Merciless Parliament
Encyclopedia
The Merciless Parliament, a term coined by Augustinian chronicler Henry Knighton
, refers to the English
parliament
ary session of February through June 1388, at which many members of Richard II
's Court were convicted of treason
. The session was preceded by a period in which Richard's power was revoked and the kingdom placed under the regency of the Lords Appellant
. Richard had launched an abortive military attempt to overthrow the Lords Appellant and negotiate peace with the kingdom of France
so he could focus all his resources against his domestic enemies. The Lords Appellant counteracted the attempt and called the Parliamentary session to expose his attempts to make peace. Parliament reacted with hostility and convicted almost all of Richard's advisers of treason. Most were executed and a few exiled. Parliament was dissolved after violence broke out in Kent
and the Duke of York and his allies began objecting to some executions.
was in the midst of the Hundred Years' War
with kingdom of France
, and the English had been consistently losing territory to the French since 1369. The losses were a politically sensitive topic and led to a shift in the English position after the death of Edward III, with his successor Richard II favoring peace while many of the landed nobility wanted to continue the war. The Wonderful Parliament
in 1386 blamed the young King Richard's advisers for the military failures and accused them of misappropriating funds intended for the war. They authorized a commission of nobles known as the Lords Appellant to effectively take over management of the kingdom and act as Richard's regents. Richard refused to acknowledge the authority of the commission but lacked the power to challenge them. He began to devise a plan secure his authority over the kingdom by raising an army among his allies and negotiating a secret peace with France so he could focus all his military forces against his domestic enemies.
Richard began negotiations with the French in June 1387 using his agents in Hainault
as intermediaries. He agreed to surrender all of England's possessions in northern France, including Calais
and make peace. In exchange the French agreed to restore most of the Duchy of Aquitaine to Richard, provided he would pay homage
to the king of France for it. Richard agreed to seal the treaty at a personal meeting with Charles IV of France
. Richard's enemies soon learned of the attempt and decided to move against him to prevent the peace treaty from being formalized.
In August, 1387, to establish a legal basis for overthrowing the appellants, Richard called seven judges of the superior courts to answers a series of questions regarding their legitimacy. Under significant duress, each of the judges agreed that the appellants had no authority and were guilty of treason and signed a statement authorizing their arrest. Armed with the legal ruling, Richard called the sheriffs of several counties to inform them they were to no longer answer to the Lords Appellant. Working with his ally Robert de Vere, an army was raised in Chester and reinforced with royal retainers from East Anglia
, Midlands
and eastern Wales
. Although rumored to his enemies to be an army of 20,000, it contained no more than 4,000 men. De Vere was put in command.
The Lords Appellant became aware of Richards dealings with the French, and later of his attempt to raise an army. Rumors began to circulate that Richard had agreed to accept military support from France, and that he would place England under French military occupation. Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester
, and several lesser nobles mobilized an army of their retainers numbering 4,500 and marched on de Vere's army.
In December 1387, the two armies met at Radcot-on-Thames where the Lords Appellant's army won the Battle of Radcot Bridge against the forces of Robert de Vere. The victory placed the anti-Ricardian Lords Appellant
in a position of incontestable strength. Richard fled Westminster
for London and barricaded himself in the Tower of London
. On December 27, the Appellant's army reached the tower in full battle array and forced Richard to surrender. When the leading Appellants, Duke of Gloucester
(Thomas of Woodstock) and the Earls of Arundel
, Warwick
, Derby (Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV
) and Nottingham
, met with Richard on an improvised throne, they seized him and threatened to execute him for his dealings with France. Ultimately they decided against it, instead forcing him to call a session of Parliament.
This meant that a number of Richard's intimate associates, namely Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk
, Nicholas Brembre
, Robert de Vere, Alexander Neville
, and Chief Justice Robert Tresilian
, were found guilty of 'living in vice, deluding the said king...embracing the mammon of iniquity for themselves'. None were given formal trials. Neville was bishop and spared execution, but all his assets were seized and he was exiled. The rest were ordered drawn and hanged.
The purge continued deep into the administration, dozens of retainers, clerks, chaplains, and secretaries to Richard were summarily condemned and executed. The seven judges who authorized Richard's actions under duress were arrested. The judges were the only men to be given formal trials before the House of Lords, but despite their pleas for leniency, they too were convicted and executed. As the purge continued, men less obviously involved in the plot were arrested. Richard's confessor
, Thomas Rushook, Bishop of Chichester
, was accused of being involved in the plot, but the House of Lords refused to try him and the Parliament adjourned on March 6 and resumed on March 12.
