A (0:00)

Hello, dear listener. I'm so pleased you're back. You're about to begin another season of this Is History with one of my favorite Plantagenet kings. Now, before you're introduced, I'd like to remind you that you can join the show's expanded universe over on our Patreon. Think of this as our virtual Royal Court where you can mingle with me, my producers and our band of passionate show fans I like to call My Royal Favourites. We launched this last season and in the time since we've grown a fantastic community where the favourites are sharing tips on the best books, castles and analysis that helps us all better understand medieval history. My Favourites keep me sharp as I craft every season and I'd love for you to be our newest member. And of course, Royal Favourites always get all the benefits of a regular subscription, early access to episodes, ad free listening and bonus episodes. There are plenty of things to discover. Join our royal court@patreon.com thisishistory now, without further ado, let Season 8 begin. When I was a little boy in the Middle Ages, I loved window shopping at the market. The sharp clink of the blacksmith making the day's most fashionable armour plates. But the next week, the stall disappeared. I was devastated. If only I had a magic portal to help me retrace my steps. Thankfully, Shopify does just that. If you've ever found yourself scrolling an online store with that purple shop button glowing in the corner, that's Shopify. It's an online commerce platform that makes buying and selling super easy. Shopify gives everyone that extra push to make that final purchase with one magic button. It saves all of those last minute details like payment and shipping information, so you don't have to plug them in every time. So if you want fewer people abandoning your cart, give Shopify a try. Sign up for your pound one per month trial and start selling today at Shopify. Shopify.co.uk/thisishistory Go to shopify.co.uk thisishistory that's shopify.co.uk thisIshistory if you thought goldenly breaded McDonald's chicken couldn't get more golden, think colder because new sweet and smoky special edition gold sauce is here. Made for your chicken favorites at participating McDonald's for a limited time. The 16 year old boy gasps for air inside his heavy steel helmet and blinks stinging sweat out of his eyes. Around him, the press of men lurches and sw. The boy tries to free his sword arm but he's hemmed in so tightly that it's nearly impossible. He finally gets his arms free, then tries to push through the melee towards what he thinks is the front line of the fighting. But the slits in his helmet visor are so thin and his eyes so full of sweat, he's navigating by sound as much as sight, following the clatter of sword and axe, the rattle of arrows raining down on plate armor, and the agonized yells of men being stabbed and slashed and trampled. It's hard to even hear that over the thud of his own heartbeat. Then the crush of battle moves again, and the boy realizes that despite all his effort, he's a long way from the sharp end of the fighting. So he decides to step back, get a drink and ready himself for the next big attack. He turns and shoves his way to a spot at the rear of the battlefield where he can take a beat. He unclips the visor on his helmet and pushes it up. The roar of the battle becomes ten times louder. He sucks in lungfuls of the summer air, wipes his face and drinks. It's as sweet a taste as he's ever known. But as he looks around him, he takes in a grim scene. It's July 21, 1403, and thousands of Englishmen and Welshmen, archers and men at arms are slaughtering one another on pea fields outside Shrewsbury. Somewhere in the midst of all this is his father, King Henry iv, the first Lancastrian king of Plantagenet, England. They're fighting for his throne and his life. The boy gulps down another long drink of water. He takes a deep breath through his nose. Then he grips his sword and prepares to pull his visor back down so he can storm back into the fray. But before he can close his helmet, an arrow shot from some unseen longbow hits him clean in the face. The arrowhead shears through his cheek and buries itself six inches inside his head. A head that was one day supposed to wear the Plantagenet crown. Henry of Monmouth, 16 year old Prince of Wales, clutches his hand to his face and gasps in pain. Then everything goes black. I'm Dan Jones and from Sony Music Entertainment, this is history, season 8 of A Dynasty to Die For. Episode 1 A Hole in the Head there's an old saying, a week is a long time in politics and in the rollercoaster world of the Plantagenets, which we've been white knuckling our way through for nearly 100 episodes of this podcast. That sentiment is definitely true, as we've seen time and time again. A week in Plantagenet England is long enough to win or lose a reign defining military campaign for blood crazed peasants to attempt a full blown proto communist revolution in London, or for your nobles to wangle a great charter that commits you to reducing tax and clearing fish traps from various named rivers for all eternity. But if a week is a long time, try four years. That's how long has passed since we finished season seven of this podcast with Henry Bolingbroke invading England, deposing his cousin Richard II and snatching the throne. Last season ended in the summer of 1399 with Bolingbroke being welcomed as a liberator and being crowned King Henry iv. He was the man who came to stand up for rights and justice, who came to ask the realm to choose between a legitimate king who was a tyrant and himself a usurper, who would seize the throne but governor in the name of the rule of law. Yet now here we are in July 1403 and all that seems a world away. Henry is still the king, but England seems to be in a worse place than ever. There's a full blown battle taking place on English soil with the king at war with his nobles, trying desperately to cling to his throne. Under Richard, politics was pure psychodrama. With