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The year 1397 was a turning point in Richard’s reign. He felt confident enough in the tactics he had used to get the lords out of the picture and he decided it was time to take it to the next level. Richard’s rule was reaching the pinnacle of tyranny at this point and he cared not what anybody else thought. He believed he was the divine ruler and as so he would do as he pleased.
In July 1397, Richard went on a vengeful mission to arrest and punish the senior members of the lords Appellant for usurping his royal authority from 1386 to 1388.1 The earl of Arundel was publicly beheaded. Thomas Arundel and Thomas Mortimer were banished from the kingdom. Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, died in custody while awaiting his trial. Then in September 1397, Richard called parliament to meet and it was during this session that the king declared he would grant pardons to all who had offended his majesty, for the sake of peace in England — all except for fifty men he listed out specifically. Then Richard revoked all laws and charters made since 1386, the year the lords Appellant were first appointed to guide Richard’s rule. In doing so he revoked the pardons which had been granted to the lords in previous years, including Henry Bolingbroke. Henry was now in serious danger and it wasn’t out of the question that he would end up exiled or even worse if he offended Richard in any way. Indeed, Richard didn’t have to wait long to find an event in which he could utilise to ruin his cousin Henry.
In December 1397, a seemingly innocent exchange between Henry and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, precipitated such an event.2 The two dukes’ courts were on the move and their trains passed each other on a road outside of London. They happened to be the two remaining dukes of the lords Appellant who had not been punished by Richard. As the two men chatted, Mowbray shared his belief that there was a plot afoot to take them both down. Henry told the story to his father, John of Gaunt, who in turn confronted Richard but was stunned to learn that Mowbray had been plotting a second assassination attempt on John’s life.
By late January 1398, John of Gaunt and Henry travelled to Shrewsbury to speak to King Richard about the Mowbray situation. Richard told Henry that he could not accuse Mowbray of an assassination attempt without putting it in writing and presenting the charges formally to parliament, so Henry did just that. At the next parliamentary meeting, Henry repeated what Mowbray had told him back on the road outside London: there was a plot afoot to kill Henry and Mowbray by the king himself.3 Mowbray denied the charges. Richard was shaken to hear the charges Henry laid out and he abruptly called parliament to a close.
After Henry and Mowbray were unable to reconcile, Richard declared that the matter must be solved by a duel.4 This was a bit unusual, there aren’t many cases in the medieval chronicles suggesting it was normal for two such high dukes to battle out their differences in combat. It, in fact, turned in to quite a spectacle as the men would settle their differences by jousting. The event was held at Coventry on 16 September 1398 and attracted thousands of people from all over England as well as France. As the two men spurred on their horses during their first pass on the lists, a yell to ‘Halt!’ stopped them before their lances met. It was King Richard who ordered the fight to end before it had even begun. The king retreated for a couple of hours and then sent one of his heralds to read a newly drafted royal declaration. The king ordered both Henry and Mowbray exiled from England: Henry for ten years and Mowbray for life.5 By 13 October, Henry was on a ship headed for France where he was to be hosted by King Charles VI.
Only two months into Henry’s exile, John of Gaunt fell seriously ill and lingered on his deathbed for nearly six weeks before dying on 3 February 1399.6 Richard did not allow Henry to return to England to attend his father’s funeral. In fact, with his uncle John out of the picture, Richard was ready to deliver the deathblow to his cousin Henry. Unprovoked, Richard announced on 18 March 1399 that all previous pardons issued to Henry were revoked and that the entire Lancastrian inheritance would revert to the king. He also extended Henry’s banishment from ten years to life.7
This was an absolutely devastating outcome for Henry, it was the worst-case scenario. Everything had been taken away from him in the blink of an eye. With his father’s death, he was now the preeminent member of the Lancastrian family, yet he had no power, no lands, and no home. Henry had two choices: he could embrace the life of a royal exile, travelling around foreign royal courts, or he could make a bold move to reclaim his English lands and remove Richard from power. If Henry’s father John of Gaunt would have been alive at the time of his exile, Henry could have lived a quiet life outside England while John would have undoubtedly worked towards renewing royal favour for his son. But with Gaunt no longer in the picture, Henry was free to make his own choice. His father had always held him back from confrontation but this time Henry Bolingbroke would take destiny into his own hands.