The session continued through April and May as Richard's chamber knights were tried and executed. Richard's intermediaries who had been negotiating with France were discovered and executed. By the end of April, most of what remained of Richard's staff had fled to the countryside or left the country altogether and many were convicted in absentia. The session began to come to an end with the trial of a knight named Simon Burley
, who was accused of involvement in the plot. He was a veteran of the war and had been an adviser of the Black Prince, Richard's father. He had friends among the nobility and was a close friend of the Edmund Langley, Duke of York
. Langley was an influential lord who represented a significant bloc, and rose to defend Burley. The Duke of Gloucester endorsed Burley's condemnation. The two men became increasingly hostile in the first week of May. The King, who was presiding during the entire session, rose for the first time to join the Duke of York in resisting the effort. Gloucester and the King began quarreling and nearly came to blows. Before the entire council, Gloucester informed the King that if he wished to retain his crown, he should stop attempting to defend his friends. The King gave in. Burley was condemned and executed. Gloucester brought Rushook before Parliament again and he was convicted of treason and exiled to Ireland
.
Among the members of King Richard's retinue to be condemned, were John Beauchamp of Holt, James Baret, and John Salisbury, who were all hanged and beheaded; Robert Bealknap
(Belknap), John Beauchamp of Holt
, Roger Fulthorp, William Burgh, John Locton and John Cary, who were exiled to Ireland
. Thomas Usk
(author of The Testament of Love) and John Blake
, members of Brembre's and Tresilian's households respectively, were also put to death.
At the session's start, the Lords Appellant repudiated all of Richard's deals with France. The commanders of the English garrisons in France were replaced with men loyal to the Appellants, who began to pursue an aggressive war policy. Parliament however, was unwilling to grant a significant tax grant to pay for military operations. On February 21, the Parliament grudgingly agreed to a subsidy equal to half the normal subsidy granted, amounting to about £30,000 and authorized a fleet to be hired to patrol the English Channel
for the year. Philip the Bold
, Duke of Burgundy
, acting as agent for the French government, sent emissaries requesting that the English abide by Richard's agreement, but they were sent away without a reply.
The Duke of York was furious over the treatment of Burley, threatening to break the coalition of lords, leading Gloucester to support ending the Parliament. A series of peasant revolts broke out in Kent
and southwest England, necessitating military action in late April. A second recess was agreed to after Easter
and resumed on May 20. The remainder of the session was spent dealing with financial issues and the Parliament was finally dissolved on June 4.
. Most of the Appellants were executed during the 1390s. Gloucester was exiled to Calais were he was suffocated on orders by Richard. Bolingbroke and many other lords were eventually exiled. In 1399 Bolingbroke led a group of exiles back to England, seized the country, forced Richard to abdicated, and then starved Richard to death. Bolingbroke, Richard's cousin, was crowned Henry IV.
Henry Knighton
Henry Knighton was an Augustinian canon at the abbey of St. Mary of the Meadows, Leicester, England. He was a canon at the Abbey since at least 1363, when he was recorded as being present during a visit from the King.-The chronicle:He wrote a four-volume chronicle, first published in 1652,...
, refers to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
ary session of February through June 1388, at which many members of Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
's Court were convicted of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. The session was preceded by a period in which Richard's power was revoked and the kingdom placed under the regency of the Lords Appellant
Lords Appellant
The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...
. Richard had launched an abortive military attempt to overthrow the Lords Appellant and negotiate peace with the kingdom of France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
so he could focus all his resources against his domestic enemies. The Lords Appellant counteracted the attempt and called the Parliamentary session to expose his attempts to make peace. Parliament reacted with hostility and convicted almost all of Richard's advisers of treason. Most were executed and a few exiled. Parliament was dissolved after violence broke out in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and the Duke of York and his allies began objecting to some executions.
Background
The kingdom of EnglandKingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
was in the midst of the Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
with kingdom of France
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a...
, and the English had been consistently losing territory to the French since 1369. The losses were a politically sensitive topic and led to a shift in the English position after the death of Edward III, with his successor Richard II favoring peace while many of the landed nobility wanted to continue the war. The Wonderful Parliament
Wonderful Parliament
The term Wonderful Parliament refers to an English Parliamentary session of November 1386 which pressed for reforms of Richard II's administration.- Auditing the King :...
in 1386 blamed the young King Richard's advisers for the military failures and accused them of misappropriating funds intended for the war. They authorized a commission of nobles known as the Lords Appellant to effectively take over management of the kingdom and act as Richard's regents. Richard refused to acknowledge the authority of the commission but lacked the power to challenge them. He began to devise a plan secure his authority over the kingdom by raising an army among his allies and negotiating a secret peace with France so he could focus all his military forces against his domestic enemies.
