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On August 19, 1399, King Richard II of England surrendered to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. An excerpt from the article:
"Henry Bolingbroke spent most of his exile in Paris. When he learned that Richard had stripped his inheritance, he was spending time with friends in the city. Opposition against Richard had been steadily growing during the last years of his reign, but after John of Gaunt’s death, the King went too far. In Gordon Corrigan’s work, A Great and Glorious Adventure: A Military History of the Hundred Years War, we learn that after Gaunt had died, Richard “extended Henry Bolingbroke’s banishment from ten years to life and confiscated the duchy of Lancaster” (191). This tyrannical action was the final straw for the nobles. If Richard could do this to the duchy of Lancaster, then whose lands would he steal next?
Then, oblivious to the unrest that he had caused within the country, Richard set off for Ireland on a peace mission. Bolingbroke saw his chance. With the help of friends he made during his exile in Paris, Bolingbroke set sail sometime in June 1399 and landed somewhere in the Humber estuary at the end of the month.
As Bolingbroke moved through the countryside, knights and nobles declared their support for his cause and joined him with their forces. Corrigan notes that at this point it seems that Henry is only interested in regaining his Lancastrian heritage (191). He has no intention of deposing Richard. Henry was assured the support of the north when he allied with the earl of Northumberland and his son Harry Percy. In addition, with the defection of the Duke of York, Henry was able to take the Ricardian stronghold at Chester without a fight.
In Ireland, Richard was wasting time. He did not believe that he should take the rebellion seriously. We learn from Holinshed that instead of leaving for England immediately, Richard decided to wait in Dublin for a ship for an additional six weeks before he set sail (499). By the time Richard had landed in Wales, it was clear to his men that he would not win this fight and they b`egan abandoning him. Eventually, Richard decided to give himself up and was taken to London and lodged in the Tower.
On September 29, 1399, Richard’s reign came to an end when he was chided into relinquishing the crown to Henry. Henry was crowned as the fourth King Henry in England’s history on October 13. Richard was dispatched to the Lancastrian stronghold at Pontefract.
Later that year Henry discovered a conspiracy to restore Richard to the throne. In A Great and Glorious Adventure, Corrigan tells us that the three main offenders, Salisbury, Despenser and Huntingdon, were all captured and executed, but it was obvious that as long as Richard lived he was bound to be the focus of those who opposed the new regime (190).
According to Corrigan, only one chronicle actually suggests that Richard was murdered. It claims he was hacked to pieces (192). Other accounts claim that his jailers starved him, that he deliberately starved himself, or that he died of grief. However, as his corpse was moved from Pontefract to London, various stops were made to allow the public to view the body. It is because we know this happened that Corrigan suggests we can disregard the hacked-into-pieces theory (193). In addition, it would have taken a long time for Richard to starve, time Henry and his supporters did not have. So, Corrigan postulates that Richard was killed by suffocation, the usual way a high-born person would be murdered (193). Finally, we can speculate that because Richard’s death would be in Henry’s best interest, he may have been the one to order it."
"Henry Bolingbroke spent most of his exile in Paris. When he learned that Richard had stripped his inheritance, he was spending time with friends in the city. Opposition against Richard had been steadily growing during the last years of his reign, but after John of Gaunt’s death, the King went too far. In Gordon Corrigan’s work, A Great and Glorious Adventure: A Military History of the Hundred Years War, we learn that after Gaunt had died, Richard “extended Henry Bolingbroke’s banishment from ten years to life and confiscated the duchy of Lancaster” (191). This tyrannical action was the final straw for the nobles. If Richard could do this to the duchy of Lancaster, then whose lands would he steal next?
Then, oblivious to the unrest that he had caused within the country, Richard set off for Ireland on a peace mission. Bolingbroke saw his chance. With the help of friends he made during his exile in Paris, Bolingbroke set sail sometime in June 1399 and landed somewhere in the Humber estuary at the end of the month.
As Bolingbroke moved through the countryside, knights and nobles declared their support for his cause and joined him with their forces. Corrigan notes that at this point it seems that Henry is only interested in regaining his Lancastrian heritage (191). He has no intention of deposing Richard. Henry was assured the support of the north when he allied with the earl of Northumberland and his son Harry Percy. In addition, with the defection of the Duke of York, Henry was able to take the Ricardian stronghold at Chester without a fight.
In Ireland, Richard was wasting time. He did not believe that he should take the rebellion seriously. We learn from Holinshed that instead of leaving for England immediately, Richard decided to wait in Dublin for a ship for an additional six weeks before he set sail (499). By the time Richard had landed in Wales, it was clear to his men that he would not win this fight and they b`egan abandoning him. Eventually, Richard decided to give himself up and was taken to London and lodged in the Tower.
On September 29, 1399, Richard’s reign came to an end when he was chided into relinquishing the crown to Henry. Henry was crowned as the fourth King Henry in England’s history on October 13. Richard was dispatched to the Lancastrian stronghold at Pontefract.
Later that year Henry discovered a conspiracy to restore Richard to the throne. In A Great and Glorious Adventure, Corrigan tells us that the three main offenders, Salisbury, Despenser and Huntingdon, were all captured and executed, but it was obvious that as long as Richard lived he was bound to be the focus of those who opposed the new regime (190).
According to Corrigan, only one chronicle actually suggests that Richard was murdered. It claims he was hacked to pieces (192). Other accounts claim that his jailers starved him, that he deliberately starved himself, or that he died of grief. However, as his corpse was moved from Pontefract to London, various stops were made to allow the public to view the body. It is because we know this happened that Corrigan suggests we can disregard the hacked-into-pieces theory (193). In addition, it would have taken a long time for Richard to starve, time Henry and his supporters did not have. So, Corrigan postulates that Richard was killed by suffocation, the usual way a high-born person would be murdered (193). Finally, we can speculate that because Richard’s death would be in Henry’s best interest, he may have been the one to order it."
Henry Bolingbroke and the Revolution of 1399
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Blake Ritson | Henry Bolingbroke | Richard II - And All Our Dreams Will End in Death | BBC Radio...
"by Mike Walker. Inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. Richard II, having proved his mettle in quelling the Peasants' Revolt, disappoints his courtiers as he p...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware August 19, 1399 King Richard II of England surrendered to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke.
Images:
1. Great seal of Richard II after F. Sandford, A Geneological History of Kings and Queens of England (London, 1707).
2. A late 16th-century portrait of John of Gaunt (3d son of King Edward III) who was Richard II's uncle and designated regent overseeing the Kingdom until Richard came of age.
3. The mythical coat of arms and white hart symbol of Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399 CE). From the back of the Wilton diptych, a painted panel created c. 1395-99 CE. (National Gallery, London)
4. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
Henry Bolingbroke | Richard II - And All Our Dreams Will End in Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79ftvPu260
Background from {[ https://www.historyhit.com/why-did-richard-ii-abdicate-the-english-throne/])
How Richard II Lost the English Throne
On 21 June 1377 Edward III died. In his 50-year reign he had transformed medieval England into one of the most formidable military powers of Europe, with major victories in the early part of the Hundred Years’ War leading to the favourable treaty of Brittany. His reign had also seen the establishment of the House of Commons in the English Parliament.
However, Edward III’s death came after that of his son – Edward the Black Prince – who had died in June 1376. The Black Prince’s eldest son had died at the age of five from the Bubonic Plague, and so his younger son Richard was crowned King of England. Richard II was just 10 years old at the time of his coronation.
