RICHARD II, king of England: b. Bor deaux, 6 Jan. 1367; d. Pontefract, Yorkshire, February 1400. He was a younger son of the Black Prince and a grandson of Edward III, and succeeded to the throne on the death of his grandfather in June 1377, at a time when Eng land was suffering from the effects of the black death, the demoralizing results of the war with France, and the misgovernment by faction that marked the latter part of the reign of EcEvard III. The young king was placed under the control of a council in which his uncle, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, exercised a pre dominant and, on the whole, pernicious in fluence. Popular disaffection, fed by the ill suc cess of the government in repelling attacks on the part of the French and the Scots, was in tensified by the increasing burden of taxation. The imposition of a new capital tax in 1380 led to the outbreak of the celebrated Peasants' Revolt in 1381. (See TYLER INSURRE(TION). Richard displayed great presence of mind in dealing with the insurgent forces near London, and to his bearing was largely due the speedy suppression of the revolt, which was directed largely against John of Gaunt. In 1382 he married Anne of Bohemia and about the same time sought to free himself from the control of Parliament by building up a party of his own with Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, and Michael de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, as a nu cleus. Richard thereby came into conflict with John of Gaunt who in 1386 departed for France. The leadership of the opposition fell to the un scrupulous Duke of Gloucester, the youngest of the king's uncles. In 1387 Parliament, con trolled by Gloucester, demanded the dismissal of the chancellor de la Pole, and of Oxford, who had been made Marquis of Dublin with 'sovereign rights in Ireland, and though the king refused to yield, he was compelled to ac cept a committee of 11 appointed by Parlia ment with extensive power of government Lr a period of one year. Suffolk was dismissed. When Richard set himself to overthrow the committee, the Duke of Gloucester and the earls of Arundel, Derby, Nottingham and Warwick took up arms, marched on London, demanded the trial of five of the king's principal advisers on the charge of treason and brought about their condemnation by Parliament. Forced to
submit for a time, Richard succeeded in throw ing off his uncles authority in 1389 and for the ensuing eight years ruled with moderation and in peace. He had not abandoned, how ever, his views on the absolute authority of kings and had not forgiven the party of Glou cester for their persecution of his former sup porters. In 1387 Gloucester, Arundel and War wick were seized, and a packed and intimidated Parliament condemned the three to death. Arundel was executed, and Warwick im prisoned. Before sentence could be carried out on Gloucester, news of his death came; that death was probably a violent one. The earls of Derby and Nottingham were spared and raised to the dignities of Duke of Hereford and of Norfolk. Extensive powers were sur rendered by Parliament to the king and his triumph was complete. A quarrel between Here ford and Norfolk led to their banishment from England in 1388 and on the death of Here ford's father. John of Gaunt, Richard seized the Lancastrian estates. In May he went to Ireland for the settlement of the affairs of that country and Hereford seized the opportu nity of invading England, ostensibly for the purpose of recovering his estates. When Richard landed in England in August, he found himself abandoned by his followers and Henry of Lancaster in possession of power. On 19 August he gave himself up to Henry at Flint in Wales. He was brought to London and on 29 September resigned the crown in favor of Henry, who, on the following day, took the royal title with the consent of Parliament Richard was sentenced to strict imprisonment and was removed to Henry's castle of Ponte fract. There he died, probably by violence, though his body was publicly exposed to refute the charge. Richard was a patron of Chaucer and Gower and was favorably inclined to the teachings of Wyclif. Consult Walton, 'Richard II,' (1864) ; Stubbs, 'Constitutional History of England,) Vol. (4th ed. 1896).