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File:Percy arms.svg
Arms of Percy ancient: Azure, five fusils conjoined in fesse or<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.849</ref> These arms are still quartered by the Dukes of Northumberland, but were superseded c. 1300 by the adoption by Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy (d.1314) of the arms Or, a lion rampant azure, the source for which is variously given as the "Lion of Brabant",<ref>Burke's General Armory, 1884 & Landed Gentry</ref> the extinct arms of Redvers, Earls of Devon,<ref>Smith-Ellis, W., Antiquities of Heraldry, Vol. 1, pp.204-5, who suggests that a Roll of Arms c.1308-14 temp. Edward II lists the arms of Redvers as abatue or extinct and states in the same roll that they were borne by Sir Henry de Percy, whose father was heir of his 2nd brother Ingelram, who married Adeline, daughter and heiress of William de Fors by Isabel, daughter and heiress of Baldwin de Rivers, Earl of Devon. The Courtenays were also heirs of Isabel de Fors, and also quarter the Redvers lion</ref> or the Lion of Arundel combined with the tinctures of Warenne

The Percy family is an ancient English noble family. They were among the oldest and most powerful noble families in Northern England for much of the Middle Ages. The noble family is known for its long rivalry with the House of Neville, another family powerful in northern England during the 15th century. The feud between the two families, known as the Percy-Neville feud led to the Wars of the Roses, at the time known as the Civil Wars, in England.

The House of Percy descends from William de Percy (d. 1096), a Norman who crossed to England after William the Conqueror in early December 1067. William de Percy was created as the 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe in Yorkshire.<ref name="Sanders148">Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148</ref> He was rebuilding York Castle in 1070.

The Percy surname derives from the manor of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy, the home of the Percy family at the time of the Norman Conquest.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Family members have held the titles of Earl of Northumberland or Duke of Northumberland to this day, in addition to Baron Percy and others.

The Percy surname twice died out in the male line only to be re-adopted later by the husband or son of a Percy heiress. In the 12th century, the original Percy line was represented by Agnes de Percy, whose son by her husband Joscelin of Louvain adopted the surname. Again in the 18th century, the heiress Elizabeth Seymour married Sir Hugh Smithson, who adopted the surname Percy and was created Duke of Northumberland.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Earls of NorthumberlandEdit

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Dukes of NorthumberlandEdit

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Recurring namesEdit

Recurring names in the Percy genealogy include:

  • Henry (first borne by the 7th feudal baron of Topcliffe and his 10 immediate successors, including the 1st Earl and Harry Hotspur)
  • Hugh (first borne by the 1st Duke)
  • Joscelin/Josceline (first borne by Joscelin of Louvain)
  • Algernon (first borne by the 1st Baron as a nickname: Aux Gernons or "with moustaches").

Prominent membersEdit

Prominent members of the family include:

Family treeEdit

part of this is taken from the article on the Duke of Northumberland

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This summary genealogical tree shows how the current house of Percy is related:



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This shows the descent of the present Percy family from the current creation of the 1st Duke of Northumberland:

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Coats of armsEdit

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Paternal arms of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy (1273–1314): Azure, five fusils in fess or,<ref>Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.849, Duke of Northumberland</ref>("Percy ancient") which he abandoned in favour of right: Or, a lion rampant azure ("Percy modern"/Brabant)<ref>Howard de Walden, Lord, Some Feudal Lords and their Seals 1301, published 1904, p.43</ref> Both arms were quartered by the Percy Earls of Northumberland and remain quartered by the present Duke of Northumberland

Buildings associated with the Percy familyEdit

  • Topcliffe Castle, Yorkshire, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by William I de Percy (d.1096), whom it served as the caput of the feudal barony of Topcliffe. The Percy family's most ancient English seat.
  • Petworth, Sussex, acquired by Joscelin of Louvain (d.1180), husband of Agnes de Percy, one of the two daughters and co-heiresses of William II de Percy (d.1174–5), feudal baron of Topcliffe in Yorkshire (grandson of William I de Percy (d.1096)). Jocelin's younger son Richard "de Percy" (d.1244) adopted the surname "de Percy" and inherited his father's estate of Petworth and a moiety of his maternal barony of Topcliffe. Richard died without progeny when his estates descended to his nephew William III "de Percy" (1197-1245), grandson of Jocelin de Louvain, who had inherited the other moiety of Topcliffe from his great-aunt Maud de Percy.<ref>Sanders, I.J., English Baronies, Oxford, 1960, p.148, Topcliffe, Yorkshire</ref>
File:Blason Lucy de Cockermouth (selon Gelre).svg
Canting arms of Lucy of Cockermouth Castle: Gules, three lucies hauriant argent

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Following the death of his grandson Algernon Seymour, 7th Duke of Somerset in 1750, the former Percy estates were split between the Smithson ("Percy", Duke of Northumberland) and Wyndham (Earl of Egremont) families

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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