The Mortimer Kidnapping

Young Edmund Mortimer, who was the heir-presumptive of Richard II with the strongest claim to the throne of England, was being raised by the usurper Henry Bolingbroke, now King Henry IV. Edmund's uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, in 1402 declared that young Edmund was the rightful heir to the throne, putting him publicly opposed to Henry's reign.

Sir Edmund's sister Elizabeth was married to Henry "Hotspur" Percy. Sir Edmund made an arrangement with the Percy family of northern England and Owain Glendower of Wales (now Sir Edmund's father-in-law) called the Tripartite Indenture, by which they would overthrow Henry and divide Great Britain among themselves. Their first attempt to overthrow Henry IV resulted in the death of Hotspur.

They did not give up. One step toward success was gaining control of the "captive" Edmund. Henry was raising Edmund and his brother Roger with Henry's own younger children at Windsor Castle.

For the rescue they turned to Constance of York, whose husband had been executed after a plot to assassinate Henry IV. In February 1405, Constance and her brother, Edward of Norwich Duke of York, managed to get to Edmund and Roger and kidnap them. They were overtaken in Cheltenham, 3/4 of the way to Wales.

Constance and Edward of Norwich were imprisoned. Many monarchs would have killed the buy in order to prevent him from being the focal point for a rebellion. Henry IV was kinder than that, as well as confident of his military superiority that could put down any rebellion.

Edmund and Roger were returned to Windsor, but ultimately kept in the Tower of London. Sir Edmund was kept in check and died in 1409. With the chief rebel gone, Henry IV handed custody of young Edmund to the Prince of Wales, Henry (later King Henry V), who was 22, five years older than Edmund.

While Henry IV lived, he would not allow Edmund or Roger to go free. They were now old enough and savvy enough to understand that they might someday become king of England with the right backing, and there were still people in England who would support them. Tomorrow I'll explain their fate after Henry IV died. You might be surprised.

The Mortimer Rebellion

Although Edmund Mortimer was only seven years old when Henry Bolingbroke usurped the throne from Richard II, he was a potential political threat. He was Richard's heir-presumptive, and his lineage gave him a greater right to the throne of England through the laws of primogeniture than Henry had.

Henry treated the boy well, putting him (and his brother, Roger) in the care of a trusted retainer and raising him with Henry's own youngest children. Edmund had two sisters, but they lived quietly with their mother, who had remarried. A few years later, however, events took a turn that made the young Edmund more of a threat without the boy even lifting a finger.

Edmund's uncle, Sir Edmund Mortimer, was captured in June 1402 in Wales by Owain Glendower, a rebel leader. Bolingbroke, now King Henry IV, thought that Sir Edmund had actually chosen to defect and join the Welsh rebellion. Henry refused to pay ransom for Sir Edmund and confiscated his lands. Sir Edmund reinforced the suspicion of defection by marrying Glendower's daughter, Catrin. On 13 December 1402 he declared publicly that Edmund was the rightful heir to Richard II.

Sir Edmund's sister, Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, was married to Henry Percy, the 1st Earl of Northumberland. The Percy family was notable for helping keep control of the north of England against the Scots and the northern seas. Henry Percy and his son, also named Henry but nicknamed "Hotspur," rebelled against King Henry in collusion with Sir Edmund. The Percys felt that they were not appreciated enough by Henry IV for what they provided. The initial rebellion failed, and Hotspur was killed (see illustration).

In 1405, Sir Edmund, Henry Percy, and Glendower made an agreement called the Tripartite Indenture, in which they would depose Henry IV and divide the kingdom into three parts. They rebelled against Henry IV in a plot designed to free the young Edmund and make him king (after which, no doubt, Sir Edmund would be a chief advisor).

There was a plan to abduct young Edmund and his brother. It worked, but the consequences were grave. I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Edmund Mortimer

When Henry Bolingbroke decided in 1399 to return from exile in France and force his cousin, King Richard II, to return to him the properties and titles of Henry's deceased father, John of Gaunt, he gained so much popular support that his ambitions expanded to take the Crown from Richard as well. In doing this, Richard's chosen heir-presumptive was knocked out of the running. That man was Edmund Mortimer.

He was "heir-presumptive" because his position was potentially temporary if Richard had born a son. Who was Edmund? Why was he considered appropriate as a potential king of England? What happened to him after 1399?

