Richard II Essay examples

Wars were also part of the crisis, notably the Hundred Years War between England and France. In 1328 the French Capetian line ended. England’s Edward III (d.1377) claimed the French throne, but a cousin to the Capets, Philip of Valois, became king (d.1350). War soon began. Armored knights on horseback were the backbone of medieval armies, but English peasants using the longbow had begun to change the face of war. When the French king was captured, a treaty was signed in 1360: France agreed to pay ransom, the English received land in France, and Edward renounced his claim to the throne. Using guerilla tactics, the French regained their lands, but in 1415 England’s Henry V (d.1422)

Henry called a Parliament in November 1487. The nobles and gentry who had supported the rebellion were attainted and their lands were confiscated by the crown. This was successful as it made examples of these men to warn off other contenders or rebels. In addition, by attainting them and confiscating their lands, this meant that if a noble was to get involved in a rebellion not only would he be affected but so too would his family, heir and subjects. This was surely a lot more threatening then death.

However, an argument contradicting this idea lies in the persona of Richard, Duke of York, who was the King’s closest adult male relative and the most famous and influential of the great magnates in 1450. Also before 1453 York was heir presumptive. He was descended from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York and fourth son of Edward III on his father’s side. On his mother’s side he was descended from Lionel of Clarence, Edward’s second son. York’s close blood relationship to the king could admit him to the throne. Not only did he claim the descent from King Edward III, but also claimed to the throne. The Battle of St. Albans is the straightforward proof of it. He evidently felt that he had a sense of duty and a right to play a fundamental role in government. Richard was an obvious threat to Henry’s kingship: unlike the last one he was a competent politician, a distinct warrior and a father of healthy sons. In other words, his power of personality harmonized his goal, which by 1450s, had come to embrace the crown of England.

Henry VII ascended to the throne in 1485 with a weak claim due to dynastic issues following on from his mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort. Despite discontent and rebellion within Henry VII’s reign, it is debatable whether the monarch was actually threatened by rebellions due to the simple reason that Henry VII was able to remain on the throne and secure a succession until his death, however the challenge to his authority and succession seen in Lovell, Simnel and Warbeck shows clear instability throughout areas of his reign. However the Yorkshire and Cornish rebellions, which aims were focused around issues of tax, did not pose as much of a threat during

While Richard left England to oversee the progress of his foreign war, Henry and the other nobles began plans to take Richard's kingdom. This was a crucial mistake on Richard's part. By not taking care of issues on the domestic front, Richard's followers and soldiers grew increasingly weary of his ability to lead and be an effective king, eventually siding with Henry. Henry proceeded to capture Bristol Castle, a stronghold of Richard's and began his plans on being ordained future king.

It is only during his deposition and his imprisonment that Richard shows his greatest strength as a dramatic figure. Although occasionally he seems to demonstrate self-pity, he also reveals himself to have an acute awareness of the ironies and absurdities in the structure of power of his kingdom. He still compels the court to reconsider his initial claim that the crown is divinely appointed: “Not all the water… can wash the balm of an anointed king (3.2.55)”. Although he keeps reminding those present of his God-given mandate to rule, he seems also to take pleasure in passing on the trails of kingship to his successor. As a King, He does have a God-given position of being the king. But as a king one should know the difference between moral values and ethics values. Just because Richard is King and is appointed by God doesn’t give him any rights to be an awful ruler. He can’t always fight a problem by saying that he is

Through his time at war as well as some other major events that happened during his life, Richard came to be known as the “Lionheart.” One of these events would be the revolt against his father in 1173. It is believed that Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard’s mother, manipulated her sons (Richard, Geoffrey, and Henry III) to revolt against their father. Seeking protection from Louis VII, Henry III abandoned his father and left for the French court, shortly followed by his two brothers. After a short amount of time, the brothers had attracted the support of many barons through bribing them with money and land. After a successful beginning to the revolt, Henry II marched his army of over twenty thousand soldiers to face the rebellion and recaptured Dol and subdued Brittany. Henry II attempted to make peace with his sons at this point, but as they had promised Louis VII, they declined. Henry II continued to capture more cities and returned to England with five hundred soldiers and his prisoners, including Eleanor and his sons’ wives and fiancées. After Henry II defeated Louis VII, a treaty was made and Richard was specifically excluded. This rebellion against his father resulted in less generous terms, where Richard was given control of two castles in Pitou, instead of four castles in Aquitaine, and half the income of Aquitaine, instead of half of the income of the duchy. Eleanor was also to remain a

