Other editions of book King Richard II

The play opens with a dispute between Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford, and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. Bolingbroke has accused Mowbray of treason, and the two of them exchange insults in the presence of King Richard. After attempts to reconcile them fail, Richard orders them to take part in a traditional chivalric trial by combat. On the field of combat, the king changes his mind and banishes the two men — Bolingbroke for ten years (commuted to six) and Mowbray for life. Then the king makes plans to leave for the wars in Ireland. Before departing, Richard visits the ailing father of Bolingbroke, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Gaunt warns Richard with his dying words that he is flirting with danger and doing great harm to the country by allowing himself to be influenced by his sycophantic courtiers. When he dies, Richard takes possession of all of Gaunt's wealth and leaves for Ireland.

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King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's successors: Henry IV, part 1, Henry IV, part 2, and Henry V. It may not have been written as a stand-alone work.

The young King Richard has legitimately inherited the throne, yet he rules with self-serving arrogance, neglects his subjects and spends liberally. Tensions among the nobility mount as his favoritism and miscalculations turn many against him. When he is forced to cover his involvement in the murder of his uncle he banishes two nobles, Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. But Bolingbroke soon returns, enraged that Richard has seized property and wealth that he had rightfully inherited. Despite his tyrannical behavior, Richard is defended by many as God's chosen ruler. But, having created a rift in the nobility that will continue to fester for a hundred years, Richard has also set in motion the events that may cost him the crown. Written entirely in verse, Richard II is one of Shakespeare's finest history plays.