When Henry came of age, he was involved in the 1388 revolt of theLords Appellant against his first cousin, KingRichard II. Henry was later exiled from England in 1397.[5] After Henry's father died in 1399, Richard blocked Henry's inheritance to the holdings of theHouse of Lancaster. So, Henry rallied Lancastrian supporters, imprisoned Richard II and formally deposed him, usurping the throne. These actions later contributed to dynastic disputes in theWars of the Roses (1455–1487).[6]
Henry was the first English ruler whose mother tongue was English (rather than French) since theNorman Conquest, over 300 years earlier.[7] He was also the first monarch to come from the House of Lancaster.[8] As king, he faced a number of rebellions, most seriously those ofOwain Glyndŵr, the last Welshman to claim the title of Prince of Wales, and the English knightHenry Percy (Hotspur), who was killed in theBattle of Shrewsbury in 1403. Henry IV had six children from his first marriage toMary de Bohun, while his second marriage toJoan of Navarre produced no surviving children. Henry and Mary's eldest son,Henry of Monmouth, assumed the reins of government in 1410 as the king's health worsened. Henry IV died in 1413, and his son succeeded him asHenry V.
Henry's relationship with his stepmother Katherine Swynford was amicable, but his relationship with the Beauforts varied. In his youth, he seems to have been close to all of them, but rivalries withHenry andThomas Beaufort caused trouble after 1406.Ralph Neville, 4th Baron Neville, married Henry's half-sisterJoan Beaufort. Neville remained one of his strongest supporters, and so did his eldest half-brotherJohn Beaufort, even though Henry revoked Richard II's grant to John of amarquessate. Katherine Swynford's son from her first marriage, Thomas, was another loyal companion.Thomas Swynford was Constable ofPontefract Castle, where Richard II is said to have died.
One of Gaunt's esquires, Thomas Burton, was appointed Henry's tutor in December 1374, and a Gascon named William Montendre was made his instructor in military matters in 1376. It was likely Hugh Herle who taught Henry to read and write in English and French and some Latin as well; Herle served as Henry's chaplain for many years. By 1381–1382, Henry is recorded riding, hunting, and travelling with his father, as well asjousting and observing official events. He later became an active and highly successful jouster. He was besieged with King Richard and others in the Tower of London during thePeasants' Revolt in 1381 and narrowly escaped being murdered when the rebels stormed the tower. He was saved by a man named John Ferrour of Southwark, who participated in theEpiphany Rising against Henry, by then king of England, nearly twenty years later and was pardoned.[9]
Henry had a close relationship with his father, but he did not participate much in public affairs while Gaunt was present in England. He accompanied Gaunt to negotiations with the French in Calais in November 1383. He took part in Richard's Scottish campaign with his father's forces in 1385, and he may have also served in an earlier incursion into Scotland by Gaunt. He was summoned to parliament for the first time in October 1385.[9]
In his youth, Henry joinedcrusading expeditions; contemporaries remarked that he "never lost a battle", andJohn Gower described him as "full of knighthood and all grace".[10]
Henry of Bolingbroke, flanked by the lords spiritual and temporal, claims the throne in 1399. From a contemporary manuscript,British Library,Harleian Collection
Henry experienced a more inconsistent relationship with King Richard II than his father had. First cousins and childhood playmates, they were admitted together as knights of theOrder of the Garter in 1377, but Henry participated in theLords Appellants' rebellion against the king in 1387.[11] After regaining power, Richard did not punish Henry, although he did execute or exile many of the other rebellious barons. In fact, Richard elevated Henry fromEarl of Derby toDuke of Hereford.[12]
Henry spent all of 1390 supporting the unsuccessfulsiege of Vilnius (capital of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania) byTeutonic Knights with 70 to 80 household knights.[13] During this campaign, he bought captured Lithuanian women and children and took them back toKönigsberg to be converted, even though Lithuanians had already been baptised byPolish priests for a decade by then.[14]
Henry's second expedition to Lithuania in 1392 illustrates the financial benefits to the Order of these guestcrusaders. His small army consisted of over 100 men, includinglongbow archers and six minstrels, at a total cost to the Lancastrian purse of £4,360. Despite the efforts of Henry and his English crusaders, two years of attacks on Vilnius proved fruitless. In 1392–93 Henry undertook a pilgrimage toJerusalem, where he made offerings at theHoly Sepulchre and at theMount of Olives.[15] Later he vowed to lead a crusade to "free Jerusalem from the infidel", but he died before this could be accomplished.[16]
