The Hollow Crown: Henry IV, Part I characters
Synopsis
The heir to the throne, PRINCE HAL, defies his father, KING HENRY, by spending his time at MISTRESS QUICKLY’s tavern in the company of the dissolute FALSTAFF and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by HAL’s rival, HOTSPUR, his father NORTHUMBERLAND and his uncle WORCESTER. In the face of this danger to the state, PRINCE HAL joins his father to defeat the rebels at the BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY and kill HOTSPUR in single combat. —PBS
Historical Background
- Glyndŵr Rising in Wales (1400–1415), led by Owain Glyndŵr.
- Percy Rebellion (1402–1408): three attempts by the Percy family and their allies to overthrow Henry:
- Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). King Henry IV defeated a rebel army led by Henry “Hotspur” Percy, who had allied with the Welsh rebel Owain Glyndŵr. Percy was killed in the battle by an arrow in his face. Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, Sir Richard Venables, and Sir Richard Vernon were publicly hanged, drawn, and quartered in Shrewsbury on 23 July and their heads displayed. Hotspur’s father, the Earl of Northumberland fled to Scotland.
- Northern Rising (1405).
- Battle of Bramham Moor (1408).
