



Produced by D. Alexander and the Online Distributed
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 Makers of History

 Richard II.

 BY JACOB ABBOTT

 WITH ENGRAVINGS

 NEW YORK AND LONDON

 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

 1901




 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
 hundred and fifty-eight, by

 HARPER & BROTHERS,

 in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District
 of New York.

 Copyright, 1886, by BENJAMIN VAUGHAN ABBOTT, AUSTIN ABBOTT, LYMAN
 ABBOTT, and EDWARD ABBOTT.




[Illustration: PARLEY WITH THE INSURGENTS.]




PREFACE.


King Richard the Second lived in the days when the chivalry of feudal
times was in all its glory. His father, the Black Prince; his uncles,
the sons of Edward the Third, and his ancestors in a long line,
extending back to the days of Richard the First, were among the most
illustrious knights of Europe in those days, and their history abounds
in the wonderful exploits, the narrow escapes, and the romantic
adventures, for which the knights errant of the Middle Ages were so
renowned. This volume takes up the story of English history at the
death of Richard the First, and continues it to the time of the
deposition and death of Richard the Second, with a view of presenting
as complete a picture as is possible, within such limits, of the ideas
and principles, the manners and customs, and the extraordinary
military undertakings and exploits of that wonderful age.




CONTENTS.

 Chapter                                                    Page

    I. RICHARD'S PREDECESSORS                                13

   II. QUARRELS                                              37

  III. THE BLACK PRINCE                                      81

   IV. THE BATTLE OF POICTIERS                              103

    V. CHILDHOOD OF RICHARD                                 140

   VI. ACCESSION TO THE THRONE                              166

  VII. THE CORONATION                                       185

 VIII. CHIVALRY                                             197

   IX. WAT TYLER'S INSURRECTION                             225

    X. THE END OF THE INSURRECTION                          255

   XI. GOOD QUEEN ANNE                                      273

  XII. INCIDENTS OF THE REIGN                               290

 XIII. THE LITTLE QUEEN                                     310

  XIV. RICHARD'S DEPOSITION AND DEATH                       324




ENGRAVINGS.

                                                            Page

  PARLEY WITH THE INSURGENTS                     _Frontispiece._

  RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CASTLE                                 15

  MAP--SITUATION OF NORMANDY                                 23

  KING JOHN                                                  29

  CAERNARVON CASTLE                                          51

  PORTRAIT OF EDWARD THE SECOND                              55

  WARWICK CASTLE                                             61

  KENILWORTH CASTLE                                          66

  A MONK OF THOSE DAYS                                       69

  BERKELEY CASTLE                                            71

  CAVES IN THE HILL-SIDE AT NOTTINGHAM CASTLE                75

  MORTIMER'S HOLE                                            79

  MAP--CAMPAIGN OF CRECY                                     85

  VIEW OF ROUEN                                              87

  GENOESE ARCHER                                             94

  OLD ENGLISH SHIPS                                         105

  MAP--CAMPAIGN OF POICTIERS                                110

  STORMING OF THE CASTLE OF ROMORANTIN                      116

  RICHARD RECEIVING THE VISIT OF HIS UNCLE JOHN             152

  PORTRAIT OF RICHARD'S GRANDFATHER                         165

  EDWARD, THE BLACK PRINCE                                  169

  THE BULL                                                  177

  STORMING OF A TOWN                                        205

  KNIGHTS CHARGING UPON EACH OTHER                          220

  VIEW OF THE TOWER OF LONDON                               235

  THE SAVOY                                                 248

  RUINS OF THE SAVOY                                        252

  COSTUMES                                                  282

  FASHIONABLE HEAD-DRESSES                                  283

  SEAL OF RICHARD II                                        300

  HENRY OF BOLINGBROKE--KING HENRY IV                       340

  PONTEFRACT CASTLE                                         342




KING RICHARD II.




CHAPTER I.

RICHARD'S PREDECESSORS.

Three Richards.--Richard the Crusader.--King John.--Character of the
kings and nobles of those days.--Origin and nature of their
power.--Natural rights of man in respect to the fruits of the
earth.--Beneficial results of royal rule.--The power of kings and
nobles was restricted.--Disputes about the right of succession.--Case
of young Arthur.--The King