Richard II of England

Richard was born at the Abbey of St. Andrew in Bordeaux on 6 January 1367. According to contemporary sources, three kings – "the king of Spain, the king of Navarre and the king of Portugal" – were present at his birth.^[2] This anecdote, and the fact that his birth fell on the feast of Epiphany, was later used as a Messianic analogy, as can be seen in the Wilton Diptych.^[3] His father was Edward, the Black Prince, and his mother was Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent". Edward, who was Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had distinguished himself as a military commander in the early phases of the Hundred Years' War, particularly in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. After further military adventures, however, he contracted dysentery in Spain in 1370. Never fully recovering, he had to return to England the next year.^[4] Joan of Kent had been involved in a marriage dispute between Thomas Holland and William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, from which Holland emerged victorious. Shortly after Holland's death in 1360, Joan married Prince Edward, a marriage for which the couple had to seek papal approval since Joan was a granddaughter of Edward I, and the prince's cousin.^[5]

Richard's elder brother Edward of Angoulême died in 1371, and Richard became his father's heir.^[3] In 1376 the Black Prince finally succumbed to his long illness and died. There was a genuine fear among the commons in parliament that Richard's uncle, John of Gaunt, would usurp the throne.^[a] For this reason the prince was quickly invested with the princedom of Wales and his father's other titles.^[6] On June 22 the next year Richard's grandfather, Edward III, also died, and at the age of ten Richard was crowned king on 16 July 1377.^[7] Again, fears of John of Gaunt's ambitions influenced political decisions, and a regency led by the King's uncles was avoided.^[8] Instead the king was nominally to exercise kingship, with the help of a series of 'continual councils', from which John of Gaunt was excluded.^[2] John of Gaunt, together with his younger brother Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, still held great informal influence over the business of government. Increasingly, however, the king's councillors and friends, particularly Simon de Burley and Aubrey de Vere, gained control of royal affairs, and earned the mistrust of the Commons to the point where the councils were discontinued in 1380.^[2] In addition to discontent with the royal council came an increasingly heavy and more wide-ranging burden of taxation, through three poll taxes levied between 1377 and 1381 that were spent on unsuccessful military expeditions on the continent.^[9] By 1381 there was a deep-felt resentment against the governing classes in the lower levels of English society.

Peasants' Revolt

Though the poll tax was the immediate cause of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, the root of the conflict lay in deeper tensions between peasants and landowners, which were in turn caused by the demographic consequences of the Black Death and subsequent outbreaks of the plague.^[2] The rebellion started in Kent and Essex in late May, and on June 12, bands of rebellious peasants had gathered at Blackheath near London under the leaders Wat Tyler, John Ball and Jack Straw. John of Gaunt's Savoy Palace had been burnt down, and both the chancellor, Archbishop Simon Sudbury, and the treasurer, Robert Hales, had been killed.^[10] Their demands included the complete abolition of serfdom.^[11] The king, meanwhile, was ensconced in the Tower with his councillors. It was agreed upon that the government did not have the forces to disperse the rebels, and that the only feasible option was to negotiate.^[12]

It is unclear how much Richard himself, still only fourteen years old, was involved in these deliberations, though it has been suggested that he was among the proponents of negotiations.^[2] At any rate, the king set out from the Tower by river on 13 June, though when he reached Greenwich it proved impossible to land, and the barge had to return.^[13] The next day, Friday 14 June, he set out by horse and met the rebels at Mile End.^[14] The king agreed to the rebels demands, but this move only emboldened the rebels, who continued their looting and killings.^[15] The next day Richard again met with Wat Tyler at Smithfield, and reiterated that the demands should be met, but the rebel leader was not placated. The king's men became restive, an altercation broke out and William Walworth, the mayor of London, pulled Tyler down from his horse and killed him.^[16] The situation became tense once the rebels realised what had happened, but the king acted with calm and resolution, and with the words "I am your captain, follow me!" he led the mob away from the scene.^[b] Walworth meanwhile gathered a force to surround the peasant army, the king granted clemency and allowed the rebels to disperse and return to their homes.^[17]

