RICHARD I. 126 RICHARD III. ed.. Oxford, 1897) ; Kound, Feudal England (Lon- don, 1805) ; Norjjate, Angevin Kings (2 vols., ib., 1887); Stubbs, Early Plantagenets (5th ed.. ib.. 1880) ; Toeche, Beinrich VI. (Leip- zig, 1867) ; Archer, Crusade of liiehard I. (New York, 1889) : Bloeh. Forscliungen zur Politil: Kaiser Ucinrich TV. (Berlin, 1892). Sir Walter Seott. in Iranhoc and The Talisman, has used some of the best-known legends. RICHARD II. (1367-1400). King of Eng- land friini l.'i77 to 1309. He was the second son of Edward, the Black Prince, and Joan of Kent, and was born at Bordeaux on January 6, 1367. Slany miraculous stories arose in time concern- ing his birth, due chiefly to his subsequent un- fortunate career. Richard's elder brother died in 1371, and his father in 1376. so that he was placed in the care of liis uncle .John of Oaunt (q.v.). On .lune 21. 1377, Edward III. died and left to the infant King a country devastated by plague and a people oppressed by heavy taxes due to the war with France (q.v.). Parliament, which had obtained greater power in the last years of Edward III.'s reign, sought now to secure con- trol of the government, but was opposed by .John of Gaunt and his followers. In 1381 took place the Tyler Insurrection (q.v.), which was caused by an onerous capitation tax. The speedy sup- pression of this dangerous rising was due to a considerable extent to Richard's spirit and dar- ing. In 1382 Richard was married to Anne of Bohemia, and in the same year the King began to seek the downfall of the great nobles, who controlled Parliament and prevented the develop- ment of the royal power. The next two years were occupied bj' a war with France, with which country Scotland was allied. For a while Richard conducted the war in Scotland in per- son, and Edinburgh was burned. In the absence of John of Gaunt in Spain, Richard's youngest uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, put himself at the head of affairs; and an attempt which Rich- ard made to free himself from control having been defeated, several of his counselors were put to death, which act was approved by the Parlia- ment of 1388. In 1389, however. Richard, by a coup d'etat, succeeded in throwing oft' the yoke. Gloucester, Warwick, and Arundel were deprived of their power. These tliree nobles, together with Henry, Earl of Derby, eldest son of John of Gaunt, and Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Xotting- ham, had been the nobles who had 'appealed' or accused Richard's adherents in 1388. Hence they are known in history as the "lords appellant.' In 1394 Richard went to Ireland and received the submission of the four 'Kings' of Meath, Tho- niond, Leinster, and Connaught. The same year the Queen died, and in 1396 a marriage treaty was concluded between Richard and Isabella, infant daughter of King Charles VI. of France. Gloucester disapproving of this marriage, which seems to have been unpopular, Richard caused him to be privately arrested, and conveyed to Calais, where he either died or was murdered. On the meeting of Parliament, the Earl of Warwick was banished, and the Earl of Arundel beheaded. A misunderstanding hav- ing taken place between Henry, Duke of Here- ford (formerly Earl of Derby), and Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk (formerly " Earl of Notting- ham), the King, desirous to be rid of both, sent the former into banishment for ten years, and the latter for life. But Hereford had been as- siduously cultivating the popularity which his cousin had been as assiduously throwing away, and the result became apparent in 1399. On his return, in tlat year, from a military expedition in Ireland. Richard found that Bolingbroke (as Hereford was generally knowni) had, in his ab- sence, landed in England, that he had placed himself at the head of a formidable army, and that the Duke of York had yielded and gone over to his side. The army which the King had with him in Ireland, also, no sooner landed than it almost entirely passed over to the in- vader. Meeting the conqueror at Flint Castle, Richard was carried captive in his train to London. On September 29, 1399, he formally resigned his crown. On the following day the resignation was ratified by Parliament, and the crown conferred on Bolingbroke (who had as- sumed the title of Duke of Lancaster), who was henceforth known as Henry IV. (q.v.). By order of the peers, Richard was confined secretly in various castles. In the Februar.y following his resignation, the nation was told that he was dead, and his body, or what was supposed to be it, was brought with much pom]) from Pontefract Castle, and shown to the people. There were rumors afterwards of his being alive and in Scotland. It is probable that he was murdered about February 14, 1400. Richard had ability, but was very extravagant, fond of pleasure, and subject to fits of passion. He had some taste for literature and was a patron of Gower, Frois- sart, and Chaucer. His reign is important on account of the development of the Privy Council (q.v.) and the active role played by Parliament. Furthermore it was during this reign that the work of Wiclif (q.v.) bore fruit in the rise of the Lollard (q.v.) movement. Consult: Wallon,' Richard II. (2 vols., Paris, 1864) ; Stubbs, Con- stitutional History, vol. ii. (4th ed., Oxford, 1896) ; Pauli, Oeschichte Englands (Gotha, 18.53- 58). RICHARD III. (1452-85). King of England from 1483 to 1485. He was the youngest son of Richard, Duke of Y'ork, and was born at Fotheringay Castle on October 2, 1452. His boy- hood was passed amid the struggles of the Wars of the Roses, in which he experienced both im- prisonment and exile. In 1461, after the acces- sion of his brother Edward IV. to the throne, he was made Duke of Gloucester, although but a lad of nine years, and throtighout the Wars of the Roses he remained faithful to his brother, rendering him most valuable assistance. He rejected the overtures of Warwick, and shared Edward's exile in 1470-71. and in the latter year he commanded the vanguard of the Y'orkist's army at the final victories of Barnet and Tewkes- bury. For all these services he was riclily re- warded. In 1469 he was made High Constable of England, and in 1478 Great Chamberlain, be- sides receiving numerous other grants and offices. He stood highest in the royal councils, proving a capable statesman, and in 1480-82 he conducted successful campaigns against the Scots, and as Warden of the West Marches he brought that country into such subjection that the Parliament of 1483 granted this office to him and his heirs forever. Upon his death in the same year Edward TV. left to Richard the care of his heir. Edward V., then but thirteen years old, and the administra- tion of his kingdom. Richard was at the