Regency and crisis
Richard’s reign was first overseen by his uncle, John of Gaunt – the third son of Edward III. But by the 1380s England was falling into civil strife, reeling from the effects of the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War.
The first political crisis came in the form of the Peasants Revolt in 1381, with rebellions from Essex and Kent marching on London. While Richard, who was aged just 14 at the time, did well to suppress the rebellion, it is likely that the challenge to his divine authority as King made him more autocratic later in his reign – something that would lead to his downfall.
Richard also became an ostentatious young king, growing the size of the royal court and focusing on art and culture rather than military matters. He also had a habit of offending many nobles with his choice of close associates, particularly that Robert De Vere, who he made Duke of Ireland in 1486.
Taking matters into their own hands
In 1387, a group of nobles known as the Lords Appellant aimed to purge the King’s Court of his favourites. They defeated de Vere in a battle at Radcot Bridge that December, then occupied London. They then undertook the ‘Merciless Parliament’, in which many of Richard II’s court were convicted of treason and sentenced to death.
By Spring 1389, the Appellant’s power had begun to wane, and Richard formally resumed responsibility for government in May. John of Gaunt also returned from his campaigns in Spain the following November, which brought stability.
Through the 1390s, Richard began to strengthen his hand through a truce with France and a sharp fall in taxation. He also led a substantial force into Ireland in 1394-95, and the Irish Lords submitted to his authority.
But Richard also suffered a major personal setback in 1394 when his beloved wife Anne died of Bubonic Plague, sending him into a period of prolonged mourning. His character also became increasingly erratic, with higher spending on his court and a strange habit of sitting on his throne after dinner, staring at people rather than talking to them.
Downfall
It appears that Richard II never had closure on the challenge to his royal prerogative set by the Lords Appellant, and in July 1397 he decided to take revenge through execution, exile and harsh imprisonment of the main players.
Richard’s key action in his demise was exiling John of Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke, to France for ten years for his part in the Lords Appellant rebellion. Just six months into this exile, John of Gaunt died.
Richard could have pardoned Bolingbroke and allowed him to attend his father’s funeral. Instead, he cut off Bolingbroke’s inheritance and exiled him for life.
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Images:
1. Great seal of Richard II after F. Sandford, A Geneological History of Kings and Queens of England (London, 1707).
2. A late 16th-century portrait of John of Gaunt (3d son of King Edward III) who was Richard II's uncle and designated regent overseeing the Kingdom until Richard came of age.
3. The mythical coat of arms and white hart symbol of Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399 CE). From the back of the Wilton diptych, a painted panel created c. 1395-99 CE. (National Gallery, London)
4. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
Henry Bolingbroke | Richard II - And All Our Dreams Will End in Death
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79ftvPu260
Background from {[ https://www.historyhit.com/why-did-richard-ii-abdicate-the-english-throne/])
How Richard II Lost the English Throne
On 21 June 1377 Edward III died. In his 50-year reign he had transformed medieval England into one of the most formidable military powers of Europe, with major victories in the early part of the Hundred Years’ War leading to the favourable treaty of Brittany. His reign had also seen the establishment of the House of Commons in the English Parliament.
However, Edward III’s death came after that of his son – Edward the Black Prince – who had died in June 1376. The Black Prince’s eldest son had died at the age of five from the Bubonic Plague, and so his younger son Richard was crowned King of England. Richard II was just 10 years old at the time of his coronation.
Regency and crisis
Richard’s reign was first overseen by his uncle, John of Gaunt – the third son of Edward III. But by the 1380s England was falling into civil strife, reeling from the effects of the Black Death and the Hundred Years’ War.
The first political crisis came in the form of the Peasants Revolt in 1381, with rebellions from Essex and Kent marching on London. While Richard, who was aged just 14 at the time, did well to suppress the rebellion, it is likely that the challenge to his divine authority as King made him more autocratic later in his reign – something that would lead to his downfall.
Richard also became an ostentatious young king, growing the size of the royal court and focusing on art and culture rather than military matters. He also had a habit of offending many nobles with his choice of close associates, particularly that Robert De Vere, who he made Duke of Ireland in 1486.
Taking matters into their own hands
In 1387, a group of nobles known as the Lords Appellant aimed to purge the King’s Court of his favourites. They defeated de Vere in a battle at Radcot Bridge that December, then occupied London. They then undertook the ‘Merciless Parliament’, in which many of Richard II’s court were convicted of treason and sentenced to death.
By Spring 1389, the Appellant’s power had begun to wane, and Richard formally resumed responsibility for government in May. John of Gaunt also returned from his campaigns in Spain the following November, which brought stability.
Through the 1390s, Richard began to strengthen his hand through a truce with France and a sharp fall in taxation. He also led a substantial force into Ireland in 1394-95, and the Irish Lords submitted to his authority.
But Richard also suffered a major personal setback in 1394 when his beloved wife Anne died of Bubonic Plague, sending him into a period of prolonged mourning. His character also became increasingly erratic, with higher spending on his court and a strange habit of sitting on his throne after dinner, staring at people rather than talking to them.
Downfall
It appears that Richard II never had closure on the challenge to his royal prerogative set by the Lords Appellant, and in July 1397 he decided to take revenge through execution, exile and harsh imprisonment of the main players.
Richard’s key action in his demise was exiling John of Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke, to France for ten years for his part in the Lords Appellant rebellion. Just six months into this exile, John of Gaunt died.
Richard could have pardoned Bolingbroke and allowed him to attend his father’s funeral. Instead, he cut off Bolingbroke’s inheritance and exiled him for life.
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick SGT Denny Espinosa LTC (Join to see)Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Michael Terrell SFC Chuck Martinez CSM Charles HaydenMSgt James Clark-Rosa SMSgt Tom Burns 1SG Dan Capri MGySgt (Join to see) SFC Ralph E Kelley
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LTC Stephen F.
The Tyrannical Boy King | Richard II | Real Royalty
Episode four tells the story of the boy king tyrant, Richard II, one of the most vicious and inventive despots in history.From Elizabeth II to Cleopatra, Rea...
Episode four tells the story of the boy king tyrant, Richard II, one of the most vicious and inventive despots in history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kxxdIgfSk
Images;
1. The Entry of Richard II & Henry Bolingbroke into London
2. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
3. The Peasants Revolt from a contemporary manuscript.
4. Tomb of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey
Background from {[https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/richard-ii-0015193]}
Richard II of England
Richard II of England reigned as king from 1377 to 1399 CE. The son of the late Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376 CE), Richard would succeed his grandfather Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE), but as he was only 10 years of age, he initially had to co-rule with his most powerful barons. The Peasants' Revolt of June 1381 CE was successfully put down but a failed campaign in Scotland, misguided favouritism at court, and the ambition of certain rival nobles all conspired to limit the power of a king who had, unwisely, considered himself divinely chosen to rule any way he wished. In August 1399 CE Richard was imprisoned, and the following February he was murdered and succeeded by his cousin and rival Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV of England (r. 1399-1413 CE)
Family & Succession
Edward of Woodstock, better known as the Black Prince after his distinctive armour or martial reputation, was the eldest son of Edward III of England. Made the Prince of Wales in 1343 CE and one of the greatest of all medieval knights, Edward would not, however, become king. The Black Prince died, probably of dysentery, on 8 June 1376 CE and so Parliament selected as the official heir to Edward III the prince’s surviving son Richard of Bordeaux (b. 6 January 1367 CE). The young king-to-be’s mother was Joan, the countess of Kent (1328-1385 CE), and he had had one brother, Edward, who had died in 1371 CE. Richard was favoured over another of Edward III’s sons, John of Gaunt (1340-1399 CE), the Duke of Lancaster, largely because the latter had supported a number of officials and nobles identified by Parliament as guilty of corruption and misrule. As planned then, when Edward III died on 21 June 1377 CE, Richard became king.
