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On October 13 1399, Henry of Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV of England in Westminster Abbey a few weeks after deposing Richard II. From the article:
"Henry IV
1399-1413
Ancestry and Early Life
The future King Henry IV was born at Bolingbroke Castle in around April 1366, he was the son of John of Gaunt and Blanche Plantagenet, daughter and heiress of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, who was himself the descendant of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, the second son of Henry III. In common with his first cousin, Richard II, he therefore had a double Plantagenet descent.
The parents of Henry IV
John of Gaunt, Shakespeare's 'time honoured Lancaster' was the fourth son of Edward III . Henry's mother, Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster was a beautiful and gracious woman, much admired by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who dedicated his Book of the Duchess to her. She and Gaunt produced two other surviving children, Phillipa and Elizabeth.
John of Gaunt
Following the death of his mother, Henry's father remarried in political alliance with the Spanish Princess, Constanza, elder daughter of Pedro the Cruel of Castille, who held a claim to the throne of Castille, which John of Gaunt thereafter pursued. It was a loveless marriage, but nevertheless produced two children, a daughter Katherine, later to become Queen of Castille and a son, John, who died in infancy.
The young Bolingbroke was created a knight of the Garter by his grandfather, Edward III, on St.Georges Day 1377. At Richard II's coronation later that year, his seven year old cousin played a prominent part, holding the sword of mercy, Curtana. Henry grew to a short but stocky man with red-brown hair, a red beard and brown eyes. Courageous and energetic, in common with many of the Plantagenet family, he was fond of music and song.
Following his marriage to Constanza, his father's fate was inextricably interwoven with that of the Iberian peninsula. His sister Philippa of Lancaster became Queen of Portugal. His half-sister, Katherine Plantagenet, whom Henry never met, due to her dynastic marriage to Henry III of Castille, was Queen Consort of Castile. He also had four half-siblings by his father's marriage to his long term mistress, Katherine Swynford, whom John of Gaunt eventually married, resulting in their being declared legitimate by Richard II. His feelings toward Katherine Swynford, his second step-mother and the offspring of the marriage were mixed. He is recorded as disliking the fact that his former governess had taken his mother’s place. On his ascension to the throne, he revoked his half-brother, John Beaufort's marquessate, and barred the possibility of the Beauforts ever inheriting the throne, but showed favour to Thomas Swynford, Katherine's son by her first husband.
Henry of Bolingbroke was married in childhood to Mary de Bohun, the daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and in her right held that title. He was also held the Earldom of Derby.
Henry had supported his cousin Richard II against three of the Lords Appellant and accused the fifth Lord Appellant, Mowbray, of treason, A trial by combat was decided upon to settle the issue but Richard intervened, preventing the duel, and banishing Henry for ten years. He later confiscated his cousin's extensive estates and decreed the banishment should remain in force for life. On the death of his father in 1399, Henry landed at Ravenspur claiming he came to safeguard his inheritance, but actually came to take the throne from the cousin he now thoroughly detested.
Reign
Henry made the erroneous claim that his Lancastrian maternal ancestor, Edmund Crouchback, had been the elder son of Henry III, but had been overlooked because of his deformity in favour of Edward I. Richard met Henry's representatives at Conway Castle and was informed that if he restored Henry's estates and surrendered certain councillors for trial, he could remain in power. He agreed but was betrayed and instead of being returned to power found himself the inhabitant of a dungeon in the Tower.
A Parliament was called at the end of September, at which Henry claimed the throne. Richard was declared a tyrant and deposed. He was taken up to Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire and there it is certain, he met his end around the second week in February, 1400. His skeleton was examined in 1871 by Dean Stanley of Westminster but showed no marks of violence. Starvation was the most likely cause of death, although this has never been proven.
Evil omens were said to have marked the coronation ceremony of the new king on 13th October, one of his golden spurs fell off, whispered to be a sure sign of impending rebellion. He needed no such warnings to underline the weakness of his situation. Henry took as his second wife Joan of Navarre, the widow of John IV of Brittany and the daughter of Charles II of Navarre. They married in 1403, the new queen was never popular with the people or the aristocracy.
Owain Glyndwr
A rebellion of Richard's supporters arose after the new King's coronation. The Welsh, under their leader, Owain Glyndwr, also rose in revolt. In 1400, Glyndwr proclaimed himself the true Prince of Wales and captured Conway Castle. Two years later the Welsh took Henry's cousin, Edmund Mortimer prisoner. Mortimer, the Earl of March, was, by the strict laws of primogeniture, the true heir of Richard II, through his prior descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III, subsequently Henry was not in a hurry to secure his release.