Richard began negotiations with the French in June 1387 using his agents in Hainault
Hainault
Hainault is an area in the London Borough of Redbridge in north east London. It is a suburban development located north east of Charing Cross...
as intermediaries. He agreed to surrender all of England's possessions in northern France, including Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
and make peace. In exchange the French agreed to restore most of the Duchy of Aquitaine to Richard, provided he would pay homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the king of France for it. Richard agreed to seal the treaty at a personal meeting with Charles IV of France
Charles IV of France
Charles IV, known as the Fair , was the King of France and of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1322 to his death: he was the last French king of the senior Capetian lineage....
. Richard's enemies soon learned of the attempt and decided to move against him to prevent the peace treaty from being formalized.
In August, 1387, to establish a legal basis for overthrowing the appellants, Richard called seven judges of the superior courts to answers a series of questions regarding their legitimacy. Under significant duress, each of the judges agreed that the appellants had no authority and were guilty of treason and signed a statement authorizing their arrest. Armed with the legal ruling, Richard called the sheriffs of several counties to inform them they were to no longer answer to the Lords Appellant. Working with his ally Robert de Vere, an army was raised in Chester and reinforced with royal retainers from East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
and eastern Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Although rumored to his enemies to be an army of 20,000, it contained no more than 4,000 men. De Vere was put in command.
The Lords Appellant became aware of Richards dealings with the French, and later of his attempt to raise an army. Rumors began to circulate that Richard had agreed to accept military support from France, and that he would place England under French military occupation. Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester is a British royal title , often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England, the next in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; this current creation carries with it the...
, and several lesser nobles mobilized an army of their retainers numbering 4,500 and marched on de Vere's army.
In December 1387, the two armies met at Radcot-on-Thames where the Lords Appellant's army won the Battle of Radcot Bridge against the forces of Robert de Vere. The victory placed the anti-Ricardian Lords Appellant
Lords Appellant
The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...
in a position of incontestable strength. Richard fled Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
for London and barricaded himself in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
. On December 27, the Appellant's army reached the tower in full battle array and forced Richard to surrender. When the leading Appellants, Duke of Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
(Thomas of Woodstock) and the Earls of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and 9th Earl of Surrey KG was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.-Lineage:...
, Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick
Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English medieval nobleman, and one of the primary opponents of Richard II.- Birth and Marriage:...
, Derby (Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
) and Nottingham
Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk
Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG, Lord Marshal and Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.-Life:...
, met with Richard on an improvised throne, they seized him and threatened to execute him for his dealings with France. Ultimately they decided against it, instead forcing him to call a session of Parliament.
Session
The Parliamentary session began on February 3, 1388. The term "Merciless Parliament" was first employed by a local chronicler, Henry Knighton, who was referring to the ruthless manner in which many were convicted and executed. During the Parliament, the Appellants pursued their earlier accusations against Richard and his inner circle, almost wholly unopposed. They leveled a series of charges against Richard's advisers, accusing them of offering to surrender English held fortresses in France and widespread embezzlement from the treasury. Most of the charges were likely false.This meant that a number of Richard's intimate associates, namely Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk
Michael de la Pole, 1st Baron de la Pole, later 1st Earl of Suffolk was an English financier and Lord Chancellor of England.- Life :...
, Nicholas Brembre
Nicholas Brembre
Sir Nicholas Brembre was a wealthy magnate and a chief ally of King Richard II in 14th c-entury England. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1377, and again from 1383-5. Named a "worthie and puissant man of the city" by Richard Grafton he was a son of Sir John Brembre, and, becoming a citizen and...
, Robert de Vere, Alexander Neville
Alexander Neville
Alexander Neville was a late medieval prelate who served as Archbishop of York from 1374 to 1388.-Life:Born in about 1340, he was a younger son of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley...
, and Chief Justice Robert Tresilian
Robert Tresilian
Robert Tresilian was an English lawyer, and Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1381 and 1387. He was born in Cornwall, and held land in Tresillian, near Truro...
, were found guilty of 'living in vice, deluding the said king...embracing the mammon of iniquity for themselves'. None were given formal trials. Neville was bishop and spared execution, but all his assets were seized and he was exiled. The rest were ordered drawn and hanged.
The purge continued deep into the administration, dozens of retainers, clerks, chaplains, and secretaries to Richard were summarily condemned and executed. The seven judges who authorized Richard's actions under duress were arrested. The judges were the only men to be given formal trials before the House of Lords, but despite their pleas for leniency, they too were convicted and executed. As the purge continued, men less obviously involved in the plot were arrested. Richard's confessor
Confessor
-Confessor of the Faith:Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but not to the point of death. The term is still used in this way in the East. In Latin Christianity it has come to signify any saint, as well as those who have been declared...
, Thomas Rushook, Bishop of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, was accused of being involved in the plot, but the House of Lords refused to try him and the Parliament adjourned on March 6 and resumed on March 12.
