Ralph Percy

Sir Ralph Percy (11 August 1425 – 25 April 1464) was a knight, a Governor of Bamburgh Castle and a supporter of the Lancastrian faction in the Wars of the Roses. Percy was the son of Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland and Lady Eleanor Neville, and the grandson of Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy.

Percy married, firstly, Eleanor Acton and they had six children:

1. Sir Ralph Percy[1]
2. Peter Percy
3. Sir Henry Percy
4. George Percy
5. John Percy
6. Margaret Percy

Sir Ralph married, secondly Jane Teye. They had a child, Catherine Percy.

During 1462 and 1463, the Lancastrians attempted to destabilise the kingdom, ruled by their Yorkist enemy, Edward IV. These attempts were concentrated in the north of England and directed by the Lancastrian Queen, Margaret of Anjou (Henry VI's wife).

The Earl of Warwick led campaigns to neutralise the Lancastrians in the north in the early 1460s. As a result, Sir Ralph Percy surrendered Bamburgh Castle to Edward IV, on Christmas Eve 1462 in return for a free pardon. Sir Ralph swore allegiance to Edward IV and, as part of Edward IV's policy of conciliation, Percy's lands were then returned to him. Sir Ralph took control of both Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh Castles, under his surrender agreement with Edward.

Fighting in the north continued, exacerbated by a Scottish invasion led by James III, Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI in 1463. When the Scots sued for peace, Lord Montague was sent to arrange terms. On 25 April 1464, Montague was on his way to Norham. The Duke of Somerset (who had surrendered and sworn allegiance with Percy) and Percy, forswearing their oaths, attacked Montague with 5,000 men. The site of that battle was Hedgeley Moor, seven miles south of Wooler. Percy led Somerset's vanguard and was killed.