Henry IV

Shakespeare's Henry IV was condemned because his rule was fruitless. He was troubled by rebellious aristocrats and sick bodies. There is a sad contrast between the image of the king who ruled England and Aquitanda for 13 years and the talented, energetic and chivalrous Earl of Derby Henry Bolingbroke. Henry IV was the only surviving son of John of Gunter and his first wife Blanche of Lancaster. John of Gunter was the third son of Edward III, and John and Blanche were cousins, because Blanche was Henry III's fourth granddaughter. Blanche brought her husband a huge fortune and the title of Duke of Lancaster and the earths of Derby, Lincoln and Leicester. Blanche died before the age of twenty-five, and Jeffery Chaucer's "The Duchess" was in memory of Blanche. His mother lost in childhood and his father was busy with state affairs, so Henry's education was carried out by his Lancaster attendants. Henry IV was strong, energetic, outstanding in martial arts, pious, erudite, talkative, and a musician. Henry IV was later appointed Earl of Derby. At the age of 14, Henry married Mary of Bohham, the double heir to the Earl of Hereford and Exes. Mary bore Henry four sons and two daughters, the eldest son becoming Henry V. Mary passed away in her twenties.

1386-1387 Henry IV entered the political arena in 1969, participating in an aristocratic appeal, deposing the king's close advisers, and blockading Richard's favorite, De Ville, at Radcourt Bridge. At the "Ruthless Parliament" in 1388, the appellant concentrated on harming Richard's servants, but Henry showed a more generous side than his companions. At least he still put in a good word for Richard's teacher, Sir Simon Burley.

This made Henry's father very unhappy, for John of Gaunt was a faithful pillar of the monarchy and king, and what had happened would have been avoided had it not been for Gaunt's trip to Spain. When John of Gaunt returned to England in 1389, Henry retired. First he ran the estate, then part of the expedition and part of the expedition to Lithuania. It was an easy and happy expedition, accompanied by bards along the way. In 1392 he went on another expedition to Jerusalem, where he traveled and visited along the way

Along the way, he impressed the monarchs of various European countries with his beautiful appearance, thoughtful courtesy, and proficiency in English, French, and Latin. At the age of 27, he took great pride in being a well-trained soldier and courtier in Europe. He is indeed an excellent diplomat today.

During the five years between his return to England from Jerusalem and his exile in 1398, Henry had few opportunities to visit or go on expeditions abroad. It is also said that Henry was involved in a plot by Gloucester, Arundel, and Warwick in 1397 to imprison the king and Gaunt for life. But when the three appellants were declared guilty of treason by Parliament, Henry sided with the king. In September 1397 he was made Duke of Hereford. But what followed became obscure.

According to Henry, Thomas Mowbray (Earl of Nottingham and Duke of Norfolk) told Henry that both of them were the people the king wanted to get rid of, just as the king got rid of the three noble appellants. Mowbray apparently exposed another conspiracy, which was to destroy all the nobles who were close to the king, including Gunter and Henry himself. Henry reported the conversation to Gunter, who reported it to the king. Henry exposed Mowbray's treason to the king in February 1398, but because there was no evidence, the Knights' Court of Windsor issued an order for the two earls to duel to resolve the dispute. The duel took place in Coventry in September. The duel did not take place, and at the last moment Richard decided to exile the two, Mowbray for life and Henry for 10 years.

After his exile, Henry arrived in Paris, France, where he stayed for four months to learn of the death of his father, Gunter. Richard, overwhelmed by power and victory, decided to convert Henry's exile into a lifetime exile, and declared the Lancastrians' property to be royal property. Henry's path to the throne became clear, the king's actions made the nobles insecure, and Henry's uncle Gloucester (murdered by Richard) and Richard's heir, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (grandson of Gunter's late brother Lionel, Henry's cousin), died.

It was at this time that Richard was on an expedition to Ireland, and Henry gathered his followers to Ravenspoo, Yorkshire, and then marched on Pontefrat. Not only did he not encounter any resistance along the way, he continued to strengthen his team. The Duke of York also led a small royal army to join Henry's army at the end of July. At this time, Richard was a complete failure. In less than six weeks Henry was master of England, and the next step was to be crowned. Henry claimed himself as King of England through a series of ambiguous reasons, but these seemed reasonable but were not firmly tenable. This also caused Henry a lot of trouble in the future. Something strange happened during Henry's coronation: one of his coronation boots was lost; a gold spurs fell off; a gust of wind blew off his crown at the banquet.

Less than three months after Henry's accession to the throne, there was a rebellion by the aristocrats, launched by Lord Kent, Huntington, Salisbury and Desminsey, who had close connections with Richard. But the rebellion was unpopular and they were soon killed by a mob. Henry then tried the rebels, who treated their leaders brutally, chopping up their bodies and putting them in sacks and transporting them back to London. The brutality of the punishment of the rebels showed that Henry was nervous about the rebellion, that the throne was easy to come by but still difficult to hold on. Then Richard mysteriously did not know his whereabouts. Few people knew the truth. It was generally believed that he was secretly executed by Henry IV.

In 1400, there was trouble in Wales again. At first, Owen Glendall, the great Welsh landowner, clashed with his English neighbors, which later became a popular uprising. But this is only the cause of a more serious crisis. In 1403, Henry's most powerful supporter, Percy, rebelled. Henry Percy (known as "Hattesper"-Hot Spur), the son of the Earl of Northumberland, was so angry that Henry IV refused to redeem an important prisoner, Sir Edmund Mortimer, that he then gathered all the strength of the family and joined Owen Glendale through marriage. Henry IV immediately set off for Shrewsbury in the west, where the king and prince defeated Henry Percy in a battle before Percy's reinforcements arrived (Owen Glendall and the Earl of Northumberland). Both Percy and his uncle, the Earl of Worcester, died. The Earl of Northumberland was pardoned after relinquishing his duties as castle and steward.

In 1405, Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Marshall and son of the Duke of Norfolk, conspired to bring the Earl of March to Wales, but the men were captured by Henry. The Earl of March was forgiven and immediately fled, and the Earl of Northumberland was involved in another rebellion. The Earl of Northumberland, Grandall, and Mortimer also signed an agreement for them to divide England, and the Archbishop of York, Richard Scroop, also participated in the conspiracy. After Henry went to quell the rebellion, the former Archbishop and the Earl of Marshall (Thomas Mowbray) were captured by the Earl of Neville of Westmoreland, this time Mowbray and the Archbishop of York were executed, and later the Earl of Northumberland fled to Scotland, where he did not die until three years later in a battle with the Lord of Yorkshire.

After the regime stabilized, Henry's body was ruined. Just after the execution of the Archbishop of York, Henry developed a strange disease, and he was tortured to death by this disease for the rest of his life. This disease now seems to be leprosy. From the accession of Henry IV to the throne of 1407, wars were constant and taxes were heavy. Every year Henry had to negotiate fiercely with the House of Commons to obtain taxes, and the House of Commons also criticized Henry's policies for paying every penny of taxes he paid. What's better is that Henry is patient and restrained with the Iqiu in the lower house of parliament and always carefully avoids confrontation.

It is an exaggeration to say that Henry's old age was replaced by his son, but his son did intend to play a more important role in the government during his father's illness, which caused some tension between father and son. But things improved when Henry IV was close to death, and as he died, the prince (later Henry V) was by his side.