It was a matter of personal honour as a renowned chivalrous knight that one should defend himself when he was wronged. This was a common medieval attitude where honour meant everything. Henry was also set on defending Edward III’s Act of Entail and thought he would be setting things right. Richard had certainly wronged a number of powerful people in his twenty-two-year reign. Henry decided to recruit those noblemen who had suffered at Richard’s hand to join him in a rebellion. Henry also had on his side the people of England. Although he had never been given much power in government, his jousting and crusading exploits had earned him huge respect and admiration from the people. This was in complete opposition to Richard who was not well loved by anyone, except maybe his favourites.
While Henry brewed over his choices, Richard was about to make a fatal mistake. He pompously believed that Henry was out of the picture and would not seek retaliation, so turned all of his attention to another foe: Ireland. Immediately after levying the crushing punishment on Henry, Richard began planning an invasion of Ireland. England was technically the overlord of Ireland, but the unruly Irish people pushed back against English rule. For some reason, Richard chose this as the opportune time to lead an army north to Ireland, leaving most of England largely unprotected.8 Word of Richard’s movements reached Henry in France by mid-June 1399. If Henry was going to make an invasion attempt, now was the perfect time to do so while the king was away, but he would have to move fast.
Henry immediately sent out secret letters to his most trusted allies in England asking them to muster men in support of his invasion.9 He had no way of knowing whether they would show up once he arrived in England and unfurled his banners calling men to arms. There simply wasn’t enough time for the recipients to respond because Henry had to leave France immediately. The first recruit to Henry’s revolution was Thomas Arundel, the exiled archbishop of Canterbury. Next came Louis, the brother of the current king of France.
Within two weeks of learning that Richard was in Ireland, Henry set sail with a small force of loyal retainers. Henry spent some time sailing up and down the coast, spreading the word of his invasion and picking up supplies. He finally landed in the town of Ravenspur on 4 July 1399.10 Then his retinue rode about sixty kilometres west to Pontefract Castle in the Lancastrian heartlands where he could feel some measure of safety. Immediately after his arrival, his friends and colleagues came to join him at Pontefract, bringing with them thousands of men to fight for Henry’s cause.11 Henry was a famous knight, well-known throughout the realm and esteemed as just, pious, and brave. Men willingly flocked to his side to help take back the kingdom from the tyrannical Richard.
After circulating letters to local towns making his case against Richard II and inviting them to join him, Henry moved his army a few kilometres to Doncaster where he joined up with several other discontented English land magnates and their armies. It was there at Doncaster on 13 July 1399 that Henry swore to his followers the purpose of his mission: to take back his Lancastrian inheritance and set up a council to oversee Richard’s government.12 At this point in his journey, Henry did not plan on deposing Richard, or if he did, he did a good job keeping his intention secret.
For the next two weeks, Henry’s army travelled around England, gaining more men to his cause every day. They started south towards London but then changed course and went southwest instead for an especially important meeting. The king’s newly named heir Edmund, Duke of York, had been left back in England as regent while Richard was away in Ireland. Edmund knew full well of Henry’s activities in England but the old man delayed a response, preferring to instead hold four days of discussions with King Richard’s councillors in which they decided not to raise an army against Henry but to instead broker a deal. Henry arrived at Berkeley Castle on 27 July 1399 and held a meeting with his uncle Edmund. Henry pleaded his case and remarkably, Edmund who was supposed to be protecting the realm in Richard’s absence, agreed to let Henry go forth with his plans to depose Richard.13 He would not assist Henry but he would not stop him either.
