific ideas and smoked [[tobacco]].<ref name="Lomas1999" /><ref name="Batho1957">{{cite journal|last1=Batho|first1=Gordon|title=The education of a Stuart Nobleman|journal=British Journal of Educational Studies|volume=5|issue=2|year=1957|pages=131–143|issn=0007-1005|doi=10.1080/00071005.1957.9972978}}</ref>

From 1616, [[Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset]] and [[Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset]] were inmates of the Tower and on social terms with Northumberland. Frances promoted the marriage of his second daughter [[Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle|Lucy Percy]] to [[James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle]]. He disapproved of the proposed marriage saying that he would not see his daughter, "dance to a Scotch jig." For a period, he forced Lucy to reside with him in the Tower but Frances outwitted him. Despite Northumberland's extreme disapproval of the marriage, Hay was determined to win his father-in-law's respect and fought for Northumberland's release from the Tower, which was achieved in July 1621.<ref name="Somerset1997">{{cite book|last=Somerset|first=Anne |title=Unnatural Murder: Poison at the Court of James I|url=https://archive.org/details/unnaturalmurderp0000some_v5r9|url-access=registration|year=1997|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|isbn=978-0-297-81310-1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unnaturalmurderp0000some_v5r9/page/429 429], 433}}</ref><ref name="Lomas1999" />

After his release, experiencing deafness and poor eyesight,<ref name="Lomas1999" /> he went to the Bath Inn, later referred to as the [[Arundel House]], to regain his health. Once recovered Northumberland retired to [[Petworth House]] where he remained until his death on 5 November 1632.

His wife died in 1619.

==Intellectual interests and associates==
[[File:Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland (3773672044).jpg|thumbnail|right|Peele wrote a poem ''The Honour of the Garter'', dedicated to Northumberland and for the occasion of his admission to the Order of the Garter, on 26 June 1593.]]
Because of his interest in scientific experiments and his library, Northumberland acquired the nickname "The Wizard Earl". The library was one of the largest in England at the time. He was a patron to [[Thomas Harriot]], [[Nicholas Hill (scientist)|Nicholas Hill]], [[Robert Hues]], [[Nathaniel Torporley]] and [[Walter Warner]].<ref name="Pyle2000">{{cite book|editor-last=Pyle|editor-first=Andrew |editor-link=Andrew Pyle (philosopher)|title=The dictionary of seventeenth-century British philosophers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzWkxAEACAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Thoemmes|pages= 646–648|chapter= Percy, Henry, 9th Earl of Northumberland}}</ref> The astrologer [[John Dee (mathematician)|John Dee]], nearby Syon House at [[Mortlake]], was also a friend of Henry, and their circles overlapped.<ref name="French2013">{{cite book|last=French|first=Peter J. |title=John Dee: The World of the Elizabethan Magus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mcJYAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|date= 2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-134-57234-2|pages=62, 171–172}}</ref> 

Harriot had been a navigational tutor to Raleigh and his captains. From 1598 (or possibly from 1607) Harriot lived at Syon House. There he used a telescope to make a map of the Moon several months before [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]] did the same. He may have been the first person to observe [[sunspot]]s.

Northumberland had also connections to the ''literati''. [[George Peele]] wrote a poem, ''The Honour of the Garter'', dedicated to Percy and for the occasion of his admission to the [[Order of the Garter]], on 26 June 1593. For his efforts Peele was paid £3.<ref name="MacLure1995">{{cite book|last=MacLure|first=Millar |title=Christopher Marlowe: The Critical Heritage|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f0OPSl1KZIIC&pg=PA39|year=1995|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-13416-3|page=39}}</ref><ref name="Cheney2004">{{cite book|editor-last=Cheney|editor-first=Patrick Gerard |title=The Cambridge Companion to Christopher Marlowe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hnFyPSdfqQgC&pg=PA282|year=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-52734-7|page=282}}</ref> [[Christopher Marlowe]] claimed his acquaintance and certainly moved in the same group.<ref name="Honan2007">{{cite book|last=Honan|first=Park |title=Christopher Marlowe: Poet & Spy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4qsHGzJ9Ku8C|year=2007|publisher=OUP |location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-162279-3|pages=235–241, 280}}</ref> Percy was a friend to [[John Donne]]. After Donne's elopement and clandestine marriage in 1601, he had the task of taking a letter for him to the new father-in-law, Sir George More.<ref name="Edwards2002">{{cite book|last=Edwards|first=David |title=John Donne: Man of Flesh and Spirit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ngNam12qljkC&pg=PA255|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-0-567-65373-4|page=255}}</ref>

In [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Love's Labour's Lost]]'' (1594), there is a mention of the "School of Night". It has been argued that this refers to a circle of scientific investigators who met at Syon House, though other commentators think the word "school" is a misprint for something like "shawl". Since Percy was often considered to be an atheist, the "school" was sometimes referred to as the "School of Atheism". Raleigh was the supposed leader and Thomas Harriot and Marlowe were supposedly members. [[Frances Yates]] comments on this hypothetical group, supposedly including also [[George Chapman]] as the author of ''Shadow of Night'', as arguably part of Ralegh's circle, to the effect that they would be "Saturnians" in the sense of her study.<ref name="Yates2003">{{cite book|last=Yates|first=Frances |authorlink=Frances Yates|title=The Occult Philosophy in the Elizabethan Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NtOAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA169|year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-52440-2|page=169}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hon}}
{{succession box | title=[[Captain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms|Captain of the Gentlemen Pensioners]] | before=[[George Carey, 2nd Baron Hunsdon|The Lord Hunsdon]] | after=[[Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk|The Earl of Suffolk]] | years=1603&ndash;1615}}
{{s-reg|en}}
{{s-bef | rows=2 | before=[[Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland|Henry Percy]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Earl of Northumberland]] | years=1585&ndash;1632}}
{{s-aft | rows=2 | after=[[Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland|Algernon Percy]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Baron Percy]]<br /><small>(descended by [[writ in acceleration|acceleration]])</small> | years=1585&ndash;1626}}
{{s-end}}
{{Gunpowder Plot}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northumberland, Henry Percy, 9th Earl of}}
[[Category:1564 births]]
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[[Category:Percy family|Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland]]
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