He was a man of the world as well as a poet. In youth he worked as a page in a noble household, then as a mercenary in European armies. By 1367 he was working...
Literary Setting
Josephine Tey
The drama begins in February 1385 when Richard II
is nineteen years old and ends with his forced abdication in 1399. It is written in uncluttered modern language, which was a relatively new trend in...
Performance of text
Josephine Tey
Richard of Bordeaux (that is Richard II
), the first play by Gordon Daviot
(well-known alternative pseudonym for detective novelist JT
), had two special Sunday night performances at the Arts Theatre Club
in London.
Tey, Josephine. Richard of Bordeaux. Little, Brown, 1934.
prelims
Gielgud, Sir John, and Josephine Tey. “Foreword”. Plays by Gordon Daviot, Peter Davies, 1953–1954, p. ix - xii.
ix
Weintraub, Stanley, editor. Dictionary of Literary Biography 10. Gale Research, 1982.
10: 139
Textual Features
E. J. Scovell
EJS
is wary of the transformations of poetry: this apparition / A rainbow truth altering for every eye. The real King Richard II
, who died in obscurity after a life of ruin and negation...
Textual Production
Jean Plaidy
In this extremely well-populated series, this first Plantagenet led a long procession. Its followers were two novels in 1977, The Revolt of the Eaglets, and The Heart of the Lion (about Richard Coeur de Lion
Timeline
May 1381: Insurrection followed Wat Tyler's killing...
National or international item
May 1381
Insurrection followed Wat Tyler
's killing of a poll-tax collector for indecent rudeness to his daughter; this became known as the Peasants' Revolt.
Griffiths, Ralph Alan. “The Later Middle Ages (1290-1485)”. Oxford Illustrated History of Britain, edited by Kenneth O. Morgan, Oxford University Press, 1984, pp. 166-22.
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.
under Ball
November 1382: The House of Commons requested Richard II...
National or international item
November 1382
The House of Commons
requested Richard II
to make use of wise officers and honest and discreet councillors.
Saul, Nigel. Richard II. Yale University Press, 1997.
81
Saul, Nigel. Richard II. Yale University Press, 1997.
81-2, 173ff
1391: Richard II introduced into England pocket...
Building item
1391
Richard II
introduced into England pocket handkerchiefs, whose use was for blowing the nose.
Warren, Michael. “A Chronology of State Medicine, Public Health, Welfare and Related Services in Britain: 1066 - 1999”. Michael Warren’s Chronology, 6 Jan. 2003.
29 September 1399: Richard II abdicated from the throne at the...
National or international item
29 September 1399
Richard II
abdicated from the throne at the Tower of London; in effect he was deposed, and the crown seized by Henry Bolingbroke, who became Henry IV
.
Morgan, Kenneth O., editor. The Oxford Illustrated History of Britain. Oxford University Press, 1984.
192-3
Saul, Nigel. Richard II. Yale University Press, 1997.