Richard II

Richard II (1367–1400), king of England (1377–99), the first English king to visit his Irish lordship since John in 1210, and the only reigning monarch before Victoria to make more than one Irish expedition. Richard's achievements and failure have been matters of historical debate, for his involvement brought no long‐term recovery. Although few records from the lordship survive, its condition was clearly known to be critical, and from 1389 a royal expedition was being considered. Such a venture had not been possible when England was at war with France. Its purpose was not only to provide immediate military support and exact submissions from Gaelic Ireland, but to reform the administration and revive the revenues. Richard's expedition in 1394–5, with a sizeable army, certainly achieved the first of these objectives. A successful campaign in Leinster and diplomatic negotiations throughout the country brought the Irish willingly to submission. Richard did not punish or exact fines from the chiefs as had been expected, but followed instead a policy of appeasement, promising them access to royal justice and arbitration on their differences with the English of Ireland. In local settlements some chiefs, such as Art MacMurrough in Leinster, gave up lands they had seized; grants to revitalize the lordship were made to English knights. Many Irish petitioned for royal favour, but though Richard was successful in gaining oaths of homage he was unable to resolve the conflicting claims they put forward. The breakdown of peace in Ulster in 1397 was probably inevitable, given that Roger Mortimer, 7th earl of Ulster, had been appointed king's lieutenant. The settlement's collapse was not, however, immediate, and was accelerated by a reduction in financial and military resources and by dissension within the Irish administration and the Anglo‐Irish community. Richard's second expedition in 1399 was cut short by the revolt of his cousin Henry Bolingbroke. Indeed, his absence in Ireland contributed to the rapid collapse of his support in England and his deposition in late 1399.

Bibliography

Curtis, E. , Richard II in Ireland 1394–5 (1927)
Johnston, D. , ‘The Interim Years: Richard II and Ireland, 1395–99’, in J. F. Lydon (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages (1981)

Dorothy Johnston