The king soon revoked the charters of freedom and pardon that he had granted, and as disturbances continued in other parts of the country, he personally went into Essex to suppress the rebellion. On 28 June at Billericay he effectively ended the Peasants' Revolt.^[11] Richard had, in spite of his young age, shown great personal qualities in his handling of the rebellion. It is likely, though, that the events impressed upon him the dangers of disobedience and threats to royal authority, and helped shape the absolutist attitudes to kingship that would later prove fatal to his reign.^[2]

Coming of age

It is only with the Peasants' Revolt that Richard starts to emerge clearly as a historical figure.^[18] One of his first significant acts after the rebellion was his marriage to Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV, king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, on 20 January 1382.^[19] The marriage had diplomatic significance; in the division of Europe caused by the Great Schism, Bohemia and the Empire were seen as potential allies against France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War.^[c] The union, however, was not widely popular in England. In spite of great sums of money awarded to the Empire, the alliance never gave any results.^[20] The marriage was also childless by the time that Anne died in 1394.^[21]

A man central to the negotiations behind the marriage had been Michael de la Pole.^[2] De la Pole had Richard's confidence, and he gradually took on a more central position at court as the king came of age, and became more involved in government.^[22] De la Pole came from an upstart merchant family, and when Richard made him chancellor in 1383, and created him earl of Suffolk two years later, this provoked the hostility of the more established nobility.^[23] Another member of the close circle around the king was Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who in this period emerged as the king's absolute favourite. De Vere's family, while ancient, was relatively modest in the peerage of England.^[24] Richard's close friendship to de Vere also caused displeasure, exacerbated by the earl's elevation to duke of Ireland in 1386.^[25] It was indeed suggested, by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham, that the relationship between the king and de Vere was of a homosexual nature.^[26]

The tensions came to a head over the situation in France. While the court party preferred negotiations, Gaunt and Buckingham urged a large-scale campaign to protect the English possessions.^[2] Instead, a so-called crusade led by the bishop of Norwich was dispatched, which failed miserably.^[2] Faced with failure on the continent, Richard instead turned his attention towards France's ally Scotland. In 1385, the king himself led an expedition to the north, but the effort came to nothing, and the army had to return without ever engaging the Scots in battle.^[27] Meanwhile, only an uprising in Ghent prevented a French invasion of southern England.^[28] The relationship between Richard and his uncle deteriorated further with military failure, and among rumours of a plot against his person, John of Gaunt left England to pursue his claim to the throne of Castille in 1386.^[2] With Gaunt gone, the leadership of the dissent against the king and his courtiers passed to Thomas of Woodstock and Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel.^[2]

First crisis of 1386–8

The threat of a French invasion did not subside, but rather grew stronger into 1386.^[2] At the parliament of October that year, Michael de la Pole, in his capacity of chancellor, requested taxation of an unprecedented level for the defence of the realm.^[29] Rather than consenting, parliament responded by refusing to treat any request before the chancellor had been removed.^[30] It must be assumed that this congregation, which has later become known as the Wonderful Parliament, was working with the support of Gloucester and Arundel.^[2] The king famously responded that he would not dismiss as much as a scullion from his kitchen at parliament's request.^[31] Only when threatened with deposition was Richard forced to give in, and let de la Pole go.^[32] A commission was set up to review and control royal finances for a year.^[33]

Richard was deeply perturbed by this affront on his royal prerogative, and from February to November 1387 set about on a 'gyration' of the country to muster support for his cause.^[34] By installing de Vere as justice of Chester, he began the work of creating a loyal military power base in that county.^[35] Furthermore, he assured legal backing from Chief Justice Robert Tresilian that parliament's conduct had been both unlawful and treasonable.^[36]

Richard now had no choice but to comply, and at the Merciless Parliament in February 1388, Brembre and Tresilian were condemned and executed, while de Vere and de la Pole – who had by now also left the country^[38] – were sentenced to death in absentia.^[40] The proceedings went further to also include a number of Richard's chamber knights, who were also executed.^[41] The appellants had now succeeded completely in their effort to break up the circle of favourites around the king.^[2]

