A younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), and Joan, called the Fair Maid of Kent, Richard was born January 6, 1367, in Bordeaux, France. He was created Prince of Wales in 1376, the year of his father's death, and was placed in the care of his uncle John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1377 at the age of ten, on the death of his grandfather, King Edward III, Richard became ruler of England, then a country devastated by plague and oppressed by heavy taxes, the result of a war with France. In 1381 the Peasants' Revolt broke out and Richard, aged 14, bravely rode out to meet the rebels at Smithfield, London. Wat Tyler, the principal leader of the peasants, was killed and the uprisings in the rest of the country were crushed over the next few weeks (Richard was later forced by his Council's advice to rescind the pardons he had given). In 1382 at the age of fifteen he married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and after her death in 1394 he was married again in 1396 to Isabella, daughter of Charles VI, King of France, who was only seven, to end a struggle with France. Highly cultured, Richard was one of the greatest royal patrons of the arts; patron of Chaucer, it was Richard who ordered the technically innovative transformation of the Norman Westminster Hall to what it is today. (Built between 1097 and 1099 by William II, the Hall was the ceremonial and administrative centre of the kingdom; it also housed the Courts of Justice until 1882). Richard's authoritarian approach upset vested interests, and his increasing dependence on favourites provoked resentment. In 1388 the 'Merciless Parliament' led by a group of lords hostile to Richard (headed by the King's uncle, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester) sentenced many of the King's favourites to death and forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. In the following year, with the help of John of Gaunt, Richard was able to assert his authority. The death of his first Queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1394 further isolated Richard, and his subsequent arbitrary behaviour alienated people further. Richard took his revenge in 1397, arresting or banishing many of his opponents including his uncle, Gloucester who was arrested and imprisoned at Calais, where he died, perhaps murdered; also his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, who was also subsequently banished. On the death of Henry's father, John of Gaunt (a younger son of Edward III), Richard confiscated the vast properties of his Duchy of Lancaster (which amounted to a state within a state) and divided them among his supporters.
Henry Bolingbroke, had incurred his mistrust and displeasure on suspicion of his involvement in a treasonable plot to overthrow the monarchy. Richard had confiscated his lands and property, taken his sons as hostages, and in 1398 sentenced him to ten years exile, which was later extended to banishment for life. While Richard was leading a punitive expedition in Ireland, Bolingbroke took advantage of his absence and sailed from Boulogne to reclaim his inheritance and arrived in England in July 1399. He was supported by some of the leading baronial families (including Richard's former Archbishop of Canterbury). Richard then returned hurriedly to North Wales, where, despite his many faults and follies, he had much personal support and affection from the Welsh. He arrived at Conway and was there met by Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, to whom Richard had earlier that year granted the custody of Flint Castle. Northumberland informed him that Bolingbroke sought a meeting with him to discuss the restoration of his forfeited estates. Richard's doubts and suspicions were allayed when together they took High Mass and Northumberland swore a solemn oath of allegiance and fidelity before the Altar. They then set out to meet Bolingbroke who was encamped at Chester. In a defile near Gwrych Castle outside Abergele, they were met by a strong force of heavily armed men bearing the Northumberland standards and Richard realised that this was an ambush and that he had been betrayed and was trapped. He was escorted as a prisoner to Rhuddlan Castle, where they dined and then proceeded to Flint Castle and into the hands of his arch-enemy Henry Bolingbroke. On August 19 they arrived in Flint and awaited the arrival of Bolingbroke. There he was delivered to the son of the Duke of Gloucester and the son of the Earl of Arundel. From there, Richard was conducted to London and subjected to further indignities and humiliations on the road. There is a well-attested story that a force of loyal Welshmen attempted to rescue him on the way. So successful had been Bolingbroke's enterprise, that he now decided himself to seize the throne. In less than six weeks he had made himself virtual master of England.
Richard was imprisoned in the Tower of London and there charged with various violations of the law and the breaking his coronation oath and compelled to sign the deed of abdication in favour of his usurper Bolingbroke. On 13 October 1399, Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV, King of England. Shakespeare based two plays on his reign which lasted for thirteen years and he also, dramatised the capitulation of Richard at Flint Castle in his 'Richard II'. The wretched Richard was taken from the Tower to Leeds Castle in Kent. Medieval monarchy was a tough struggle for survival. A plot by his friends to rescue and restore the captive king and to assassinate the guilt-ridden Henry IV was discovered, and Richard was now considered too dangerous to live. Finally, he was removed to Pontefract Castle and there on 14th February 1400, half-demented with grief, he was either secretly murdered, or as it was believed at the time, died of starvation, either by his own refusal to eat in his despair, or due to the deliberate neglect of his gaolers, acting under orders, or with the connivance of the King. To dispel rumours circulating that he had escaped, the body was brought to London and the face exposed for several days to the public gaze, and after a funeral service at St. Paul's, taken to Langley and there buried in an inglorious grave. Henry V subsequently had his body buried in Westminster Abbey.
