Richard II of England

: There is also a play entitled Richard II by Shakespeare.

A fragile peace

In the years which followed, Richard appeared to have heeded the lessons of 1387 and became more cautious in his dealings with the barons. In 1390, a tournament was held to celebrate Richard?s coming of age and the apparent new-found harmony since Richard's uncle John of Gaunt's return from Spain to lead the Lords Appellant. Richard?s team of knights all wore the identical symbol ? a white hart ? which Richard had chosen for himself. Richard himself favoured genteel interests like fine food, insisting spoons be used at his court and inventing the handkerchief. He beautified Westminster Hall with a new ceiling and was a keen and cultured patron of the arts, architecture and literature. In this sense, he can be seen as an early example of what was later held up as a model Renaissance prince. However, his tastes were before his time and many began to see him as another Edward II figure, somehow unworthy of his warlike Plantagenet inheritance, with his delicate 'unkingly' tastes. Richard also lacked the thirst for battle of his grandfather: his Scottish campaign in 1385 was not decisive, and he signed a 28-year truce with France in 1396 which was hugely unpopular at home in spite of the dividends that peace brought to the kingdom.

Related Topics:
1387 - 1390 - Tournament - John of Gaunt - Spain - Lords Appellant - Hart - Handkerchief - Westminster Hall - Renaissance - Edward II - Plantagenet - 1385 - 1396

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Richard's commitment to peace rather than war can also been seen in his first expedition to Ireland in 1394. He put forward a sensible policy based on the understanding that the Irish rebels were motivated largely by the grievances they had against absentee English landowners and that they were perhaps entitled to some redress in this regard. Those whom he labelled the "wild Irish" - native Irish who had not joined the rebel cause he treated with kindness and respect. Had this policy not been cut short by his usurpation, it is possible that Ireland might have been saved centuries of strife.

Related Topics:
Ireland - 1394

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In spite of his forward-thinking attitude to culture and the arts, Richard seems to have developed a passionate devotion to the old ideal of the Divine right of kings, feeling that he should be unquestioned and unfettered in the way he ran the kingdom. He became a stickler for tradition, insisting on being addressed as ?majesty? and ?highness? and sitting alone for hours wearing his crown; those addressing him were required to direct their eyes downwards in deference. After the death of his queen, Anne, in 1394 he became still more rigid. He commissioned the first royal portrait, a very solemn affair in which he looks downwards unsmiling. In The Wilton Diptych he was portrayed alongside the Anglo-Saxon saint kings St Edmund and Edward the Confessor, which reflected not only his attitude to his own kingship but his genuine religious devotion.

Related Topics:
Divine right of kings - The Wilton Diptych - Anglo-Saxon - St Edmund - Edward the Confessor

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