Mortimer was supported by his brother-in-law, Henry Percy, known as Harry Hotspur who was married to his sister, Elizabeth Mortimer. Hotspur was the son of the Duke of Northumberland and a grandson of Mary Plantagenet, a granddaughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster by his wife Maud Chaworth. The impulsive and fiery Hotspur marched to meet the king's army, their forces clashed at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21st July 1403.
The Battle of Shrewsbury
As Hotspur and his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, along with their Scottish ally, Archibald, Earl of Douglas, advanced on Shrewsbury, the town was garrisoned by the king's eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales, the future Henry V. The king himself marched a force to intercept Harry Hotspur before he could join forces with Owain Glyndwr.
Battle of Shrewsbury
Henry IV arrived at Shrewsbury a short while before Hotspur on the 20th July, 1403. The following morning, ominously, Glyndwr had still not arrived with reinforcements, perhaps taken by surprise at the speed of the King's advance. The Royal army marched out of the town to meet the rebels at Haytely Field, about three miles from the centre of the town on the road to Whitchurch. Estimates regarding the sizes of the two armies vary widely, the King's army, which far outnumbered that of the rebels, is generally considered to be between 15,000 and 60,000 men, while the rebels numbered between 5,000 and 20,000.
Parleys were entered into, which failed to result in an acceptable agreement, rendering battle inevitable. By around the hour of noon the order for advance was given and battle commenced.
The assault was opened with a deadly exchange of arrows, a dread and whirring cacophony which resulted in many casualties on both sides. The Prince of Wales was wounded in the face with an arrow, but staunchly refused to retire from the field. When the two armies clashed, the larger Royal army began to gain the upper hand, although the Earl of Stafford, who lead the centre of the King's army was killed in the fighting. Harry Hotspur fell whilst leading a rash and impulsive charge, as a result of an arrow hitting his forehead, entering his brain.
Shrewsbury battlefield
Morale in the rebel army suffered as a result of Hotspur's death and as dusk began to fall on the battlefield, the rebels fled, resulting in a general rout. Huge casualties were suffered by both sides, mainly as the result of the use of the English longbow, which enabled archers to fire twelve arrows a minute. A contemporary wrote of the conflict-:
'A more stubborn fight, it is maintained by those who were present was never known. Very many of the combatants on both sides struggled with such obstinacy that when night came on they did not know which side had won: and they sank down in all directions a chance medley of weary, wounded, bruised and bleeding men.'
The body of Hotspur was recovered in the gathering twilight, the king is said to have wept over the body.. An eclipse of the moon that night cast an eerie blackness over the desolate field, which was littered with the dead and the dying.
Henry IV at first allowed Hotspur's body to be interred at Whitchurch. In response to rumours that he had survived the battle, his attitude hardened and he had it disinterred. Hotspur's body was set up in Shrewsbury, impaled on a spear between two millstones, and was later quartered, its parts dispatched to separate locations in the kingdom, his head impaled on a pike at the gates of York, a grim warning of the king's terrible retribution to others. The Earl of Worcester was taken alive but later beheaded and his head set up on a spike on London Bridge.
Battle of Shrewsbury
Battlefield Church, otherwise known as St. Mary Magdalene, was built in 1406 at the behest of King Henry, where daily masses where said for the souls of those who fell. Said to stand over the mass grave in which the many dead were buried, it is a commemorative monument, similar in sentiment to Battle Abbey in Sussex, built by Wiliam the Conqueror on the site of the Battle of Hastings.
Rebellion broke out again in Wales, headed by Owain Glyndwr, a man of charisma and great ability, who forged an alliance with the French. Henry of Monmouth, the English Prince of Wales, went on to subdue the country and Glyndwr went into hiding. Never captured, he mysteriously disappeared from the pages of history and became a national hero amongst the Welsh people. Nothing is recorded of him after 1412. Huge rewards were offered by the crown which failed to bring about his capture. Tradition states that he either died at his estate in Sycharth or on the estates of one of his daughters' husbands.
The Death of Henry IV
In the latter part of his reign Henry was struck by a disfiguring disease, which forced him to become a recluse. The Prince of Wales, who the king considered too eager to step into his shoes, was given control of the government along with a council.
The king's health steadily deteriorated, he contracted a form of skin disease, variously considered to be leprosy, syphilis or psoriasis. He is said to have developed a large tumour under his nose, while his body was covered in suppurating sores. The attacks he suffered from have been the subject of a wide range of theories which it is impossible to confirm, they range from epilepsy to a form of cardiovascular disease.
