3.3 Henry IV's reign

First Parliament

• Henry said that Richard voluntarily resigned when approached by noblemen

  • Supposedly admitted he was “utterly inadequate” to rule

  • Then placed his gold ring on Henry’s finger - chosen

• Widespread knowledge that Richard had been forcibly removed threatened stability

• Henry appointed a committee to establish the legal justifications

  • Found grounds based on: Richard’s immoral rule (offences including sacrilege, sodomy, perjury incompetence & greed)

  • Permitted the deposition on Canon Law

• 30 accusations against Richard were read out in Parliament

  • A comprehensive critique was essential to establish overwhelming reason for usurpation

  • Provided a public precedent for a monarch to be removed by over-mighty subjects if he was unpopular & incompetent

Justifications for Bolingbroke becoming King

• In his first parliament, Henry says he is “descended by the right line of the blood” - deliberately vague

  • By primogeniture, it was Edmnd MOrtimer, earl of March who was next in line

  • Weakened as it was trhough the female line & and that in 1399, he was only 8 years old

• Many supported Henry as he was:

  • An adult male

  • Proven warrior

  • Held a substantial retinue

• Dangerous as Henry made kingship legally conditional on competence & military might

Threat from Mortimer

• Only 8 so couldn’t take an active role in rebellion

• Could be used as a figurehead

• Mortimer Family = most powerful marcher family

  • Considerable support from Wales

  • Descended from a 13th centuary prince of Gwynedd

• Henry made Edmund & hisbrother Roger royal wards

Welsh Rebellion - Events

Sept 1400 - Glyndwr led a rebellion from Glyndyfrdwy

Elevated Owain to the Status of a Prince

Attacked and burnt the town of Ruthin

Within a week, Glyndwr’s forces were overwhelmed by troops raised by local Lancastrian Hugh Burnell

Henry IV placed his son 13 year-old Prince Hal in charge, alongside Henry Hotspur Percy as military commander

Use of Guerrilla tactics

→ Increased threat by 1401

King Henry returned there by autumn 1401

1402 Glyndwr captured Edmund Mortimer, uncle of the alternative claimant

September 1402 Parliament passed statues

• Forbade the sale of food or armour to Wales

• Prohibited the bearing of arms, holding of office or public meetings of Welshmen & men married to Welsh women.

1403 Hotspur rebelled

Battle of Shrewsbury

1405 - French sent 2,500 troops to support Glyndwr

Welsh Rebellion

• Aimed to remove English language & Lancastrian regime

• 1405 -

Hotspur’s Rebellion

Rebelled in 1403

Joined by his uncle, earl of Worcester

They issued proclamations against Henry IV in Chester, proclaiming their alliance to Richard II

Fought at Shrewsbury & defeated

Hotspur was killed on the battlefield & Henry ordered his body was publicly displayed → prevent later claims he lived

Relations w/ French

• Duke of Orleans lent tacit support to Henry’s 1399 invasion only to destabilise

  • Challenged Henry to armed combat twice 1402-3 which was refused

• The Dowager Queen was only returned in 1401 without any of her dowry - increased hostilities

  Duchy of Aquitaine

• Henry III gave up claims to Aquitaine -

• Edward III renewed the English claim, starting the Hundred Years War

• Richard II, born in Bordeaux, was very popular in Aquitaine, while Henry IV was not

  • 1401 Charles VI granted Aquitaine to the Dauphin as a deliberate insult to the English

  • Triggered serious outbreak of piracy

• 1402 English sent a fleet to Aquitaine, which was intercepted

• Financially, hostilities w/ French were damaging

  • cost of defence was significant

  • Negative impact on trade

    1405 - Hanseatic league placed trade restrictions on the English in the Baltic

Relations w/ Scottish

• Henry seems to have sought a more peaceful relationship

• BUT Scottish King refused to recognise the legality of the usurpation

  • Raided numerous norther counties

• 10 Nov 1399 Henry informed parliament he would wage war against Scotland

• 1400 - wrote to King Robert III, demanding he & other lords performed an act of homage to him, as their good lord

• August Henry invaded with 15,000 men

  • He was obliged to borrow money to support this - RISKY financially & politically vulnerable

  • He was aided by the defection if earl of Dunbar

  • Met with little resistance & progressed to Leith, near Edinbrogh,

  • Despite diplomatic exchanges, little progress was made and Henry returned home empty handed

    → Maybe concerned w/ safety of the throne so early in his reign

Scrope’s Rebellion 1405

• Motivated by:

  Financial burden of defence & mismanagement

• Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York was joined by other noblemen - earl of Northumberland, Thomas Mowbray

• It was overcome effectively

• Scrope was executed in June on Henry’s orders

  • Widely criticised:

    1. Archbishop was very popular

    2. More importantly, it was very unconventional for a senior clergyman to be executed

    3. Henry assured his old friend Thomas Arundel he wouldn’t be executed but betrayed this trust

  • Uncharacteristic of Henry - reflecting strain

  • Decline of Henry’s health began days after the execution - seen as divine retribution

Diplomacy - Marriages

• Marriage in 1402 of his daughter, Blanche to Ludwig, the eldest son of the King of the Romans

  • Gave Henry an important & strategic ally in relation to France

• Marriage of another daughter, Phillippa to the King of Norway, Sweden & Denmark

  • Important support w/ Hanseatic League

• Henry married Joan of Brittany, widow of duke of Brittany & daughter of Charles II of Navarre in 1402

  • Created an alliance with Brittany (independent of France)

    • Henry hoped the Bretons would support him - disappointed

    • Still strengthened Henry & influenced French

Diplomacy - Alliances

• Informal Alliances - invited to become members of the Order of the Garter

  → Considerable international status - important diplomatic tool

  • King of Portugal in 1400

  • King of Castile in 1402

• Alliances were undoubtedly influential but more significant was removing alternative claimants

  • Death of Richard II was extremely convenient

  • Henry kept the young earl of March closely guarded, preventing attempts to kidnap him or use him as a figurehead for rebellion

  • Succesfully put down Hotspur’s Rebellion

  • By 1405 Henry had an adult male heir who was military able (reassured nobility) and there were no viable alternatives

  • Financial situation was less precarious due to significant personal income from Duchy of Lancaster

  • Threats from Scotland & France may have also helped by reinforcing need for domestic unity