THE SO-CALLED PEASANTS' REVOLT OF JUNE 1381 CE WAS THE MOST INFAMOUS POPULAR UPRISING OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
Richard was crowned on 16 July 1377 CE at Westminster Abbey, but he was a mere 10 years old and so his troubled kingdom was governed by a revolving council of nobles. The Hundred Years’ War between England and France (1337-1453 CE) had started remarkably well for England with great victories at Crécy (1346 CE) and Poitiers (1356 CE) but by 1375 CE Charles V of France, aka Charles the Wise (r. 1364-1380 CE), had ensured that the only lands left in France belonging to the English Crown were Calais and a thin slice of Gascony. The war with France and its ally Scotland had also taken a heavy financial toll on the kingdom with an incessant round of taxes inflicted on the people, a situation only worsened by the arrival of the Black Death in 1348 CE which brought death and economic ruin. The failure to take the military initiative against France, high taxes and lasting economic disruption would all come back to haunt Richard later in his reign.
Peasants' Revolt
The so-called Peasants' Revolt of June 1381 CE was the most infamous popular uprising of the Middle Ages. The trouble started when a group of yeomen from Kent and Essex, fed up with the problem caused by the Black Death plague and, above all, the never-ending taxes which, since 1377 CE, included poll taxes of three groats (one shilling) aimed at everyone irrespective of resources, marched to protest in London. The group, numbering several thousand, caused havoc on the way as they looted, pillaged, and murdered. When the mob got to London, they burnt down the Savoy palace of the Duke of Lancaster and murdered anyone they pleased - the Chancellor, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury would be one victim, decapitated on Tower Hill. The mob's demands for change included the abolition of serfdom, a repeal of the laws limiting wage increases brought in after the Black Death, more peasant participation on local government, and the redistribution of the Church’s riches (the latter being an idea championed by the theologian John Wycliffe, c. 1325-1384 CE). Although only 14, King Richard bravely met the protestors at Smithfield outside London on 15 June and persuaded them to stand down. This was quite a feat considering William Walworth, the Mayor of London stepped forward and killed Wat Tyler, one of the rebel leaders, amongst the confusion, perhaps thinking Tyler was about to do the king harm. Richard had, nevertheless, stepped forward and boldly declared:
Sirs, would you kill your king? I am your rightful captain, and I will be your leader. Let all those who love me, follow me.
(Quoted in Jones, N., 75)
Richard then employed the much-used tactic of making a load of extravagant promises he had no intention of keeping, but it was enough to stave off more rioting and the mob disbanded. Utterly ruthless, Richard ensured that around 150 of the rebels were hanged. There were other minor outbreaks of rebellion thereafter, but these were mercilessly quashed and their ringleaders executed as traitors.
The Merciless Parliament
Richard II may have won accolades for his success in putting down the Peasants' Revolt but any hopes that England had found itself a fine king, true and just, were soon dashed. The young monarch was wilful and hot-tempered, and he turned out to be rather too confident in his divine right to rule, making him intolerant of any views that conflicted with his own. Ignoring his barons, Parliament and commoners alike, Richard largely preferred to spend his time with favourites like Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford and his circle of sycophants.
THE ‘MERCILESS PARLIAMENT’ OF 1388 CE ESSENTIALLY INSTALLED THE LORDS APPELLANTS AS THE RULERS OF ENGLAND.
Medieval kings were often expected to perform great deeds on the battlefield but Richard’s single campaign in Scotland in 1385 CE was a damp squib with no contact being made with the enemy. In 1388 CE, one of the great medieval knights, Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy (1364-1403 CE) led an army against the Scots but was soundly defeated at the Battle of Otterburn. Sir Henry even suffered the ignominy of capture and being set up for ransom, which Parliament and King Richard did meet.
Richard had a much bigger crisis to deal with at home when, in 1386 CE, he made the hugely unpopular de Vere the Duke of Ireland and it looked like France was preparing to invade England. In December 1387 CE the dissatisfied barons made their move by defeating de Vere and his supporters at the Battle of Radcot Bridge near Oxford. Led by such high figures as Thomas Woodstock, the Duke of Gloucester (the king’s uncle) and Henry Bolingbroke (b. c. 1366 CE, the king’s cousin and son of John of Gaunt), a group of five barons next formed a council known as the Lords Appellants to better manage the king, still then considered a minor. This council called a Parliament in 1388 CE, which became known as the ‘Merciless Parliament’ and which essentially installed the Lords Appellants as the rulers of England who insisted Richard retake his coronation oath and who purged the royal court of anyone they considered undesirable.
Patron of the Arts
Richard, who reached maturity in 1389 CE, wisely opted for a low political profile and retreated into the arts by appointing his own circle of similarly-minded friends at court. The king may have resisted the temptation to persecute those who had earlier been against him but one thing which he could not desist from was his continuing love of pomp and ceremony. Glorifying his own image, it seemed Richard was in love with himself as king and now even insisted he be addressed as ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’ rather than the traditional ‘My lord’. Perhaps significantly, Richard was the first English king to have his portrait painted while still alive; the artist chosen for this honour may have been Andre Beauneveu of Valenciennes (1335-1400 CE). The finished painting was hung in Westminster Abbey and shows the king in full regalia.
Richard’s tournament device was a white hart or stag which became an emblem for his supporters to wear as a mark of identification and as part of his servants’ livery. Richard revamped Westminster Palace in 1393 CE at vast expense, making the interior much more colourful. Westminster Hall received a new roof, statues of various kings were added, and Richard's white harts appeared at the bases of the windows. Meanwhile, the Tower of London was refurbished, too, and expensive stained glass added. The king also supported medieval literature, especially the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400 CE) who was made Clerk of the King’s Works in 1389 CE, a position which saw him in charge of royal properties.
Ireland & France
In 1394 CE Richard led an army to Ireland, a very rare deed for an English king, but the campaign was inconclusive. 80 Irish chiefs did pay homage to the king, and English claims to lands there were recognised. Relations improved with France on 12 March 1396 CE, though, when the king married Isabella of France, the daughter of Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422 CE). Isabella was only seven, but it was a union which cemented a three-decade truce between the two countries. Richard had been previously married to Anne of Bohemia, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (r. 1346-1378 CE) from 1382 CE, but she died in June 1394 CE, probably of plague. Neither of these marriages produced any children, something which would be exploited by Richard's enemies. The arrangement with Charles VI did not include Richard giving up his claim to the French throne (a claim which began with Edward III) and so the Hundred Years' War was, for now, merely put on pause.
The Return of Bolingbroke
In 1397 CE, perhaps feeling more secure on his throne and giving vent to the taste for vengeance so many medieval monarchs enjoyed, Richard, at last, began to plot against those who had betrayed him ten years before. The king had the Lords Appellants, including Bolingbroke, arrested and either exiled or executed; their estates becoming useful gifts for others at court or the Crown itself. Many barons now realised the king was tyrannical and that nobody was safe from his whims.
