Figure 1.--This is the most famous image of Richard II as a boy. It is from the Wilton Diptych, a contemporary portable altarpiece with two panels. In the left panel (seen here) Richard as a boy of about 12 kneels before the Virgin and child amid angels (depicted in the facing right panel). The angels in the adjoining panel wear the livery of King Richard II, and one carries a white banner with a red cross which may be that of St. George, patron saint of England, or of Christ himself. Richard is presented to the Virgin Mary by three saints who stand behind the kneeling figure--St. Edmund, St. Edward the Confessor, and St. John the Baptist. Richard was particularly devoted to Our Lady and also to Edward the Confessor, his predecessor as king, at whose shrine he often prayed at times of crisis. Richard's symbolic emblem or badge (worn by the angels in the adjoining panel) was the white hart chained with a crown worn about his neck, also painted on the reverse of the right wing of the diptych and visible when the altarpiece was closed. The identity of the painter is unknown, but he is thought to be an Englishman contemporary with Richard II, although (because of the style) he is sometimes speculated to have been French since the rich colors (like those in manuscript illuminations) are rather like those of the most famous Book of Hours (Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry). The date of the painting is about 1395 only five years before Richard was deposed and murdered by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV. The Wilton Diptych is one of the great medieval masterpieces and one of the very few artistic treasures to survive from Richard's reign of 22 years at the end of the 14th century. It can be seen in the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London.

Richard II was born in 1367 at Bordeaux, Gascony, France. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales (1330- ). His mother was Plantagenet, Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent", Countess of Kent (1328- ). Richard became king at age 10 in 1377. As a young teenager he put down the Peasants Revolt generated by the the resistance of the yeoman class to give up the economic gains of the labor shortages created by the Plague. He married Anne of Bohemia (1382). He later married Isabella de France (1396- ). They had one child Richard Maudelyn. Struggles with the nobels in Parliamented resulted in Richards's murder in 1399, leading to the War of the Roses. He was deposed in 1399 and murdered in 1400 at Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire.

Parents

He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales (1330- ). His mother was Plantagenet, Joan "The Fair Maid of Kent", Countess of Kent (1328- ). Richard was the grandson of the martial king, Edward III, who is famous for his many victories in France. His father, Edward, the Black Prince, would have become king after Edward III but died before he could succeed to the throne.

The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)

Richard's father the Black Prince was a major figure in the Hundred Years War. Edward III initiated the Hundred Years War with France (1337). Edward with his many French possessions refused to do homage to King Philip VI of France. Edward had aclaim to the French crown through his mother. Hostilities erupted and cintinued over 100 years. The French suffered some serious defeats in the early years of the war, Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356). At Poitiers French King John the Good was captured by the English Black Prince Under Charles V the struggle became a war of attrition. He relied on Bertrand du Guesclin to engage the marauding Free Companies, marauding mercenaries. Charles V by his death had stabilized the struggle (1380). England's Richard II seeme willing to settle the differences. Charles VI's mental instability and feuding princes undermined the French position. John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, had the king's brother, Louis of Orleans murdered (1487). This left France deeply slipt between Armagnacs and Burgundians. Henry V seized the opportunity. The result was the most disastrous French military defeat until Napoleons defeat in Russia. Henry destroyed the cream of French nobility at Agincourt (1415). Henry forced Charles VI to acknowledge him as the legitimate heir to the French throne. France was split between the powerful John Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, Charles, son of Charles VI and Isabella of Bavaria. Gradually the Dauphin aided by the young peasant girl Joan of Arc built his power. He was crowned Charles VII at Reims, recaptured Paris, and recovered Normandy (1450). Charles then took Guienne (1453). With the the victory of Castillon, France had effectively defeated the English and united the country.

Childhood

Richard II was born in 1367 at Bordeaux, Gascony, France.

Education

The Plague

The medieval plague, commonly referred to as the Black Death, was the most cathestrophic epidemic in recorded history. The plague is believed to have been brought west from China. Europeans had no resistance to it in much the same way that smallpox brought by Europeans was to ravage Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries. The plague ravaged Europe from 1347-51. There were also serious subsequent oybreaks as well. The plague often killed whole families, in part because family members could not bring themselve to abandon each other. Villages were devistated. An estimated 1,000 villages were completely destroyed. The plague, however, had a profound impact on Europe beyond the incalcuable human pain and suffering of those affected. as strange as it may sound, the plague set in motion cultural and economic trends that played a major role in shaping modern Europe.

Accession

Richard inherited the throne at age 10 (1377). As a young teenager he put down the Peasants Revolt (1381). As a boy king, Richard was dominated by his uncles whom he resented, one of whom (Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester), Richard seems to have had murdered while imprisoned at Calais.

