show, and wasted the public money by his foolish extravagance. Some good things he did, but they were done by his own will, and without the people's consent. For that reason they began to hate him.
15. Richard's Fall. 1399.—But the end was near. Among those who had been spared by Richard was his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the son of John of Gaunt. Bolingbroke quarrelled with the Duke of Norfolk, and Richard, instead of allowing them to settle the quarrel by a public combat or trial by battle, banished them both; Norfolk for life, and Bolingbroke for six years. The next year old John of Gaunt died, and Richard seized his estates, which rightfully belonged to his son Henry. Then Richard, fearing no harm, went to Ireland. While he was absent, Bolingbroke landed in Yorkshire to recover his father's estates. He was soon joined by great nobles like the Percies of Northumberland, and when, a little later, Richard returned, he found his kingdom was gone from him. Deserted by the people, Richard fell into the hands of Henry and had to resign his crown. The next day Benry was chosen king by Parliament. Of Richard's end we know nothing with certainty, but his body was shown to the people a year later, and it is supposed he was murdered in one of the prisons by order of Henry.
CHAPTER X.
THE HOUSE OF LANCASTER.
1. Henry IV.—Henry, son of John of Gaunt, was the first king of the House of Lancaster, so-called from the duchy of Lancaster which he held through his father. Henry's title to the crown was a parliamentary one, for the Earl of March, a grandson of the Duke of Clarence, Edward III.'s second son, had a better claim by birth. Parliament, however, still claimed the right to say who should rule, although it was fast becoming the custom for the eldest son to succeed his father on the throne.
