The Lords Appellant, a group of powerful barons who had come together during the 1380s to seize political control of England from King Richard II, are called so because its members claim simply to be appealing to the King for good government (their major complaint had been Richard's decision to make peace with France).

The Lords are led by Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (youngest son of King Edward III and thus King Richard's uncle), Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, and Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick; the group also involves the Earl of Nottingham, as well as Richard's cousin, the Earl of Derby and Northampton, Henry Bolingbroke.

The Lords Appellant in 1387 had launched an armed rebellion against King Richard and defeated his forces at Radcot Bridge, outside Oxford.

They had maintained Richard as a figurehead with little real power, and impeached, imprisoned, exiled, or executed most of his court.

For example, Richard's Chancellor, the Earl of Suffolk, had been impeached in 1386, and the Duke of Ireland had been stripped of his titles and exiled.

Richard's uncle and supporter, John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, had returned from Spain in 1389 and Richard has since been able to rebuild his power gradually.

With national stability secured, Richard had begun negotiating a permanent peace with France.

A proposal put forward in 1393 would have greatly expanded the territory of Aquitaine possessed by the English crown.

However, the plan failed because it included a requirement that the English king pay homage to the King of France—a condition that proved unacceptable to the English public.

Instead, in 1396, a truce is agreed to, which is to last twenty eight years.

The truce is hugely unpopular at home in spite of the dividends that peace bring to the kingdom.

As part of the truce, the childless Richard agrees to marry Isabella, daughter of Charles VI of France by Isabella of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, when she comes of age.

There are some misgivings about the betrothal, in particular because the princess is only six years old, and thus will not be able to produce an heir to the throne of England for many years.

Isabella is moved to Wallingford Castle for protection while Richard campaigns in Ireland.

Although the union is political, the twenty-nine-year-old Richard and his child consort will develop a mutually respectful relationship.

Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk: Political Ascendancy and the Death of Gloucester (1382–1397)

Thomas de Mowbray (1366–1399), a great-great-grandson of King Edward I, rose to prominence during the reign of Richard II, holding key military and political positions. His loyalty to the king and involvement in court intrigues led to his elevation as Duke of Norfolk in 1397, but also to controversy surrounding the death of the Duke of Gloucester.

I. Early Career and Titles

• In 1382, Mowbray succeeded his brother John, inheriting the titles of 6th Baron Mowbray and 7th Baron Segrave.
• Shortly thereafter, he was created Earl of Nottingham, a title that had also been granted to his late brother.
• In 1385, he was appointed Earl Marshal of England, making him one of the most powerful military figuresin the realm.

II. Military Service in Scotland and France

• As Earl Marshal, Mowbray led campaigns:
  • Against the Scots, defending England’s northern borders.
  • Against the French, participating in naval operations and countering French raids on the English coast.

III. The Imprisonment and Death of the Duke of Gloucester (1397)

• By 1397, King Richard II sought to eliminate his political enemies, particularly the Lords Appellant, who had humiliated him in the Merciless Parliament of 1388.
• Among the most prominent Lords Appellant was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, Richard’s uncle and chief opponent.
• Gloucester was arrested and sent to Calais, where Mowbray, as Captain of Calais, was responsible for his custody.
• Shortly after, Gloucester died under mysterious circumstances, likely on the orders of Richard II.
• Mowbray was almost certainly involved, either as an accomplice or as the official overseeing his death.

IV. Reward and Elevation to Duke of Norfolk (1397)

• Just weeks after Gloucester’s death, Richard II rewarded Mowbray by elevating him to Duke of Norfolk.
• This strengthened his rank and political power, securing his position as a key ally of the king.

V. Impact and Later Conflict

• Despite his loyalty to Richard II, Mowbray later became embroiled in the dispute with Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV), which led to his exile in 1398 and eventual downfall.
• His involvement in Gloucester’s death would remain controversial, as it became one of the justifications for Richard II’s later deposition in 1399.

Thomas de Mowbray’s rise to power was closely tied to Richard II’s purges, and while his rewards were great, his role in Gloucester’s death cast a shadow over his legacy, making him a key figure in the political turbulence leading to the fall of Richard II.

The period that historians refer to as the "tyranny" of Richard II began towards the end of the 1390s.

Finally able to exert autocratic authority over the kingdom, he purges all those he sees as not totally committed to him, fulfilling his own idea of becoming God’s chosen prince.

