Before everything went wrong, Henry Bolingbroke had the most enviable life imaginable. Eldest son of the most important Duke in England, given unlimited financial resources, father of four sons and two daughters, allowed to gallivant across Europe—what more could a man ask for? Unfortunately, it all came to a screeching halt when Henry and Thomas Mowbray had a very public falling out and gave King Richard the excuse to exile both of them.
Why the exile? Aside from the fact that Henry and Richard never got along, Henry was one of the Appellants who challenged the king during the terrible Merciless Parliament back in 1388. Richard never forgave him, though he pretended to, in order to appease his father John of Gaunt. But, presented with the famous Trial by Combat that never happened, Richard couldn’t resist the opportunity and exiled both contestants—Mowbray for life, and Henry for ten years (reduced to six).
Henry might have accepted his exile, but once John of Gaunt died, Richard confiscated Bolingbroke’s Lancastrian titles, lands, and goods, to be held in trust, “until Henry of Lancaster, duke of Hereford, or his heir, shall have sued the same out of the king’s hands according to the law of the land or have another grant from the king”. What does this mean? Historians can’t agree, but it implies Henry might return at some point. Or maybe Richard meant for Henry’s son to claim it. There is also no consensus that Bolingbroke was exiled for life.
Regardless, Henry decided to take matters into his own hands, with the ardent encouragement from the exiled Archbishop Arundel, who took on all the “grunt work” involved in returning to England. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that without Arundel’s persistence, Henry might not have had the gumption to make it all happen. It was certainly an intimidating concept, considering that Henry was threatened with execution if he returned.
But return he did, after Richard took a small army to Ireland, leaving England in the hands of his irresolute uncle, the Duke of York. Henry ultimately landed at Bridlington, in Yorkshire with a small following and three ships. Imagine his surprise when Harry Hotspur coincidentally appeared at his doorstep, just to investigate the new arrivals; he happened to be in the neighborhood.
This was a make-it-or-break-it moment. Hotspur was the son of Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. He was also Warden of the East March of Scotland, and he was well within his rights to arrest Henry on the spot, putting an end to the fledgling invasion. But the Percies were disgruntled with King Richard. Besides, everyone knew what had happened to Bolingbroke. If the heir of Lancaster could be treated in such a manner, no one was safe.
And so it began. It didn’t take long for Henry to gather a strong following and march west. Did he only intend to recover his patrimony at this early stage? Historians have argued over this for centuries. Sure, he could have recovered his birthright, but what then? He certainly insisted that this was his only motivation, and many people believed it—especially Harry Hotspur. When Henry confronted the Duke of York, he continued to insist he had only returned to recover the Duchy of Lancaster, though by then his words were beginning to sound unconvincing.
Immediately after York gave in and joined the rebellion, they went to Bristol and Henry ordered the execution of LeScrope, Bushy, and Green. Was this the action of a duke, or did it belong to a king? Shortly thereafter—and well before Richard’s capture—Percy was getting quarrelsome and needed appeasing, so Henry appointed him Warden of the March toward Scotland. This satisfied the earl for the moment. Though once again, Henry overstepped his authority; only the king appointed the Wardens.
By the time Richard had been captured, it was more than obvious that the king had no support whatsoever. The way Henry treated him pretty much betrayed their relative positions. The king was given no change of clothing, made to ride a broken-down horse, and was locked up tight in whatever place they stayed on the way to London. And everywhere they went, the populace cheered Henry as their liberator. Who could resist such acclaim?
You could almost say Henry was forced to usurp the crown. He knew that if he released Richard, there would be no forgiveness. The king would eventually have him tried for treason—or murdered, like the Duke of Gloucester. He had to take the crown, to save himself. Was there any time in this whole episode where he could safely reclaim his patrimony? Before he had gone too far? I suspect not. Was he fooling himself? Again, I suspect not. But he needed to convince others to follow him, and he used the argument best devised to relieve their consciences—especially the Percies. Unfortunately, his best intentions backfired and his former supporters eventually became his bitterest enemies.