Henry suffered a seizure whilst praying at St. Edward's shrine at Westminster and was carried to the to the abbot's house. The first King of the House of Lancaster died on 20th of March 1413, aged forty-six, in the Jerusalem chamber at Westminster. During his lifetime it had been predicted that Henry would die in Jerusalem. The king himself took this to mean that he would die on Crusade.
He was not buried at Westminster, the traditional mausoleum of English kings, but at Canterbury Cathedral, in the Trinity Chapel, near to the shrine of Thomas A' Becket and opposite the tomb of the Black Prince. During Henry's reign, the cult of St. Thomas Becket was extremely popular and Henry was particularly devoted to Becket. His widow, Joan of Brittany, had an altar tomb built over the spot.
Queen Joan herself was later accused of necromancy by her step-son, Henry V and was imprisoned by him in Leeds Castle. Being released by Henry on his deathbed, she lived on until 1437, when she was laid to rest in the tomb of her husband in Canterbury Cathedral."
"Henry IV
1399-1413
Ancestry and Early Life
The future King Henry IV was born at Bolingbroke Castle in around April 1366, he was the son of John of Gaunt and Blanche Plantagenet, daughter and heiress of Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, who was himself the descendant of Edmund Crouchback, Earl of Lancaster, the second son of Henry III. In common with his first cousin, Richard II, he therefore had a double Plantagenet descent.
The parents of Henry IV
John of Gaunt, Shakespeare's 'time honoured Lancaster' was the fourth son of Edward III . Henry's mother, Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster was a beautiful and gracious woman, much admired by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who dedicated his Book of the Duchess to her. She and Gaunt produced two other surviving children, Phillipa and Elizabeth.
John of Gaunt
Following the death of his mother, Henry's father remarried in political alliance with the Spanish Princess, Constanza, elder daughter of Pedro the Cruel of Castille, who held a claim to the throne of Castille, which John of Gaunt thereafter pursued. It was a loveless marriage, but nevertheless produced two children, a daughter Katherine, later to become Queen of Castille and a son, John, who died in infancy.
The young Bolingbroke was created a knight of the Garter by his grandfather, Edward III, on St.Georges Day 1377. At Richard II's coronation later that year, his seven year old cousin played a prominent part, holding the sword of mercy, Curtana. Henry grew to a short but stocky man with red-brown hair, a red beard and brown eyes. Courageous and energetic, in common with many of the Plantagenet family, he was fond of music and song.
Following his marriage to Constanza, his father's fate was inextricably interwoven with that of the Iberian peninsula. His sister Philippa of Lancaster became Queen of Portugal. His half-sister, Katherine Plantagenet, whom Henry never met, due to her dynastic marriage to Henry III of Castille, was Queen Consort of Castile. He also had four half-siblings by his father's marriage to his long term mistress, Katherine Swynford, whom John of Gaunt eventually married, resulting in their being declared legitimate by Richard II. His feelings toward Katherine Swynford, his second step-mother and the offspring of the marriage were mixed. He is recorded as disliking the fact that his former governess had taken his mother’s place. On his ascension to the throne, he revoked his half-brother, John Beaufort's marquessate, and barred the possibility of the Beauforts ever inheriting the throne, but showed favour to Thomas Swynford, Katherine's son by her first husband.
Henry of Bolingbroke was married in childhood to Mary de Bohun, the daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and in her right held that title. He was also held the Earldom of Derby.
Henry had supported his cousin Richard II against three of the Lords Appellant and accused the fifth Lord Appellant, Mowbray, of treason, A trial by combat was decided upon to settle the issue but Richard intervened, preventing the duel, and banishing Henry for ten years. He later confiscated his cousin's extensive estates and decreed the banishment should remain in force for life. On the death of his father in 1399, Henry landed at Ravenspur claiming he came to safeguard his inheritance, but actually came to take the throne from the cousin he now thoroughly detested.
Reign
Henry made the erroneous claim that his Lancastrian maternal ancestor, Edmund Crouchback, had been the elder son of Henry III, but had been overlooked because of his deformity in favour of Edward I. Richard met Henry's representatives at Conway Castle and was informed that if he restored Henry's estates and surrendered certain councillors for trial, he could remain in power. He agreed but was betrayed and instead of being returned to power found himself the inhabitant of a dungeon in the Tower.
A Parliament was called at the end of September, at which Henry claimed the throne. Richard was declared a tyrant and deposed. He was taken up to Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire and there it is certain, he met his end around the second week in February, 1400. His skeleton was examined in 1871 by Dean Stanley of Westminster but showed no marks of violence. Starvation was the most likely cause of death, although this has never been proven.
