Category: Henry Bolingbroke (Henry IV)

Henry Percy is Betrayed

19/2/2019

18th February 1408 Knaresborough, Yorkshire.

In the first months of 1408 a 'great frost and ice' gripped England and a thick covering of snow had fallen, Henry IV was suffering from another attack of a skin disease that had been troubling him for a number of years, and a rebel force, headed by Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and the East Anglian baron Thomas Bardolf, was on the move

The winter was not a time when battles were fought in England, however, in the third week of February Henry Percy's army faced a royalist force at the Battle of Bramham on a moor just west of Tadcaster.

Henry Percy had long been a supporter of Henry Bolingbroke and his usurpation of the throne in 1399, and it was he who had arrested Richard II at Conway Castle, however, he changed his allegiance being in league with Welsh leader Owain Glyndwr and Edmund Mortimer with the aim to topple Henry's crown.

In this cause, Percy not only had the support of the men of Wales, his own northern forces, but he had been informed by John Skelton and Sir Thomas Rokeby, that both the men of Cumbria and Yorkshire would side with him, encouraged he made his way from Thirsk to meet with the army of Rokesby.

On the 18th February he approached Knaresborough he found that Rokeby was not waiting to join with him but was at the head of the kings forces and was holding the crossing of the River Nidd at Grimbald Bridge. Percy's and his men were forced to head towards Wetherby with Rokeby in pursuit.

Henry Percy had no option but to do battle, he would face Thomas Rokeby's force on high ground at Bramham Moor the following day.

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Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland

5/11/2017

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Henry Percy, first Earl of Northumberland was, according to Shakespeare:

"the ladder upon which the mounting Bolingbroke ascends the throne.”

This statement reflects the rise of the Percy family during the reign of Richard II and the subsequent usurpation of the throne by Henry Bolingbroke.

Henry Percy was born on this very day, the 10th November in 1341/2.

The first two decades of Percy's life were unremarkable, however the twenty years following his father's death lead Percy to great heights of power and influence, not only in his own stamping ground but in the country as a whole. Henry Percy headed a family that included his sons Henry 'Hotspur' and Thomas, all three were guardians of the English boarder with Scotland. As Lords of the North, and as the previous statement states, they were involved in the future Henry IV taking the crown of England. However, siding with Henry had its problems, and the Percy's would soon regret helping Bolingbroke take his seat on the throne of England.

We cannot think of the Percy family without considering the part they played in the Wars of the Roses. Many believe that the First Battle of St Albans, in 1455, was as much about the ongoing squabble between the Percy's and their nemesis the Neville's, as it was about the wider squabble, that of the House of York and Lancaster. It cannot be doubted that this battle, for the individual members of these two northern families, was very personal, each trying to destroy the other under the guise of a greater cause.

The origins of Percy/Neville squabble had it roots in land, or the loss of it, bitterness turned to anger, discussion to litigation, skirmishes into outright warfare that initiated 'the beginning of the greatest sorrows in England."

Henry Percy died a traitor at Bramham Moor, the last battle of the Percy's rebellion, on the 19 February 1408 and as was the norm for a traitor, his head was decapitated and sent to London, placed for all to see on London Bridge, it was reunited with his quartered remains and eventually buried in York Minster.

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The Usurpation of Richard II

27/9/2017

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The last years of Richard II's reign were dominated by a number of political crises, notably the Lords Appellant, however, a smaller but more far reaching issue was the fall out of the squabble between Henry of Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. The two men sought to resolve their differences in the form of a duel, but before it began Richard stepped in and banished Bolingbroke and exiled Mowbray. It was during Bolingbroke's banishment that his father, John of Gaunt died, and Richard proceeded to deprive Henry of the right to inherit his father's land, much angered, Henry returned to England and landed at Ravenspur in the summer of 1399.

Rory Kinnear as Henry of Bolingbroke in The Hollow Crown

Bolingbroke would get his revenge, Richard was made to surrender at Flint Castle on the 19th August and following his arrest was imprisoned in the Tower of London. It was there on the 29th of September, on a promise not to have him killed, Richard was forced to abdicate. Henry was clever, he knew that with throne of England unoccupied he was not guilty of usurpation with malice aforethought, the very next day Henry of Bolingbroke was proclaimed king of England.

In the official version of the events - the Records and Progress of 1399, it states that King Richard II had 'with a cheerful countenance' waved goodbye to the throne of England, I find it hard to believe that Richard II slapped Henry Bolingbroke on the back, placed the crown in his hands and said "there you go mate!"