Edmund's father was Roger Mortimer, the 4th Earl of March. Roger's mother was Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster, the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp, son of Edward III (and first "boss" of the page Geoffrey Chaucer). Edmund's parents and grandparents on both sides traced back to kings of England. Edmund's father had been made heir-presumptive, but his death in the Ireland campaign in 1398 caused the position to fall to Edmund.

Richard II was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke on 30 September 1399. Edmund was only seven years old, and clearly not seen as a threat to Henry, even though his lineage gave him status as heir to the throne above the rights of Henry.

Henry had no quarrel with the young and fatherless Edmund. His mother, Eleanor of Holland, had already remarried. Henry placed the child Edmund into the care of Sir Hugh Watertown, a trusted servant and attorney of Henry's father who now served Henry. Edmund was raised with Henry's own children, the ten-year-old John and five-year-old Philippa.

"Keep your enemies closer." Henry might have intended to raise Edmund as a loyal member of his household and court, ensuring that Edmund never saw Henry as a usurper. There were those—relatives of the young Edmund—who knew how to read a geneaology table and knew that there was a chance to replace Henry with Edmund and bring control of England back to their side of the family.

It only took a few years for an incident in Wales to turn into an opportunity for rebellion. This rebellion—entirely unconnected to anything Edmund would or could do—affected events and made Edmund less safe. I'll explain tomorrow.

Henry in Exile

After the Trial by Combat affair in 1398 between Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray (which was supposed to be to the death), King Richard II exiled Mowbray for life and Henry for 10 years. They were each allowed a few weeks to put their affairs in order, and they were granted annuities to live on. Henry went to France.

In 1399, Henry's father, John of Gaunt, died. Word came to Henry that Richard was not going to allow Gaunt's land to automatically go to Henry. Henry would have to request the lands from Richard. This was an insult on top of exile (which many people felt Henry did not deserve).

He sought out Thomas Arundel, the former archbishop of Canterbury who had been exiled by the Lords Appellant, who had taken over Richard's administration to root out corruption. Henry had been one of those Lords Appellant, but he met with Arundel and made peace with him.

While Richard was in Ireland on a campaign to deal with Irish defiance and a shrinking English population due to plague. While in Ireland, and struggling in the mountainous terrain, word came that Henry had arrived in England and was gathering an army.

Richard rushed back to England, but Henry was already gathering popular and military support. He had Arundel with him as an advisor. The stated goal was to claim the title of Duke of Lancaster that was his father's. Enough support flocked to him, however—and enough of Richard's supporter's deserted the king—that the goal shifted to replace Richard with himself.

What fighting there was didn't last, and Henry Bolingbroke was crowned King Henry IV on 13 October 1399. He was the first king to address the crowd in English since before 1066.

Henry was a remarkable man due to his various interests and skills, and his reign is worth discussing, but what about the "road not taken"? If Henry had not acted, or if he and Richard had died during this conflict, who would have been king? Richard had named an heir, someone who would have known that he was next in line should the king die, but then saw his opportunity for glory slip away when Bolingbroke return. Tomorrow, let's visit the life of Edmund Mortimer.

Henry and Richard

Henry Bolingbroke and his cousin, Richard, were childhood friends, but when they were older Henry became one of the Lords Appellant in 1387 who took it upon themselves to curtail what they saw as excesses and corruption in the administration of Richard when he became king.

Not only had they been friends, but Henry's father and Richard's uncle, the powerful (and sometimes feared) John of Gaunt, was a steadfast supporter of Richard personally and of royal authority generally.

After all that business (revisited recently in this blog), Richard could not find it in him to punish Henry. Richard awarded him the title Duke of Hereford, from Henry's deceased father-in-law. (Henry's and Richard's uncle Thomas of Woodstock tried to get the title for himself, having married another daughter of the deceased duke, but Thomas had been an enemy of Richard and was killed—perhaps due to an order from Richard—while in Calais.)

In 1398, the 1st Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray, supposedly said "many dishonest and slanderous words" about the king that Henry reported to Richard as treason. Mowbray denied the accusation, and Parliament tried to find the truth. Ultimately, Richard felt Trial by Combat was needed to resolve the issue. Mowbray had also been one of the Lords Appellant, and perhaps Richard saw this as a way to rid himself of two people who had opposed him using a "chivalrous" method.

