King Richard II Dramatis Personae

Commentaries on
Shakespeare’s History Plays

Shakespeare, William. The Life and Death of King Richard the Second. Folio. (The Norton Shakespeare: Histories, 3rd ed. 488-548.)

Of Interest: RSC Resources | ISE Resources | S-O Sources | 1623 Folio 370-95 (Folger) | Shakespeare’s Holinshed: Chronicle & Plays Compared: Richard II | Holinshed’s Chronicles … “Henry IV“ | Owen Glendower from A Mirror for Magistrates | Henry Percy from A Mirror for Magistrates | S. Daniel’s The First Fowre Bookes of the Civile Wars … III.86-114 (1595) | Stow’s Chronicles of England … 573-82 (1580) | English Monarchy Timeline | Edward III’s Family Tree | Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453, Britannica) | Hundred Years’ War (WHE) | Historical Figures

Dramatis Personae for Richard II

King Richard II. (1367-1400, r. 1377-1399). Aka Richard of Bordeaux. Son to Edward of Woodstock, aka the Prince of Wales and “the Black Prince” (1330-1376, eldest son to Edward III, Richard’s grandfather) and Joan of Kent (1328-1385, m. 1361). The Prince of Wales was Joan’s third husband, after Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and William Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. Richard became King at the age of 10, soon after Edward III died, so his government was managed by “regency councils” that included his uncles John of Gaunt (1340-1399) and Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355-1397), though in 1381, Richard himself helped to put down Wat Tyler’s “Peasants’ Revolt.”

In 1387, the “Lords Appellant” asserted control of England’s government against Richard’s wishes. The original three members of this group were Thomas of Woodstock (i.e., Gloucester), Richard FitzAlan, 4th Earl of Arundel and 9th Earl of Surrey (1346-1397), and Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (1338-1401). These three were joined by two more: Richard’s first cousin Henry Bolingbroke as Earl of Derby (Gaunt’s son) and Thomas de Mowbray (1366-1399), at that time Earl of Nottingham and later Duke of Norfolk.

With John of Gaunt’s help, King Richard slowly regained his power, and finally took revenge against the Lords Appellant in 1397, only to die in 1400 (either by starvation or more immediately violent means) at Pomfret Castle in consequence of Henry Bolingbroke’s successful rebellion of 1399.

Queen Isabella. Isabella of Valois, child bride of Richard II. (1389-1409, m. 1396-1400). Richard married Isabella, daughter to King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, in hopes of firming up England’s unsteady relations with France during the Hundred Years’ war (1337-1353). After Richard died as the result of Henry Bolingbroke’s takeover in England, she married Charles, Duke of Orléans (m. 1406-1409).

Her marriage with Richard was never consummated since she was 6 years old when they married, and the legal age was 12. (It’s said that Richard treated her as a daughter, or a niece—not as a wife.) As the wife of the Duke of Orléans, she died in childbirth at just short of 20 years old.

John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. (1340-1399). Third surviving son to Edward III (1312-1377, r. 1327-1377) and Philippa of Hainaut (c. 1310-1369, m. 1328). Uncle to Richard II and father to Henry Bolingbroke. Gaunt spent time on the Continent fighting during the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453), and managed disputes between Richard II and certain powerful nobles, including his son Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV. Gaunt was father to many important players in English and European history by his three marriages.

First was Blanche of Lancaster (1342-1368, m. 1359), mother of Henry Bolingbroke and several other children; second was Constance of Castile (1354-1394, m. 1371), mother to Catherine (1378-1418), who married King Henry III of Castile; third was Gaunt’s onetime mistress Katherine Swynford (1349-1403, m. 1396), née de Roet, mother to the eventually legitimized “Beaufort” line: John Beaufort (1373-1401) 1st Earl of Somerset, whose grandson was King Henry VII, aka Henry Tudor (1457-1509, r. 1485-1509)—Henry VII derived his claim from his mother Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), daughter of John Beaufort (mentioned just above); Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester (1375-1447); Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter (1377-1427); Joan Beaufort (1379-1440), who married Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1364-1425).

It is readily apparent that aside from Edward III himself, John of Gaunt was the most dynastically consequential aristocrat in English history. See Lindsay Holiday’s brief YouTube presentation “John of Gaunt’s children.” On Gaunt’s difficult relations with his nephew Richard II, see Mercedes Rochelle’s blog article “Richard II and John of Gaunt.” See also Reading the Past’s YouTube presentation “John of Gaunt, Katherine Swynford and the Beaufort Line.”

