Plantagenet Kings

 Henry IV 

King Henry IV was born in April, 1367. He was the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of King Edward III of England, and Blanche of Lancaster. 

Henry's epithet ''Bolingbroke'' came from his place of birth, the Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, England. 

Henry IV of England (1367-1413; reigned 1399-1413). He was the first English ruler since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English rather than French.

In 1377, King Edward III of England, died of natural causes, and it was succeeded by his grandson Richard who would be crowned as King Richard II of England. Because Richard was still a child, a minority government was established to rule on behalf of the King. John of Gaunt, Henry's father, enjoyed a position of considerable influence in the government. In 1387, Henry was part of a parliamentarian group called ''Lord Appelants'' who managed to seize power from Richard during the session of the ''Merciless Parliament''. Unfortunately, the king reasserted his power, and as a result, the rebellious lords were either executed or exiled, but Henry was spared. Even so, in 1397, Henry was exiled for his involvement with the Lord Appelants. In 1399, John of Gaunt died, and Richard II confiscated all his lands and estates in England which were supposed to be inherited by Henry. As a consequence, the later decided to rally his allies and along with a small army decided to sail for England in order to confront his cousin. He landed in Yorkshire in the summer of 1399, and he took the advantage of the absence of Richard who had went on a military campaign in Ireland. Hearing the news that his cousin was on English soil, Richard immediately returned back but it was too late already. Henry had managed to gather all the nobles who were against the King. Seeing that he had no chance of winning, Richard abdicated and surrendered his crown to Henry who would crowned as King Henry IV of England. 

Coronation of Henry IV of England

Firstly, Richard was imprisoned in the Tower of London, but after a failed assassination attempt against Henry by his supporters in January 1400, he was starved to death at Pontefract Castle. This plot showed that Henry was actually an usurper rather than the rightful King of England. 

List of rebellions during the reign of Henry IV:

In 1400, Owain Glyndwr led a Welsh rebellion against Henry IV. Owain also proclaimed himself Prince of Wales. The Glyndwr rebellion was the last major revolt against English rule in Wales. Owain died in 1415, and shortly after his death the rebellion ended. 

Another important rebellion during the reign of Henry IV was the Henry Percival's revolts. In 1403, the rebel forces were defeated at the Battle of Shrewsbury. Henry Percival personally died after he was decisively defeated at the Battle of Bramham Moor (1408).

Foreign relations:

Manuel II Palaiologos and Henry IV in London, December 1400. Manuel is the only Byzantine Emperor ever to visit England. One of King Henry's ambitions was to lead a crusade to free Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He never did it, but he provided financial support for Manuel in his wars against the Ottoman Empire.  

Family:

Mary de Bohun (1369-1394). She was Henry's first wife. They had six children.

Joan of Navarre (1368-1437), Henry's second wife. Their marriage was childless.

The later years of reign were marked by serious health problems. Many believed that he suffered from leprosy or psoriasis. On March 20th, 1413, during a convocation of Parliament, King Henry IV died. His son Henry succeeded him as King Henry V of England. 

The effigy of Henry IV in Canterbury Cathedral