Evil omens were said to have marked the coronation ceremony of the new king on 13th October, one of his golden spurs fell off, whispered to be a sure sign of impending rebellion. He needed no such warnings to underline the weakness of his situation. Henry took as his second wife Joan of Navarre, the widow of John IV of Brittany and the daughter of Charles II of Navarre. They married in 1403, the new queen was never popular with the people or the aristocracy.
Owain Glyndwr
A rebellion of Richard's supporters arose after the new King's coronation. The Welsh, under their leader, Owain Glyndwr, also rose in revolt. In 1400, Glyndwr proclaimed himself the true Prince of Wales and captured Conway Castle. Two years later the Welsh took Henry's cousin, Edmund Mortimer prisoner. Mortimer, the Earl of March, was, by the strict laws of primogeniture, the true heir of Richard II, through his prior descent from Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence, the third son of Edward III, subsequently Henry was not in a hurry to secure his release.
Mortimer was supported by his brother-in-law, Henry Percy, known as Harry Hotspur who was married to his sister, Elizabeth Mortimer. Hotspur was the son of the Duke of Northumberland and a grandson of Mary Plantagenet, a granddaughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster by his wife Maud Chaworth. The impulsive and fiery Hotspur marched to meet the king's army, their forces clashed at the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21st July 1403.
The Battle of Shrewsbury
As Hotspur and his uncle, Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, along with their Scottish ally, Archibald, Earl of Douglas, advanced on Shrewsbury, the town was garrisoned by the king's eldest son, Henry, Prince of Wales, the future Henry V. The king himself marched a force to intercept Harry Hotspur before he could join forces with Owain Glyndwr.
Battle of Shrewsbury
Henry IV arrived at Shrewsbury a short while before Hotspur on the 20th July, 1403. The following morning, ominously, Glyndwr had still not arrived with reinforcements, perhaps taken by surprise at the speed of the King's advance. The Royal army marched out of the town to meet the rebels at Haytely Field, about three miles from the centre of the town on the road to Whitchurch. Estimates regarding the sizes of the two armies vary widely, the King's army, which far outnumbered that of the rebels, is generally considered to be between 15,000 and 60,000 men, while the rebels numbered between 5,000 and 20,000.
Parleys were entered into, which failed to result in an acceptable agreement, rendering battle inevitable. By around the hour of noon the order for advance was given and battle commenced.
The assault was opened with a deadly exchange of arrows, a dread and whirring cacophony which resulted in many casualties on both sides. The Prince of Wales was wounded in the face with an arrow, but staunchly refused to retire from the field. When the two armies clashed, the larger Royal army began to gain the upper hand, although the Earl of Stafford, who lead the centre of the King's army was killed in the fighting. Harry Hotspur fell whilst leading a rash and impulsive charge, as a result of an arrow hitting his forehead, entering his brain.
Shrewsbury battlefield
Morale in the rebel army suffered as a result of Hotspur's death and as dusk began to fall on the battlefield, the rebels fled, resulting in a general rout. Huge casualties were suffered by both sides, mainly as the result of the use of the English longbow, which enabled archers to fire twelve arrows a minute. A contemporary wrote of the conflict-:
'A more stubborn fight, it is maintained by those who were present was never known. Very many of the combatants on both sides struggled with such obstinacy that when night came on they did not know which side had won: and they sank down in all directions a chance medley of weary, wounded, bruised and bleeding men.'
The body of Hotspur was recovered in the gathering twilight, the king is said to have wept over the body.. An eclipse of the moon that night cast an eerie blackness over the desolate field, which was littered with the dead and the dying.
Henry IV at first allowed Hotspur's body to be interred at Whitchurch. In response to rumours that he had survived the battle, his attitude hardened and he had it disinterred. Hotspur's body was set up in Shrewsbury, impaled on a spear between two millstones, and was later quartered, its parts dispatched to separate locations in the kingdom, his head impaled on a pike at the gates of York, a grim warning of the king's terrible retribution to others. The Earl of Worcester was taken alive but later beheaded and his head set up on a spike on London Bridge.
Battle of Shrewsbury
Battlefield Church, otherwise known as St. Mary Magdalene, was built in 1406 at the behest of King Henry, where daily masses where said for the souls of those who fell. Said to stand over the mass grave in which the many dead were buried, it is a commemorative monument, similar in sentiment to Battle Abbey in Sussex, built by Wiliam the Conqueror on the site of the Battle of Hastings.