In 1399 CE, Richard then made his fatal mistake. The king had a hankering to continue his unfinished business in Ireland but while there, Bolingbroke, seen by some as the legitimate heir to Edward III now that his father John of Gaunt was dead (3 February 1399 CE), returned from his exile in France. In June-July 1399 CE Bolingbroke only had a small invading army, perhaps 300 fighting men, which landed at Spurn Head in Yorkshire. Fortunately for Bolingbroke, the English barons, who included such figures as Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy, were only too pleased to switch their allegiance to the usurper, and the rebel army swelled as it moved south, and the king's support evaporated.
Richard returned from Ireland but wisely went into hiding in Conwy Castle in Wales. The king was then tricked into giving himself up on 20 August and was imprisoned in the Tower of London, the first English monarch to be confined there. On 29 September 1399 CE, Bolingbroke next forced Richard to sign a formal document of abdication, another dubious first in English history. The wording of this document was as follows:
I Richard by the grace of God king of England and of France and lord of Ireland…resign all my kingly majesty, dignity and crown…And with deed and word I leave off and resign them and go from them for evermore, for I know, acknowledge and deem myself to be, and have been, insufficient, unable and unprofitable, and for my deserts not unworthily to be put down.
(quoted in Jones, N., 80-81)
William Shakespeare (1564-1616 CE) in his play Richard II has the king utter the rather more realistic sentiments regarding his demise:
My God! A wonderful land is this, and a fickle; which hath exiled, slain, destroyed or ruined so many kings, rulers, and great men, and is ever tainted and toileth with strife, and variance and envy.
(ibid, 81)
Death & Successor
On 30 September Parliament officially nominated Henry Bolingbroke as Richard’s successor. Richard was moved to his final place of confinement, Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, in September 1399 CE, and there he died on 14 February 1400 CE. A failed uprising by Richard’s supporters only sealed the ex-king’s fate; he could not be allowed to live. Richard perhaps died of starvation or he was perhaps poisoned or he was even hacked to death by a squad of assassins, such are the varying theories on the king’s quick demise. Richard was just 33 years of age, and his body was put on public display in the Tower of London in case any would-be rebels thought he might still be alive and ready to launch a coup. Eventually, Richard was interred in Westminster Abbey where his effigy can still be seen.
Meanwhile, Henry Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV of England in Westminster Abbey on 13 October 1399 CE and he would reign until 1413 CE, although his time as king was beset with rebellions in both England and Wales. Henry was succeeded and outshone by his son Henry V of England (1413-1422 CE) who became one of the great fighting monarchs of European history but the ousting of the legitimate King Richard would come to haunt the Lancaster descendants as the two houses of Lancaster and York battled for the throne in what became known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE).
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kxxdIgfSk
Images;
1. The Entry of Richard II & Henry Bolingbroke into London
2. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
3. The Peasants Revolt from a contemporary manuscript.
4. Tomb of King Richard II of England and Anne of Bohemia in Westminster Abbey
Background from {[https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/richard-ii-0015193]}
Richard II of England
Richard II of England reigned as king from 1377 to 1399 CE. The son of the late Edward the Black Prince (1330-1376 CE), Richard would succeed his grandfather Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE), but as he was only 10 years of age, he initially had to co-rule with his most powerful barons. The Peasants' Revolt of June 1381 CE was successfully put down but a failed campaign in Scotland, misguided favouritism at court, and the ambition of certain rival nobles all conspired to limit the power of a king who had, unwisely, considered himself divinely chosen to rule any way he wished. In August 1399 CE Richard was imprisoned, and the following February he was murdered and succeeded by his cousin and rival Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, who became Henry IV of England (r. 1399-1413 CE)
Family & Succession
Edward of Woodstock, better known as the Black Prince after his distinctive armour or martial reputation, was the eldest son of Edward III of England. Made the Prince of Wales in 1343 CE and one of the greatest of all medieval knights, Edward would not, however, become king. The Black Prince died, probably of dysentery, on 8 June 1376 CE and so Parliament selected as the official heir to Edward III the prince’s surviving son Richard of Bordeaux (b. 6 January 1367 CE). The young king-to-be’s mother was Joan, the countess of Kent (1328-1385 CE), and he had had one brother, Edward, who had died in 1371 CE. Richard was favoured over another of Edward III’s sons, John of Gaunt (1340-1399 CE), the Duke of Lancaster, largely because the latter had supported a number of officials and nobles identified by Parliament as guilty of corruption and misrule. As planned then, when Edward III died on 21 June 1377 CE, Richard became king.
THE SO-CALLED PEASANTS' REVOLT OF JUNE 1381 CE WAS THE MOST INFAMOUS POPULAR UPRISING OF THE MIDDLE AGES.
Richard was crowned on 16 July 1377 CE at Westminster Abbey, but he was a mere 10 years old and so his troubled kingdom was governed by a revolving council of nobles. The Hundred Years’ War between England and France (1337-1453 CE) had started remarkably well for England with great victories at Crécy (1346 CE) and Poitiers (1356 CE) but by 1375 CE Charles V of France, aka Charles the Wise (r. 1364-1380 CE), had ensured that the only lands left in France belonging to the English Crown were Calais and a thin slice of Gascony. The war with France and its ally Scotland had also taken a heavy financial toll on the kingdom with an incessant round of taxes inflicted on the people, a situation only worsened by the arrival of the Black Death in 1348 CE which brought death and economic ruin. The failure to take the military initiative against France, high taxes and lasting economic disruption would all come back to haunt Richard later in his reign.
Peasants' Revolt
The so-called Peasants' Revolt of June 1381 CE was the most infamous popular uprising of the Middle Ages. The trouble started when a group of yeomen from Kent and Essex, fed up with the problem caused by the Black Death plague and, above all, the never-ending taxes which, since 1377 CE, included poll taxes of three groats (one shilling) aimed at everyone irrespective of resources, marched to protest in London. The group, numbering several thousand, caused havoc on the way as they looted, pillaged, and murdered. When the mob got to London, they burnt down the Savoy palace of the Duke of Lancaster and murdered anyone they pleased - the Chancellor, Archbishop Simon of Sudbury would be one victim, decapitated on Tower Hill. The mob's demands for change included the abolition of serfdom, a repeal of the laws limiting wage increases brought in after the Black Death, more peasant participation on local government, and the redistribution of the Church’s riches (the latter being an idea championed by the theologian John Wycliffe, c. 1325-1384 CE). Although only 14, King Richard bravely met the protestors at Smithfield outside London on 15 June and persuaded them to stand down. This was quite a feat considering William Walworth, the Mayor of London stepped forward and killed Wat Tyler, one of the rebel leaders, amongst the confusion, perhaps thinking Tyler was about to do the king harm. Richard had, nevertheless, stepped forward and boldly declared:
Sirs, would you kill your king? I am your rightful captain, and I will be your leader. Let all those who love me, follow me.
(Quoted in Jones, N., 75)
Richard then employed the much-used tactic of making a load of extravagant promises he had no intention of keeping, but it was enough to stave off more rioting and the mob disbanded. Utterly ruthless, Richard ensured that around 150 of the rebels were hanged. There were other minor outbreaks of rebellion thereafter, but these were mercilessly quashed and their ringleaders executed as traitors.
