Richard II's Revenge Against The Lords Appellant

In 1397, rumours began to spread that Richard II of England was to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. The rumours were entirely false but were enough to inflate Richard’s already overgrown ego. His behaviour became increasingly obnoxious, forcing wealthy members of the nobility to lend him large sums of money. And he came down hard on those who had sought to keep him in check in the past. A decade earlier, the Lords Appellant had sought to clean up Richard’s government by removing his favourite, and corrupt, ministers. A lot of water had passed under the bridge since then but Richard was a man who held grudges. His own uncle, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester was imprisoned and then murdered. The Earl of Warwick was lured into a trap. Warwick was invited to a banquet and then arrested. The Earl of Arundel, Richard Fitzalan, was arrested and then beheaded Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray both banished into exile. These men who had tried to spare England from Richard’s tyranny now fell victim to it themselves.

It wouldn’t be long before Richard had his comeuppance. Henry Bolingbroke returned in 1399 to claim the inheritance of his father, John of Gaunt, that Richard had stolen. On his arrival in England, Henry found that appetite for change was in the air. And, so, from simply coming to claim the Duchy of Lancaster, Henry turned his eyes to a far bigger prize; the Crown of England. Richard had gone on campaign in Ireland which was either remarkably arrogant or downright stupidity (or perhaps both) as he left his kingdom vulnerable to the many enemies that he had made. And so Henry took his chance. 

Richard, on hearing of Henry’s arrival, crossed the Irish Sea in hope of recovering the situation. But, by the time he arrived in Wales, it was too late and he was captured in pitiful fashion. He was forced to abdicate at the Tower of London in 1399 before he was moved Northwards to Pontefract Castle, the former powerbase of John of Gaunt. Henry was crowned king and Richard died a miserable, lonely and starving man in early 1400 after a plot to restore him to power had failed.

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