Wilkinson, B., 'The Deposition of Richard II and the Accession of Henry IV', The English Historical Review 54 (1939), 215-239
Quick Summary Parliament did not have the authority to depose Richard II in 1399, merely the ability to ratify actions already taken by the nobility Henry IV would never have accepted election by the people in parliament He was much more concerned with powerful rebels than he was with constitutional issues The deposition of Edward II provided no precedent for parliamentary deposition Key Conclusion Wilkinson offers a revisionist perspective of the deposition of Richard II, arguing against the notion that Henry IV could have derived his title to the English crown from parliament in a form of ‘elective monarchy’. Wilkinson concludes that the ‘title to the throne was outside the practical possibilities offered to a successful rebel by the constitution of 1399’ (p. 239). Parliamentary deposition would have been ‘contrary to all that we know of the nature, the composition, and functions of parliament in the fourteenth century’ (p. 220). Furthe...