The relationship between Henry and Richard had a second crisis. In 1398, a remark about Richard's rule byThomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was interpreted as treason by Henry, who reported it to the king.[17] The two dukes agreed to undergo aduel of honour (called by Richard) at Gosford Green nearCaludon Castle, Mowbray's home inCoventry. Yet before the duel could take place, Richard decided to banish Henry from the kingdom (with the approval of Henry's father, John of Gaunt), although it is unknown where he spent his exile, to avoid further bloodshed. Mowbray was exiled for life.[18]
John of Gaunt died in February 1399.[18] Without explanation, Richard cancelled the legal documents that would have allowed Henry to inherit Gaunt's land automatically. Instead, Henry would be required to ask Richard for the lands.[19]
After some hesitation, Henry met the exiledThomas Arundel, formerarchbishop of Canterbury, who had lost his position because of his involvement with theLords Appellant.[19] Sailing from Boulogne, Henry and Arundel returned to England while Richard was on a military campaign in Ireland.[3] With Arundel as his advisor, Henry began a military campaign, confiscating land from those who opposed him and ordering his soldiers to destroy much ofCheshire. Henry initially announced that he intended to reclaim his rights asDuke of Lancaster, though he quickly gained enough power and support to have himself declared King Henry IV, imprison Richard (who died in prison, most probably forcibly starved to death),[20] and bypass Richard'sheir-presumptive,Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March.[21]
Coronation of Henry IV (left) The coronation of Henry IV of England, from a 15th century manuscript ofJean Froissart'sChronicles (right)
Henry's 13 October 1399 coronation at Westminster Abbey[22] may have been the first time since theNorman Conquest that the monarch made an address in English. Henry was also the first king to be anointed with the Virgin Mary'ssacred oils.[23]
In January 1400, Henry quashed theEpiphany Rising, a rebellion by Richard's supporters who plotted to assassinate him. Henry was forewarned and raised an army in London, at which the conspirators fled. They were apprehended and executed without trial.
In August 1400, urgently wanting to defend theAnglo-Scottish border, and to overcome his predecessor's legacy of failed military campaigns, Henryinvaded Scotland. A large army was assembled slowly and marched into Scotland. Not only was nopitched battle ever attempted, but the King did not try and besiege Scotland's capital,Edinburgh. Henry's army left at the end of the summer after only a brief stay, mostly camped nearLeith (near Edinburgh) where it could maintain contact with its supply fleet. The campaign ultimately accomplished little except to deplete further theking's coffers, and is historically notable only for being the last one led by an English king on Scottish soil.[24][25][26]
Henry consulted with Parliament frequently, but was sometimes at odds with the members, especially over ecclesiastical matters. In January 1401, Arundel convened a convocation atSt. Paul's cathedral to addressLollardy.[27] 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.[28] A short time later the convocation along with the House of Commons petitioned Henry to take action against the Lollards.[29] On this advice, Henry obtained from Parliament the enactment ofDe heretico comburendo in 1401, which prescribed the burning ofheretics, an act done mainly to suppress theLollard movement.[29] In 1404 and 1410, Parliament suggested confiscating church land, in which both attempts failed to gain support.[30]
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 earlyassassination plot was foiled in January 1400, Richard died in prison aged 33, probably of starvation on Henry's order.[a] Some chroniclers claimed that the despondent Richard had starved himself,[31] 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.[31]
After his death, Richard's body was put on public display inOld St Paul's Cathedral,[32] 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 theDominican Priory atKings Langley, Hertfordshire,[33] 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 inWestminster Abbey.[34]
Rebellions continued throughout the first 10 years of Henry's reign, including therevolt of Owain Glyndŵr, who declared himselfPrince of Wales in 1400,[35] and the rebellions led byHenry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, from 1403. The first Percy rebellion ended in theBattle of Shrewsbury in 1403 with the death of the earl's sonHenry, 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 physicianJohn 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 theTower of London.[36]
Manuel II Palaiologos (left) with Henry IV (right) in London, December 1400[37]
