George B. Stow

The Age of Richard II

A biographical examination of Richard IIs short life and reign which investigates his impact on issues such as religion, art, warfare and foreign affairs.

Revolution and Consumption in Late Medieval England

Fast and fast - conspicuous consumption and the diet of the nobility in the 15th century, Christopher Woolgar exploitation and control - the royal administration of magnate estates, 1397-1405, Alastair Dunn the knightly household of Richard II and the peace commissions, Shelagh Mitchell the Earl of Warwick and the royal affinity in the politics of the West Midlands, 1389-99, Alison Gundy the estates, finances and regal aspirations of Richard Plantagenet (1411-60), Duke of York, T.B. Pugh Middlesex in the 15th century - county community or communities?, Jessica Freeman regional prosperity in 15th-century England - some evidence from Wessex, John Hare the trade of 15th-century Cambridge and its region, John Lee Durham cathedral priorys consumption of imported goods - wines and spices, 1464-1520, Miranda Threlfall-Holmes the impact of St. Swithuns priory on the city of Winchester in the later Middle Ages, Winifred Harwood telling tales of oligarchy in the late mediaeval town, Peter W. Fleming.

Richard II and the Invention of the Pocket Handkerchief

It has long been thought that the deposition and murder of King Richard II was a personal tragedy, and that “Richards personality—his natural or inherited character considered apart from the important actions of his life—was the chief cause of his downfall.” In more recent years the aesthetic side of his Richards character has assumed a new importance in explanations of his fall. Richard H. Jones, for example, has noted that “in any case the fundamental obligation of the medieval king was that he should lead his arrays on the field of battle. Yet, Richard was slight of frame and sensitive of disposition. His tastes were aesthetic rather than athletic.” As well, in the view of Bertie Wilkinson, the reign of King Richard II…ended in utter failure…because he himself was lacking in precisely the qualities he most needed and which his grandfather fortunately had….Instead of the instincts of the warrior he possessed only the more exotic and less popular qualities of the aesthete, loving art, literature, and music, and the pleasures of the mind.

Richard II in Jean Froissart's Chroniques

Jean Froissarts Chroniques have been traditionally listed among sources sympathetic to King Richard II of England (1377–1399). Especially in more recent times, when Richard has attracted increased attention — and when numerous studies have attempted the rehabilitation of his character — Froissarts account has been brought forward to counterbalance the negative depictions of Richard dished up in Lancastrian chronicles. But as a careful reading of the Chroniques reveals, Froissart was more critical of Richard, and of his policies, than previously thought. Time after time Froissart assails Richards poor handling of critical events, and he questions Richards judgement in any number of instances. More poithe point, Richard emerges in the Chroniques as the architect of his own undoing; and we find Froissart wondering, aloud, whether England was not better off in being rid of Ricardian absolutism. In the final analysis, then, the overwhelmingly anti-Ricardian portrait of Richard painted by Froissart suggests...