The king now destroys the Lords Appellant, in July 1397 having them arrested.

Arundel is the first of the three to be brought to trial, at the parliament of September 1397.

After a heated quarrel with the king, he is condemned and executed.

Gloucester is being held prisoner by the Earl of Nottingham at Calais while awaiting his trial.

As the time for the trial draws near, Nottingham brings news that Gloucester is dead.

It is thought likely that the king had ordered him to be killed to avoid the disgrace of executing a prince of the blood.

Warwick is also condemned to death, but his life is spared and he is sentenced to life imprisonment instead. (Imprisoned in one of the Tower of London’s thirteen towers, he will give his name to the Beauchamp Tower.)

Arundel's brother Thomas Arundel, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is exiled for life.

Richard now takes his persecution of adversaries to the localities.

While recruiting retainers for himself in various counties, he prosecutes local men who had been loyal to the appellants.

The fines levied on these men bring great revenues to the crown, although contemporary chroniclers raise questions about the legality of the proceedings.

These actions have been made possible primarily through the collusion of John of Gaunt, but also with the support of a number of men lifted to prominence by the king, disparagingly referred to as Richard's "duketti".

John and Thomas Holland, the king's half-brother and nephew, are promoted from earls of Huntingdon and Kent to dukes of Exeter and Surrey, respectively. (Thomas had been sent by Richard to arrest his own uncle, Arundel.)

Among the other loyalists are John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, Edward, Earl of Rutland, John Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, and Thomas le Despenser.

With the forfeited land of the convicted appellants, the king can now reward these men with lands and incomes suited to their new ranks.

A threat to Richard's authority still exists, however, in the form of the House of Lancaster, represented by John of Gaunt and his son Henry, Earl of Derby (also known as Henry of Bolingbroke).

The house of Lancaster not only possesses greater wealth than any other family in England, they are also of royal descent and, as such, likely candidates to succeed the childless Richard.

Discord breaks out in the inner circles of court in December 1397, when Bolingbroke and Thomas de Mowbray—who have now been made Duke of Hereford and Duke of Norfolk, respectively,—become engaged in a quarrel.

According to Bolingbroke, Mowbray had claimed that the two, as former Lords Appellant, are next in line for royal retribution.

Mowbray vehemently denies these charges, as such a claim would amount to treason.

Arundel’s younger brother Thomas, who had been provided to the Bishopric of Ely in 1373 and fourteen years later transferred to the archbishopric of York, finally moves to Canterbury on September 25, 1397, to replace the late William Courtenay.

He is immediately exiled, however, by King Richard and his tenure assumed in November by Roger Walden, who had served Richard as secretary before becoming treasurer of England, adding the deanery of York to his numerous other benefices.

Richard Whittington, sent to the City of London to learn the trade of mercer, had become a Councilman in 1384 as well as a successful trader, dealing in valuable imports such as silks and velvets, both luxury fabrics, much of which he sold from about 1388 to the Royal and noble court. (There is indirect evidence that he was also a major exporter to Europe of much sought after English woolens such as Broadcloth.)

He had in 1392 been one of the city's delegation to the King at Nottingham at which the King seized the City of London's lands because of alleged misgovernment.

He had become an alderman by 1393 as well as a member of the Mercers' Company.

To Richard II from 1392 to 1394, he sold goods worth thirty-five hundred pounds (equivalent to more than one and a half million pounds today).

Having also begun money-lending in 1388, preferring this to outward shows of wealth such as buying property, he was by 1397 by 1397 lending large sums of money to the King.

On the  death in June 1397 of Adam Bamme, the mayor of London, the King had imposed Whittington on the city as Lord Mayor of London to fill the vacancy with immediate effect.

Within days, Whittington had negotiated with the King a deal in which the city bought back its liberties for ten thousand pounds (nearly four million pounds).

A grateful populace had elected him mayor the following October.

Serving until 1399, popular legend dating to the seventeenth century will paint him as the poor orphan Dick Whittington who made his fortune by selling his cat; he is, in reality, the son of a knight.

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.

The Lordship of Ireland continues to lie in the hands of the powerful Fitzgerald Earls of Kildare, who have dominated the country by means of military force and alliances with lords and clans around Ireland.

When the Black Death had arrived in Ireland in 1348, it had hit the English and Norman inhabitants, who mostly live in towns and villages, far harder than it had the native Irish, who live in more dispersed rural settlements.