The Merciless Parliament
Richard II may have won accolades for his success in putting down the Peasants' Revolt but any hopes that England had found itself a fine king, true and just, were soon dashed. The young monarch was wilful and hot-tempered, and he turned out to be rather too confident in his divine right to rule, making him intolerant of any views that conflicted with his own. Ignoring his barons, Parliament and commoners alike, Richard largely preferred to spend his time with favourites like Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford and his circle of sycophants.
THE ‘MERCILESS PARLIAMENT’ OF 1388 CE ESSENTIALLY INSTALLED THE LORDS APPELLANTS AS THE RULERS OF ENGLAND.
Medieval kings were often expected to perform great deeds on the battlefield but Richard’s single campaign in Scotland in 1385 CE was a damp squib with no contact being made with the enemy. In 1388 CE, one of the great medieval knights, Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy (1364-1403 CE) led an army against the Scots but was soundly defeated at the Battle of Otterburn. Sir Henry even suffered the ignominy of capture and being set up for ransom, which Parliament and King Richard did meet.
Richard had a much bigger crisis to deal with at home when, in 1386 CE, he made the hugely unpopular de Vere the Duke of Ireland and it looked like France was preparing to invade England. In December 1387 CE the dissatisfied barons made their move by defeating de Vere and his supporters at the Battle of Radcot Bridge near Oxford. Led by such high figures as Thomas Woodstock, the Duke of Gloucester (the king’s uncle) and Henry Bolingbroke (b. c. 1366 CE, the king’s cousin and son of John of Gaunt), a group of five barons next formed a council known as the Lords Appellants to better manage the king, still then considered a minor. This council called a Parliament in 1388 CE, which became known as the ‘Merciless Parliament’ and which essentially installed the Lords Appellants as the rulers of England who insisted Richard retake his coronation oath and who purged the royal court of anyone they considered undesirable.
Patron of the Arts
Richard, who reached maturity in 1389 CE, wisely opted for a low political profile and retreated into the arts by appointing his own circle of similarly-minded friends at court. The king may have resisted the temptation to persecute those who had earlier been against him but one thing which he could not desist from was his continuing love of pomp and ceremony. Glorifying his own image, it seemed Richard was in love with himself as king and now even insisted he be addressed as ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’ rather than the traditional ‘My lord’. Perhaps significantly, Richard was the first English king to have his portrait painted while still alive; the artist chosen for this honour may have been Andre Beauneveu of Valenciennes (1335-1400 CE). The finished painting was hung in Westminster Abbey and shows the king in full regalia.
Richard’s tournament device was a white hart or stag which became an emblem for his supporters to wear as a mark of identification and as part of his servants’ livery. Richard revamped Westminster Palace in 1393 CE at vast expense, making the interior much more colourful. Westminster Hall received a new roof, statues of various kings were added, and Richard's white harts appeared at the bases of the windows. Meanwhile, the Tower of London was refurbished, too, and expensive stained glass added. The king also supported medieval literature, especially the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400 CE) who was made Clerk of the King’s Works in 1389 CE, a position which saw him in charge of royal properties.
Ireland & France
In 1394 CE Richard led an army to Ireland, a very rare deed for an English king, but the campaign was inconclusive. 80 Irish chiefs did pay homage to the king, and English claims to lands there were recognised. Relations improved with France on 12 March 1396 CE, though, when the king married Isabella of France, the daughter of Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422 CE). Isabella was only seven, but it was a union which cemented a three-decade truce between the two countries. Richard had been previously married to Anne of Bohemia, the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (r. 1346-1378 CE) from 1382 CE, but she died in June 1394 CE, probably of plague. Neither of these marriages produced any children, something which would be exploited by Richard's enemies. The arrangement with Charles VI did not include Richard giving up his claim to the French throne (a claim which began with Edward III) and so the Hundred Years' War was, for now, merely put on pause.
The Return of Bolingbroke
In 1397 CE, perhaps feeling more secure on his throne and giving vent to the taste for vengeance so many medieval monarchs enjoyed, Richard, at last, began to plot against those who had betrayed him ten years before. The king had the Lords Appellants, including Bolingbroke, arrested and either exiled or executed; their estates becoming useful gifts for others at court or the Crown itself. Many barons now realised the king was tyrannical and that nobody was safe from his whims.
In 1399 CE, Richard then made his fatal mistake. The king had a hankering to continue his unfinished business in Ireland but while there, Bolingbroke, seen by some as the legitimate heir to Edward III now that his father John of Gaunt was dead (3 February 1399 CE), returned from his exile in France. In June-July 1399 CE Bolingbroke only had a small invading army, perhaps 300 fighting men, which landed at Spurn Head in Yorkshire. Fortunately for Bolingbroke, the English barons, who included such figures as Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy, were only too pleased to switch their allegiance to the usurper, and the rebel army swelled as it moved south, and the king's support evaporated.
Richard returned from Ireland but wisely went into hiding in Conwy Castle in Wales. The king was then tricked into giving himself up on 20 August and was imprisoned in the Tower of London, the first English monarch to be confined there. On 29 September 1399 CE, Bolingbroke next forced Richard to sign a formal document of abdication, another dubious first in English history. The wording of this document was as follows:
I Richard by the grace of God king of England and of France and lord of Ireland…resign all my kingly majesty, dignity and crown…And with deed and word I leave off and resign them and go from them for evermore, for I know, acknowledge and deem myself to be, and have been, insufficient, unable and unprofitable, and for my deserts not unworthily to be put down.
(quoted in Jones, N., 80-81)
William Shakespeare (1564-1616 CE) in his play Richard II has the king utter the rather more realistic sentiments regarding his demise:
My God! A wonderful land is this, and a fickle; which hath exiled, slain, destroyed or ruined so many kings, rulers, and great men, and is ever tainted and toileth with strife, and variance and envy.
(ibid, 81)
Death & Successor
On 30 September Parliament officially nominated Henry Bolingbroke as Richard’s successor. Richard was moved to his final place of confinement, Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, in September 1399 CE, and there he died on 14 February 1400 CE. A failed uprising by Richard’s supporters only sealed the ex-king’s fate; he could not be allowed to live. Richard perhaps died of starvation or he was perhaps poisoned or he was even hacked to death by a squad of assassins, such are the varying theories on the king’s quick demise. Richard was just 33 years of age, and his body was put on public display in the Tower of London in case any would-be rebels thought he might still be alive and ready to launch a coup. Eventually, Richard was interred in Westminster Abbey where his effigy can still be seen.
Meanwhile, Henry Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV of England in Westminster Abbey on 13 October 1399 CE and he would reign until 1413 CE, although his time as king was beset with rebellions in both England and Wales. Henry was succeeded and outshone by his son Henry V of England (1413-1422 CE) who became one of the great fighting monarchs of European history but the ousting of the legitimate King Richard would come to haunt the Lancaster descendants as the two houses of Lancaster and York battled for the throne in what became known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE).
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Two Men in a Trench: Battle of Shrewsbury
With a team of archaeologists, Neil and Tony are off to investigate the Battle of Shrewsbury which took place in 1403, at the end of a sweltering hot day in ...
