Who is Richard II of England?

Richard II of England is King of England from 1377 to 1399.

How did Richard II of England die?

Richard II of England passed away in 1400 (malnutrition).

What is Richard II of England known for?

Richard II of England is primarily known as a(n) monarch.

Richard II of England

King of England from 1377 to 1399

Born:January 6, 1367

Died:February 14, 1400

Age at death:33

Manner of death:Homicide

Cause of death:Malnutrition

Zodiac Sign:Capricorn

Born in:Bordeaux, France

Buried in:United Kingdom

Languages:English

Monarch

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Awards

Order of the Garter

Richard II of England

King of England from 1377 to 1399

Biography

Richard II (6 January 1367 – c. 14 February 1400), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince and Joan of Kent. The Black Prince died in 1376, leaving Richard as heir apparent to his grandfather, King Edward III. Upon the King's death, the 10-year-old Richard succeeded to the throne. During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils influenced by Richard's uncles, John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. England faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War. A major challenge of the reign was the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, and the young king played a central part in the brutal suppression of this crisis. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative, Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated a refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure. His dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among the nobility, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant. By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, he took his revenge on the Appellants, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, the King disinherited Gaunt's son Henry Bolingbroke, who had previously been exiled. Henry invaded England in June 1399 with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, he deposed Richard and had himself crowned king as Henry IV. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate. Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare, whose play Richard II portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. Although probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed him to be, he may have had a personality disorder, particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Richard II of England”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Quotes

“Remark to the peasants at Smithfield, London, during the Peasants' Revolt, quoted in Gwilym Dodd, The Reign of Richard II (Tempus, 2000), p. 20”

Quotes sourced from the Wikiquote article "Richard II of England", available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Large version of Richard II Portrait.

Written at 9 of May of 1386, and ratified by Richard II of England at 24 of February of 1387 in Westminster, formalized the de facto alliance between Portugal and England.

TNA SC 8/20/998: petition of the Guild of Cordwainers, London, to the King and his Lords, c. 1388.

King Richard II's founding charter for Winchester College, 1382. Given at Westminster on 6 October 1382, it permits the foundation of the College. It grants one and a half acres of land with three acres of meadow in the Soke of Winchester for a College or House or Hall, with a place for a Warden and 70 poor scholars, to study grammar (Latin) to the wishes of Bishop William of Wykeham. It is sealed with the Great Seal of Richard II, attached by green and red silk cords.

Individual Item section of 1388 petition against Nicholas Exton

Identifier: rollcallofwestmi00smit (find matches) Title: The roll-call of Westminster Abbey Year: 1906 (1900s) Authors: Smith, A. Murray, Mrs Subjects: Westminster Abbey Publisher: London : Smith, Elder, & Co. Contributing Library: Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Digitizing Sponsor: Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: ng, thus dying beforetheir royal nephew, Henry of Lancasters accession. In herwill she desired to be buried in St. Edmunds Chapel, nearthe grave of her lord and husband, and ordered that mybody be covered with a black cloth with a white crossand an escutcheon of my arms in the middle of the saidcross, with four tapers round it and four full mortarsbeing at the four corners. In the same chapel two oftheir lineal descendants were interred. The one, MaryStafford (d. 1694), also lost her husband, William Howard,Viscount Stafford, by a violent death, for he was attaintedfor high treason under Charles II. and died on the scaffold,protesting his innocence to the last. The widow wasafterwards created a Countess in her own right, and herson received the Earldom of Stafford, but the title becameextinct after the death of the fourth Earl (1762) whosetablet disfigures the ancient wall arcading ; upon it arethe arms of his ancestor, Thomas of Woodstock. TheViscounts attainder was reversed in 1824. Text Appearing After Image: RICHARD II. AT WESTMINSTER 53 Richard II. was the first of our Kings who honoured hisfavourites by ordering their interment in the Abbey. Up tillnow only those connected with the monastery or with theroyal family had been buried here, but from this time weshall find that persons connected with the court were ad-mitted within these sacred precincts, apparently without anyopposition from the authorities, and as years went on anAbbey grave or monument became simply a question of thepayment of fees. Richards first experiment in this direc-tion was, however, an unfortunate one, and roused muchopposition in the shape of covert murmuring from thepopulace, and remonstrances from the Abbot and monks,whose scruples were overborne by gifts of money andvestments. This was the burial, within the Chapel of theKings, and close to Edward I., of Richards treasurer, Johnof Waltham (d. 1295), Bishop of Salisbury. The Kingcommemorated the Bishop by a fine brass, which representshim in his robes with mitr Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.