Early in his reign, Henry hosted the visit ofManuel II Palaiologos, the onlyByzantine emperor ever to visit England, from December 1400 to February 1401 atEltham Palace, with ajoust being given in his honour. Henry also sent monetary support with Manuel upon his departure to aid him against theOttoman Empire.[38]
In 1406, English pirates captured the futureJames I of Scotland, aged eleven, off the coast ofFlamborough Head as he was sailing to France.[39] James was delivered to Henry IV and remained a prisoner until after the death of Henry's son, Henry V.[40]
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 surgeonThomas 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".[41] Medical historians have long debated the nature of this affliction or afflictions. The skin disease might have beenleprosy (which did not necessarily mean precisely the same thing in the 15th century as it does to modern medicine), perhapspsoriasis, or a different disease. The acute attacks have been given a wide range of explanations, fromepilepsy to a form of cardiovascular disease.[42] Some medieval writers felt that he was struck with leprosy as a punishment for his treatment ofRichard le Scrope,Archbishop of York, who was executed in June 1405 on Henry's orders after a failed coup.[43]
Despite the example set by most of his recent predecessors, Henry and his second wife,Joan, were not buried at Westminster Abbey but atCanterbury Cathedral, on the north side ofTrinity Chapel and directly adjacent to the shrine ofSt Thomas Becket. Becket's cult was then still thriving, as evidenced in the monastic accounts and in literary works such asThe 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 fromRichard II.[44] 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;[45][46] 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.[47]
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.[48] 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.[49] Atop the tomb chest lie detailedalabaster 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.[50][51]
Duke of Hereford was a title in thePeerage of England. It was created in 1397 forRichard II's cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, due to his support for the King in his struggle against their uncleThomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester. As such it was aduketti ("little dukes") title. It merged in the crown on Henry's usurpation two years later, and has never since been recreated.[53][55]
Before his father's death in 1399, Henry bore the arms of the kingdom, differenced by alabel of five points ermine. After his father's death, the difference changed to alabel of five points per pale ermine and France.[56]
Upon his accession as king, Henry updated the arms of the kingdom to match an update in those of royal France from a field offleur-de-lys to just three.
Henry marriedMary de Bohun at an unknown date,[63] but her marriage licence, purchased by Henry's fatherJohn of Gaunt in June 1380, is preserved at theNational Archives. The accepted date of the ceremony is 5 February 1381, at Mary's family home ofRochford Hall, Essex.[9] The near-contemporary chroniclerJean Froissart reports a rumour that Mary's sisterEleanor de Bohun kidnapped Mary fromPleshey Castle and held her atArundel Castle, where she was kept as a novice nun; Eleanor's intention was to control Mary's half of the Bohun inheritance (or to allow her husband,Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, to control it).[64] There Mary was persuaded to marry Henry. She died in 1394 and therefore never became queen after Henry claimed the English throne in 1399. They had six children:[b]
Henry had four sons from his first marriage, which was undoubtedly a clinching factor in his acceptability for the throne. By contrast, Richard II had no children and Richard's heir-presumptiveEdmund Mortimer was only seven years old. The only two of Henry's six children who produced legitimate children to survive to adulthood were Henry V and Blanche, whose son, Rupert, was the heir to theElectorate of the Palatinate until his death at 20. All three of his other sons produced illegitimate children. Henry IV's male Lancaster line ended in 1471 during theWar of the Roses, between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists, with the deaths of his grandson Henry VI and Henry VI's sonEdward, Prince of Wales. Mary de Bohun died giving birth to her daughter Philippa in 1394.
On 7 February 1403, nine years after the death of his first wife, Henry married Joan, the daughter ofCharles II of Navarre, atWinchester. She was the widow ofJohn IV, Duke of Brittany (known in traditional English sources as John V),[67] with whom she had 9 children; however, her marriage to King Henry produced no surviving children. In 1403, Joan of Navarre gave birth to stillborn twins fathered by King Henry IV,[68] which was the last pregnancy of her life. Joan was 35 years old at the time.
