A battle between these two opposing sides did take place in 1387 but, for Richard at least, it was as an anticlimax.. The king had instructed one of his favourites, Robert de Vere, to ra
Trang 1also had a more practical purpose: to try to shore
up his support throughout the nation and ensure
that, if it came to it, plenty of nobles and barons
would offer him military support
A battle between these two opposing sides did
take place in 1387 but, for Richard at least, it was
as an anticlimax The king had instructed
one of his favourites, Robert de Vere,
to raise an army and come to his
aid, but this force was met by
men loyal to Parliament on
one of the bridges of the river
Thames in what is called the
Battle of Radcot Bridge; in truth,
it was barely a skirmish The
men who had been summoned
to Richard’s aid found they would
be unable to cross the bridge and
had no hope of winning against the
troops commanded by Henry Bolingbroke
(this would not be the last time that he played a
key role in Richard’s life) and so their options were
to surrender or flee The 16th Century chronicler
Raphael Holinshed wrote that only three people
were killed at the battle and de Vere escaped and
went into exile in France
The king now had no choice if he wanted
to keep his crown but to agree to Parliament’s
demands and it was around this time that Robert Tresilian, the chief justice, was found hiding in
a house in a ramshackle disguise and was taken
to be hanged Many of the king’s men were either killed or exiled as his circle of favourites was ruthlessly broken up in what was called the Merciless Parliament of 1388 Despite having his power base shattered, the authority the King of England wielded was still strong and when, in 1389, the steadying hand of John of Gaunt returned and Richard declared himself old enough to rule without advisors and secured a peace treaty with France, the signs were positive It looked as if the conflict that had disturbed the country could just be a blip in Richard’s rule, but this was a mere illusion – Richard believed that God had placed him on Earth to rule and he never forgot how Parliament had challenged his authority or executed and exiled his chosen men He would bide his time before he reminded them of the supreme authority
of the king
This fragile peace was built on a house of cards and by the end of the 1390s came crashing down
51
Richard II
Richard was born on the religious feast day
of Epiphany – thought
to be a good omen, so great things were expected of him
Henry Bolingbroke, the only son of John of Gaunt, returned to England in 1399 to claim the throne as Henry IV
Duelling for honour
Honour among knights and noblemen was extremely important and often the way that disputes wold be settled was by a duel In
1398 a remark made by Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV, was believed to have been treasonous by the Duke of Norfolk so the two agreed to a duel, but Henry was banished to France to avoid bloodshed
Life in the time
of Richard II
Two popes
In 1378 a papal schism began that would split the catholic church and see two rival popes; Urban VI in Rome and Clement VII in Avignon Both these popes were supported by different countries and the conflict was eventually resolved in 1418 with the Council of Constance which saw the election of Pope Martin V, although tensions continued afterwards
A peasant’s life
In England during the Middle Ages, most peasants held very few rights and lived in serfdom – this is where they worked a lord’s lands for the right of protection and to farm it themselves Following the Black Death, many peasants had been paid to work on the land and seen their status improved, but they were worried these new rights would be taken away and were prepared to fight to keep them
The Hundred Years’ War
This conflict, which actually lasted 116 years, began in 1337 when Edward III declared himself king of France Richard did not win any major battles in the conflict and the taxation required to pay for the war was one of the reasons for his unpopularity In 1396 he signed
a 28-year truce with Charles VI and married his seven-year old daughter to forge an alliance
Great men
While the king was the ultimate authority, during Richard II’s reign there were many great men who had considerable land, power and access to troops Five of these men – the Duke
of Gloucester and Earls of Arundel, Warwick, Derby and Mowbray – formed the Lords Appellant and effectively ruled England for a brief period in 1388
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