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.

Henry V

Henry of Monmouth was so-called because he was born in a tower at Monmouth Castle in Wales, but the date of his birth was not recorded because he was never expected to be king. (It has since been decided to call it 16 September 1386.)

King of England at the time was Richard II. Henry's father was the king's cousin (Henry senior was the son of John of Gaunt, younger brother of Richard II's father, Edward the Black prince.) Henry senior took part in a revolt against Richard, which resulted in his exile in 1398.

At that point, Richard took the twelve-year-old Henry under his wing, taking him to Ireland. A year later, his grandfather John of Gaunt died and the Lancastrian rebellion overthrew Richard and put Henry's father on the throne as Henry IV. Young Henry was now the eldest son of the reigning king, and was named heir apparent, Prince of Wales, and Duke of Lancaster. He also became Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester and Duke of Aquitaine.

In 1400 he was named Sheriff of Cornwall and put in charge of part of the military (note that he is about fourteen years old). In 1403 he led an English army to fight Owain Glendower (previously mentioned here). At the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 against Henry Percy (immortalized as "Hotspur" in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1), an arrow was embedded in the left side of our Henry's face.

This would have been dire for any soldier, but the king's son was going to receive the best care. The royal physician treated it with honey as a natural antiseptic, and developed a tool to extract the embedded arrowhead before flushing the wound with alcohol. The patient survived with impressive scars that proved his battle experience (although you'll note the absence of scars in the portrait above).

That physician was John Bradmore, and is too interesting a character to not stop and talk about him next.