Richard II: The Art of Kingship Paperback – July 3, 2003 9780199262205

The record of his reign was muddied by hostile chroniclers such as Walsingham and the anonymous monk of Evesham, and these distortions went on to be propagated by Shakespeare, leading Henry Hallam to write, in 1818, that ‘the reign of Richard II is, in a constitutional light, the most interesting part of our earlier history; and it has been the most imperfectly written.’ This collection of essays by leading historians aims to redress this balance and present a more accurate version of the king’s ‘governance’.

Drawing on scholarship from both sides of the Atlantic, the re-evaluation of Richard’s reign begins by deconstructing the distortions of chroniclers and the myth of the king’s insanity. It goes on to examine the personal rule of the king, the role of his council and the court, and his relations with Londoners and the provinces, with the Church and the higher nobility. Other essays go beyond England’s borders to look at the European perspective on trade and warfare, and on the marriage alliance between Richard and the house of Luxembourg. Finally, scholars of literature and the fine arts examine Richard’s role as the chivalrous royal patron of culture. The combined result gives a rounded portrait of this fascinating and much maligned king.