The History of England

At last in 1397 Richard would have felt that he had put his past humiliation from the Appellants behind him. But he was no happier or secure. He gathered his private army of Cheshire Archers around him and looked out at the world outside the court with mistrustful eyes. 

In 1397, Richard finally saw the chance to try to get his revenge on the Appellants - Gloucester, Arundel and Warwick. So the parliament  of September 1397 was momentus.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, son of the most powerful magnate in England, was a golden child blessed with every advantage. While Richard tried to get his royal feet under the throne, Bolingbroke left the wife to bring up the children and headed out to fulfil the image of the perfect medieval knight.

Between the Appellants crisis of 1388 and 1397, Richard ruled with increasingly confidence. He was hardly the most impressive English king but he appeared to have cast off the wildness of his early days, and accepted the need to rule together with his leading magnates. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By 1387, it was becoming clear that the Wonderful Parliament of 1385 had not solved the problem. Pressure had been building, and Gloucester, Warwick and Arundel were far from satisfied - and felt far from safe. The showdown came at the Merciless Parliament of 1388. 

From the end of the Peasant's Revolt in 1381, England continues to be managed by the Council, but the young Richard began to have more and more influence. And despite his youth and lack of sole control, what he does manages to raise concern rather than to re-assure. As the war with France goes from bad to worse, by the time 1387 comes around there are more than a few murmers of discontent around. 

Wycliffe's views finally began to attract the enmity of the church; and the crown, in the form of Richard, was no longer prepared to protect him - though unexcited about suppression. By 1384, open discussion at Oxford University of Wycliffe's ideas were a thing of the past, and Wycliffe was dead - but a new religious movement called Lollardy was precariously alive. It was helped by the first Bible...

Wycliffe's writings were to prove controversial and proved an interesting early echo of the Reformation. They heavily influenced the view of Jan Hus and the movement in Bohemia. And his ability to develop and present those views owed a lot to Oxford University, and its desire to protect intellectual debate and investigation. 

After Richard had broken the revolt in London at Smithfield it was time to tackle the chaos outside London. The Counter Revolution took something between 1,500-7,000 judicial executions, and did nothing to solve the breaches in a divided society. Also this week, a look at the state of the nation of the medieval English church, as we approach the story of John Wyclif and the Lollards.   

In June 1381 the revolt came to London. Before long, London was in flames, and the qualities of the young king Richard, and his advisors, were tested to the limit as they were made prisoners in their own castle.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a hill outside Blackheath, just to the south of London, a hedge priest called John Ball is preaching to a massive crowd of pesants. When Adam delved and Eve span, he asked, who was then the Gentleman? What a great question. So why are there thousands of peasants sitting on a hill outside London? 

Richard arrived with the expectation of a nation on his shoulders - the son of the illustrious hero Edward the Black Prince. So what was Richard like, and how has history treated him?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The rythmn of the year would have been far more important to most medieval people that the goings on at Westminster and the court of the king. The stream of Christian festivals, the odd old survival from days pagan, the demands of the natural world - these were the things that really mattered.

There were now unusual expecations for the parliament of 1376. But in fact a revolt from the Commons was brewing, dismayed by the failures of the war. The Good Parliament set a number of precedents but John of Gaunt did not allow it to stand for long. And by June 1377 both the King and his son the Black Prince were dead. 

From 1371 to 1375 the army went from bad to worse. An English fleet was destroyed at La Rochelle and Poitou and the Saintonge fell to the French. The great counter attack by Gaunt in 1373 was a disaster. And in 1374 the end of English rule in Gascony looked on the cards. The truce of Bruges in 1375 saved the English position - but it all looked very temporary. And back at home, Alice Perrers tight...

On the face of it, the 1360's were a continuation and celebration of the great victories of the 40's and 50's. In 1364, Charles of Blois was defeated and killed at Auray. In 1364 John II died, to be replaced by Charles Vth, and in 1367 the Black Prince won a brilliant victory at Najera. But in fact the English apple had the worm of decay in its centre. 

Fashion finally comes to town in the 14th Century. At the start of the century people are wearing what they've been wearing for centuries. By the end of it there are a wide variety of styles people may choose.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the victory at Poitiers and capture of the French King, the English seemed to hold all the cards, and the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360 for a while maintained this illusion. Edward basked in his glories, and made sure he had provided for his thre eldest sons - Edward, Lionel and John. 

1356 saw one of the greatest exchange of arms of the war. Early in the year, the Duke of Lancaster attacked into Normandy and with lightening marches ran rings round the French King. Then in the south the Black Prince attacked into the Poitou, seeking to link up with Lancaster on a march towards Paris. The campaign would end of the field of Poitiers as once again an English army faced a much bigge...

In 1354 - 1355 Edward and his court wavered between optimism that a negotiated settlement was within their grasp - and determination to continue to prosecute the war. The Treaty of Guines looked to have given Edward more than he could have hoped for - Aquitaine, Anjou and Calais in return for peace and the renunciation of his claims. But in the end it was to be war again. The Black Prince started...

The period between 1347 and 1353 was one of low level war and violence; punctuated by more or less effective truces. But even the truces don't stop the low level local violence that saw a creeping chaos in areas of France. Meanwhile at home, Edward's parliaments of 1351-3 introduced a range of legislation and saw the Commons become a more unified coherent unit. 

The theory runs that the Black Death transformed medieval society. With a dramatic shortage of labour, the English peasant was able to demand whatever wages and terms they wanted - liberating hte English from serfdom. Is this true? And what other impacts did the Black Death have on the medieval mind. 

In 1348 a 14 year old royal princess, Joan, set out from Portsmouth to marry Pedro of Castile. Her route went by Bordeaux, and with the massive trousseau she carried - enough to fill an entire ship - she would have expected a comfortable journey. But Joan never arrived.

By the end of the march across Normandy in 1346, Edward had accepted that he was not going to be able to hold French territory. But he had a clear objective - Calais. Philip meanwhile now hoped that the Scots would invade an empty, defenceless England and Edward would have to abandon his plans and rush back home.

In 1346 Edward invaded finally launched the invasion he had hoped to lead in 1345. The target was Normandy a devastating raid through northern France, a glorious victory in battle followed by - well who knows. There followed a tense camapign that tettered on the edge of disaster until the two armies finally met outside the village of Crecy on 26th August 1346