Rebellion broke out again in Wales, headed by Owain Glyndwr, a man of charisma and great ability, who forged an alliance with the French. Henry of Monmouth, the English Prince of Wales, went on to subdue the country and Glyndwr went into hiding. Never captured, he mysteriously disappeared from the pages of history and became a national hero amongst the Welsh people. Nothing is recorded of him after 1412. Huge rewards were offered by the crown which failed to bring about his capture. Tradition states that he either died at his estate in Sycharth or on the estates of one of his daughters' husbands.
The Death of Henry IV
In the latter part of his reign Henry was struck by a disfiguring disease, which forced him to become a recluse. The Prince of Wales, who the king considered too eager to step into his shoes, was given control of the government along with a council.
The king's health steadily deteriorated, he contracted a form of skin disease, variously considered to be leprosy, syphilis or psoriasis. He is said to have developed a large tumour under his nose, while his body was covered in suppurating sores. The attacks he suffered from have been the subject of a wide range of theories which it is impossible to confirm, they range from epilepsy to a form of cardiovascular disease.
Henry suffered a seizure whilst praying at St. Edward's shrine at Westminster and was carried to the to the abbot's house. The first King of the House of Lancaster died on 20th of March 1413, aged forty-six, in the Jerusalem chamber at Westminster. During his lifetime it had been predicted that Henry would die in Jerusalem. The king himself took this to mean that he would die on Crusade.
He was not buried at Westminster, the traditional mausoleum of English kings, but at Canterbury Cathedral, in the Trinity Chapel, near to the shrine of Thomas A' Becket and opposite the tomb of the Black Prince. During Henry's reign, the cult of St. Thomas Becket was extremely popular and Henry was particularly devoted to Becket. His widow, Joan of Brittany, had an altar tomb built over the spot.
Queen Joan herself was later accused of necromancy by her step-son, Henry V and was imprisoned by him in Leeds Castle. Being released by Henry on his deathbed, she lived on until 1437, when she was laid to rest in the tomb of her husband in Canterbury Cathedral."
Henry IV
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Kings and Queens of England: Henry IV
Henry IV from the Kings and Queens of England ITV documentary hosted by Alan Ereira. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own the footage, this video is for entertain...
Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on October 13 1399, Henry of Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV of England in Westminster Abbey a few weeks after deposing Richard II.
Kings and Queens of England: Henry IV
Henry IV from the Kings and Queens of England ITV documentary hosted by Alan Ereira.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDy0zWQ64Ts
Images:
1. King Henry IV © National Portrait Gallery, London by Unknown artist, oil on panel, late 16th or early 17th century
2. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
3. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles.
4. Anonymous verse on King Henry IV
Background from {[https://www.ancient.eu/Henry_IV_of_England/]}
Henry IV of England
Definition 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.
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).
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."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see) LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi
Kings and Queens of England: Henry IV
Henry IV from the Kings and Queens of England ITV documentary hosted by Alan Ereira.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDy0zWQ64Ts
Images:
1. King Henry IV © National Portrait Gallery, London by Unknown artist, oil on panel, late 16th or early 17th century
2. King Richard II surrenders the British crown to his cousin King Henry IV
3. The Coronation of Henry IV of England. From a 15th-century manuscript of Jean Froissart's Chronicles.
4. Anonymous verse on King Henry IV
Background from {[https://www.ancient.eu/Henry_IV_of_England/]}
Henry IV of England
Definition 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.
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).
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."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Michael Duricko, Ph.D GySgt Thomas Vick MSG Felipe De Leon Brown SGT Denny Espinosa SSG Stephen Rogerson SPC Matthew Lamb LTC (Join to see) LTC Greg Henning Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Maj Kim Patterson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO2 (Join to see) SSG Franklin Briant SPC Woody Bullard TSgt David L. MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi
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LTC Stephen F.
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...
Blake Ritson | Henry Bolingbroke | Richard II - And All Our Dreams Will End in Death | BBC Radio 4
"by Mike Walker. Inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. Richard II, having proved his mettle in quelling the Peasants' Revolt, disappoints his courtiers as he pursues peace and culture as an alternative to fighting and swiving.
Richard II ..... Patrick Kennedy
Henry Bolingbroke ..... Blake Ritson
Queen Ann ..... Alex Tregear
Gloucester ..... Peter Polycarpou
John of Gaunt ..... Sean Baker
DeVere ..... James Lailey
Burley ..... Stuart McLoughlin
Tyler ..... Simon Bubb
Walworth ..... Daniel Rabin
John Ball ..... Jonathan Forbes
Joan ..... Claire Harry
Welshman ..... Alun Raglan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79ftvPu260
Images:
1. Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript, British Library,
2. The Entry of Richard II & Henry Bolingbroke into London
3. Joanna of Navarre, Queen to Henry IV of England
4. Tomb of King Henry IV of England and Queen Joan of Navarre at Canterbury Cathedral
Background from {[http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/henry4.htm]
Henry IV of England
HENRY IV, King of England, son of John of Gaunt, by Blanche, daughter of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, was born on the 3rd of April 1367, at Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire.
