efense of Mortimer's motives in a confrontation with Henry are tantamount to a coup against Henry, whose legitimate hold on the English throne is tenuous; Richard had named Mortimer his successor, but Henry had forced his own claim. Henry's response is a public assertion of kingly dignity, warning the Percys not to "tread upon my patience: but be sure / I will from henceforth rather be myself, / Mighty to be fear'd than my condition . . . maj esty might never yet endure / The moody frontier of a servant brow" (IHIV I.iii). The Percys and Mortimer, who now regret having helped what Hotspur calls "this proud king" to the throne, join Wales and Scotland in rebellion. The rebellion of Wales (Mortimer plus Glendower) and the Percys persists into 2HIV, though 1HIV closes with the second defeat of the Scots and though Northumberland's withdrawal from the rebels is matched by the addition of the Archbishop of York to the rebel cause. The Archbishop joins because "the commonwealth is sick of their own choice" (2HIV I.iii), i.e., of Henry, who has greater "power and puissance" than Richard II did.
Misgivings that Henry IV has about his claim to and hold on the throne, even in the midst of bold assertion of his royal prerogative and legitimacy, affect portrayal of the rebels in 1HIV and 2HIV. In 1HIV, the source of sympathetic portrayal of Hotspur is Henry's respect for the credit Hotspur does the Percys against the Scots, "Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him, / See riot and dishonour stain the brow / of my young Harry [Prince Hal]" (I.i). To be sure, Hotspur's heedlessness is his ultimate doom, but even as he fights Hotspur to the death (2HIV V.iv), Hal admits the "glory" of Hotspur's reputa tion and his bravery in facing death. The portrayal of Hot spur's father is less sympathetic. In 1HIV, Northumberland's refusal to tell Hotspur of Henry's peace offering results in Hotspur's defeat at Shrewsbury and death at Hal's hand. In 2HIV (I.i)...