Two Men in a Trench: Battle of Shrewsbury
With a team of archaeologists, Neil and Tony are off to investigate the Battle of Shrewsbury which took place in 1403, at the end of a sweltering hot day in July. The Church of St Mary Magdalene, built in commemoration of the battle, stands on the spot where it is thought 2000 soldiers were buried in a mass grave. The battle had its origins in 1399 when Henry Bolingbroke overthrew the rightful king of England, Richard II, and had himself crowned Henry IV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtR266qDOF0
Images
1. Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript, British Library
2. Joanna of Navarre, Queen to Henry IV of England.
3. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
4. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
Background from {[ https://www.ancient.eu/Henry_IV_of_England/]}
Henry IV of England
by Mark Cartwright published on 29 January 2020
Henry IV of England ruled as king from 1399 to 1413 CE. Known as Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster before he became king, Henry clashed with his cousin Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399 CE) and was exiled in 1397 CE. Returning to England with a small army in the summer of 1399 CE, Henry made himself king as Richard’s support collapsed. Kicking off his reign with the murder of his predecessor, Henry would face major rebellions in both England and Wales, and he frequently clashed with Parliament, particularly the ‘Long Parliament’ of 1406 CE. Henry was the first of the kings from the House of Lancaster and he was succeeded by his son Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422 CE).
Birth & Family
Henry was born in April 1366 CE at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, the son of John of Gaunt (l. 1340-1399 CE), himself the son of Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE) and so a claimant for the throne of Richard II (who was the grandson of Edward III and the son of Edward the Black Prince, l. 1330-1376 CE). John was a powerful but unpopular figure who had been passed over for the throne because he had supported corrupt nobles and officials identified by Parliament. Henry Bolingbroke’s mother was Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of the Duke of Lancaster. The young nobleman was given the title Earl of Derby, the first of many he would acquire over his career.
HENRY WAS ONE OF THE LORDS APPELLANT WHO CALLED THE ‘MERCILESS PARLIAMENT’ TO TAKE POWER AWAY FROM RICHARD II.
Henry married Mary of Bohun (b. c. 1369 CE) on 5 February 1381 CE, but she died during childbirth in 1394 CE. The couple’s most famous son was Henry, future Henry V, born on 16 September 1387 CE. Henry, now king, married again on 7 February 1403 CE, this time to Joan of Navarre (l. c. 1370-1437 CE). Henry had a typical noble upbringing where he showed a flair for the medieval tournament, courage, piety, and an interest in literature. The young Henry had his share of adventure when he twice went to fight pagans in Lithuania as part of the long-running Northern Crusades (12-15th century CE) alongside Teutonic Knights. There would also be a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before he concentrated on his ambitions in England.
Rivalry with Richard II
By 1386 CE Henry Bolingbroke had risen to be one of the foremost barons in England, and he was a member of the disgruntled group of noblemen who took exception to the king’s favouritism towards Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Richard had made the hugely unpopular de Vere the Duke of Ireland in December 1387 CE. The dissatisfied barons made their move by defeating de Vere and his supporters at the Battle of Radcot Bridge near Oxford. Henry was then one of the five Lords Appellant who called the ‘Merciless Parliament’ to take power away from the still young Richard II. The king would get his revenge, though, in 1397 CE when, older, wiser and more secure on his throne, he rounded up the conspirators and had them executed or exiled. Henry, the king’s cousin, was, fortunately for him, in the latter category.
HENRY WAS A CAPABLE MILITARY LEADER, HAD A FORCEFUL PERSONALITY & WAS OF ROYAL BLOOD HIMSELF.
Initially, it seemed Henry had survived the king’s purge, but a quarrel between Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk - the two surviving Lords Appellant, which was engineered by Richard, resulted in the two dukes facing each other in a medieval joust in Coventry in September 1398 CE. With a huge crowd waiting expectantly to witness the finale of an event rich in pageantry, the king stepped forward and forbade the two to fight. Richard then exiled Mowbray for life and Bolingbroke for ten years. Henry went off to Paris but he would be back in England far sooner than Richard had hoped.
On 3 February 1399 CE John of Gaunt died and so Henry became the Duke of Lancaster. Henry now had an excuse to return to England - he could claim he wanted back what was rightfully his, the Lancaster family’s lands which Richard had taken for himself. The king had also extended Henry’s exile from 10 years to life. As it turned out, though, Henry would be back not only to claim his estates but also a much bigger prize.
The Entry of Richard & Bolingbroke into London
by Art UK (CC BY-NC-SA)
Seizure of the Throne
Henry set off from Boulogne and landed at Spurn Head northeast England with a small army, perhaps only 300 men, and then marched south to press his claim in June-July 1399 CE. The timing of the invasion was excellent because Richard was then away in Ireland. Without their king, the royalist support faded away, perhaps, too, because Richard had never been all that popular with his odd choice of court companions and distinct lack of verve in taking the war to the French during the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE).
The war with the French had started fantastically well for England but by Richard’s reign, Charles V of France, aka Charles the Wise (r. 1364-1380 CE), had ensured that the only lands left in France belonging to the English Crown were Calais and a thin slice of Gascony. French pirates were running riot in the English Channel and many English barons wanted a more direct war than the fizzled-out one they were currently witnessing. Richard failed in two of the most important areas a medieval king was expected to do well: win military victories to bring in money and lands, and produce a male heir. When these failures were added to his dictatorial approach to government, it becomes clearer why the barons entertained the idea of a change in ruler, especially as Henry was a capable military leader, had a forceful personality and was of royal blood himself.
In August 1399 CE Richard was back from Ireland and enticed out of hiding in Conwy Castle in Wales, only to be then imprisoned in the Tower of London. On 29 September Henry obliged Richard to sign his own abdication. On 30 September, Parliament officially nominated Henry as Richard’s successor, and so Henry Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV of England on 13 October 1399 CE in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. In a curious incident, the king dropped the gold coin that newly-crowned monarchs were supposed to ceremoniously offer to God. The coin rolled away and was never seen again, an ill omen indeed. To signal the beginning of a new era, on the eve of his coronation Henry had created a new group of medieval knights called the Knights of Bath (what would become much later the chivalric Order of Bath). Henry, who himself took a bath every week - an unusual frequency for the Middle Ages - created 46 such knights and they all had to have a bath as a mark of purification and be blessed by a priest before they were invested.
On 14 February 1400 CE the ex-king was murdered in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, almost certainly because there had been some, albeit minor, efforts by those loyal to Richard to set him back on the throne. Henry even put the body of Richard on public display in the Tower of London in case any would-be rebels thought he might still be alive and ready to head a coup. The Plantagenets who had ruled England since Henry II of England (r. 1154-1189 CE) were now replaced by the House of Lancaster.
Rebellion
Henry faced an immediate crisis in September 1400 CE in Wales where Owain Glyn Dwr (b. c. 1359 CE) had declared himself the Prince of Wales. Even more ominously, the Welshman had the support of The Earl of March, whose son Edmund Mortimer, as the great-great-grandson of Edward III, was a possible claimant to Henry’s throne. Also supporting the Welsh were the French taking, as usual, any opportunity to destabilise the English throne. Meanwhile, English barons were plotting a rebellion of their own in England. The group of discontents included such notable names as the Earl of Worcester, the Earl of Northumberland, and the celebrated medieval knight Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy (1364-1403 CE).