Ben Whishaw as Richard II relinquishes the Crown to Rory Kinnear as Henry Bolingbroke

In an account of the proceedings, probably written by an eyewitness, it states that Richard's real response was that he 'that he would not do it under any circumstances; and he was greatly incensed, and declared that he would like to have it explained to him how it was that he could resign the crown,and to whom'. Even Shakespeare makes it clear what Richard really thought "Well we know no hand of blood and bone can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre unless he do profane, steal, or usurp"

However, regardless of who said what, thirty-three charges were brought against Richard II at Westminster and on the 30th of September, a gloating Thomas Arundel, who no doubt considered Richard's fall as payback for the execution of his brother few years earlier, informed those present that Parliament was dissolved and would reconvene with Henry Bolingbroke as King Henry IV on the 6th October.

Of course there are many who would argue that Richard II's deposition by Henry Bolingbroke was justified. However, the starving to death of an anointed king, in a dank dungeon of the bowels of a castle, I believe was murder. And just as Henry Tudor would do, nearly eighty five years in the future, Henry Bolingbroke would have to work hard to prove that he was the rightful king and not a usurper who had taken the throne illegally.

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Blanche of Lancaster

12/9/2017

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Blanche of Lancaster was just twenty-three when she died this day in 1368. She was the first wife of John of Gaunt the son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault.

Blanche is said to have died of the plague that had ravaged the country that year. This was the plague's third appearance since it first arrived on English shores twenty years earlier. The previous outbreak in 1361, according to Henry Knighton an Augustinian canon of the abbey of St Mary of the Meadows in Leicester, had

'a general mortality oppressed the people. It was called the second pestilence and both rich
and poor died, but especially young people and children.'

The Leicestershire outbreak cost Blanche's parents their lives. In Lincolnshire that year there was an outbreak in Louth, a town just fifteen miles north of Bolingbroke Castle, where Blanche had given birth to Henry, the future Henry IV.

By 1368 Blanche was weakened by childbirth and susceptible to infection, she was therefore 'ripe for the picking' so to speak.

Blanche had given birth to a daughter in 1368 who died as an infant, it is plausible that Blanche may have died in childbirth her poor body weakened from the years of constant pregnancy. She was married at twelve/thirteen, had her first baby nine months later and was pregnant with another child before her body had chance to recover from the last until the aforementioned daughter born in 1368. Blanche died in Staffordshire where there was a recorded outbreak in 1369 which may have taken the life of her last child, it is not unreasonable to suppose the 'black death' took poor Blanche too.

French author Jean Froissart wrote that Blanche was 'young and pretty' even Geoffrey Chaucer was so inspired by her beauty that he wrote of her in his work The Book of the Duchess.

Blanche's body was laid to rest in Old St Paul's Cathedral in London, where Gaunt later joined her. Their tomb was destroyed by fire when the cathedral burnt down in 1666.

Note: Blanche's maternal aunt was Eleanor of Lancaster. Eleanor's first husband, John de Beaumont was also Blanche's paternal uncle.
meanderingthroughtime.weebly.com/history-blog/eleanor-of-lancaster

Note: What is interesting is that both Blanche and Eleanor dates of death are one day off being exactly fifty years apart.

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The Death of Richard II

14/2/2016

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February 14th 1400 is traditionally thought to be the date of death of Richard II.

Many would argue that Richard's deposition by Henry Bolingbroke was justified, however his lonely death in a dungeon in the bowels of Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, supposedly by starvation, was murder. And just as Henry Tudor would do, nearly eighty five years in the future, Henry Bolingbroke would have to work hard to prove that he was the rightful king and not a usurper who had taken the throne illegally.

Richard II had inherited the throne of England at the age of ten. Four years later, in 1381, he successfully ended the Peasant Revolt, but followed this achievement with extravagances and favouritism, all of which alienated a number of high ranking lords.

One famous incident, which you could argue was the beginning of the end for Richard, was his actions when dealing with the famous duel (it didn't take place) between Henry of Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. Before it even began, Richard stepped in banishing Bolingbroke and exiling Mowbray. It was during his banishment that Bolingbroke's father died and Richard deprived him of the right to inherit his fathers land, much angered, Henry returned to England and landed atRavenspur in the summer of 1399.

At Flint Castle, Henry bullied Richard into abdication on the promise not to have him killed. How clever he was, Henry knew that with throne of England unoccupied he could claimed the throne of a deposed king and therefore he was not guilty of usurpation with malice aforethought.

By the February of 1400 Richard was a prisoner at Pontefract Castle.

According to John Leyland, the Tudor antiquarian, Pontefract's castle had, at one time, a two walled outer bailey, 'six roundells, three bigge and three small' that made up the the castle’s keep which measured 63-64 feet in diameter that had within one of them a "very frightful small dungeon.”

It was into one of these dungeons that Richard is said to have been thrown and abandoned. So much for Henry's promise at Flint Castle to spare Richard's life!

And so Henry Bolingbroke became Henry IV of England, and the House of Lancaster was born, but the problem of succession never went away and we all know what happened next.

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Henry Percy is Betrayed

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland

The Usurpation of Richard II

Blanche of Lancaster

The Death of Richard II

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