Naish Priory in Somerset contains corbelled heads of Henry IV and Joanna celebrating their marriage, at the manor of Mary de Bohun's late and powerful great-aunt,Margaret de Bohun
^ "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).'"[20]
^The idea that Henry and Mary had a child Edward who was born and died in April 1382 is based on a misreading of an account which was published in an erroneous form by J. H. Wylie in the 19th century. It missed a line which made clear that the boy in question was the son of Thomas of Woodstock. The attribution of the name Edward to this boy is conjecture based on the fact that Henry was the grandson of Edward III and idolised his uncle Edward of Woodstock yet did not call any of his sons Edward. However, there is no evidence that there was any child at this time (when Mary de Bohun was 12), let alone that he was called Edward. See appendix 2 in Ian Mortimer's bookThe Fears of Henry IV.
^Bucholz, R. O.; Key, Newton (2020).Early modern England, 1485-1714: a narrative history (Third ed.). Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley Blackwell. p. 79.ISBN978-1-118-53221-8.
^Dennis, George T. (1977).The Letters of Manuel II Palaeologus. Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies, Trustees for Harvard University. Letter 38.ISBN978-0-8840-2068-4.
^Walsingham, Thomas. Taylor, John; et al. (eds.).The St Albans Chronicle: The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham. Vol. II,1394–1422. Translated by Taylor, John. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 237.
^Legg, L.G.W., ed. (1901), "Pope John XXII to King Edward II of England, 2 June 1318",English Coronation Records, London: Archibald Constable & Co., pp. 73–75,OCLC2140947,OL24187986M
^Wilson, Christopher (1995). "X. The Medieval Monuments". InCollinson, Patrick; et al. (eds.).A History of Canterbury Cathedral. Oxford University Press. pp. 451–510.ISBN9780198200512.OL1080250M.
^Woodruff, C. Eveleigh;Danks, William (1912).Memorials of the Cathedral and Priory of Christ in Canterbury. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. pp. 192–194.
^abGoodman, Anthony (2013) [1992].John of Gaunt: The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe. Routledge. pp. 28–29.ISBN978-0-582-50218-5.
^abHaines, Roy Martin (2003).King Edward II: His life, his reign and its aftermath, 1284–1330. Montreal, Canada and Kingston, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 355.ISBN978-0-7735-3157-4.
^abLeese, Thelma Anna (2007).Blood Royal: Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England, 1066-1399: the Normans and Plantagenets. Heritage Books. p. 140.
Burden, Joel (2003). "How Do You Bury a Deposed King?". In Dodd, Gwilym; Biggs, Douglas (eds.).Henry IV: The Establishment of the Regime, 1399–1406. York: York Medieval Press. pp. 35–54.
Curry, A.; Bell, A. R.; King, A.; Simpkin, D. (2010). "New Regime, New Army? Henry IV's Scottish Expedition of 1400".The English Historical Review.125:382–413.OCLC754650998.
Dahmus, John W. (1981). "Henry IV of England: An Example of Royal Control of the Church in the Fifteenth Century".Journal of Church and State.23 (1 (Winter)). Oxford University Press:35–46.doi:10.1093/jcs/23.1.35.
Janvrin, Isabelle; Rawlinson, Catherine (2016).The French in London: From William the Conqueror to Charles de Gaulle. Translated by Emily Read. Wilmington Square Books. p. 16.ISBN978-1-9085-2465-2.
Keen, M.H. (2003).England in the Later Middle Ages (2nd ed.). Routledge.ISBN0-415-27293-9.
Usk, Adam (1997). Given-Wilson, C. (ed.).The Chronicle of Adam Usk 1377–1421. Oxford Medieval Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19820-483-1.
Wilson, Christopher (1990). "The Tomb of Henry IV and the Holy Oil of St Thomas of Canterbury". In Fernie, Eric; Crossley, Paul (eds.).Medieval Architecture and its Intellectual Context. London: Hambledon Press.ISBN1-8528-5034-5.OL1875648M.
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