Sherborne, James, 'Perjury and the Lancastrian Revolution of 1399', Welsh History Review 14 (1988), 217-241

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Quick Summary

Henry Bolingbroke returned to England in 1399 without a strategy to depose Richard II and became king of England through his opportunism

  • Bolingbroke had not systematically planned for the deposition of Richard II
  • Bolingbroke swore an oath that he planned to bring Richard under control
  • A key supporter of Bolingbroke assured Richard II that there were no plans to depose him
Key Conclusion

Sherborne explores Henry Bolingbroke’s return from exile to reclaim the duchy of Lancaster following the death of his father, John of Gaunt, and the duchy’s confiscation by Richard II. Sherborne concludes that even though subsequent events ultimately led to the deposition of Richard II and the accession of Henry IV, Bolingbroke’s route to the throne ‘had not been systematically planned’. Rather Bolingbroke was ‘opportunistic’ and ‘borne along by circumstances which evolved and changed more favourably to his advantage than he anticipated’ (p. 241). Throughout the events, Bolingbroke generally acted in accordance with an oath he had taken in south Yorkshire and didn’t seek the English throne for himself.

Content Overview

According to the chronicle of John Hardyng, shortly after Henry Bolingbroke arrived in England he swore an oath (in the second or third week of July 1399) that he was committed to restoring his Lancastrian inheritance, bringing Richard II under control, and curtailing some of Richard’s excesses as king. When talking of controlling the king, Henry was recalling the October parliament of 1386 which had ‘imposed on Richard II for one year a powerful commission restricting the king’s use of his prerogative’ (p. 220). Sherborne argues that between Bolingbroke’s arrival at Doncaster and his negotiations with Richard II at Flint on 15 August ‘Bolingbroke adhered to the content of the oath’ (p. 224).

Further Findings

On 10 August, the earl of Northumberland reassured Richard II that Bolingbroke had recently sworn that he did not seek the throne (p. 235), and Sherborne suggests that this is likely to have been the case. The first clear evidence that Bolingbroke began preparing to depose Richard II emerges with orders from Henry that the histories of the realm be searched to gather material for a committee charged with ‘the setting aside of King Richard and of choosing Henry, duke of Lancaster in his stead, and how it was to be done and for what reason’ (p. 239). Whether or not these orders were sent out from Chester, where Bolingbroke departed on 21 August 1399, is unknown.

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