Adam of Usk, a Welsh priest and chronicler, described the encounter:

On the day of battle they both came in great state to the appointed place, which was fenced with a wet ditch. But the duke of Hereford appeared far more gloriously distinguished with diverse pieces of equipment of seven horses. And, because the king had it by divination that the duke of Norfolk should then prevail, he rejoiced much, eagerly striving after the destruction of the duke of Hereford. But when they joined battle, it seemed to him that the duke of Hereford would prevail.

Richard stopped the combat, not wanting two important subjects to be injured, and declared that both should be exiled. Mowbray was exiled for life, but Henry was only exiled for 10 years.

It is never wise to exile someone who might be your enemy and a potential heir to your throne. It might make them long for revenge, and puts them where you cannot easily know what they're planning. See you tomorrow.

Thomas of Woodstock

I mentioned yesterday that Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt, married Mary de Bohun, through whom he inherited the title Earl of Hereford, but that it almost didn't happen. That uncertainty was due to the machinations of Henry's uncle, Thomas of Woodstock.

The last time we saw Thomas of Woodstock in this blog he was one of the Lords Appellant, working to curtail the administration of his nephew, Edward the Black prince's son King Richard II. In this he was opposing his older brothers, John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Edmund Langley Duke of York.

Thomas was the youngest child of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was born 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Palace (hence his surname). He was the second Thomas: there had been a son named Thomas earlier who did not survive long after childbirth. At 19 in 1374 he was married to Eleanor de Bohun, 11 years younger than he and the daughter of the 7th Earl of Hereford. Eleanor and her younger sister, Mary, were co-heiresses of their father.

The sisters' father had died in 1373, and Thomas and Eleanor were given the responsibility to raise Mary, who at that point was only about four years old.  Thomas decided that Mary's upbringing should be dominated by religious instruction: he was pressuring her to become a nun so that she would not inherit anything from her father and all would go to Eleanor and (by extension) Thomas. Thomas kept Mary at his castle in Essex, Pleshey, which had come to him via marriage (Pleshey had been in the Bohun family since 1227).

Thomas' older brother, John of Gaunt, also had his eye on the Hereford estates, and decided Mary would be a good match for his son, Henry. Henry was very literate, his father was a patron of poets (like Geoffrey Chaucer), and the Bohun family had an extensive library and was one of the foremost publishers of books in England at the time. (I'm not saying that was the reason for the match, but it certainly was an enhancement to her status in Gaunt's eyes.) John of Gaunt and Mary's aunt managed to sneak Mary out of Pleshey and out of Essex, where she was able to marry Henry Bolingbroke (in 1381).

Thomas had plenty of titles without becoming Earl of Hereford. He was Duke of Aumale, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Buckingham, and Earl of Essex. We may come back to him some day, but for now let's return to Henry Bolingbroke and his bride.

Henry Bolingbroke

I wrote not too long ago about Bolingbroke and his adversarial relationship with his cousin, Richard II. It might be useful to see him as an individual, starting with his youth.

Henry was born c.April 1367 at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire to John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster. John was Duke of Lancaster, having inherited that title (as well as estates and great wealth) from his father-in-law, Henry Grosmont. Henry was named in honor of his maternal grandfather.

He was given a tutor, Thomas Burton (one of Henry Grosmont's old servants), when Henry was seven, and at nine was given a military tutor, William Montendre. Hugh Herle, Gaunt's household chaplain, was also a tutor, teaching Henry to read and write fluently in French, English, and Latin. (When Henry eventually came to the throne, he was the first monarch in England since the Norman Invasion of 1066 to address his subjects in English rather than French.)

By the age of 14 he was traveling with his father, riding and hunting and even jousting, a sport which he enthusiastically embraced. At a particularly aggressive joust in 1389, a "joust of war" with uncapped lances, Henry traded strokes with one of the most formidable jousters in Europe, Sir Jean le Maingre. Sir Jean declared Henry one of the most admirable of all the challengers.

During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, he was trapped in the Tower along with Richard II. He narrowly escaped with the help of a guard, John Ferrour of Southwark, who stood between Henry and the angry mob and convinced the mob to allow Henry to flee.

Contemporary chroniclers reported that he never lost a battle when on crusades. John Gower (contemporary and friend of Chaucer) said he was "full of knighthood and all grace."

In 1381 he married Mary de Bohun; he was 14, she was not yet 10 (their first child was not born until five years later). Mary was the daughter of the Earl of Hereford. Through her he would become Duke of Hereford as well as of Lancaster via his father. The illustration shows his coat of arms blending the two titles.