As early as 1377 he is styled Earl of Derby, and in 1380 he married Mary de Bohun (d.1394), one of the co-heiresses of the last Earl of Hereford. In 1387 he supported his uncle Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, in his armed opposition to Richard II and his favourites. Afterwards, probably through his father's influence, he changed sides. He was already distinguished for his knightly prowess, and for some years devoted himself to adventure. He thought of going on the crusade to Barbary; but instead, in July 1390, went to serve with the Teutonic knights in Lithuania.
He came home in the following spring, but next year went again to Prussia, whence he journeyed by way of Venice to Cyprus and Jerusalem. After his return to England he sided with his father and the king against Gloucester, and in 1397 was made Duke of Hereford. In January 1398 he quarrelled with the Duke of Norfolk, who charged him with treason. The dispute was to have been decided in the lists at Coventry in September; but at the last moment Richard intervened and banished them both. When John of Gaunt died in February 1399 Richard, contrary to his promise, confiscated the estates of Lancaster. Henry then felt himself free, and made friends with the exiled Arundels.
Early in July, whilst Richard was absent in Ireland, he landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire. He was at once joined by the Percies; and Richard, abandoned by his friends, surrendered at Flint on the 19th of August. In the parliament, which assembled on the 30th of September, Richard was forced to abdicate. Henry then made his claim as coming by right line of blood from King Henry III, and through his right to recover the realm which was in point to be undone for default of governance and good law. Parliament formally accepted him, and thus Henry became king, "not so much by title of blood as by popular election" (Capgrave).
The new dynasty had consequently a constitutional basis. With this Henry's own political sympathies well accorded. But though the revolution of 1399 was popular in form, its success was due to an oligarchical faction. From the start Henry was embarrassed by the power and pretensions of the Percies. Nor was his hereditary title so good as that of the Mortimers. To domestic troubles was added the complication of disputes with Scotland and France. The first danger came from the friends of Richard, who plotted prematurely, and were crushed in January 1400. During the summer of 1400 Henry made a not over-successful expedition to Scotland. The French court would not accept his overtures, and it was only in the summer of 1401 that a truce was patched up by the restoration of Richard's child-queen, Isabella of Valois.
Meantime a more serious trouble had arisen through the outbreak of the Welsh revolt under Owen Glendower. In 1400 and again in each of the two following autumns Henry invaded Wales in vain. The success of the Percies over the Scots at Homildon Hill (Sept. 1402) was no advantage. Henry Percy (Hotspur) and his father, the Earl of Northumberland, thought their services ill-requited, and finally made common cause with the partisans of Mortimer and the Welsh. The plot was frustrated by Hotspur's defeat at Shrewsbury (21st of July 1403); and Northumberland for the time submitted. Henry had, however, no one on whom he could rely outside his own family, except Archbishop Arundel. The Welsh were unsubdued; the French were plundering the southern coast; Northumberland was fomenting trouble in the north.
The crisis came in 1405. A plot to carry off the young Mortimers was defeated; but Mowbray, the Earl Marshal, who had been privy to it, raised a rebellion in the north supported by Archbishop Scrope of York. Mowbray and Scrope were taken and beheaded; Northumberland escaped into Scotland. For the execution of the archbishop Henry was personally responsible, and he could never free himself from its odium. Popular belief regarded his subsequent illness as a judgment for his impiety. Apart from ill-health and unpopularity Henry had succeeded — relations with Scotland were secured by the capture of James, the heir to the crown; Northumberland was at last crushed at Bramham Moor (Feb. 1408); and a little later the Welsh revolt was mastered.
Henry, stricken with sore disease, was unable to reap the advantage. His necessities had all along enabled the Commons to extort concessions in parliament, until in 1406 he was forced to nominate a council and govern by its advice. However, with Archbishop Arundel as his chancellor, Henry still controlled the government. But in January 1410 Arundel had to give way to the king's half-brother, Thomas Beaufort. Beaufort and his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester, were opposed to Arundel and supported by the Prince of Wales [later Henry V]. For two years the real government rested with the prince and the council.
