The Plantagenet Legacy Series:
Henry IV – Audiobooks
The Usurper King
The Accursed King
by Mercedes Rochelle
The Usurper King
From Outlaw to Usurper, Henry Bolingbroke fought one rebellion after another.
First, he led his own uprising. Then he captured a forsaken king. Henry had no intention of taking the crown for himself; it was given to him by popular acclaim. Alas, it didn't take long to realize that that having the kingship was much less rewarding than striving for it. Only three months after his coronation, Henry IV had to face a rebellion led by Richard's disgruntled favorites. Repressive measures led to more discontent. His own supporters turned against him, demanding more than he could give. The haughty Percies precipitated the Battle of Shrewsbury which nearly cost him the throne—and his life.
To make matters worse, even after Richard II's funeral, the deposed monarch was rumored to be in Scotland, planning his return. The king just wouldn't stay down and malcontents wanted him back.
The Accursed King
What happens when a king loses his prowess?
The day Henry IV could finally declare he had vanquished his enemies, he threw it all away with an infamous deed. No English king had executed an archbishop before. And divine judgment was quick to follow. Many thought he was struck with leprosy—God's greatest punishment for sinners. From that point on, Henry's health was cursed and he fought doggedly on as his body continued to betray him—reducing this once great warrior to an invalid.
Fortunately for England, his heir was ready and eager to take over. But Henry wasn't willing to relinquish what he had worked so hard to preserve. No one was going to take away his royal prerogative—not even Prince Hal. But Henry didn't count on Hal's dauntless nature, which threatened to tear the royal family apart.
HENRY IV AND HIS ELDEST SONS
by Mercedes Rochelle
Henry Bolingbroke was a happy-go-lucky young nobleman before he ran into trouble with Richard II. I suspect the king envied his cousin, who had the freedom to travel around the world on his father’s generous allowance. How he found the time to father six children is almost a mystery!
Of course, noble children had a slew of nurses and servants to raise them, and didn’t have the opportunity to see their father very often. I suspect this was the case with Henry’s offspring, especially after his wife died in 1394, giving birth to their last daughter. The children were shipped off to relatives to raise them. Young Henry (I’ll call him Hal), the eldest, was only eight years old. The next in line, Thomas, was seven.
When Bolingbroke was exiled to France in 1399, his eldest son was kept by Richard II as a hostage for his father’s good behavior. Thomas was the only sibling allowed to accompany Henry into exile, which gave him the opportunity of a lifetime: to get to know his father better. Hal, on the other hand, bonded with Richard who may easily have seen him as the son he never had. He went to Ireland with the king, and was even knighted by him. The boy never had the chance to know his father as more than a stranger. This had serious repercussions.
When Bolingbroke captured Richard and usurped the throne, he obviously had to make his eldest son the heir. Was it against his inclination? I suspect so. It seems that Thomas was his favorite. Aside from potential jealousy, Hal must have struggled with the terrible position he was thrust into. He deplored the treatment of King Richard, and here he was next in line to the throne. His behavior toward his father would have been awkward, at best—especially after Richard was killed. Nonetheless, he wasn’t about to refuse the great honor fate had bestowed on him.
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| King Richard II knights young Henry of Lancaster (c) Wikimedia Commons, public domain |
For the next several years, Hal gained the experience he needed in order to become a leader of men. As Prince of Wales, he led the English resistance to the Welsh rebellion, and also fought in the Battle of Shrewsbury, where he took an arrow to the face and nearly lost his life. His stint in Wales was an apprenticeship of at least eight years, and by the time it was over, his father was beset with the mysterious illness that sapped all his strength. Henry needed help to rule, and he reluctantly put Hal in charge of the royal council.
Too bad Hal did such a good job! For the next two years, with the help of his uncle, Bishop Beaufort, Hal was on the way to bringing back the country’s finances into a semblance of order. I think the king was actually jealous of Hal’s success. Unfortunately, when Hal and Beaufort gently suggested that Henry retire in favor of the Prince of Wales, Henry took their suggestion very badly—so badly, he fired them both.
So much for gratitude! Poor Hal was Persona non grata for more than a year. Thomas took advantage of the situation and ingratiated himself with his father, making snide remarks about his brother and generally stirring things up. Hal was even accused of raising a rebellion to seize the throne for himself, and misappropriating funds for the Calais garrison. It had to stop, and Hal concocted an elaborate scheme to impel his way back into the king’s good graces. Obliging his father to give him an audience, Hal fell to his knees, gave his father a dagger, and told him to plunge it into his heart if he really believed in Hal’s guilt. Appalled, Henry threw the dagger aside and they reconciled.
By now, Henry couldn’t deny that his health was failing. He was wheelchair bound, and on more than one occasion he had suffered some kind of stroke that left him unresponsive for hours. He was at the end of his life, and he may have completely acknowledged Hal’s role as heir, much as Shakespeare told us in Henry IV Part 2. There was no Thomas to interfere; he had been sent to France to lead a (unsuccessful) campaign against the Burgundians, and so was absent when his father died.
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| Effigy of Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence |
Of course, Hal’s transition to king was smooth and unopposed. I imagine Thomas returned home with some trepidation, for their interactions were bitter after Hal had been ostracized. However, Thomas was heir presumptive to the throne now, and Henry V buried the hatchet, so to speak. His brother would henceforth support his campaigns into France, though he fell ill at the siege of Harfleur and did not accompany the army to Agincourt. Thomas and Henry apparently got along after the latter took the crown, but I suspect there was no love lost between them.
The Usurper King
The Accursed King
The Plantagenet Legacy Series
All titles in the series are available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Mercedes Rochelle
Mercedes Rochelle is an ardent lover of medieval history, and has channelled this interest into fiction writing. Her first four books cover eleventh-century Britain and events surrounding the Norman Conquest of England. The next series is called The Plantagenet Legacy about the struggles and abdication of Richard II, leading to the troubled reigns of the Lancastrian Kings. She also writes a blog: HistoricalBritainBlog.com to explore the history behind the story.
Born in St. Louis, MO, she received by BA in Literature at the University of Missouri St.Louis in 1979 then moved to New York in 1982 while in her mid-20s to “see the world”. The search hasn’t ended!
Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.
Today she lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.
Connect with Mercedes:
Website • Twitter / X • Facebook • Bluesky
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