He almost didn't become Earl of Hereford, and almost didn't marry Mary because of the schemes of one of his uncles. Tomorrow I'll explain how the youngest son sometimes struggles to gain more power for himself.

The Downfall of the Lords Appellant

The Lords Appellant must have felt they had done good service to the kingdom of England after the Merciless Parliament of 1388 eliminated everyone who was considered a corrupting influence on King Richard II. In fact, they rewarded themselves with £20,000 for their service and the expenses of hunting down malefactors.

That money may have been the catalyst for a turn of fortune. In September 1388, the Cambridge Parliament was called to address the state of the government's funds. By the end of 1388, the support for the Lords Appellant by the House of Commons had begun to wane.

The Commons made several complaints, arguing that the Lords had not been attentive to the proper governance of the country once they had eliminated their enemies. The approved tax was very small and committed only for defense of England in its northern boundary. Nothing was raised to continue wars in France.

Then, in 1389, Richard's uncle John of Gaunt returned from campaigning in Spain (Gaunt had married Constance of Castile—whose father the king of Castile had been deposed—and claimed the Castilian throne in her name, for which he had to fight). Gaunt was wealthy and powerful and worked to restore the king's power. He convinced the Lords Appellant and the king to compromise. The 1390s were relatively stable, but Richard never forgave the Lords Appellant, and eventually had his revenge.

The Duke of Gloucester, one of the Lords Appellant, was Thomas of Woodstock, one of the sons of Edward III and therefore Richard's uncle. He was captured during the wars in France and held captive in Calais. Richard (presumable) gave an order to kill him. (see illustration) Others were executed or imprisoned.

One of the Lords Appellant was Henry Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt's son. This was one explanation why Gaunt was able to reason with the Lords Appellant. When Gaunt died in 1399, Richard did not have to worry about angering his most valuable ally. Richard had exiled Henry for ten years (it didn't last), and forbade him to inherit from his father.

The exile and confiscation of his father's estate and title did not sit well with Henry, obviously. You might be familiar with his name and what happened next. If not, I'll save the surprise until next time.

Pontefract Castle

Pontefract Castle, where Richard II was imprisoned by his cousin (although for a very short time), had been begun very shortly after William the Conqueror took over England. He gave lands in 1070 to Ilbert and Walter de Lacy, who followed him from Normandy. Ilbert began Pontefract Castle, represented here by a model. There was a wooden structure there originally, refurbished in stone over time. The Domeday Book on 1086 calls it "Ilbert's castle."

A later de Lacy, Robert, did not support Henry I in his struggle with his brother, so Henry confiscated the castle in the 1100s. Under Richard Lionheart, Roger de Lacy paid 3000 marks for the privilege of inhabiting the castle, but Richard still owned it. When Richard's brother John came to power, he awarded Roger's loyalty by giving him the castle. By this time it was being called Pontefract.

The de Lacy family lived there until the early 1300s, but Henry de Lacy had only one daughter, "Poor" Alice, who married Thomas, the 2nd Earl of Lancaster. Pontefract became a Lancaster possession now. Thomas backed the wrong horse in the never-ending conflict between kings and would-be kings. He was convicted of treason without being allowed to speak in his own defense and executed at Pontefract on 22 March 1322.

Pontefract then passed to Thomas' brother, Henry Grosmont, the 3rd Earl of Lancaster, who was politically more savvy and eventually became one of the most respected and land-wealthy nobles in England. With his death, Pontefract came to his son-in-law, John of Gaunt. John's son Henry Bolingbroke should have inherited it, but at John's death an annoyed Richard II kept it along with all the other properties that should have gone to Henry. Henry mounted a campaign to get back what was rightfully his, but it snowballed into an outright rebellion against Richard, who was deposed and held in the Tower of London for awhile before being sent to Pontefract for incarceration. Not long after, Richard was dead (we are told from starvation).

Richard III, after the death of King Edward IV, had two men beheaded at Pontefract: the son and brother of Edward's wife, Elizabeth Woodville. When Henry VIII accused his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, of adultery with Sir Thomas Culpeper, it was thought that the affair began when the king and queen were staying at Pontefract.

A parliament under Oliver Cromwell decided that Pontefract should be demolished and the materials re-used. Now it is possible to see the cellars, but some renovation has taken place.

Henry Grosmont was, as mentioned respected and wealthy, and his death was mourned throughout England. Let's talk about what made him special next time.

