On Saint George’s Day in 1377 two young boys representing the future of England stood before the altar at Windsor Castle to receive knighthood into the Royal Order of the Garter (Edward III’s prestigious order). Richard (aged 10) was heir to the throne, and Henry Bolingbroke (aged 11) was Richard’s cousin and heir to one of the most powerful aristocratic families in England. Henry was called Bolingbroke because he was born at Bolingbroke Castle. Both boys promised never to take up arms against one another -a promise neither could keep. The next 100 years of the English monarchy became a period of extraordinary tumult. It was an era of civil war, forming the backdrop of Shakespeare’s History Plays: the weak Richard II, the heroic Henry V, and the pathetic Henry VI. The failures of King Richard II, most notably portrayed by Shakespeare, were felt strongly in Richard’s day, but more…
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