Under the prince's influence the English intervened in France in 1411 on the side of Burgundy. In this, and in some matters of home politics, the king disagreed with his ministers. There is good reason to suppose that the Beauforts had gone so far as to contemplate a forced abdication on the score of the king's ill-health. However, in November 1411 Henry showed that he was still capable of vigorous action by discharging the prince and his supporters. Arundel again became chancellor, and the king's second son, Thomas, took his brother's place. The change was further marked by the sending of an expedition to France in support of Orleans. But Henry's health was failing steadily. On the 20th of March 1413, whilst praying in Westminster Abbey he was seized with a fainting fit, and died that same evening in the Jerusalem Chamber. At the time he was believed to have been a leper, but as it would appear without sufficient reason.
As a young man Henry had been chivalrous and adventurous, and in politics anxious for good government and justice. As king the loss and failure of friends made him cautious, suspicious and cruel. The persecution of the Lollards, which began with the burning statute of 1401, may be accounted for by Henry's own orthodoxy, or by the influence of Archbishop Arundel, his one faithful friend. But that political Lollardry was strong is shown by the proposal in the parliament of 1410 for a wholesale confiscation of ecclesiastical property. Henry's faults may be excused by his difficulties. Throughout he was practical and steadfast, and he deserved credit for maintaining his principles as a constitutional ruler. So after all his troubles he founded his dynasty firmly, and passed on the crown to his son with a better title. He is buried under a fine tomb at Canterbury.
By Mary Bohun Henry had four sons: his successor Henry V, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, John, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; and two daughters, Blanche, who married Louis III, elector palatine of the Rhine, and Philippa, who married Eric XIII, King of Sweden. Henry's second wife was Joan, or Joanna, (c.1370-1437), daughter of Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, and widow of John IV or V, Duke of Brittany, who survived until July 1437. By her he had no children.
(Charles L. Kingsford)
CSM (Join to see)SSG Jeffrey LeakeCSM Bruce TregoSP5 Dennis LobergerSFC Bruce SmithSSG (Join to see)SPC Chris HallgrimsonMSG Glen MillerCWO3 Randy WestonSGT John Graham[~1651880-spc-kerry-good]SSG Samuel KermonSSG Robert Mark OdomCpl (Join to see)SSG Jimmy CernichSSG Robert Pratt SMSgt David A Asbury
"by Mike Walker. Inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles. Richard II, having proved his mettle in quelling the Peasants' Revolt, disappoints his courtiers as he pursues peace and culture as an alternative to fighting and swiving.
Richard II ..... Patrick Kennedy
Henry Bolingbroke ..... Blake Ritson
Queen Ann ..... Alex Tregear
Gloucester ..... Peter Polycarpou
John of Gaunt ..... Sean Baker
DeVere ..... James Lailey
Burley ..... Stuart McLoughlin
Tyler ..... Simon Bubb
Walworth ..... Daniel Rabin
John Ball ..... Jonathan Forbes
Joan ..... Claire Harry
Welshman ..... Alun Raglan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79ftvPu260
Images:
1. Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript, British Library,
2. The Entry of Richard II & Henry Bolingbroke into London
3. Joanna of Navarre, Queen to Henry IV of England
4. Tomb of King Henry IV of England and Queen Joan of Navarre at Canterbury Cathedral
Background from {[http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/henry4.htm]
Henry IV of England
HENRY IV, King of England, son of John of Gaunt, by Blanche, daughter of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, was born on the 3rd of April 1367, at Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire.
As early as 1377 he is styled Earl of Derby, and in 1380 he married Mary de Bohun (d.1394), one of the co-heiresses of the last Earl of Hereford. In 1387 he supported his uncle Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, in his armed opposition to Richard II and his favourites. Afterwards, probably through his father's influence, he changed sides. He was already distinguished for his knightly prowess, and for some years devoted himself to adventure. He thought of going on the crusade to Barbary; but instead, in July 1390, went to serve with the Teutonic knights in Lithuania.
He came home in the following spring, but next year went again to Prussia, whence he journeyed by way of Venice to Cyprus and Jerusalem. After his return to England he sided with his father and the king against Gloucester, and in 1397 was made Duke of Hereford. In January 1398 he quarrelled with the Duke of Norfolk, who charged him with treason. The dispute was to have been decided in the lists at Coventry in September; but at the last moment Richard intervened and banished them both. When John of Gaunt died in February 1399 Richard, contrary to his promise, confiscated the estates of Lancaster. Henry then felt himself free, and made friends with the exiled Arundels.
Early in July, whilst Richard was absent in Ireland, he landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire. He was at once joined by the Percies; and Richard, abandoned by his friends, surrendered at Flint on the 19th of August. In the parliament, which assembled on the 30th of September, Richard was forced to abdicate. Henry then made his claim as coming by right line of blood from King Henry III, and through his right to recover the realm which was in point to be undone for default of governance and good law. Parliament formally accepted him, and thus Henry became king, "not so much by title of blood as by popular election" (Capgrave).