Bolingbroke

Edward III of England had several sons. His eldest was also Edward, known as The Black Prince. Another was John of Gaunt. Prince Edward had a son named Richard. Prince John had a son named Henry Bolingbroke. When Edward III died, his heir was Richard, the son of his eldest who had predeceased him. John by that time was Duke of Lancaster, inheriting the title (and vast property) through his father-in-law.

John supported his nephew's accession to the throne, despite the fears of many (including many in parliament) that John might want to take the throne for himself; John was very powerful, wealthy, and shrewd. Richard and his uncle John did not always see eye-to-eye, nor Richard and parliament. John's son Henry had at one point been named a Lord Appellant, a group created to manage the kingdom and supervise Richard, who had become capricious. When Richard had opportunity, he exiled Henry Bolingbroke for 10 years.

On 3 February 1399, John of Gaunt died. Richard refused to allow the title Duke of Lancaster to his cousin Henry; rather, he extended Henry's exile from 10 years to his lifetime. There came a time that Richard had to go to Ireland to deal with a rebellion, at which point Henry Bolingbroke returned to England. He brought with him Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury who had been exiled by Richard as well. With a small military force and Arundel as an advisor, Henry started gathering support and confiscating land from anyone who did not wish to join him. Originally he claimed that he only wanted to get back his rights as Duke of Lancaster, but as he gathered support, anti-Richard sentiment grew.

Ultimately Henry had enough support to declare Richard deposed. Richard was imprisoned. Richard had an heir, the seven-year-old Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March. He was bypassed and Bolingbroke was crowned Henry IV on 13 October 1399. Incidentally, it may have been the first time since 1066 that a king in England at his coronation addressed his subjects using English, not French.

Let's talk about the start of Henry IV's reign tomorrow, and what happened to Richard.

The Truce of Leulinghem

England and France were at war for a long time, and neither side was in great shape in the late 1380s. England had been unsuccessful in several military engagements and was in severe financial straits. Moreover, King Richard II and parliament were at odds over money and authority. In France, King Charles VI was showing signs of psychosis. (For much more on the Hundred Years War in this blog, click here.)

Neither side was able to achieve a definitive win that would establish rule over the other's country, no matter how hard they wanted one. They were each willing to try, however. Despite this, King Richard wanted to simply negotiate a truce, against the wishes of parliament and the Lords Appellant. Not thinking he would succeed, they allowed him to go to Calais and meet with Charles, which they did outside of Calais in the town of Leulinghem.

As it happens, representatives of the kings met and tentatively arranged a three-year truce, but when the two kings met they extended it to 27 years (although it only lasted 13). By claiming they were at peace, they stopped hostilities between Portugal and Castile in Iberia, who were supporting England and France respectively. England and France also agreed to a Crusade against Turks in the Balkans.

They also agreed to keep meeting to discuss further joint ventures, so when Richard's wife Anne died in 1396, negotiations began to wed Richard to Charles' daughter Isabella, uniting the two royal families. The fact that Isabella was born in 1389 and was therefore only seven years old did not bother anyone; such is the nature of royal marriages. The wedding took place on 31 October 1396:

A tearful Princess Isabelle, dressed in a blue velvet dress sewn with golden fleurs de lys and wearing a diadem of gold and pearls, was carried by the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy to Richard’s pavilion. She was taken away by a delegation of English ladies led by the Duchesses of Lancaster and Gloucester. Four days later, on 4 November 1396, she was brought to the church of St. Nicholas in Calais where Richard married her. She was five days short of her seventh birthday. Her dolls were included in her trousseau. [Sumption, Jonathan (2011). The Hundred Years War, Volume 3: Divided Houses. p.831]

The two countries also agreed on helping to end the Western Schism, but Richard backed out and France decided to seize Avignon to force an end. Richard used the lack of war with France to concentrate on dealing with his enemies at home, confiscating their properties to redistribute them to his favorites. This was simply more of the same egregious behavior that led to the Wonderful Parliament and the Merciless Parliament.

When Richard went to Ireland to deal with a rebellion by Irish chieftains, his enemies saw their chance to deal with him once and for all. By this time, his uncle John of Gaunt was dead and the title Duke of Lancaster had fallen to Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke had been one of the Lords Appellant created by parliament to manage the king's excesses years earlier. Richard had managed to exile Bolingbroke, but his trip to Ireland gave Bolingbroke the opportunity to return.

After his return? History was made. I'll tell you about that next time.