English Peasant Revolt (1381)

One of the best known peasant rebellions is the English Peasants' Revolt which challenged the youthful Richard II (1381). The uprising is notable as the first great popular rebellion since the Boutica Celtic rebellion againct the Romans. The rebellion was sparked by the imposition of the poll tax which was widely resented (1381). Even before this their was rising economic dicontent which had been grosing since mid-century. The rebellion was not just an upsrising as the destitute, but included the entire yeoman class. This included relatively successful artisans and "villeins". Even more important to agricultural workers as well as the urban working class was the Statute of Labourers (1351). This was an attempt by the landed aristocracy to place a limit on wages. The Plague had ravaged England. The huge death toll had crearted a massive labor shortage. The surviving workers with their labor in short supply, were demanding higher wages and had in fact made real economic gains. Kentish men, under Wat Tyler, marched on London and essentially seized control of the City, including the Tower. Perhaps the most famous incident early in Richard's reign occurred the next day. Richard rode out on horseback into the midst of a mob of rebellious peasants in Smithfield. After what had occured in London, his presence of mind is remarable, especially considering his age. ichard confronted the rebels. It looked like the rebels were going to overturn the establish social system in England. Here Tyler was killed, but Richard won control of the rebels and defused the threat with promiss. The rebellion was over in less than a monthla. It completely failed as a social revolution.

Marriage

Richard married Anne of Bohemia (1382). He later married Isabella de France (1396- ). They had one child Richard Maudelyn, although there is some controversy concerning this.

Parliament

Struggles with the nobels in Parliamented resulted in Richards's murder in 1399. This laid the foundation for the subsequent War of the Roses in the 15th century.

Shakespeare Play

Richard was well known for his lavish court and spendthrift ways, traits depicted in "Richard II," Shakespeare's famous tragedy of the king's fall (1595). The play depicts Richard as a devout believer in the divine right of kings, and although weak politically, gifted with great powers of rhetoric that ballance sophisticated wit against heart-rending pathos. He was a patron of the arts. The most famous poet at his court was Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of "The Canterbury Tales."

Death

Richard was deposed in 1399 and murdered in 1400 at Pontefract Castle, Yorkshire. Richard had banished his cousin Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke returned from exile while Richard was fighting a rebellion in Ireland, invaded the country, and managed to gather so much support during Richard's absence that the battle for the throne was virtually lost by the time Richard returned from his foreign war. Richard was captured by Bolingbroke's forces at Conway Castle in Wales, taken to London as a prisoner, and forced to abdicate after being imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was separated from his French wife, Isabella, daughter of the King of France, and sent to Pontefract Castle in the north of England (Yorkshire) where he was almost certainly killed by order of Henry IV. His young queen, Isabella (only a girl at the time but much loved by her husband) was sent back to France. Richard designated Mortimer, Earl of March, as his official heir, but Bolingbroke successfully claimed the throne as the son of John of Gaunt, a younger brother of the Black Prince and one of Richard's influential uncles.

Tomb

Richered is entombed in Westminster Abby. His tomb is situated at the back of the High Altar in the shrine of Edward the Confessor, one of Richard's favorite saints and with whom (together with St. Edmund and John the Baptist) he is represented in the Wilton Diptych. The effigy of Richard on his tomb shows the king wearing a cloak on which is emblazoned a sun piercing the clouds. The sun image (like the white hart shown on the Wilton Diptych) was one of Richard's official emblems, and Shakespeare makes great use of it in the imagery of his famous tragedy, "Richard II". It is not improbable that Shakespeare actually saw both the tomb and the coronation portrait in Westminster Abbey and was influenced by them when he came to compose his drama on the deposed king.

War of the Roses (1455-85)

The War of the roses was the dynastic struggle between the Lascaster and York families for possession of the English crown. The name of the War is derived from the symbols of the two family. The Lancaster symbol was the red rose and the York family the white rose. The Lacasterian Henry IV seized the crown after deposing Richard II (1399). Lancastrian Henry VI was a weak monarch, strongly influenced by his wife Margaret of Anjou. Other influential advisers were William de la Pole (Duke of Suffolk) and Edmund Beaufort (Duke od Sommerset). Richard Duke of York resented the Lacastrians and with coruption at court and losses in France, Richard became an increasingly popular figure. Suffolk was banished and then murdered (1450). During the King's insanity, Richard became Protector (1453-54). It is at this point that clashes between Lancastrians and Yorkists begin. ThecYorkists gain an important early victory at At Alnans (1455). After a period of inactivity, the Yorkists captured King Henry VI at the Battle of Norythampton (1460). Henry agreed to Richard's secession. Queen Margaret whose son would this be disinherited raised an army. Richard is killed at the battle of Wakefield (1460). Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick became the leader of the Yorkists. The Queen's Lacastrian Army defeated Warwick and recused King Henry. In the mean time Richard's son had entered London and was crowned Edward IV. Yorkist armies defeat the Queen's army and Margaret is forced to flee to France and Henry is imprisoned (1465). Warwick intreagues with the Duke of Clarance and is forced to flee to France (1470). Warwick reconciles with the Queen and returns to England, freeing Henry and restiring him to the throne. Edward obtains aid and regaind the throne (1471). Warwick is killed and Henry dies. Edward was succeded by his 12-year old son, Edward V (1483). Richard Duke of Glouster was thevboy's guardian. He has Edward and his younger brither imprisoned in the Tower of London where they were killed. Glouster installs himself as Rochard III. Henry Stafford Duke of Buckingham stages an unsuccessful rebellion (1483). Lanastrian leader Henry Tudor lands in England and defeats Richard at Bosworth Filed (1485). Henry becomes king as Henry VII and marries Edward VI's daughter, thus uniting the York and Lancaster families. The War of the Roses was a critical phase of English history. The nobility was so desimated by the many battles that they could no longer successfully contest control of the country with the monarchy. This along with the rise of the merchant class meant the end of Feudalism in England.

Created: May 2, 2004
Last updated: 9:02 AM 3/12/2009