The session continued through April and May as Richard's chamber knights were tried and executed. Richard's intermediaries who had been negotiating with France were discovered and executed. By the end of April, most of what remained of Richard's staff had fled to the countryside or left the country altogether and many were convicted in absentia. The session began to come to an end with the trial of a knight named Simon Burley
Simon de Burley
Sir Simon de Burley, KG was holder of the offices of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle between 1384-88, and was a Knight of the Garter....
, who was accused of involvement in the plot. He was a veteran of the war and had been an adviser of the Black Prince, Richard's father. He had friends among the nobility and was a close friend of the Edmund Langley, Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
. Langley was an influential lord who represented a significant bloc, and rose to defend Burley. The Duke of Gloucester endorsed Burley's condemnation. The two men became increasingly hostile in the first week of May. The King, who was presiding during the entire session, rose for the first time to join the Duke of York in resisting the effort. Gloucester and the King began quarreling and nearly came to blows. Before the entire council, Gloucester informed the King that if he wished to retain his crown, he should stop attempting to defend his friends. The King gave in. Burley was condemned and executed. Gloucester brought Rushook before Parliament again and he was convicted of treason and exiled to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
Among the members of King Richard's retinue to be condemned, were John Beauchamp of Holt, James Baret, and John Salisbury, who were all hanged and beheaded; Robert Bealknap
Robert Bealknap
His Worship Sir Robert Bealknap JP was a British justice. He is first mentioned in June 1351 in a papal register of indults issued to inhabitants of Great Britain, where he is called a "clerk, of the diocese of Salisbury" in Wiltshire. He next appears in 1353 as a member of a commission to...
(Belknap), John Beauchamp of Holt
John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp (fourth creation)
Sir John de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster was an administrator and landowner. He came from Holt, Worcestershire, and belonged to a cadet branch of the great family of Beauchamp, whose head was the Earl of Warwick. He was the son of another John , whom he succeeded in the 1360s...
, Roger Fulthorp, William Burgh, John Locton and John Cary, who were exiled to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Thomas Usk
Thomas Usk
Thomas Usk was appointed the under-sheriff of London by Richard II in 1387.- Author of The Testament of Love :Born in London, he is the author of The Testament of Love, which was once thought to be by Geoffrey Chaucer.- Appeal :...
(author of The Testament of Love) and John Blake
John Blake
Colonel John Y. F. Blake was born October 6, 1856 in Bolivar, Missouri, and died January 24, 1907, New York City. An American soldier, freedom fighter and lecturer. He was an ardent Irish American and an advocate of resistance to British imperialism.After his birth his family soon moved to Denton...
, members of Brembre's and Tresilian's households respectively, were also put to death.
At the session's start, the Lords Appellant repudiated all of Richard's deals with France. The commanders of the English garrisons in France were replaced with men loyal to the Appellants, who began to pursue an aggressive war policy. Parliament however, was unwilling to grant a significant tax grant to pay for military operations. On February 21, the Parliament grudgingly agreed to a subsidy equal to half the normal subsidy granted, amounting to about £30,000 and authorized a fleet to be hired to patrol the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
for the year. Philip the Bold
Philip the Bold
Philip the Bold , also Philip II, Duke of Burgundy , was the fourth and youngest son of King John II of France and his wife, Bonne of Luxembourg. By his marriage to Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, he also became Count Philip II of Flanders, Count Philip IV of Artois and Count-Palatine Philip IV...
, Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy
Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...
, acting as agent for the French government, sent emissaries requesting that the English abide by Richard's agreement, but they were sent away without a reply.
The Duke of York was furious over the treatment of Burley, threatening to break the coalition of lords, leading Gloucester to support ending the Parliament. A series of peasant revolts broke out in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and southwest England, necessitating military action in late April. A second recess was agreed to after Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
and resumed on May 20. The remainder of the session was spent dealing with financial issues and the Parliament was finally dissolved on June 4.
Aftermath
After this virtual coup d'état, the Appellants continued to dominate English politics for the next year. Richard was effectively their puppet until the return of John of Gaunt from his Spanish campaigns in 1389. Richard immediately began formulating plans for revenge and after finally enacted a defacto peace with France with the Truce of LeulinghemTruce of Leulinghem
The Truce of Leulinghem was a truce agreed to by Richard II's kingdom of England and its allies, and Charles VI's kingdom of France and its allies, on 18 July 1389, ending the third phase of the Hundred Years' War. England was on the edge of financial collapse and suffering from internal political...
. Most of the Appellants were executed during the 1390s. Gloucester was exiled to Calais were he was suffocated on orders by Richard. Bolingbroke and many other lords were eventually exiled. In 1399 Bolingbroke led a group of exiles back to England, seized the country, forced Richard to abdicated, and then starved Richard to death. Bolingbroke, Richard's cousin, was crowned Henry IV.