The new dynasty had consequently a constitutional basis. With this Henry's own political sympathies well accorded. But though the revolution of 1399 was popular in form, its success was due to an oligarchical faction. From the start Henry was embarrassed by the power and pretensions of the Percies. Nor was his hereditary title so good as that of the Mortimers. To domestic troubles was added the complication of disputes with Scotland and France. The first danger came from the friends of Richard, who plotted prematurely, and were crushed in January 1400. During the summer of 1400 Henry made a not over-successful expedition to Scotland. The French court would not accept his overtures, and it was only in the summer of 1401 that a truce was patched up by the restoration of Richard's child-queen, Isabella of Valois.
Meantime a more serious trouble had arisen through the outbreak of the Welsh revolt under Owen Glendower. In 1400 and again in each of the two following autumns Henry invaded Wales in vain. The success of the Percies over the Scots at Homildon Hill (Sept. 1402) was no advantage. Henry Percy (Hotspur) and his father, the Earl of Northumberland, thought their services ill-requited, and finally made common cause with the partisans of Mortimer and the Welsh. The plot was frustrated by Hotspur's defeat at Shrewsbury (21st of July 1403); and Northumberland for the time submitted. Henry had, however, no one on whom he could rely outside his own family, except Archbishop Arundel. The Welsh were unsubdued; the French were plundering the southern coast; Northumberland was fomenting trouble in the north.
The crisis came in 1405. A plot to carry off the young Mortimers was defeated; but Mowbray, the Earl Marshal, who had been privy to it, raised a rebellion in the north supported by Archbishop Scrope of York. Mowbray and Scrope were taken and beheaded; Northumberland escaped into Scotland. For the execution of the archbishop Henry was personally responsible, and he could never free himself from its odium. Popular belief regarded his subsequent illness as a judgment for his impiety. Apart from ill-health and unpopularity Henry had succeeded — relations with Scotland were secured by the capture of James, the heir to the crown; Northumberland was at last crushed at Bramham Moor (Feb. 1408); and a little later the Welsh revolt was mastered.
Henry, stricken with sore disease, was unable to reap the advantage. His necessities had all along enabled the Commons to extort concessions in parliament, until in 1406 he was forced to nominate a council and govern by its advice. However, with Archbishop Arundel as his chancellor, Henry still controlled the government. But in January 1410 Arundel had to give way to the king's half-brother, Thomas Beaufort. Beaufort and his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester, were opposed to Arundel and supported by the Prince of Wales [later Henry V]. For two years the real government rested with the prince and the council.
Under the prince's influence the English intervened in France in 1411 on the side of Burgundy. In this, and in some matters of home politics, the king disagreed with his ministers. There is good reason to suppose that the Beauforts had gone so far as to contemplate a forced abdication on the score of the king's ill-health. However, in November 1411 Henry showed that he was still capable of vigorous action by discharging the prince and his supporters. Arundel again became chancellor, and the king's second son, Thomas, took his brother's place. The change was further marked by the sending of an expedition to France in support of Orleans. But Henry's health was failing steadily. On the 20th of March 1413, whilst praying in Westminster Abbey he was seized with a fainting fit, and died that same evening in the Jerusalem Chamber. At the time he was believed to have been a leper, but as it would appear without sufficient reason.
As a young man Henry had been chivalrous and adventurous, and in politics anxious for good government and justice. As king the loss and failure of friends made him cautious, suspicious and cruel. The persecution of the Lollards, which began with the burning statute of 1401, may be accounted for by Henry's own orthodoxy, or by the influence of Archbishop Arundel, his one faithful friend. But that political Lollardry was strong is shown by the proposal in the parliament of 1410 for a wholesale confiscation of ecclesiastical property. Henry's faults may be excused by his difficulties. Throughout he was practical and steadfast, and he deserved credit for maintaining his principles as a constitutional ruler. So after all his troubles he founded his dynasty firmly, and passed on the crown to his son with a better title. He is buried under a fine tomb at Canterbury.
By Mary Bohun Henry had four sons: his successor Henry V, Thomas, Duke of Clarence, John, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; and two daughters, Blanche, who married Louis III, elector palatine of the Rhine, and Philippa, who married Eric XIII, King of Sweden. Henry's second wife was Joan, or Joanna, (c.1370-1437), daughter of Charles the Bad, King of Navarre, and widow of John IV or V, Duke of Brittany, who survived until July 1437. By her he had no children.
(Charles L. Kingsford)
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