Scholarship on the reign of Henry IV has experienced somewhat of a renaissance in recent years. This has been led, to some extent, by the publication in 2003 of the collection of essays Henry IV: The Establishment of the Regime. Our aim in having a second volume published was to capitalize on the resurgence of interest in the reign and, following the highly successful format adopted in Establishment of the Regime, to publish a second series of papers which shed yet more light on these turbulent and eventful years of late medieval English history.

In this volume the focus is on the later stages of Henry IV's reign, a period which has tended to be overlooked in scholarship as a result of undue emphasis placed on the process and immediate aftermath of Henry IV's seizure of power in 1399. This, indeed, was the notable characteristic of the first volume in which contributors were drawn – rather than guided – to consider Henry's regime in its very early stages of development. The relative neglect of the years 1403–1413 has meant that key questions about the style and record of Henry IV's kingship, as well the consideration of important themes, events or episodes located within this period, have escaped detailed scrutiny. In particular, whilst scholars have been drawn to the question of how Henry seized power, much less attention has been paid to how he retained this power in the face of serious political and military challenges, what were the particular characteristics of his rule and how, ultimately, he succeeded in passing the throne intact to his son in 1413. The period 1403–13 was no less dramatic and challenging for Henry than the initial years of his rule: he faced a series of serious rebellions, a financial crisis, deep-seated opposition in parliament, personal ill-health and a number of serious dilemmas relating to foreign policy. The purpose of each contribution to this volume is to shed new light and/or offer significant new interpretations on these and other key aspects of Henry IV's later years.

The papers which make up this present volume are the result of a twoday symposium held at the University of Nottingham in July 2006. As with the first symposium one of our principal aims in organizing the event was to encourage as much informal debate, conversation, and discussion among the participants as possible.