Richard II

King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to.
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Thomas Swynford, a son from Katherine's first marriage to Sir Hugh Swynford, was another loyal companion. Henry experienced a rather more inconsistent relationship with King Richard II than his father had. First cousins and childhood playmates, they were admitted together to the Order of the Garter in , but Henry participated in the Lords Appellants ' rebellion against the king in Henry spent the full year of supporting the unsuccessful siege of Vilnius capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by Teutonic Knights with 70 to 80 household knights.

Despite the efforts of Henry and his English crusaders, two years of attacks on Vilnius proved fruitless. In —93 Henry undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem , where he made offerings at the Holy Sepulchre and at the Mount of Olives.

The relationship between Henry Bolingbroke and the king met with a second crisis. Yet before the duel could take place, Richard II 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 February Instead, Henry would be required to ask for the lands from Richard. 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 initially announced that his intention was to reclaim his rights as Duke of Lancaster , though he quickly gained enough power and support to have himself declared King Henry IV, imprison King Richard who died in prison under mysterious circumstances and bypass Richard's 7-year-old heir-presumptive , Edmund de Mortimer.

Henry consulted with Parliament frequently, but was sometimes at odds with the members, especially over ecclesiastical matters. On Arundel's advice, Henry obtained from Parliament the enactment of De heretico comburendo in , which prescribed the burning of heretics , an act done mainly to suppress the Lollard movement. In , Parliament suggested confiscating church land. Henry refused to attack the Church that had helped him to power, and the House of Commons had to beg for the bill to be struck off the record.

Henry's first major problem as monarch was what to do with the deposed Richard. After an early assassination plot the Epiphany Rising was foiled in January , Richard died in prison, probably of starvation. He was 33 years old. Though Henry is often suspected of having his predecessor murdered, there is no substantial evidence to prove that claim.

Some chroniclers claimed that the despondent Richard had starved himself, [16] which would not have been out of place with what is known of Richard's character. Though council records indicate that provisions were made for the transportation of the deposed king's body as early as 17 February, there is no reason to believe that he did not die on 14 February, as several chronicles stated.

It can be positively said that he did not suffer a violent death, for his skeleton, upon examination, bore no signs of violence; whether he did indeed starve himself or whether that starvation was forced upon him are matters for lively historical speculation. After his death, Richard's body was put on public display in the old St Paul's Cathedral , both to prove to his supporters that he was truly dead and also to prove that he had not suffered a violent death. This did not stop rumours from circulating for years after that he was still alive and waiting to take back his throne.

Henry had Richard discreetly buried in the Dominican Priory at King's Langley , Hertfordshire , where he remained until King Henry V brought his body back to London and buried him in the tomb that Richard had commissioned for himself in Westminster Abbey. Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions and assassination attempts. The king's success in putting down these rebellions was due partly to the military ability of his eldest son, Henry of Monmouth , who later became king though the son managed to seize much effective power from his father in In the last year of Henry's reign, the rebellions picked up speed.

A suitable-looking impostor was found and King Richard's old groom circulated word in the city that his master was alive in Scotland. Ultimately, the rebellion came to naught. The knight Lyvet was released and his follower thrown into the Tower. Early in his reign, Henry hosted the visit of Manuel II Palaiologos , the only Byzantine emperor ever to visit England, from December to January at Eltham Palace , with a joust being given in his honour. Henry also sent monetary support with Manuel II upon his departure to aid him against the Ottoman Empire.

The later years of Henry's reign were marked by serious health problems. He had a disfiguring skin disease and, more seriously, suffered acute attacks of some grave illness in June ; April ; June ; during the winter of —09; December ; and finally a fatal bout in March Medical historians have long debated the nature of this affliction or afflictions.

The Two-Bodied King of “Richard II” and Its Trumpian Delusion - Los Angeles Review of Books

The skin disease might have been leprosy which did not necessarily mean precisely the same thing in the 15th century as it does to modern medicine , perhaps psoriasis , or some other disease. The acute attacks have been given a wide range of explanations, from epilepsy to some form of cardiovascular disease. According to Holinshed , it was predicted that Henry would die in Jerusalem, and Shakespeare's play repeats this prophecy. Henry took this to mean that he would die on crusade.

