Having seized the throne from his cousin Richard II in 1399, Henry Bolingbroke, the first nobleman to be made king of England since the twelfth century, faced the remarkable challenge of securing his power and authority over a kingdom that was divided and in turmoil. This collection of essays - the first such collection focusing specifically on the reign of the first Lancastrian king - by some of the leading historians of late medieval England, takes a fresh look at the crucial but neglected first years of Henry IV's reign, examining how Henry met and overcame the challenges which his...

This work reexamines the political and military aspects of the Revolution of 1399 that removed Richard II and placed Henry of Lancaster on the English throne. It argues that Henry of Lancaster was not the "all conquering" hero of 1399 but was rather the leader of a coalition of disaffected noblemen who had old scores to settle with Richard II. It also proposes that Richard II was not an incompetent king whose personality disorder(s) and/or tyrannical behavior brought about his fall. Rather, it argues that the king was in no worse a political position in 1399 than in 1387 or even 1381. As on...