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King '''Henry IV''' was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and grandson to [[Edward III]]. He gained the throne by deposing King [[Richard II]].  He had to put down several rebellions during his reign, but kept the throne to his death.   

'''Henry IV''' (1367-1413), King of [[England]] (1399-1413), was born at Bolingbroke, [[Lincolnshire]], the son of [[John of Gaunt]] and Blanche of [[Lancaster]]. He is the “Bolingbroke” of the [[Shakespeare]] plays. He was the cousin of [[Richard II]], and one of the [[lords appellant]] in the “Merciless Parliament” of 1388. He found it advisable to leave England.

Back in England in the 1390s he found sufficient favour with the king to be created the Earl of Hereford, but they fell out again over a quarrel between Henry and another of the lords appellant and Henry was banished.

 

In 1399, John of Gaunt died, and Richard confiscated the Lancastrian estates. Joined by others who had suffered under the king’s autocracy, he took advantage of Richard’s absence in [[Ireland]] and invaded. Richard was forced to abdicate and was incarcerated in [[Pontefract Castle]], where he died – probably murdered - the following year.  

 

For most of the next nine years he fought to keep his crown – against Richard’s supporters in 1400; against the [[Welsh]] under [[Owen Glendower]] (1400-1409); the [[Percy]] lords (1403-1408) and crushing a resurrection organised by Richard Scrope, the [[Archbishop]] of [[York]] in 1405. In 1408 Henry fell ill. There is conjecture that he had leprosy, though stress is as likely a cause. Certainly there was much discussion at the time that he was being punished for his execution of Scrope. It was to get steadily worse, and was to cause his death. Increasingly in the last nine years of his reign the kingdom was effectively ruled by his son, the future [[Henry V]].

 

He had literary and musical tastes, was said to be chivalrous; was an able administrator and won fame as the foremost [[joust]]er of his age. He was a [[crusader]], joining the [[Teutonic Knights]] in [[Lithuania]] in 1390, and, during the next three years, visited [[Prussia]] and made a [[pilgrimage]] to [[Jerusalem]].  His successes in the almost constant troubles of the first years of his reign are put down to ability, political acumen and the (well rewarded, no doubt) loyalty of his supporters. Like his grandfather, he was not against conciliation for the greater good.

 

 

The succession of his eldest son was accepted by all, a new dynasty was established; but, with the acts of 1399-1400, a precedent had been set that would lead to much turbulence in the years ahead.

 

The Oxford Companion to British History.

 

 

 

   

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