Henry Bolingbroke. (1367-1413, r. 1399-1413). Duke of Hereford, then Duke of Lancaster, then King Henry IV. Son of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Blanche of Lancaster. Grandson of Edward III. First cousin of Richard II since Richard’s father, Edward the Black Prince, was John of Gaunt’s elder brother.

Duke of York. Edmund of Langley. (1341-1402.) Uncle to Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke. Fourth surviving son to Edward III and younger brother to John of Gaunt. Edmund founded the House of York that would one day produce Kings Edward IV, Edward V, and Richard III.

Duchess of York. Joan Holland. (1380-1444, m. 1393). Earlier, the Duke of York was married to Isabella of Castile (1372-1392), by whom he had a son, Richard of Conisbrough, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1385-1415) who married Anne de Mortimer (1388-1411), great-granddaughter to Edmund’s older brother Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (1338-1368), thereby establishing the Yorkist claim to the throne during the later Wars of the Roses. (Lionel’s daughter Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster was also involved in this claim.) Anne was the mother of Richard, 3rd Duke of York (1411-1460), father of King Edward IV (1442-1483, r. 1461-1470, 1471-1483), Richard III (1452-1485, r. 1483-1485), and Edward V (1470-1483, r. April-June 1483).

Duke of Aumerle. Also known as Earl of Rutland and Edward, 2nd Duke of York. (1373-1415). Son to Edmund of Langley (1341-1402), the 1st Duke of York and fourth surviving son of Edward III. His mother was Isabella of Castile (1372-1392). Cousin to Richard II.

Duchess of Gloucester. Eleanor de Bohun. (1366-1399). Widow of Richard’s uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355-1397, fifth surviving son to Edward III). Daughter to Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford and Joan Fitzalan.

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. (1366-1399). Son to John de Mowbray, 4th Baron of Mowbray (1340-1368) and Elizabeth Segrave (1338-1368). Married Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan (1366-1425), daughter to Richard FitzAlan, 4th Earl of Arundel (1346-1397) and Elizabeth de Bohun (1350-1385). Mowbray quarreled with Henry Bolingbroke and was exiled by Richard II. He died in Venice while on his way to the Holy Land.

John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury. (c. 1350-1400). Salisbury, son of Sir John de Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu and Margaret de Monthermer, was a consistent loyalist on Richard II’s side against Henry IV, who subsequently executed him. Bolingbroke was, however, at times close to the Montagues since after his wife Mary de Bohun died, he placed his young son (Prince Harry, later Henry V) in the care of the Montagu family, from whose Welsh estate the Prince took the name of “Harry Monmouth.” John Montagu was acquainted with the famous French writer Christine de Pisan, and he was also a Lollard or proto-Protestant in religion.

Lord Berkeley. Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkeley. (1352-1417). Berkeley was a supporter of Henry Bolinbroke. He held the vast estate around Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire. Berkeley was the son of Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley (1320-1368) and Elizabeth le Despenser (1327-1389), daughter of Hugh le Despenser and Eleanor de Clare. His daughter Elizabeth (1386-1422) by his wife Margaret de Lisle became Countess of Warwick through her marriage to Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (1382-1439).

Bagot, Sir William. (c. 1354-1407). A supporter and “continual councilor” of Richard II. Bagot escaped to Ireland after Henry Bolingbroke invaded England, and was later imprisoned by Henry for just one year. Bagot had connections with Thomas Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick (1338-1401), John of Gaunt, Henry Bolingbroke, and Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk.

Bushy, Sir John. (d. 1399). Aka Sir John Bussy. A supporter and “continual councilor” of Richard II. Longtime Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire or Rutland, and Speaker of the House of Commons from 1393-1398. Executed by Bolingbroke in 1399.

Greene, Sir Henry, JP. (1347-1399). A supporter, Justice of the Peace, Member of Parliament and “continual councilor” of Richard II. He served with John of Gaunt in France. Executed by Bolingbroke in 1399.

Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. (1341-1408). Father of the famous “Harry Hotspur” (1364-1403), the Earl rebelled against Henry IV in 1403, 1405 and 1408. He was killed in 1408 at the Battle of Bramham Moor. Son to Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy (1321-1368) and Mary of Lancaster (1320-1362, daughter to Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster), and husband first to Margaret Neville (1339-1372, member of another great North England house and rival) and later to Maud Lucy (c. 1350-1398).

