The Kingship of Richard II

Abstract

Abstract The governance of Richard II fits uneasily into the general pattern of constitutional development in later medieval England. In many ways it appears uncharacteristic of its age. Richard ‘s emphasis on the prerogative recalls the Angevin world of vis and voluntas, when the king could override the common law at will; while the use that was made of Chamber officials in central and local government anticipates one of the Tudors ‘ expedients for undermining the power of the magnates. By comparison with the less doctrinaire, though still assertive, kingship of an Edward III or Henry V, Richard ‘s appears an alien, even a provocative, style of rule-an ‘absolutist ‘ experiment conceived out of its time and predestined to failure.

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