Richard Ii: The Boy Who Would be King

Richard, confident that he had disposed of his enemies and that his throne was secure now embarked upon a military campaign in Ireland.  

Henry Bolingbroke, in the meantime, had no intention of merely accepting the ruin of his family. At the end of June, 1399, he landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire with just a handful of followers.  News of his arrival, however, saw the Nobility of England flock to his Standard.  

Richard’s campaign in Ireland had been as shambolic as every other he had ever embarked upon. He had taken too few troops to achieve the objectives he had set himself, and there was little plunder to be had, thus alienating even further the few friends he still had. Now he heard the news that Bolingbroke was back in England he hesitated. The delay was to prove fatal. By the time he arrived back in the country it had been lost to him. Bolingbroke’s progression south had met with no resistance. So much so that his ambitions now changed. He had merely wanted to take back his inheritance, now he would take the throne.

Upon his arrival back in England many of the knights who had accompanied Richard on his campaign to Ireland now deserted him. Richard now lost his nerve as a kind of fatalism overtook him. Instead of trying to rally support he disguised himself as a priest and with a couple of trusty retainers fled across country blaming everyone else for his woes as he went. But he had nowhere to flee to. Finally, on 19 August, he surrendered himself to Henry at Flint Castle.

What to do with the King, however, posed a problem. Henry did not want to be seen to have usurped the throne. Richard would have to be persuaded to relinquish it freely, and be seen to do so. Three times he was asked and three times he refused. Henry and Richard now entered negotiations, or a combination of negotiations and threats. On 29 September he bowed to the inevitable, and it was announced that Richard had agreed to abdicate the throne in favour of Henry Bolingbroke and would instead take the title of Richard of Bordeaux.

Henry knew, however, that as long as Richard lived he could never be secure on the throne. There were those who would never accept his right to succeed and Richard would always be in the background seen by many as the rightful King. Following his abdication he was transferred from the Tower of London to Pontefract Castle where he was starved to death.  The fact that there were no marks on his body meant that it could be put on public display thereby quashing any rumours that he was still alive. When his death was announced on 14 February, 1400, it was to great public mourning.

Henry Bolingbroke became King Henry IV but it was a reign blighted by rebellion and assassination attempts. There seemed to be few people he could trust and he was an insomniac with a bad conscience, haunted by what he had done. Following his death his son, Henry V, had Richard’s remains disinterred and reburied in Westminster Abbey.

The split in the Plantagenet family between the Houses of Lancaster and York became irreconcilable and was to result in the 30 year dynastic struggle known us as the War of the Roses. It was to conclude with the end of Plantagenet rule and an entire new dynasty – the Tudors.