Since its passing, Gaelic Irish language and customs have come to dominate the country again.

The English-controlled area has shrunk back to a fortified area—the ‘Pale—around Dublin.

Since the government in Dublin has little real authority, however, their Statutes do not have much effect.

Following the English king’s departure after his 1394-5 invasion of Ireland, fighting had erupted again, initially involving only the Irish.

English troops in 1398 destroy Glendalough monastery, located in County Wicklow, Ireland, founded in the sixth century by Saint Kevin, a hermit priest. (The monastery and its round tower are today one of the most popular tourist attractions in the county.)

Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March and 6th Earl of Ulster (grandson of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence), had in 1385 been publicly acknowledged as heir presumptive to the English crown.

He had accompanied Richard II to Ireland in 1394 but, notwithstanding a commission from the king as lieutenant of the districts over which he exercised nominal authority by hereditary right, he had made little headway against the native Irish chieftains.

The following year Mortimer had nevertheless, been given broader authority as lieutenant of Ireland.

March enjoys great popularity in England though he has taken no active part in opposing the despotic measures of the King.

He is killed on July 20, 1398, at the Battle of Kells, a border town of the Pale, in a fight with an Irish clan, and is buried in Wigmore Abbey in Hereford, his titles and the designation of heir presumptive passing to his young son, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March.

The Death of John of Gaunt and the Exile of Henry Bolingbroke (1399)

On February 3, 1399, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, died of natural causes at Leicester Castle, with his third wife, Katherine Swynford, by his side. By this time, his reputation—once tarnished by political controversies—had been largely restored due to his dedication to the stability of the kingdom in his final years.

However, his death triggered a succession crisis, as King Richard II took drastic measures to prevent Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke, from inheriting his lands and titles, ultimately leading to Richard’s downfall.

I. Richard II’s Decision to Disinherit Henry Bolingbroke

• As John of Gaunt’s eldest surviving son, Henry Bolingbroke was expected to inherit the Duchy of Lancaster automatically through legal provisions known as "entail".
• Instead of honoring these rights, Richard II extended Bolingbroke’s exile to life and revoked the legal documents that ensured Henry’s inheritance.
• This meant that Henry would have to formally request his father’s lands from the king, a move designed to weaken Bolingbroke’s position and consolidate royal control over the vast Lancastrian estates.
• Richard felt secure in this decision, as Henry was in exile in Paris, and the French showed little interest in interfering due to their peace policy with England.

II. Richard II’s Absence and the Changing Political Landscape in France

• In May 1399, Richard departed for Ireland on another military campaign, leaving the kingdom in a politically vulnerable state.
• In June 1399, Louis, Duke of Orléans, gained influence over the French court and the insane King Charles VI, effectively controlling French foreign policy.
• Unlike his predecessor, Louis opposed rapprochement with England, as it did not align with his political ambitions in France.

III. Henry Bolingbroke’s Return to England

• Recognizing an opportunity to destabilize Richard II, Louis of Orléans allowed Henry Bolingbroke to leave France for England.
• After initial hesitation, Henry met with Thomas Arundel, the exiled former Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been banished for his involvement with the Lords Appellant.
• Arundel’s support was crucial, as he provided clerical legitimacy and noble backing for Henry’s return.

IV. Consequences and the Road to Richard’s Deposition

• Henry’s return to England in June–July 1399 quickly gained him widespread support, especially from nobles discontented with Richard’s rule.
• The disinheritance of Bolingbroke alienated many members of the nobility, who saw Richard’s actions as unlawful and autocratic.
• With Richard absent in Ireland, Henry’s invasion was almost unopposed, leading to his eventual seizure of the throne as Henry IV in September 1399.

V. Legacy of the Crisis

• The confiscation of the Lancaster estates and Bolingbroke’s exile were major miscalculations on Richard II’s part, costing him the throne.
• Louis of Orléans’ decision to allow Henry’s return had far-reaching consequences, indirectly leading to the establishment of the Lancastrian dynasty in England.
• Richard’s downfall marked the end of direct Plantagenet rule, ushering in the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487)in the following decades.

The death of John of Gaunt in 1399 set off a chain reaction that ultimately led to the overthrow of Richard II, highlighting the fragility of royal authority and the consequences of alienating powerful noble families.