The deposition of Richard II and the reasons for the deposition Actions of Richard and his opponents in Parliament.

1. England in the 15th Century
‘War of the Roses’
‘Hundred Years War’
End of the Middle Ages

2. Within the hollow crown that rounds the
mortal temples of a king keeps Death
Richard II

3. Today
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Overview of the course
Review of 14th century
Questions of succession
Why Richard II should be deposed?
Deposition of Richard II
– Dr. Jennifer Paxton
– William Shakespeare

4. 14th Century
1315 ‘Great famine’
1327 Deposition and abdication of Edward II
1338 Start of the Hundred Years War(s)
1348 Black Death
1378 Wyclif; The Western Schism
1381 Peasants’ Revolt

5. Valois and English Claims
Philip III (12701283)
Philip IV (12851314)
Louis X
(1314-16)
Joan
Philip V
(1316-22)
Charles V
(1322-28)
Charles of Valois
(d. 1325)
Isabella m.
Edward II
Edward III
Philip VI
(1328-1350)

6. 1337 Hundred Years War – Edward III 1360

7. Effects of Black Death

8. John Wyclif

9. Controversial Ideas
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Papal Taxation
Against clerical wealth
Against excess wealth of nobles
Against accepted view of transubstantiation in
the Eucharist

10. Property
• All gifts of God are common
• Private property a result of original sin
• Monarch given authority over property;
Church over the spiritual realm
• Corruption of Church from Gift of Constantine

11. “Trial of Wyclif AD 1377” Ford Madox Brown, 1886

12. Richard II
‘he liked to sit ostentatiously
from after dinner until vespers,
talking to no one but watching
everyone; and when his eye fell
on anyone, regardless of rank,
that person had to bend his knee
towards the king ...'

13. 1360 Hundred Years War – Edward III 1377

14. Peasants’ Revolt
1381

15. Richard II Meets the rebels

17. Long-term Causes of Unrest
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Demographic Changes
Labor laws
Social mobility
Distrust in lords and law
Proletarianization of clergy
Hundred Years War - failures

18. Impeachment of Michael de la Pole
• High crimes
– Dereliction of duties
– Loss of Ghent
Not guilty because he did
not bear sole
responsibility
• High misdemeanors
– Obtaining benefits from office
– Misappropriating funds
Guilty

19. Wilton Diptych 1395-99
Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child by St. John the Baptist,
Saints Edward the Confessor and Edmund

20. Wilton diptych, side panels

21. Richard’s Courtiers
They were "knights of Venus rather than knights
of Bellona, more valiant in the bedchamber than
on the field of war, armed with words instead of
weapons...”
Walsingham

22. On King Richard’s Ministers
Ther is a busch that is forgrowe;
Crop hit welle, and hold hit lowe,
Or elles hit wolle be wilde.

23. Extravagances of Richard II
Royal Palace at Sheen
1384 and 1388
• 2,000 painted tiles "for the King's bath,"
large bronze taps for hot and cold water,
• Fireplaces and personal latrines in all rooms

24. Personal dress and invention of Richard II
1388 Order for [a first]
“small pieces of linen made to be given to the lord
king for blowing and covering his nose.”
Tunic of pearls, other precious stones and gold
The doublet...was embroidered with gold orange
trees...and adorned with 100 oranges of silver
gilt, weighing 2 1b. 1/2 oz. Troy

25. Richard II – Treasure Roll
• Compiled for Henry IV to list
jewels and plate of Richard
and his queens
• 1206 entries
• 28 meters long
• Includes many objects
taken in 1397

26. Richard II receives
Isabella of Valois

27. Accusations against Richard
• Distributing possessions of the Crown to
unworthy persons
• Maintained a bodyguard of unruly and violent
Cheshiremen and ‘surrounded the parliament
with a great number of armed men and
archers whom he had gathered there for the
purpose of overawing the people

28. Accusations against Richard
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Interference in local elections
Failure to respect property rights
Inconsistent behavior leading to loss of trust
Seeking papal approval for his actions
‘He dissipated it [parliamentary grants
normally only given in time of war]
prodigiously upon the ostentation, pomp and
vainglory of his own person’

29. Accusations against Richard
• Allowed accusations by the ‘young, strong and
healthy’ against the ‘aged, impotent, lame or
infirm’ to be brought before the Court of
Chivalry where the only defense was by arms

30. Video
The Deposition of Richard II
Professor Jennifer Paxton
The people, "by ancient statute and recent
precedent,” had a remedy for royal wrongs.
Duke of Gloucester

31. Earl of Northumberland received by Richard at Conway

32. Northumberland swearing an oath on the sacred host that
Richard would remain king

33. Richard and Henry at Flint Castle