Mesquita, D. M. Bueno de, 'The Foreign Policy of Richard II in 1397: Some Italian Letters', The English Historical Review 56 (1941), 628-637

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Quick Summary

Richard II formed a disingenuous military alliance with France so that he could take revenge against his political enemies in 1397

  • Richard II agreed to support a French military expedition to Lombardy
  • Once he had settled old scores in England he quickly pulled out of this agreement
  • Richard also seriously entertained hopes of becoming king of Germany
Key Conclusion

Mesquita explores a series of letters relating to Richard II’s foreign policy aims in 1397. Of particular importance is a letter from London to the Italian city republic of Florence. As part of Richard’s attempt to secure a lasting peace with France and bring an end to the Hundred Years War, he agreed to support Charles VI of France in defending the Florentine republic against the duke of Milan. Mesquita argues that one of the Richard’s chief motives in seeking a military alliance with the French was the need for French support in the event of domestic trouble in England following the Revenge Parliament of 1397.

Content Overview

In the Revenge Parliament of September 1397, Richard II took action against the former members of the Lords Appellant who had rebelled against him in 1387. Once he had dealt with the former rebels, he quickly abandoned the idea of a French alliance despite having ‘worked so hard’ and having risked ‘the alienation of his people’ only a year earlier (p. 631). Shortly after the Revenge Parliament, the French king sent a messenger to England, asking him to fulfil his promise and dispatch troops for an expedition to Lombardy. However, far from lending support to the French expedition, Richard merely ‘urged Charles VI to intervene in Italy to secure peace for the duke of Milan’ (p. 631).

Further Findings

Mesquita argues that after the French alliance had served its purpose, Richard ‘never showed himself more than lukewarm in his relations with Paris’. Consequently, when Henry Bolingbroke was exiled from England in 1399, the future usurper found a ‘warm welcome at the French court’ (p. 636). Mesquita also draws attention to another letter, which provides evidence of Richard II’s ‘fantastic hopes’ of becoming the German king (formally King of the Romans, p. 631). The Germans were dissatisfied with their absentee emperor Wenceslaus, and Richard allowed himself to believe he had a chance to replace him. He dispatched envoys, took oaths of homage from German knights, and convinced two of the electors to become his vassals and liegemen.

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