Editing Henry IV of England (section)

== Reign ==
[[File:Henry IV Coronation.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|The coronation of Henry IV of England, from a 15th century manuscript of [[Jean Froissart]]'s ''[[Froissart's Chronicles|Chronicles]]'']]

Henry consulted with Parliament frequently, but was sometimes at odds with the members, especially over ecclesiastical matters. In January 1401, Arundel convened a convocation at [[Old St Paul's Cathedral|St. Paul's cathedral]] to address [[Lollardy]].{{sfn|Dahmus|1981|p=42}} Henry dispatched a group to implore the clergy to address the heresies that were causing turmoil in England and confusion among Christians, and to impose penalties on those responsible.{{sfn|Dahmus|1981|pp=42{{endash}}43}} A short time later the convocation along with the House of Commons petitioned Henry to take action against the Lollards.{{sfn|Dahmus|1981|p=43}} On this advice, Henry obtained from Parliament the enactment of ''[[De heretico comburendo]]'' in 1401, which prescribed the burning of [[heretics]], an act done mainly to suppress the [[Lollard]] movement.{{sfn|Dahmus|1981|p=43}} In 1404 and 1410, Parliament suggested confiscating church land, in which both attempts failed to gain support.{{sfn|Keen|2003|p=168}}

=== Rebellions ===
[[File:Silver half groat of Henry IV (YORYM 1994 151 102) obverse.jpg|thumb|Silver [[half-groat]] of Henry IV, York Museums Trust]]

Henry spent much of his reign defending himself against plots, rebellions, and assassination attempts. Henry's first major problem as monarch was what to do with the deposed Richard. After the early [[Epiphany Rising|assassination plot]] was foiled in January 1400, Richard died in prison aged 33, probably of starvation on Henry's order.{{efn| "Suggestive evidence that Richard's murder was carefully planned is contained among the exchequer payments. 'To William Loveney, Clerk of the Great Wardrobe, sent to Pontefract Castle on secret business by order of the King (Henry IV).'"{{sfn|Bevan|1994|p=72}}}} Some chroniclers claimed that the despondent Richard had starved himself,{{sfn|Tuck|2004}} which would not have been out of place with what is known of Richard's character. Though council records indicate that provisions were made for the transportation of the deposed king's body as early as 17 February, there is no reason to believe that he did not die on 14 February, as several chronicles stated. It can be positively said that he did not suffer a violent death, for his skeleton, upon examination, bore no signs of violence; whether he did indeed starve himself or whether that starvation was forced upon him are matters for lively historical speculation.{{sfn|Tuck|2004}}

After his death, Richard's body was put on public display in [[Old St Paul's Cathedral]],{{sfn|Burden|2003|p=42}} both to prove to his supporters that he was truly dead and also to prove that he had not suffered a violent death. This did not stop rumours from circulating for years after that he was still alive and waiting to take back his throne, and that the body displayed was that of Richard's chaplain, a priest named Maudelain, who greatly resembled him. Henry had the body discreetly buried in the [[King's Langley Priory|Dominican Priory]] at [[Kings Langley]], Hertfordshire,{{sfn|Burden|2003|p=43}} where it remained until King Henry V brought the body back to London and buried it in the tomb that Richard had commissioned for himself in [[Westminster Abbey]].{{sfn|Burden|2003|p=39}}

Rebellions continued throughout the first 10 years of Henry's reign, including the [[revolt of Owain Glyndŵr]], who declared himself [[Prince of Wales]] in 1400,{{sfn|Given-Wilson|2016|pp=170, 186}} and the rebellions led by [[Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland]], from 1403. The first Percy rebellion ended in the [[Battle of Shrewsbury]] in 1403 with the death of the earl's son [[Henry Percy (Hotspur)|Henry]], a renowned military figure known as "Hotspur" for his speed in advance and readiness to attack. Also in this battle, Henry IV's eldest son, [[Henry of Monmouth]], later King Henry V, was wounded by an arrow in his face. He was cared for by royal physician [[John Bradmore]]. Despite this, the Battle of Shrewsbury was a royalist victory. Monmouth's military ability contributed to the king's victory (though Monmouth seized much effective power from his father in 1410).

