Richard II of England ^{1 2}

  General Notes:

His reign was marked by national disunity and civil strife.

A younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince), and Joan, called the Fair Maid of Kent, Richard was born January 6, 1367, in Bordeaux, France. He was created Prince of Wales in 1376, the year of his father's death, and was placed in the care of his uncle John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. In 1377, on the death of his grandfather, King Edward III, Richard became ruler of England, then a country devastated by plague and oppressed by heavy taxes, the result of a war with France. Parliament, which had obtained greater power in the last years of Edward III's reign, now sought to secure control of the government, but was opposed by John of Gaunt and his followers. The speedy suppression of Tyler's Rebellion in 1381 was largely the result of Richard's courage and daring. A year later, at the age of 15, Richard married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the Holy Roman emperor Charles IV, and began to seek the downfall of the great nobles who controlled Parliament and prevented him from acting independently. Led by Richard's uncle Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester, in 1388 a coterie of noblemen known in history as the lords appellant "appealed" or accused Richard's adherents of treason, banishing some and having others executed. The following year Richard, with the help of John of Gaunt, succeeded in asserting his authority.

Trying to reestablish English authority in Ireland, Richard led an expedition to the country in 1394; that same year his queen died. In 1396 a marriage treaty was concluded between Richard and a French princess, Isabella. In 1397 Richard had Gloucester arrested and imprisoned at Calais, where he died, perhaps murdered. He also exiled John of Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, duke of Hereford, who later became Richard's successor as Henry IV, and executed or banished others of the lords appellant. On his return from a second military expedition to Ireland in 1399 Richard found that Bolingbroke had returned from exile and placed himself at the head of a formidable army. Richard was captured by Bolingbroke in Wales and brought captive to London, where on September 30, 1399, he formally resigned his crown. On the following day his abdication was ratified by Parliament, which then confirmed Bolingbroke as King Henry IV. Richard was secretly confined in Pontefract Castle, where he either died of starvation or was murdered in February 1400.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Acceded: King of England, 1377.

• Abdicated: 30 Sep 1399.

Richard married Anne of Bohemia, daughter of Charles IV of Bohemia and Elzbieta of Slupsk, on 20 Jan 1382 in St Stephen's Chapel, Westminster Palace, England. (Anne of Bohemia was born on 11 May 1366 in Prague, Bohemia and died before 3 Jun 1394 in Sheen Palace, Surrey, England.) The cause of her death was Weir says she died 7 Jun 1394 of the plague.

  Marriage Notes:

Richard is said to have been devoted to her. ³

Richard next married Isabella of Valois, daughter of Charles VI the Beloved de Valois and Isabelle of Bavaria Wittelsbach, in 1396. (Isabella of Valois was born in 1387 and died in 1410.) The cause of her death was childbirth.