Henry IV, Part I

There was a division of loyalties best explained, perhaps, by the complicated lineage from which both Henry and Richard descended. The following family tree helps to clarify this point.

As the family tree indicates, Henry had, in fact, overthrown his cousin when he dethroned the king. According to rights of inheritance, the throne should then have passed to the secondeldest son in the family line, Edmund Mortimer. Because Edmund had died in 1381 and Roger, his eldest son, had died in 1385, Richard's rightful successor should have been Roger Mortimer's son Edmund. The boy was too young to rule or resist, however, so Henry claimed the title. By ignoring the established royal lineage, Henry knew that it could prove difficult for him to maintain his seat on the English throne for long. He would, in fact, reign from 1399-1419, when he died at age forty-six.

During the revolution and the early years of Henry's reign, the Percy family acted as his chief supporters. In the north, Harry Percy, known as "Hotspur," led the English military against Scottish revolters. Elsewhere, Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, assisted King Henry IV in matters of the court.

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