A fragile peace

In the months after the Merciless Parliament Richard gradually managed to re-establish royal authority, thanks to several factors. First of all, the Lords Appellant's aggressive foreign policy failed, when their efforts to build a wide, anti-French coalition came to nothing, and the north of England fell victim to a Scottish incursion.^[42] Secondly, Richard was now over twenty-one years old, and could with confidence claim the right to govern in his own name.^[43] Lastly, in 1389 John of Gaunt returned to England, and once he had settled his differences with the king, the old statesman acted as a modifying influence on English politics.^[44] On 3 May 1389, Richard assumed full control of government, claiming that the difficulties of the past years were due solely to bad councillors. He outlined a policy contrasting with that of the appellants, seeking peace and reconciliation with France, while promising at the same time that this would significantly lessen the burden of taxation on the people.^[43] For the next eight years Richard ruled peacefully, in reconciliation with his former adversaries.^[2] Still, as the events of 1397 would show, it is not to be assumed that he had entirely forgotten the indignities suffered during the last few years.^[45] In particular the execution of Simon de Burley, his former teacher, was an insult that was hard to forget.^[46]

With national stability secured, Richard set about on the task of negotiation a permanent peace with France. A proposal put forward in 1393 would greatly expand the territory of Aquitaine that was currently in the possession of the English crown. This plan, however, failed on the condition that the English king had to perform homage to the king of French – an unacceptable condition to the English public.^[47] Instead, a twenty-eight year truce was agreed upon in 1396.^[48] As part of the truce, Richard would marry Isabella, daughter of Charles VI of France. There were some misgivings about the marriage, however; since the princess was only seven years old, she was unlikely to produce an heir for many years (and obviously never did, as Richard would be dead within four years).^[49]

While seeking peace with France, Richard took a different approach to the situation in Ireland. The English lordships in Ireland were in danger of being entirely overrun, and the Anglo-Irish lords pleaded insistently for the king to intervene.^[50] In the autumn of 1394 Richard left for Ireland, where he remained until May 1395. His army, consisting of over 8,000 men, was the largest force brought to the island in the late Middle Ages.^[51] The expedition was a success, with some minor military victories and the submission of a number of Irish chieftains to English overlordship.^[52] The venture was one of the greater achievements of Richard's reign, and strengthened the king's support at home, but the consolidation of the English position in Ireland nevertheless proved short-lived.^[2]

Second crisis of 1397–9

In July 1397 Richard had Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick arrested. The motivation behind this action and its timing, are not entirely clear; even though one chronicle suggested a plot was being planned against the king, there is no evidence that this was the case.^[53] It is more likely Richard now simply felt strong enough to retaliate for the events of 1386–8, and eliminate a number of his potential enemies.^[54] At the parliament of September 1397, Arundel was put on charge first, and after a heated quarrel with the king, he was condemned and executed.^[55] As time came for Gloucester to be tried, the earl of Nottingham brought news that he was dead. Gloucester had been Nottingham's prisoner at Calais, and it is likely that he was killed on the king's order, to avoid the disgrace of executing a prince of the blood.^[56] Also Warwick was condemned to death, but his life was spared and he was instead exiled, as was Arundel's brother, Thomas Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury.^[57] Richard continued his persecution of adversaries in the localities. While recruiting retainers for himself in various counties, he prosecuted local men who had been loyal to the appellants. The fines levied on these men brought great revenues to the crown, but the legalities of the proceedings were questioned.^[2]

These actions were made possible primarily through the collusion of John of Gaunt, but also with the support of a number of men lifted to prominence by the king, and disparagingly referred to as Richard's 'duketti'.^[58] John and Thomas Holland, the king's half-brother and nephew, were promoted from earls of Huntingdon and Kent to dukes of Exeter and Surrey respectively. Among the other loyalist were John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, Edward, Earl of Rutland, John Montacute, Earl of Salisbury and Thomas Despenser.^[e] With the forfeited land of the convicted appellants, the king could now award these men with possessions to go with their titles.^[59]

In December 1397 discord broke out in the inner circles of court, when Henry, Earl of Derby (also called Henry of Bolingbroke) and Thomas de Mowbray – who had now been made Duke of Hereford and Duke of Norfolk respectively^[59] – became engaged in a quarrel. According to Hereford Norfolk had claimed that the two, as former Lords Appellant, were next in line for royal retribution. Norfolk vehemently denied the charges, that would have amounted to treason.^[60] It was agreed that the two should decide the matter by battle, but in the last instance Richard decided to exile the two dukes instead; Norfolk for life, Bolingbroke for ten years.^[61] On 3 February 1399, John of Gaunt died. Rather than allowing Bolingbroke to succeed, Richard extended his exile to life, and had him disinherited.^[62] The king felt safe from Henry, who was residing in Paris, since the French had little interest in any challenge to Richard and his peace policy.^[63] In May Richard left the country for another expedition in Ireland.^[64]

