Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T17:03:56.435Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

(a) - Lancastrian England

from 21 - England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Edward Powell
Edited by
Christopher Allmand
Christopher Allmand
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Get access

Summary

in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I, Henry of Lancaster, challenge this realm of England and the Crown with all the members and the appurtenances, as that I am descended by right line of the blood coming from the good lord King Henry Third, and through that right that God of his grace has sent me with help of my kin and of my friends to recover it, the which realm was in point to be undone for default of governance and undoing of the good laws.

With these words, on 30 September 1399, Henry Bolingbroke claimed the throne of England from his cousin Richard II. Since his return from disinheritance and exile in July 1399 Henry had acted swiftly and ruthlessly to outmanoeuvre Richard himself and to divide and neutralise his supporters. It was a breathtakingly audacious coup and, the deposition of Edward II not with-standing, an unprecedented one. After two hundred years during which the throne of England had passed uninterrupted from father to son (or grandson), Henry’s usurpation marked a radical departure which foreshadowed a century of dynastic instability. Before 1500 three more kings, Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII, were to seize the throne by force, in disregard for the traditional principle of primogeniture. Another, Henry V, was to claim the throne of France in a similar way: under the Treaty of Troyes of 1420 he became the heir of Charles VI, and the Dauphin Charles was disinherited.

Keywords

Henry Vdual monarchyLancastrian dynastysixteenth-century Englandmilitary operationspolitical stabilityLancastrian France
Type
Chapter
Information
The New Cambridge Medieval History , pp. 457 - 476
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allmand, C.T. (1983), Lancastrian Normandy, 1415-1450, Oxford
Allmand, C.T. (1992), Henry V, London; rev. edn New Haven and London (1997)
Aston, M. (1960), ‘Lollardy and sedition, 1381-1431’, Past & Present 17 Google Scholar
Bean, J.M.W. (1959), ‘Henry IV and the Percies’, History 44 Google Scholar
Brown, A.L. (1972), ‘The reign of Henry IV’, in Chrimes et al. (1972)Google Scholar
Carpenter, M.C. (1980), ‘The Beauchamp affinity: a study of bastard feudalism at work’, English Historical Review 95 Google Scholar
Carpenter, M.C. (1992), Locality and polity. A study of Warwickshire landed society, 1401-1499, Cambridge
Chrimes, S.B. (1936), English constitutional ideas in the fifteenth century, Cambridge
Chrimes, S.B. Ross, C.D. and Griffiths, R.A. (eds.) (1972) Fifteenth-century England 1399-1509, Manchester
English historical documents, 1327-1485, ed. Myers, A.R., London (1969).
Goodman, A.E. (1981), The Wars of the Roses. Militay activity and English society 1452-97, London
Gransden, A. (1982), Historical writing in England, II: c. 1307 to the early sixteenth century, London
Griffiths, R.A. (1981a), The reign of King Henry the sixth. The exercise of royal authority 1422-1461, London
Griffiths, R.A. (ed.) (1981b), Patronage, the crown and the provinces, Gloucester
Harriss, G.L. (1988), Cardinal Beaufort, Oxford
Harriss, G.L. (ed.) (1985), Henry V. The practice of kingship, Oxford
Harvey, I.M.W. (1991), Jack Cade’s rebellion of 1450, Oxford
Historical poems of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, ed. Robbins, R.H. New York (1959).
Jacob, E.F. (1961), The fifteenth century, Oxford
Johnson, P.A. (1988), Duke Richard of York 1411-1460, Oxford
Jones, M.K. (1981), ‘John Beaufort, duke of Somerset and the French expedition of 1443’, in Griffiths (1981b)Google Scholar
Jones, M.K. (1989), ‘Somerset, York and the Wars of the Roses’, English Historical Review 104 Google Scholar
Kingsford, C.L. (1913), English historical literature in the fifteenth century, Oxford
Kirby, J.L. (1970), Henry IV of England, London
McFarlane, K.B. (1972), Lancastrian kings and Lollard knights, Oxford
McFarlane, K.B. (1973), The nobiliy of later medieval England, Oxford
McFarlane, K.B. (1981), England in the fifteenth century. Collected essays, London
McNiven, P. (1987), Heresy and politics in the reign of Henry IV, Woodbridge
Newhall, R.A. (1924), The English conquest of Normandy, New Haven
Nicolas, N.H. (1827) The battle of Agincourt, London
Paston letters and papers of the fifteenth century, ed. Davis, N. 2 vols., Oxford (1971-1976).
Powell, E. (1989), Kingship, law and society. Criminal justice in the reign of Henry V, Oxford
Rogers, A.R. (1969), ‘Henry IV, the Commons and taxation’, Medieval Studies 31 Google Scholar
Roskell, J.S. (1965), The Commons and their speakers in medieval English parliaments, Manchester
Ross, C.D. (1975), Edward IV, London
Ross, C.D. (1976), The Wars of the Roses, London
Rotuli parliamentorum, 6 vols., London (1767– 1777).
Storey, R.L. (1966), The end of the house of Lancaster, London
Vale, M. (1970), English Gascony, Oxford
Vaughan, R. (1966), John the Fearless, London
Vaughan, R. (1970), Philip the Good, London
Watts, J.L. (1996), Henry VI and the politics of kingship, Cambridge
Wolffe, B.P. (1981), Henry VI, London
Wylie, J.H. (1884– 1898), History of England under Henry the fourth, 4 vols., London
Wylie, J.H. and Waugh, W.T. (1914– 1929), The reign of Henry the fifth, 3 vols., Cambridge

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×