Henry Bolingbroke
was the ninth King of England of the
House of Plantagenet
and also asserted his grandfather's
claim to the title
King of France.
He was born at
Bolingbroke Castle
in
Lincolnshire
hence his name, Henry (of) Bolingbroke. His father,
John of Gaunt
was the third son of
Edward II
and enjoyed a position of considerable influence during much of the reign of
Richard II.
Henry IV came to the throne after the deposition of his cousin Richard II.
Henry's mother was
Blanche,
heiress to the considerable Lancaster estates. Henry IV is, therefore, the first
King of England from the Lancaster branch of the Plantagenets, one of the two
family branches (the other one being the York branch, initiated by his uncle
Edmund of Langley, 1st
Duke of York) protagonists of the
War of the Roses. Henry experienced a rather
inconsistent relationship with King
Richard II.
First cousins and childhood playmates, they were admitted together to the
Order of the Garter
in 1377, but Henry participated in the
Lords Appellant
rebellion against the King in 1387. After regaining power, Richard did not
punish Henry (many of the other rebellious Barons were executed or exiled). In
fact, Richard elevated Henry from
Earl of Derby
to
Duke of Hereford. However, the relationship between
Henry Bolingbroke and the King encountered a second crisis. In 1398, a remark by
Bolingbroke regarding Richard II's rule was interpreted as treason by
Thomas de Mowbray, 1st
Duke of Norfolk. The two dukes agreed to undergo a duel of honour
(called by Richard II) at Gosford Green near
Coventry. Yet
before the duel could take place, Richard II instead decided to banish Henry
from the kingdom (with the approval of Henry's father, John of Gaunt) to avoid
further bloodshed. Mowbray himself was exiled for life.
John of Gaunt died in 1399. Without
explanation, Richard cancelled the legal documents that would have allowed Henry
to inherit Gaunt's land automatically. Instead, Henry would be required to ask
for the lands from Richard. After some hesitation, Henry met with the exiled
Thomas Arundel,
former
Archbishop of Canterbury,
who had lost his position because of his involvement with the Lords Appellant.
Henry and Arundel returned to England while Richard was on a military campaign
in Ireland. With Arundel as his advisor, Henry began a military campaign,
confiscating land from those who opposed him and ordering his soldiers to
destroy much of Cheshire. Henry quickly gained enough power and support to have
himself declared King Henry IV, to imprison King Richard, who died in prison
under mysterious circumstances, and to bypass Richard's seven-year-old
heir-presumptive,
Edmund de Mortimer.
Henry's coronation, on 13 October 1399, is notable for being the first time
following the
Norman Conquest
that the monarch made an address in English.
A younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), and Joan, called the Fair Maid of Kent, Richard was born January 6, 1367, in Bordeaux, France. He was created Prince of Wales in 1376, the year of his father's death, and was placed in the care of his uncle John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. In 1377 at the age of ten, on the death of his grandfather, King Edward III, Richard became ruler of England, then a country devastated by plague and oppressed by heavy taxes, the result of a war with France. In 1381 the Peasants' Revolt broke out and Richard, aged 14, bravely rode out to meet the rebels at Smithfield, London. Wat Tyler, the principal leader of the peasants, was killed and the uprisings in the rest of the country were crushed over the next few weeks (Richard was later forced by his Council's advice to rescind the pardons he had given). In 1382 at the age of fifteen he married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and after her death in 1394 he was married again in 1396 to Isabella, daughter of Charles VI, King of France, who was only seven, to end a struggle with France. Highly cultured, Richard was one of the greatest royal patrons of the arts; patron of Chaucer, it was Richard who ordered the technically innovative transformation of the Norman Westminster Hall to what it is today. (Built between 1097 and 1099 by William II, the Hall was the ceremonial and administrative centre of the kingdom; it also housed the Courts of Justice until 1882). Richard's authoritarian approach upset vested interests, and his increasing dependence on favourites provoked resentment. In 1388 the 'Merciless Parliament' led by a group of lords hostile to Richard (headed by the King's uncle, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester) sentenced many of the King's favourites to death and forced Richard to renew his coronation oath. In the following year, with the help of John of Gaunt, Richard was able to assert his authority. The death of his first Queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1394 further isolated Richard, and his subsequent arbitrary behaviour alienated people further. Richard took his revenge in 1397, arresting or banishing many of his opponents including his uncle, Gloucester who was arrested and imprisoned at Calais, where he died, perhaps murdered; also his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, who was also subsequently banished. On the death of Henry's father, John of Gaunt (a younger son of Edward III), Richard confiscated the vast properties of his Duchy of Lancaster (which amounted to a state within a state) and divided them among his supporters.