Richard was the third son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and he was given the duchy of Aquitaine, his mother’s inheritance, at the age of 11 and was enthroned as duke at Poitiers in 1172. Richard possessed precocious political and military ability, he won fame for his knightly prowess, and quickly learned how to control the

France refused to negotiate; so King Henry asked the Parliament to tax France for the inheritance that they owed him. France ignored England’s demands. On April 14, 1415, King Henry V asked the Parliament to sanction war against France. The Parliament agreed and the Battle with France will soon follow. England was preparing for the Battle of Agincourt (Middle-Ages.org).

Walter Tyler was more regularly known as Wat Tyler and the leader of the English Peasants’ Revolt. Being only 14 years old at the time King Richard II was a young King but as the death of his father 5 years earlier from illness and grandfather one year later, King Richard was left to reign the throne. In the last four years two new taxes had already been introduced. This had already upset peasants, until Richard II announced that there was to be a third new tax.

Richard the lion heart or Richard the first of England was born in oxford on the 8th of September 1157. He was the son of henry the 2nd of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. During his life, he lived first in oxford but than moved to France with his mother to live in Aquitaine than Poitiers. Since Richard was young he was said to have had great strength and was gloried in his military activates and in 1173 Richard joined his family in a revolt against their father where henry the 2nd tried to invade Aquitaine twice. Richard was the last of his family to

Joffrey ascends to the throne at age 12 and quickly becomes disliked by the public. Joffrey’s ascent to the throne allows many opportunities his cruel personality to show when very minor decisions end in the death or suffering of an individual. Richard II was king of England from 1377 to 1399 and took the throne at the young age of 10. The public believed Richard to be a very cruel king because Richard cared more for himself than his people. Joffrey and Richard had similar personality traits and the people of their kingdoms had similar views of their king. Joffrey’s cruel nature shows when he disobeys commands from his mother and calls for the execution of Ned Stark saying, “Ser Ilyn, bring me his head!” (A Game of Thrones 738). This quote shows Joffrey’s disregard for the emotions of others when he executes the father of his future bride while she is standing right beside him. Richard’s personality was thought by historians to be very narcissistic which caused him to care very little for the people in his kingdom. “Richard displayed signs of such a sense in the final two years of his reign when he arrested his former enemies and reasserted the prerogative.” (Saul 459). The quote describes his open narcissism by showing how he would disregard their feelings and assert his power over his enemies. Richard and Joffrey share the experience of being thrusted into a

The largest portion of the population was the serfs, so naturally they were hit the hardest because of disease being density dependant. This calamity had a bright side. It allowed for the amelioration of the serfs life. They could ask for more pay and better living because the lord couldn’t just throw a serf in the dungeon and get a replacement. There were no other serfs to get so the lord was forced to leave them. The rise of nations led to the fall of feudalism in England because William the conqueror declared that he owned seventy percent of britain and the nobles owned thirty percent. Later on when Richard the lionhearted was to become king but died on his way home from the crusades, his brother John Softsword became king instead. John was an awful king. At the time england controlled a good portion of France. In fact england wanted to own France but John lost all of the land that they had in France. The nobles bullied john into signing the Magna Carta and forming parliament. This restricted the monarchy and will eventually give power to the people thereby shifting the system. In france a similar thing happened. There was a series of

Richard II is an authoritative and greedy king of England, and he is living in a period of transition that medieval knights who are swearing total loyalty to a king has been disappearing and an aristocracy starts to gain a power for their own good. However, Richard II keeps believing the power of kingship, and he also is too confident himself. He overestimates his authority and power; furthermore, he ignores the periodical change. Therefore, he speaks confidently how firm his position as king is to the people in Wales, but his attitude changes when he suffers a defeat by Henry Bolingbroke that he

A general conclusion of most critics is that Richard II is a play about the deposition of a "weak and effeminate" king. That he was a weak king, will be conceded. That he was an inferior person, will not. The insight to Richard's character and motivation is to view him as a person consistently acting his way through life. Richard was a man who held great love for show and ceremony. This idiosyncrasy certainly led him to make decisions as king that were poor, and in effect an inept ruler. If not for this defect in character, Richard could be viewed as a witty, intelligent person, albeit ill-suited for his inherited occupation.