Coronation

In reality, he died in the Jerusalem Chamber in the abbot's house of Westminster Abbey, on 20 March during a convocation of Parliament. Despite the example set by most of his recent predecessors, Henry and his second wife, Joan of Navarre, Queen of England , were buried not at Westminster Abbey but at Canterbury Cathedral , on the north side of Trinity Chapel and directly adjacent to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. Becket's cult was then still thriving, as evidenced in the monastic accounts and in literary works such as The Canterbury Tales , and Henry seemed particularly devoted to it, or at least keen to be associated with it.

Reasons for his interment in Canterbury are debatable, but it is highly likely that Henry deliberately associated himself with the martyr saint for reasons of political expediency, namely, the legitimisation of his dynasty after seizing the throne from Richard II. According to one version of the tale, the oil had then passed to Henry's maternal grandfather, Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster.

Proof of Henry's deliberate connection to St Thomas lies partially in the structure of the tomb itself. The wooden panel at the western end of his tomb bears a painting of the martyrdom of Becket, and the tester, or wooden canopy, above the tomb is painted with Henry's personal motto, 'Soverayne', alternated by crowned golden eagles.

Likewise, the three large coats of arms that dominate the tester painting are surrounded by collars of SS, a golden eagle enclosed in each tiret. Sometime after the King's death, an imposing tomb was built for him and his queen, probably commissioned and paid for by Queen Joan herself. Henry's body was evidently well embalmed, as an exhumation in established, allowing historians to state with reasonable certainty that the effigies do represent accurate portraiture.

Before his father's death in , Henry bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label of five points ermine. After his father's death, the difference changed to a label of five points per pale ermine and France. That entailment clearly reflects the operation of agnatic primogeniture , also known as the Salic law. At this time, it was by no means a settled custom for the daughter of a king to supersede the brothers of that king in the line of succession to the throne.

Indeed, it was not an established belief that women could inherit the throne at all by right: Yet, the heir of the royal estate according to common law by which the houses and tenancies of common people like peasants and tradesmen passed was Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March , who descended from the daughter of Edward III's third son second to survive to adulthood , Lionel of Antwerp. Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, was Edward's fourth son and the third to survive to adulthood. The problem was solved by emphasising Henry's descent in a direct male line, whereas March's descent was through his grandmother.


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  6. Early years?

The official account of events claims that Richard voluntarily agreed to resign his crown to Henry on 29 September. The country had rallied behind Henry and supported his claim in parliament. However, the question of the succession never went away. The problem lay in the fact that Henry was only the most prominent male heir, but not the most senior in terms of agnatic descent from Edward III.

Henry thus had to overcome the superior claim of the Mortimers in order to maintain his inheritance. This difficulty compounded when the Mortimer claim was merged with the Yorkist claim in the person of Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. The Duke of York was the heir-general of Edward III, and the heir presumptive due to agnatic descent, the same principle by which Henry IV claimed the throne in of Henry's grandson Henry VI since Henry IV's other sons did not have male heirs, and the legitimated Beauforts were excluded from the throne. The date and venue of Henry's first marriage, to Mary de Bohun , are uncertain, but her marriage licence, purchased by Henry's father John of Gaunt in June is preserved at the National Archives.

The accepted date of the ceremony is 5 February , at Mary's family home of Rochford Hall , Essex. They had six children: She was the widow of John IV, Duke of Brittany known in traditional English sources as John V , [42] with whom she had had four daughters and four sons; however, her marriage to the King of England was to be childless. But Henry already had four sons from his first marriage, which was undoubtedly a clinching factor in his acceptability for the throne.

The only two of Henry's six children who produced children to survive to adulthood were Henry V and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Henry IV King of England more Mary de Bohun m. Joan of Navarre m. Coat of arms as Duke of Hereford. Coat of arms as Duke of Hereford and Lancaster. Henry's achievement as king with the old arms of France.

Royal achievement as king. Ancestors of Henry IV of England Edward I of England [33] 8. Edward II of England [33] Eleanor of Castile [33] 4.

Edward III of England [33] Philip IV of France [33] 9. Isabella of France [33] Joan I of Navarre [34] 2.

