King Richard Ii

Richard II Would Be Remembered As A Good King
Had He Been Lucky Enough To Reign In An Easier Century

According to historians ‘many of Richard II policies – such as his desire to make peace withFrance, his interest in Ireland, and his belief that the Crown should be superior to the magnates – were essentially good policies’ but not appropriate for his time. So this analysis will be focus onthe external and the internal conflicts that the king had to face during his reign and why he cannot be remembered as a successful ruler.
One of the major internal challenges Richard had to confrontwas that he was only a ten year old boy when he started to reign. Therefore, the first period of his reign was conducted by a council appointed by parliament so he could not apply his policies as hewished. Another important conflict was that his grandfather, the king Edward III, had given a tremendous power and an unusual influence in the government to a group of magnates, who had grown rich inthe French war. But in Richard’s day they were excluded because he thought that the power of the king should not be share with the common people, and a selected group of councilors chosen by himreplaced the magnates. However, the English Parliament demanded that Richard remove his unpopular councilors because he was still a minor. Consequently, he had to submit to the dominations of the LordsAppellant and their demands, such as the aggressive foreign policy which contrasted with his, since Richard’s was not a warlike king. He even had made a peace treaty with France which was unpopular withthe barons for whom war was financially lucrative because of its spoils . Another internal conflict was his mental weakness. ‘Though probably not insane, as earlier historians used to believe, theking seems to have suffered from certain personality disorders, especially towards the end of his reign,’ because at this point his policies became increasingly arbitrary. He rejected wise counsel and...