Editing Richard II of England (section)

== Downfall ==
=== Deposition ===
[[File:Bolingbroke-richard-flint-castle-harley-ms-1319 (cropped).png|thumb|left|Richard's surrender to Henry at [[Flint Castle]] in Wales]]
In June 1399, [[Louis I, Duke of Orléans]], gained control of the court of the insane [[Charles VI of France]]. The policy of rapprochement with the English crown did not suit Louis's political ambitions, and for this reason he found it opportune to allow Bolingbroke to leave for England.<ref>Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;406–407.</ref> With a small group of followers, Bolingbroke landed at [[Ravenspurn]] in Yorkshire towards the end of June 1399.<ref>Saul (1997), p.&nbsp;408.</ref> Insisting that his only object was to regain his own patrimony, Bolingbroke received the support of both of the preeminent northern magnates, [[Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland|Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland]] and [[Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland|Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland]].<ref>Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;408–410.</ref> The King had taken most of his household knights and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, so Bolingbroke experienced little resistance as he moved south. The Keeper of the Realm, [[Edmund, Duke of York]], had little choice but to side with Bolingbroke.<ref>Harriss (2005), pp.&nbsp;486–487.</ref> Meanwhile, Richard was delayed in his return from Ireland and did not land in Wales until 24 July.<ref>Saul (1997), p.&nbsp;411.</ref> He made his way to [[Conwy Castle|Conwy]], where on 12 August he met with Northumberland for negotiations.<ref>Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;412–413.</ref> On 19 August, Richard surrendered to Bolingbroke at [[Flint Castle]], promising to abdicate if his life were spared.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard II, King of England (1367–1400) |url=http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/richard2.htm |access-date=17 August 2012 |publisher=Luminarium.org}}</ref> Both men then made their way to [[Chester Castle]] where Richard was held in the crypt of the Agricola Tower.<ref>{{cite book| last =Richards | first =Raymond | title =Old Cheshire Churches|page=102 | publisher =Batsford | year =1947 | location =London |oclc =719918}}</ref> On the journey to London, the indignant king had to ride all the way behind Bolingbroke. On arrival, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 1 September.<ref>Saul (1997), p.&nbsp;417.</ref>

It was now argued that Richard, through his tyranny and misgovernment, had rendered himself unworthy of being king.<ref>McKisack (1959), pp.&nbsp;494–495.</ref> According to the normal law of primogeniture, the heir to the throne at this point would have been [[Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March|Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March]], great-grandson of Edward III's second son to reach adulthood, [[Lionel, Duke of Clarence]] through Lionel's daughter [[Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster|Philippa]].  Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, was Edward's next eldest son. However, in 1376 Edward had [[entailed]] the succession to heirs male, bypassing Philippa and her descendants in favour of his next eldest son, John of Gaunt, and thence his son Henry Bolingbroke. Richard's own view of the question during his reign is uncertain, but his assignment in 1397 of the highest place in the order of precedence to Bolingbroke suggests endorsement of his status as [[heir presumptive]].<ref>Bennett (1998), pp.&nbsp;582–94; Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;419–420.</ref>

[[File:Abdikace Richarda2.png|thumb|Richard surrendering the crown to Henry]]
According to the official record, read by the Archbishop of Canterbury during an assembly of [[House of Lords#History|lords]] and commons at Westminster Hall on Tuesday 30 September, Richard gave up his crown willingly and ratified his deposition citing as a reason his own unworthiness as a monarch. In contrast, the ''Traison et Mort Chronicle'' suggests otherwise. It describes a meeting between Richard and Henry that took place one day before the parliament's session. The King succumbed to blind rage, ordered his own release from the Tower, called his cousin a traitor, demanded to see his wife, and swore revenge, throwing down his bonnet, while Henry refused to do anything without parliamentary approval.<ref name="kingsmadeengland">{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Dan |title=The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England |date=2012 |publisher=[[HarperPress]] |isbn=978-0-0072-1392-4 |chapter=Richard Alone |author-link=Dan Jones (writer)}}</ref> When parliament met to discuss Richard's fate, [[John Trevor (died 1410)|John Trevor]], Bishop of St Asaph, read thirty-three articles of deposition that were unanimously accepted by lords and commons. On 1 October 1399, Richard II was formally deposed. On 13 October, the feast day of [[Edward the Confessor]], Henry was crowned king.<ref name = kingsmadeengland/>

=== Death ===
Henry had agreed to let Richard live after his abdication. This changed when it was revealed that the earls of Huntingdon, Kent, and Salisbury, and Lord Despenser, and possibly also the Earl of Rutland{{Spaced ndash}}all now demoted from the ranks they had been given by Richard{{Spaced ndash}}were planning to murder the new king and restore Richard in the [[Epiphany Rising]].<ref>Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;424–425.</ref> Although averted, the plot highlighted the danger of allowing Richard to live. He is thought to have starved to death in captivity in [[Pontefract Castle]] on or around 14 February 1400, although there is some question over the date and manner of his death.<ref name="Tuck"/> His body was taken south from Pontefract and displayed in [[old St Paul's Cathedral|St Paul's Cathedral]] on 17 February before burial in [[King's Langley Priory]] on 6 March.

Rumours that Richard was still alive persisted, but never gained much credence in England;<ref>Tuck (1985), p.&nbsp;226.</ref> in Scotland, however, a man identified as Richard came into the hands of [[Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany|Regent Albany]], lodged in [[Stirling Castle]], and serving as the notional{{Spaced ndash}}and perhaps reluctant{{Spaced ndash}}figurehead of various anti-Lancastrian and [[Lollard]] intrigues in England. Henry IV's government dismissed him as an impostor, and several sources from both sides of the border suggest the man had a mental illness, one also describing him as a "beggar" by the time of his death in 1419, but he was buried as a king in [[Blackfriars, Stirling]], the local [[Dominican friary]]. Meanwhile, [[Henry V of England|Henry V]]{{Spaced ndash}}in an effort both to atone for his father's act of murder and to silence the rumours of Richard's survival{{Spaced ndash}}had decided to have the body at King's Langley reinterred in Westminster Abbey on 4 December 1413. Here Richard himself had prepared an elaborate tomb, where the remains of his wife Anne were already entombed.<ref>Saul (1997), pp.&nbsp;428–429.</ref>