In the last year of Henry's reign, the rebellions picked up speed. "The old fable of a living Richard was revived", notes one account, "and emissaries from Scotland traversed the villages of England, in the last year of Henry's reign, declaring that Richard was residing at the Scottish Court, awaiting only a signal from his friends to repair to London and recover his throne."

A suitable-looking impostor was found and King Richard's old groom circulated word in the city that his master was alive in Scotland. "Southwark was incited to insurrection" by Sir Elias Lyvet ([[Levett]]) and his associate Thomas Clark, who promised Scottish aid in carrying out the insurrection. Ultimately, the rebellion came to nought. Lyvet was released and Clark thrown into the [[Tower of London]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Doran |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oqMuAAAAMAAJ&q=lyvet+king&pg=PA235 |title=The Book of the Princes of Wales, Heirs to the Crown of England |publisher=Richard Bentley |date=1860 |access-date=17 August 2012}}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===
[[File:Manuel II Palaiologos with Henry IV of England.png|thumb|Manuel II Palaiologos (left) with Henry IV (right) in London, December 1400<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Alban's chronicle |url=https://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/luna/servlet/detail/LPLIBLPL~17~17~179003~125372?page=244&qvq=&mi=244&trs=266 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513015629/https://images.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/luna/servlet/detail/LPLIBLPL~17~17~179003~125372?page=244&qvq=&mi=244&trs=266 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |access-date=13 May 2021 |page=245}}</ref>]]

Early in his reign, Henry hosted the visit of [[Manuel II Palaiologos]], the only [[Byzantine emperor]] ever to visit England, from December 1400 to February 1401 at [[Eltham Palace]], with a [[joust]] being given in his honour. Henry also sent monetary support with Manuel upon his departure to aid him against the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dennis |first=George T. |title=The Letters of Manuel II Palaeologus |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Trustees for Harvard University |date=1977 |isbn=978-0-8840-2068-4 |location=Washington, D.C. |at=Letter 38}}</ref>

In 1406, English pirates captured the future [[James I of Scotland]], aged eleven, off the coast of [[Flamborough Head]] as he was sailing to France.{{sfn|Brown|2015|pp=17–18}} James was delivered to Henry IV and remained a prisoner until after the death of Henry's son, Henry V.{{sfn|Brown|2015|p=24}}

=== Final illness and death ===
The later years of Henry's reign were marked by serious health problems. He had a disfiguring skin disease and, more seriously, suffered acute attacks of a grave illness in June 1405; April 1406; June 1408; during the winter of 1408–09; December 1412; and finally a fatal bout in March 1413. In 1410, Henry had provided his royal surgeon [[Thomas Morstede]] with an annuity of £40 p.a. which was confirmed by Henry V immediately after his succession. This was so that Morstede would "not be retained by anyone else".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beck |first=Theodore |title=Cutting Edge: Early History of the Surgeons of London |publisher=Lund Humphries Publishers |date=1974 |isbn=978-0-8533-1366-3 |page=57}}</ref> Medical historians have long debated the nature of this affliction or afflictions. The skin disease might have been [[leprosy]] (which did not necessarily mean precisely the same thing in the 15th century as it does to modern medicine), perhaps [[psoriasis]], or a different disease. The acute attacks have been given a wide range of explanations, from [[epilepsy]] to a form of cardiovascular disease.{{Sfn|McNiven|1985|pp=747–772}} Some medieval writers felt that he was struck with leprosy as a punishment for his treatment of [[Richard Scrope (bishop)|Richard le Scrope]], [[Archbishop of York]], who was executed in June 1405 on Henry's orders after a failed coup.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Swanson |first=Robert N. |title=Religion and Devotion in Europe, c. 1215 – c. 1515 |date=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |ol=1109807M |isbn=978-0-5213-7950-2 |page=298 |language=en}}</ref>

According to [[Holinshed]], it was predicted that Henry would die in Jerusalem, and [[Henry IV, Part 2|Shakespeare's play]] repeats this prophecy. Henry took this to mean that he would die on [[crusade]]. In reality, he died in the [[Jerusalem Chamber]] in the abbot's house of Westminster Abbey, on 20 March 1413 during a [[Legislative session|convocation of Parliament]].{{Sfn|Brown|Summerson|2010}} His [[executor]], [[Thomas Langley]], was at his side.

