The arbitrary and untrammeled rule of Richard…

The arbitrary and untrammeled rule of Richard II has alienated nearly all the English magnates.

The king is still childless: after the battle death of the Earl of March in 1398, his seven-year-old son Edmund Mortimer becomes the heir to the throne.

However, Richard is more concerned with his first cousin and childhood playmate Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt's son and heir, who in 1387 had participated in the Lords Appellant's rebellion against the King.

After regaining power, Richard had not punished Henry but instead elevated him from Earl of Derby to Duke of Hereford.

However, the relationship between Bolingbroke and the King in 1398 encounters a second crisis.

Following Bolingbroke’s quarrel with Norfolk, which apparently was due to mutual suspicions stemming from their roles in the conspiracy against the Duke of Gloucester, a parliamentary committee decides that the two should settle the matter by battle.

The King calls a duel of honor at Gosford Green near Coventry.

Before the duel can take place, however, Richard banishes Henry from the kingdom (with the approval of Henry's father, John of Gaunt) for ten years to avoid further bloodshed between Bolingbroke and Norfolk, who is exiled for life.