Henry first turned to the English problem and met in battle the rebellious barons on 21 July 1403 CE at the Battle of Shrewsbury. The king’s army was victorious, Henry fought with courage, Sir Percy was killed and Worcester executed. The Earl of Northumberland, Earl of March, and other rebel barons would not give up so easily and they changed strategy and began to conspire with the Archbishop Scrope of York and Owain Glyn Dwr. King Henry discovered this plot to carve up his kingdom from under his feet, and the Earl of Northumberland fled to Scotland.
Things improved for Henry as the decade wore on. In March 1406 CE the young Prince James, the future James I of Scotland (1406-1437 CE), was captured when his ship was wrecked off the east coast of England. Prince James was kept as a prisoner in the Tower of London and a hefty ransom demanded for his release. Unfortunately for James, his father died soon after, and although he became the king of Scotland, nobody came forward with the ransom and so he was kept in comfortable confinement for 18 years.
In February 1408 CE, after Henry won the Battle of Bramham Moor against the combined Welsh and English rebels, Edmund Mortimer was imprisoned and both the Archbishop of York and the Earl of Northumberland were executed. In 1409 CE, the Welsh rebellion was finally quashed when the last rebels were captured at Harlech Castle. Owain Glyn Dwr retreated to the mountains and was never heard of again.
Henry’s namesake son had led the army that regained Harlech, capturing the eldest son of Owain Glyn Dwr in the process, and he was fast becoming the star of the royal court. Prince Henry, who was the ‘real’ Prince of Wales, also led an army to France to exploit the anarchy there following the descent into madness of King Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422 CE), but the expedition came to nothing. Still, the prince was outshining his father and there developed some friction between the two, especially over the Prince’s desire to take a more militaristic approach with their great rival France. The younger Henry's time would come soon enough.
The Long Parliament
Another source of friction at court was the king’s relationship with Parliament. The so-called ‘Long Parliament’ of 1406 CE sat an unusually long time from March until December as it deliberated over the ever-prickly issue of state finances. Parliament was not impressed with the lack of success against the Welsh rebels or the presence of French troops in Wales. The king’s high taxes were not yielding any results on the field of battle, the court spending was considered excessive, and Parliament insisted that, at the very least, the king must listen to its concerns before endorsing a new round of taxes. Thus, the ‘Long Parliament’ was another small step on the long road to a constitutional monarchy.
Death & Successor
Henry IV died on 20 March 1413 CE. He was only around 46 and had been wasting away, wracked by disease - possibly leprosy or severe eczema - since 1406 CE. In addition, the king suffered multiple strokes at the end of his life and this when his mind had already long been troubled with remorse for his treatment of King Richard. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. Henry was succeeded by his 25-year-old son, Henry V of England who was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 9 April 1413 CE. Henry V became one of the great fighting monarchs of European history by defeating the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 CE and going on to capture Normandy and Paris. However, his reign would be brief, cut short by illness, and the ousting of the legitimate King Richard would come to haunt the Lancaster descendants as the two houses of Lancaster and York battled for the throne in what became known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE).
EDITORIAL REVIEW This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
Bibliography
• Blockmans, W. Introduction to Medieval Europe 300-1500. Routledge, 2017.
• Cannon, J. The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Cavendish, R. Kings & Queens. David & Charles, 2007.
• Crouch, D. Medieval Britain, c.1000-1500. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
• Jones, D. The Plantagenets. Penguin Books, 2014.
• Nigel, J. The Tower. Windmill Books, 2020.
• Phillips, C. The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Kings & Queens of Britain. Lorenz Books, 2006.
• Starkey, D. Crown and Country. HarperPress, 2011.
• Wilson, D. Plantagenets. Quercus, 2011.
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With a team of archaeologists, Neil and Tony are off to investigate the Battle of Shrewsbury which took place in 1403, at the end of a sweltering hot day in July. The Church of St Mary Magdalene, built in commemoration of the battle, stands on the spot where it is thought 2000 soldiers were buried in a mass grave. The battle had its origins in 1399 when Henry Bolingbroke overthrew the rightful king of England, Richard II, and had himself crowned Henry IV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtR266qDOF0
Images
1. Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript, British Library
2. Joanna of Navarre, Queen to Henry IV of England.
3. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
4. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles
Background from {[ https://www.ancient.eu/Henry_IV_of_England/]}
Henry IV of England
by Mark Cartwright published on 29 January 2020
Henry IV of England ruled as king from 1399 to 1413 CE. Known as Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster before he became king, Henry clashed with his cousin Richard II of England (r. 1377-1399 CE) and was exiled in 1397 CE. Returning to England with a small army in the summer of 1399 CE, Henry made himself king as Richard’s support collapsed. Kicking off his reign with the murder of his predecessor, Henry would face major rebellions in both England and Wales, and he frequently clashed with Parliament, particularly the ‘Long Parliament’ of 1406 CE. Henry was the first of the kings from the House of Lancaster and he was succeeded by his son Henry V of England (r. 1413-1422 CE).
Birth & Family
Henry was born in April 1366 CE at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, the son of John of Gaunt (l. 1340-1399 CE), himself the son of Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377 CE) and so a claimant for the throne of Richard II (who was the grandson of Edward III and the son of Edward the Black Prince, l. 1330-1376 CE). John was a powerful but unpopular figure who had been passed over for the throne because he had supported corrupt nobles and officials identified by Parliament. Henry Bolingbroke’s mother was Blanche of Lancaster, daughter of the Duke of Lancaster. The young nobleman was given the title Earl of Derby, the first of many he would acquire over his career.
HENRY WAS ONE OF THE LORDS APPELLANT WHO CALLED THE ‘MERCILESS PARLIAMENT’ TO TAKE POWER AWAY FROM RICHARD II.
Henry married Mary of Bohun (b. c. 1369 CE) on 5 February 1381 CE, but she died during childbirth in 1394 CE. The couple’s most famous son was Henry, future Henry V, born on 16 September 1387 CE. Henry, now king, married again on 7 February 1403 CE, this time to Joan of Navarre (l. c. 1370-1437 CE). Henry had a typical noble upbringing where he showed a flair for the medieval tournament, courage, piety, and an interest in literature. The young Henry had his share of adventure when he twice went to fight pagans in Lithuania as part of the long-running Northern Crusades (12-15th century CE) alongside Teutonic Knights. There would also be a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before he concentrated on his ambitions in England.
Rivalry with Richard II
By 1386 CE Henry Bolingbroke had risen to be one of the foremost barons in England, and he was a member of the disgruntled group of noblemen who took exception to the king’s favouritism towards Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Richard had made the hugely unpopular de Vere the Duke of Ireland in December 1387 CE. The dissatisfied barons made their move by defeating de Vere and his supporters at the Battle of Radcot Bridge near Oxford. Henry was then one of the five Lords Appellant who called the ‘Merciless Parliament’ to take power away from the still young Richard II. The king would get his revenge, though, in 1397 CE when, older, wiser and more secure on his throne, he rounded up the conspirators and had them executed or exiled. Henry, the king’s cousin, was, fortunately for him, in the latter category.
HENRY WAS A CAPABLE MILITARY LEADER, HAD A FORCEFUL PERSONALITY & WAS OF ROYAL BLOOD HIMSELF.
Initially, it seemed Henry had survived the king’s purge, but a quarrel between Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk - the two surviving Lords Appellant, which was engineered by Richard, resulted in the two dukes facing each other in a medieval joust in Coventry in September 1398 CE. With a huge crowd waiting expectantly to witness the finale of an event rich in pageantry, the king stepped forward and forbade the two to fight. Richard then exiled Mowbray for life and Bolingbroke for ten years. Henry went off to Paris but he would be back in England far sooner than Richard had hoped.
