The title “hotspur”, or designation of extreme impetuosity, was first bestowed upon Sir Henry Percy, eldest son of the first Earl of Northumberland, born in 1364.
He was only a lad of fourteen when he saw active service, but it was not until six years later that gained the title “Hotspur”, a name by which he was known the rest of his life, in another of the continuing conflicts against the bordering Scots.
In later years, dissatisfied with the treatment he received from Henry IV, by whom he had previously been greatly honored, Hotspur took up arms against the king, but was killed in battle, July, 1403.