When Richard received news of Henry’s activities, he immediately set sail for England and landed in Milford Haven, Wales on 24 July 1399. Their ships had been scattered and the royal army was seriously depleted. Richard marched his men to his stronghold of Carmarthen Castle where he had planned to set up his base of operations. As soon as Richard arrived at the castle, he received news of Edmund of York’s betrayal and decided to reverse course. Realising that his army could not put up a fight against Henry, Richard sent the earl of Salisbury north ahead of him to raise an army. On 31 July 1399, Richard snuck away from his army and fled north with just a dozen retainers. He arrived at Conway Castle on 6 August 1399 expecting to find reinforcements but was disappointed to find only around 100 men.14
With few options before him, Richard decided on diplomacy. He sent the dukes and earls of Exeter, Surrey, and Gloucester to Chester for negotiations with Henry. Immediately upon their arrival, Henry had them arrested. Then Henry sent the earl of Northumberland to Conway to come to terms with King Richard. Northumberland was steadfast that Richard must agree to three rules: that Henry’s ‘inheritance be restored to him; that a parliament be summoned over which he would preside as steward; and that five of the king’s councillors – the dukes of Exeter and Surrey, the earl of Salisbury, the bishop of Carlisle and Richard Maudeleyn – be put on trial for treason’.15
Richard took several days to consider Henry’s offer and finally decided to agree to his terms. After Northumberland departed Conway to give Henry the good news, Richard’s true intentions were revealed. He told his friends at Conway that Henry ‘will be put to bitter death for this outrage that he has done to us. Doubt not, there will be no parliament held at Westminster on this matter’ implying that Richard would find illegal means to rid himself of Henry.16 Northumberland promptly arrested Richard and held him prisoner at Flint Castle. Henry arrived at Flint immediately afterwards to confront his longest rival and cousin. Henry said that the commons had long been unhappy during Richard’s reign and that he, as the duke of Lancaster and next in line to the throne, would help him rule. Richard had little other choice than to agree to Henry’s demands.17
Henry and his men then took custody of Richard and started the long march towards London, over 350 kilometres away. Several times during the trip, Richard tried to escape, and so when they arrived in London on 30 August 1399, Richard was put in the Tower of London, the strongest fortress in the city.18 As Henry was paraded through the city as a hero, Richard heard the jeers and insults of his people as he shamefully made his walk to the Tower.
Now Henry and his councillors had to carefully decide what to do next. The king was safe in captivity and clearly would not be allowed to rule any longer. According to Edward III’s Act of Entail, Henry Bolingbroke was next in line to the throne. But if kings had the right to name their own successors, then Henry was not Richard’s heir. Richard had most recently named his aging uncle Edmund as his heir. Henry’s legal strategy was to return to the laws of Edward I’s reign (1272–1307) which said succession was to be through the king’s male heirs and could not pass through the female line. If Henry could get this ancient law reinstated in England, that would have made him Richard’s legal heir. Without it, the 8-year-old Edmund Mortimer would have been Richard’s heir since Mortimer’s mother was the daughter of Edward III’s second son, Lionel of Antwerp.
All legalities would have to be settled by parliament which was scheduled to meet at Westminster on 29 September 1399. Prior to parliament, Henry and his councillors held meetings with Richard in the Tower asking that he peacefully resign. Richard was livid and at first refused but then acquiesced as he saw no other choice.19 When parliament began, a lawyer read Richard’s resignation out loud and said that Richard wanted Henry to be his successor. Thomas Arundel, the former archbishop of Canterbury, stepped up and asked the crowd if they would take Henry as their king to which they responded with shouts of ‘yeahs!’20 Henry was led to the empty throne and he knelt, making the sign of the cross on his head and chest, symbolically becoming the new ruler of England. His official coronation was held two weeks later on 13 October 1399 at Westminster Abbey.
Former King Richard was kept a prisoner at the Lancastrian stronghold of Pontefract Castle until his death in February 1400. The exact cause of his death is not known but the story given by most chroniclers is that he was starved to death by his keepers. Henry worried his enemies would rally to Richard and attempt to take back the throne. In fact, a plot to kidnap Henry and his sons by one of Richard’s adherents was thwarted in December 1399. Henry knew there would be no peace in England while Richard was alive, so it is quite feasible Henry had Richard starved or abused in some way to bring about his death.