Richard II and Anne of Bohemia

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster John II, Count of Holland [34] William I, Count of Hainaut [34] Philippa of Luxembourg [34] 5. Philippa of Hainault [33] Charles, Count of Valois [36] Joan of Valois [34] Margaret, Countess of Anjou [36] 1. De la Pole was replaced as chancellor and put on trial, and a commission of government was appointed to hold office for a year. At Shrewsbury and Nottingham in August he received vigorous reaffirmation of his rights from the royal courts. The Lords Appellant , as they were now called—the duke of Gloucester and the earls of Warwick, Arundel, Nottingham, and Derby—mobilized their retinues in self-defense.

Richard dispatched his friend Robert de Vere southward with an armed force, but de Vere was defeated at Radcot Bridge on December 20, A few days later London was occupied by the Appellants. Richard returned to his capital humiliated. By the following spring, however, the Appellant tide had subsided. At a council meeting at Westminster on May 3, , Richard formally resumed responsibility for government. At the same time, he published a manifesto promising better governance and an easing of the burden of taxation.

In a five-year period beginning in , Richard went some way toward honouring his promises. Richard also showed greater circumspection in his patronage. Previously he had concentrated favour on just a few, but he now rewarded a wider circle, though each in smaller measure. Richard was determined never again to suffer a humiliation of the kind inflicted upon him by the Appellants. Accordingly, in the s he developed a program to strengthen the material foundations of his rule. At the same time, he attracted to the central offices of government a corps of hard-working ministers deeply committed to his cause, notably John Waltham, the treasurer —95 , and Edmund Stafford, the chancellor — Richard also sought to enhance the dignity and mystique of his monarchy.

He stressed the quasi-religious dimension to his kingship, and solemn crown-wearings in Westminster Abbey formed an increasingly important part of his kingly ritual. The highly assertive nature of his kingship revealed itself in his first expedition to Ireland. In —95 he led a substantial force there to buttress the position of the English administration. In letters of submission made for the penitent chieftains, Richard articulated his political vision.

The exalted notions that Richard articulated in Ireland formed the background for his dramatic reassertion of royal authority two years later in England. The first two were imprisoned and executed, and the last exiled to the Isle of Man. In letters that he sent to foreign rulers shortly afterward, Richard justified his actions in terms of his political beliefs.

In reality, his entourage was riddled with factions and feuds. Bolingbroke reported the conversation to the king, who ordered that the conflict created by this betrayal of confidence be settled by a trial by combat. Bolingbroke was sentenced to exile for 10 years, and Mowbray for life.

In February Lancaster died, and Richard took possession of his inheritance. Three months later, his coffers replenished with Lancastrian gold, Richard set off again for Ireland; the settlement of was in danger of unraveling, and his personal attention was required. While he was away, his cousin Bolingbroke returned from exile. Landing in Yorkshire , the duke met the earl of Northumberland and quickly won his support. Then he began a triumphant march across central and western England. Richard was slow to return from Ireland.

Around August 15 Richard surrendered to Northumberland at Conway. Northumberland took him under guard to Bolingbroke at Flint; from there he was taken to Chester and later to London. On September 29, after a series of meetings in the Tower of London , Richard was induced to lay aside his crown. The assembly also assented to the articles of deposition, because abdication alone, as an act that could be rescinded , was insufficient.

When the proceedings were concluded, Richard was taken from the Tower to Leeds and later to Pontefract. In January a group of his former courtiers, led by the earl of Salisbury, plotted to restore him to the throne.

Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty: Tyranny - Part 4 of 4 (The Plantagenets Documentary)

Their rebellion was crushed, but it convinced Bolingbroke, by now Henry IV, that he could no longer allow Richard to live. Sometime in February the former king was put to death; by what means is not known. After a requiem mass at St. Richard articulated a radically new vision of kingship in England, rejecting the tradition of warrior monarchy epitomized by Edward III.

Giles argued that all personal honour and privilege flowed from the king, whom the subjects should obey. Richard said the same about honour in his patents of ennoblement, and he and his ministers likewise emphasized the need for obedience. He was a man of deep piety who saw government as a burden placed on him by God. He believed it his duty to ensure the acceptability of his government to God.