Deposition and death

In June 1399 the Louis, Duke of Orléans was in control of the court of the insane Charles VI of France, and Louis decided it opportune to let Henry leave for England.^[2] With a small group of men, Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire towards the end of June 1399.^[65] Men from all over the country soon rallied around the duke. Meeting with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, who had his own misgivings about the king, Bolingbroke insisted that his only object was regaining his patrimony, on which Percy took his word.^[66] The king had brought most of his household knights, and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, and Henry experienced little resistance. The duke of York, who was acting as keeper of the realm, had little choice but to side with Bolingbroke.^[67] Meanwhile, Richard was delayed in his return from Ireland, and did not land in Wales until 24 July.^[68] He made his way to Conwy, where on 12 August he met with the earl of Northumberland for negotiations.^[69] After surrendering, he was brought to London, and on 1 September he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.^[70]

Henry was by now fully determined to take the throne, but presenting a rationale for this action proved a dilemma.^[2] It was argued that Richard, through his tyranny and misgovernment, had rendered himself unworthy of being king.^[71] Henry, however, was not next in the line of succession; this was Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, who descended from Edward III's second son, Lionel of Antwerp, while Bolingbroke's father John of Gaunt was Edward's third son.^[72] The problem was solved by emphasising Henry's descent in a direct male line, whereas March's descent was through his grandmother.^[f] The official account of events claims that Richard voluntarily agreed to resign his crown to Henry on 29 September.^[73] Though this was most likely not the case, the parliament that met on 30 September accepted Richard's resignation. On 13 October Henry was crowned king, as King Henry IV.^[74]

The exact course of Richard's life after the deposition is unclear. He remained in the Tower until, shortly before the end of the year, he was brought north to Pontefract Castle.^[75] Though King Henry might have been amenable to let him live, this all changed when the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, Somerset and Rutland, and Thomas Despenser – all now demoted from the ranks they had been given by Richard – were revealed to plan the murder of the new king, and Richard's restoration.^[76] The plot, though averted, proved the dangers of allowing Richard to live. Though the date and manner of his death are unclear, it is believed that he starved to death in captivity on or around 14 February 1400.^[2] His body was displayed in the old St Paul's Cathedral on 17 February, and on 6 March he was buried in Kings Langley Church. Rumours that Richard was still alive persisted, but never gained much credence.^[77] Henry V – in an effort both to atone for his father's act, and to silence the rumours of Richard's survival – in 1413 decided to have the body moved to its final resting place in Westminster Abbey, where Richard himself had prepared an elaborate tomb.^[78]

Richard as a collector

Richard was a keen collector of precious objects. In 1398/9 they were recorded on a treasure roll, and the treasure roll has survived. It is now held at the British National Archives, Kew, London (reference TNA: PRO, E 101/411/9).

The roll lists 1,026 items of treasure, how much each item weighed, and how much it was worth. We learn, for example, that Richard had 11 gold crowns, 157 gold cups, and 320 precious religious objects including bells, chalices and reliquaries.

Each item also has a brief description. The only object listed on the roll that certainly survives is a crown now held in the Schatzkammer der Residenz, Munich. The roll describes the crown as "…set with eleven sapphires, thirty-three balas rubies, a hundred and thirty-two pearls, thirty-three diamonds, eight of them imitation gems".

Association with Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer served as a diplomat and Clerk of The King's Works for Richard II. Their relationship encompassed all of Richard's reign, and was apparently fruitful. In the decade before Chaucer's death, Richard granted him several gifts and annuities, including: 20 pounds a year for life in 1394, and 252 gallons of wine per year in 1397. Chaucer died on 25 October 1400.

Ancestors

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Arms

During his father's lifetime, as eldest son of the Prince of Wales, he bore the arms of the kingdom differentiated by a label argent of three points, the center point bearing a cross guiles. Upon his father's death, he became Prince of Wales and inherited the heir-apparent's differential, being a plain label argent of three points.^[79]. As king, he inherited the arms of the kingdom, and then, part-way through his reign, he altered those arms by impaling them with the mythical arms attributed to Edward the Confessor.

Contents

Early life