The English House of Percy was begun by the Norman William de Percy (d. 1096) who came to England from French Normandy in 1067, became 1st feudal baron of Topcliffe, and died near Jerusalem during the First Crusade. Thus, the Percys were among the oldest and most powerful of the great families in England. Henry Percy was a valued member of King Edward III’s administration as Warden of the Marches facing Scotland in 1362. He supported Richard II until that king made the Percy rival Ralph Neville Earl of Westmorland in 1397, and then, along with his son Harry “Hotspur” Percy, backed the successful rebellion by Henry Bolingbroke, who became King Henry IV in  October 1399.

Henry IV appointed Percy Constable of England, and along with Hotspur, he was expected to deal with the Welsh leader Owen Glendŵr’s (1354-1415) rebellion. King Henry was not satisfied with the Percys’ attempts in this regard. Relations went downhill from there, when in 1402 the great house quarreled with the King over some Scottish noble prisoners captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill late in 1402, and by 1403 the Percys rebelled against King Henry IV, joining forces with the dreaded Glendŵr and backing young Roger Mortimer, 5th Earl of March (1391-1425) as their candidate to take the throne from King Henry IV.

In July 1403, the rebels lost the Battle of Shrewsbury, ending the rebellion for the time being. Hotspur died fighting, but his father Henry Percy (Northumberland) was not present at Shrewsbury and technically did not take part in the rebellion, he merely lost his title of Constable of England. Percy, Glendŵr, and the Mortimer drafted the “Tripartite Indenture,” an agreement to carve up England among themselves, but their new rebellion (along with the forces of Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York) failed in 1405, with Northumberland fleeing to Scotland. Another rebellion, in 1408, ended in failure with Henry Percy’s death at the Battle of Bramham Moor. Glendŵr was never captured.

Harry Percy. (1364-1403). Son to Northumberland. Later called “Hotspur” in I Henry IV. A supporter of Bolingbroke against Richard, though in 1 Henry IV, he will turn against Bolingbroke.

Lord William Ross, 6th Baron Ros. (c. 1370-1414). Son of Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron Ros and Beatrice Stafford. Lord Ross was a supporter of Henry Bolingbroke, who was his cousin.

Lord William Willoughby, 5th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. (c. 1370-1409). Lord Willoughby was a supporter of Henry Bolingbroke.

Sir Piers of Exton. AnEnglish knight who, at least in Shakespeare’s and Raphael Holinshed’s version of events, kills Richard II at Pomfret Castle. But in Holinshed, Henry IV doesn’t banish Exton as he does in Shakespeare’s play.

Bishop of Carlisle. Thomas Merke. (d. 1409). Merke was Bishop of Carlisle from 1397-1400, when this supporter of Richard II was replaced by William Strickland, a supporter of King Henry IV.

Abbot of Westminster, William de Colchester. (d. 1420). A loyalist of King Richard II.

1st Duke of Surrey, Thomas Holland. (1372-1400). Son of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent and Alice FitzAlan, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Arundel. The Duke was a supporter of Richard II, and married Joan Stafford, daughter of the Earl of Stafford. Surrey was a key player in the so-called “Epiphany Rising” of 1400 against the new King, Henry IV. The uprising did not succeed, and Surrey and his uncle the Earl of Huntingdon were executed.

Lord Fitzwater, 4th Baron Fitzwalter. (1368-1406). Fitzwater (or Fitzwalter), who supported Bolingbroke, accuses Aumerle of complicity in the murder of the Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and the youngest of Edward III’s surviving sons. Richard disliked Thomas of Woodstock, who as one of the Lords Appellant in 1388, tried to wrest control of the government from the young King.

Sir Stephen Scrope, 2nd Baron Scrope of Masham and Upsale. (1345-1406). Stephen is the brother of a character who is referred to in Richard II, William le Scrope, Earl of Wiltshire and King of the Isle of Mann. (1351-1399). Both were supporters of Richard II, but Henry IV had William executed after his capture, along with Bushy and Green.

A Lord

Lord Marshal

Two heralds

Two ladies attending on Queen Isabel

A gardener

Two gardener’s servants

A Welsh Captain

The keeper of Pomfret prison

A groom of Richard’s stables

York’s servant

Exton’s servant

Lords, guards, soldiers, murderers, attendants

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Note: I have drawn freely on various factual sites and accounts. The guide is intended to provide supplemental information about Shakespeare’s cast of characters since there are many interesting and sometimes vital connections between the royal, aristocratic, or otherwise noteworthy individuals who populate Shakespeare’s history plays.

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