On 3 February 1399 CE John of Gaunt died and so Henry became the Duke of Lancaster. Henry now had an excuse to return to England - he could claim he wanted back what was rightfully his, the Lancaster family’s lands which Richard had taken for himself. The king had also extended Henry’s exile from 10 years to life. As it turned out, though, Henry would be back not only to claim his estates but also a much bigger prize.
The Entry of Richard & Bolingbroke into London
by Art UK (CC BY-NC-SA)
Seizure of the Throne
Henry set off from Boulogne and landed at Spurn Head northeast England with a small army, perhaps only 300 men, and then marched south to press his claim in June-July 1399 CE. The timing of the invasion was excellent because Richard was then away in Ireland. Without their king, the royalist support faded away, perhaps, too, because Richard had never been all that popular with his odd choice of court companions and distinct lack of verve in taking the war to the French during the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453 CE).
The war with the French had started fantastically well for England but by Richard’s reign, Charles V of France, aka Charles the Wise (r. 1364-1380 CE), had ensured that the only lands left in France belonging to the English Crown were Calais and a thin slice of Gascony. French pirates were running riot in the English Channel and many English barons wanted a more direct war than the fizzled-out one they were currently witnessing. Richard failed in two of the most important areas a medieval king was expected to do well: win military victories to bring in money and lands, and produce a male heir. When these failures were added to his dictatorial approach to government, it becomes clearer why the barons entertained the idea of a change in ruler, especially as Henry was a capable military leader, had a forceful personality and was of royal blood himself.
In August 1399 CE Richard was back from Ireland and enticed out of hiding in Conwy Castle in Wales, only to be then imprisoned in the Tower of London. On 29 September Henry obliged Richard to sign his own abdication. On 30 September, Parliament officially nominated Henry as Richard’s successor, and so Henry Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV of England on 13 October 1399 CE in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey. In a curious incident, the king dropped the gold coin that newly-crowned monarchs were supposed to ceremoniously offer to God. The coin rolled away and was never seen again, an ill omen indeed. To signal the beginning of a new era, on the eve of his coronation Henry had created a new group of medieval knights called the Knights of Bath (what would become much later the chivalric Order of Bath). Henry, who himself took a bath every week - an unusual frequency for the Middle Ages - created 46 such knights and they all had to have a bath as a mark of purification and be blessed by a priest before they were invested.
On 14 February 1400 CE the ex-king was murdered in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, almost certainly because there had been some, albeit minor, efforts by those loyal to Richard to set him back on the throne. Henry even put the body of Richard on public display in the Tower of London in case any would-be rebels thought he might still be alive and ready to head a coup. The Plantagenets who had ruled England since Henry II of England (r. 1154-1189 CE) were now replaced by the House of Lancaster.
Rebellion
Henry faced an immediate crisis in September 1400 CE in Wales where Owain Glyn Dwr (b. c. 1359 CE) had declared himself the Prince of Wales. Even more ominously, the Welshman had the support of The Earl of March, whose son Edmund Mortimer, as the great-great-grandson of Edward III, was a possible claimant to Henry’s throne. Also supporting the Welsh were the French taking, as usual, any opportunity to destabilise the English throne. Meanwhile, English barons were plotting a rebellion of their own in England. The group of discontents included such notable names as the Earl of Worcester, the Earl of Northumberland, and the celebrated medieval knight Sir Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy (1364-1403 CE).
Henry first turned to the English problem and met in battle the rebellious barons on 21 July 1403 CE at the Battle of Shrewsbury. The king’s army was victorious, Henry fought with courage, Sir Percy was killed and Worcester executed. The Earl of Northumberland, Earl of March, and other rebel barons would not give up so easily and they changed strategy and began to conspire with the Archbishop Scrope of York and Owain Glyn Dwr. King Henry discovered this plot to carve up his kingdom from under his feet, and the Earl of Northumberland fled to Scotland.
Things improved for Henry as the decade wore on. In March 1406 CE the young Prince James, the future James I of Scotland (1406-1437 CE), was captured when his ship was wrecked off the east coast of England. Prince James was kept as a prisoner in the Tower of London and a hefty ransom demanded for his release. Unfortunately for James, his father died soon after, and although he became the king of Scotland, nobody came forward with the ransom and so he was kept in comfortable confinement for 18 years.
In February 1408 CE, after Henry won the Battle of Bramham Moor against the combined Welsh and English rebels, Edmund Mortimer was imprisoned and both the Archbishop of York and the Earl of Northumberland were executed. In 1409 CE, the Welsh rebellion was finally quashed when the last rebels were captured at Harlech Castle. Owain Glyn Dwr retreated to the mountains and was never heard of again.
Henry’s namesake son had led the army that regained Harlech, capturing the eldest son of Owain Glyn Dwr in the process, and he was fast becoming the star of the royal court. Prince Henry, who was the ‘real’ Prince of Wales, also led an army to France to exploit the anarchy there following the descent into madness of King Charles VI of France (r. 1380-1422 CE), but the expedition came to nothing. Still, the prince was outshining his father and there developed some friction between the two, especially over the Prince’s desire to take a more militaristic approach with their great rival France. The younger Henry's time would come soon enough.
The Long Parliament
Another source of friction at court was the king’s relationship with Parliament. The so-called ‘Long Parliament’ of 1406 CE sat an unusually long time from March until December as it deliberated over the ever-prickly issue of state finances. Parliament was not impressed with the lack of success against the Welsh rebels or the presence of French troops in Wales. The king’s high taxes were not yielding any results on the field of battle, the court spending was considered excessive, and Parliament insisted that, at the very least, the king must listen to its concerns before endorsing a new round of taxes. Thus, the ‘Long Parliament’ was another small step on the long road to a constitutional monarchy.
Death & Successor
Henry IV died on 20 March 1413 CE. He was only around 46 and had been wasting away, wracked by disease - possibly leprosy or severe eczema - since 1406 CE. In addition, the king suffered multiple strokes at the end of his life and this when his mind had already long been troubled with remorse for his treatment of King Richard. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. Henry was succeeded by his 25-year-old son, Henry V of England who was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 9 April 1413 CE. Henry V became one of the great fighting monarchs of European history by defeating the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 CE and going on to capture Normandy and Paris. However, his reign would be brief, cut short by illness, and the ousting of the legitimate King Richard would come to haunt the Lancaster descendants as the two houses of Lancaster and York battled for the throne in what became known as the Wars of the Roses (1455-1487 CE).
EDITORIAL REVIEW This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
Bibliography
• Blockmans, W. Introduction to Medieval Europe 300-1500. Routledge, 2017.
• Cannon, J. The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford University Press, 2009.
• Cavendish, R. Kings & Queens. David & Charles, 2007.
• Crouch, D. Medieval Britain, c.1000-1500. Cambridge University Press, 2017.
• Jones, D. The Plantagenets. Penguin Books, 2014.
• Nigel, J. The Tower. Windmill Books, 2020.
• Phillips, C. The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Kings & Queens of Britain. Lorenz Books, 2006.
• Starkey, D. Crown and Country. HarperPress, 2011.
• Wilson, D. Plantagenets. Quercus, 2011.
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