==== Burial ====
[[File:Canterbury Cathedral 26.jpg|thumb|left|Henry IV and Joan of Navarre, detail of their effigies in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]]]
[[File:King Henry IV from NPG (2).jpg|thumb|upright|16th century imaginary painting of Henry IV, [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]]]

Despite the example set by most of his recent predecessors, Henry and his second wife, [[Joan of Navarre, Queen of England|Joan]], were not buried at Westminster Abbey but at [[Canterbury Cathedral]], on the north side of [[Trinity Chapel]] and directly adjacent to the shrine of [[Thomas Becket|St Thomas Becket]]. Becket's cult was then still thriving, as evidenced in the monastic accounts and in literary works such as ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', and Henry seemed particularly devoted to it, or at least keen to be associated with it. The reasons for his interment in Canterbury are debatable, but it is highly likely that Henry deliberately associated himself with the martyr saint for reasons of political expediency, namely, the legitimisation of his dynasty after seizing the throne from [[Richard II of England|Richard II]].{{Sfn|Wilson|1990|pages=181–190}} Significantly, at his coronation, he was anointed with holy oil that had reportedly been given to Becket by the Virgin Mary shortly before his death in 1170;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsingham |first=Thomas |title=The St Albans Chronicle: The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham |publisher=Clarendon Press |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=John |volume=II, 1394–1422 |location=Oxford |page=237 |translator-last=Taylor |translator-first=John |author-link=Thomas Walsingham |display-editors=et al.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Pope John XXII to King Edward II of England, 2 June 1318 |date=1901 |work=English Coronation Records |pages=73–75 |editor-last=Legg |editor-first=L.G.W. |place=London |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co. |oclc=2140947 |ol=24187986M |editor-link=Leopold George Wickham Legg}}</ref> this oil was placed inside a distinct eagle-shaped container of gold. According to one version of the tale, the oil had then passed to Henry's maternal grandfather, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster.{{Sfn|Walsingham|pp=237–241}}

Proof of Henry's deliberate connection to Becket lies partially in the structure of the tomb itself. The wooden panel at the western end of his tomb bears a painting of the martyrdom of Becket, and the tester, or wooden canopy, above the tomb is painted with Henry's personal motto, 'Soverayne', alternated by crowned golden eagles. Likewise, the three large coats of arms that dominate the tester painting are surrounded by collars of SS, a golden eagle enclosed in each tiret.{{Sfn|Wilson|1990|pages=186–189}} The presence of such eagle motifs points directly to Henry's coronation oil and his ideological association with Becket. Sometime after Henry's death, an imposing tomb was built for him and his queen, probably commissioned and paid for by Queen Joan herself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Christopher |chapter=X. The Medieval Monuments |date=1995 |title=A History of Canterbury Cathedral |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Collinson |editor-first=Patrick |editor-link=Patrick Collinson |pages=451–510 |display-editors=et al. |isbn=9780198200512 |ol=1080250M}}</ref> Atop the tomb chest lie detailed [[alabaster#Gypsum alabaster|alabaster]] effigies of Henry and Joan, crowned and dressed in their ceremonial robes. Henry's body was evidently well embalmed, as an exhumation in 1832 established, allowing historians to state with reasonable certainty that the effigies do represent accurate portraiture.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Woodruff |first1=C. Eveleigh |title=Memorials of the Cathedral and Priory of Christ in Canterbury |last2=Danks |first2=William |date=1912 |publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co. |location=New York |pages=192–194 |author-link2=William Danks}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antiquary |date=10 May 1902 |title=Exhumation of Henry IV |journal=[[Notes and Queries]] |series=9th series |volume=9 |issue=228 |page=369 |doi=10.1093/nq/s9-IX.228.369c}}</ref>