Henry iv, it feels like out and out carnage. And to make things worse, the heir to the throne just got shot in the face. So the big question is, how the hell did we get here? Because there was a time once when hope at long last was in the air. In 1399, Richard II finally exhausts the patience of his realm. And after 22 years of arrant dipshittery, he's booted off the throne. Parliament signs off on his deposition on the grounds that Richard is a career psycho, and it confirms Bolingbroke as his replacement. So far, so good. Richard is banged up in the Tower of London, then moved to Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire in northern England, the medieval equivalent of a supermax jail. You might think that the memory of Edward II being removed from power would caution against leaving a failed king alive. But the thinking seems to be that so long as he's in lockup, Richard of Bordeaux, that's the artist formerly known as Richard II, won't be a problem. Wrong. Within weeks of Henry IV's coronation, it becomes clear that even behind bars, Richard is a problem. The old king was never universally popular, to say the least, but there are a few noble die hards from his inner circle who can't stomach what's happened to him. They're led by his half brother, his nephew and the Earl of Salisbury. These guys survive the revolution because Henry IV is keen to make it as bloodless as possible so he doesn't whack them. But they're not happy. And within months of the deposition, word reaches the new King Henry's court that these likely lads are plotting a counter revolution known as the Epiphany Rising. They've hatched a scheme to kidnap Henry and his sons during the Christmas Court at Windsor Castle. Once they've done that, they'll bust King Nutso out of Pontefract and put him back on the throne. Simple. The job is set to go down on January 6, 1400, Richard's 33rd birthday. Unfortunately for them, Henry gets wind of the plot and before the rebels get to Windsor, he slips away from the castle and heads to London to raise troops. So the rebel lords turn up at Windsor, find the place empty and realise they've been rumbled. They scatter across the country, but are all captured and executed, mostly without trial. So in 1400, Henry gets away with it. But no matter what he does, Henry can never quite escape Richard's shadow. The crux of the issue is as plain old Bolingbroke Henry was a popular, chivalrous, highly respected nobleman of the royal blood, with crusader credentials and friends in high places all over Europe. Now he's King Henry iv, Things aren't so simple. Character wise, he's still the man for the job. But good character isn't enough. Henry lacks one crucial thing, which he will never have and never be able to manufacture. It's called legitimacy. Henry took the throne because he had to. He had Parliament's blessing and he's been crowned. Yet for all that, the circumstances of his accession will always be fishy. Henry deposed a reigning king, and no matter how bad that king was, the fact that Henry overthrew God's anointed ruler makes him what the kids today call problematic. He's a usurper, and anyone who fancies having a pop at him will always be able to throw that fact in his face. So what can Henry do about it? Well, there's one thing he could try. The Epiphany plotters had a two part plan. Part one, capture Henry. Part two, release Richard. Henry's dealt with part one. Next, he deals with part two and he does so ruthlessly. In the aftermath of the Epiphany plot, Richard II dies in Pontefract Castle. One minute he's sulking in his cell, the next he's not exactly when Richard dies is not quite clear. It's sometime between early January and the middle of February. Exactly how Richard dies is similarly murky. Several chroniclers say he's starved to death and one that he starves himself to death. But that's not a certain thing. There's more scope for conspiracy theories around this prison death than when Jeffrey Epstein checked into a Manhattan cell and unfortunately got his neck tangled up in his shirt sleeves. We'll be delving into the mystery behind Richard's death or murder on this week's bonus episode. What is certain, however, is that the old king is a goner and the new king wants everyone to know about it. On 17 February, Henry gives orders for Richard's body to be paraded south in an open coffin to King's Langley, a small village northwest of London. He's to be buried in a priory there, in a random tomb that's very pointedly not the the swanky monument Richard had built for himself in Westminster. On March 6, there's a service held at St Paul's Cathedral in London to offer prayers for Richard's soul, wherever that may be. And then, in Henry's mind, at least, a chapter is closed on English history. Richard is now not just an ex king, he's an ex human. And that surely should put an end to plots to reverse the Plantagenet royal switcheroo. Sadly for Henry, things aren't that straightforward. In fact, Richard II will prove to be a lot more tenacious in death than he was in life. If Henry IV thinks he's heard the last of his cousin, he has another thing coming. In the Middle Ages, when the French king is captured and put into the Tower of London, France goes into full blown anarchy. If only they'd had access to Indeed, they could have found the perfect replacement king straight away and saved the country from total meltdown. That's because when it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Indeed sponsored Jobs help you stand out and hire fast. That makes a huge difference. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. So while it's too late for medieval French revolutionaries, it's the perfect time for you to get your job seen by the right people fast. And listeners of this show will get a £100 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com dynasty, just go to Indeed.com dynasty right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com dynasty terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.