Shakespeare's Kings (17 page)

To
John
of
Gaunt,
the
failure
of
the
Bishop
of
Norwich's
crusade
and the
consequent
humiliation
of
all
those
involved
must
have
caused more
than
a
touch
of
Schadenfreude.
He
had
never
given
up
his
plans for
an
expedition
to
Castile;
indeed,
the
death
of
King
Ferdinand
of Portugal
in
October
1383-
which
had
resulted
in
Portugal's
abandoning the
Clementist
cause
-
had
left
the
hated
King
Juan
more
isolated
than ever.
But
after
the
recent
debacle
there
was
clearly
no
chance
of
a further
grant
from
Parliament
and
Gaunt
was
obliged
to
bide
his
time, occupying
himself
with
the
quiet
diplomacy
at
which
he
excelled,
first in
Flanders
where
he
concluded
a
truce
with
Charles
VI,
and
later
once again
in
Scotland
.

It
was
just
as
well
that
he
absented
himself
from
London,
for
his relations
with
his
nephew
were
now
rapidly
deteriorating.
The
principal cause
of
the
trouble
seems
to
have
been
Richard's
favourite
Robert
de Vere,
who
lost
no
opportunity
of
reminding
the
King
that
he
was
now seventeen,
an
age
at
which
many
sovereigns
had
shaken
off
their
tutelage, and
that
it
was
time
to
rule
on
his
own
account.
There
was
a
particularly unfortunate
incident
at
Salisbury,
where
Parliament
met
in
April
1384 and
a
Carmelite
friar
named
John
Latimer,
after
saying
mass
for
the King,
informed
him
that
Gaunt
was
plotting
to
have
him
murdered. Richard
believed
him
and
accused
his
uncle
to
his
face,
but
after
hearing Gaunt's
dignified
and
convincing
denial
finally
agreed
to
put
Latimer under
arrest
pending
a
full
inquiry.
All
would
probably
have
been forgotten
had
not
a
group
of
knights
—
which
included
the
King's half-brother
John
Holland
—
decided
to
take
the
law
into
their
own hands.
Falling
upon
Latimer
and
his
escort
on
their
way
to
his
place
of imprisonment,
they
seized
him
and,
in
the
course
of
interrogating
him, tortured
him
to
death.

Such,
at
least,
is
the
accepted
version
of
the
story.
It
may
well
be, however,
that
Latimer
was
killed
not
that
the
truth
should
be
discovered, but
that
it
should
be
concealed:
that
the
unfounded
charge
-
for
such it
unquestionably
was
-
against
Gaunt
had
been
fabricated
by
de
Vere and
his
cronies
in
a
deliberate
attempt
to
get
rid
of
him.
If
so,
and
if the
luckless
friar
had
revealed
from
whom
he
had
heard
the
story,
its originators
would
have
been
in
serious
trouble.
Even
with
Latimer
out of
the
way,
the
incident
was
long
remembered.
Richard
did
not
readily forgive
his
quick-tempered
uncle
Thomas
of
Woodstock,
Gaunt's youngest
brother,
with
whom
his
relations
had
heretofore
been
cordial, for
having
burst
into
the
royal
chamber
in
a
fury
when
he
heard
the news,
swearing
that
he
would
kill
anyone
-
the
King
himself
not excepted
-
who
dared
to
impute
treason
to
the
Duke
of
Lancaster.

By
the
time
Parliament
met
again
in
the
autumn
of
1384,
its
members were
growing
seriously
concerned.
With
every
day
that
passed
Richard seemed
more
headstrong,
less
inclined
to
listen
to
the
advice
of
anyone but
his
own
closed
circle
of
friends
and
sycophants.
After
the
Peasants' Revolt
and
the
catastrophe
of
the
Norwich
crusade,
England's
reputation
abroad
was
lower
than
it
had
ever
been;
but
he
was
blind
to public
opinion,
domestic
and
foreign
alike.
While
enjoying
to
the full
the
privileges
of
kingship
he
appeared
utterly
oblivious
of
its responsibilities,
continuing
to
spend
money
like
water
and
resorting
to tantrums
at
the
first
breath
of
criticism.
Clearly,
he
must
be
given something
to
do;
would
it
not
be
best,
after
all,
to
yield
to
the
continual pressure
of
John
of
Gaunt
and
to
send
the
King,
at
the
head
of
an
army, to
France?
After
some
discussion
a
subsidy
was
granted
and,
although Richard
himself
remained
unenthusiastic,
preparations
were
begun. Before
they
had
progressed
very
far,
however,
the
situation
in
Scotland
caused
a
rapid
change
of
plan.

If
England's
relations
with
her
wild
and
unruly
neighbour
were
better than
they
had
been
for
many
years,
credit
must
go
above
all
to
the efforts
of
John
of
Gaunt.
These
were
not
entirely
altruistic
-
the
more settled
the
situation
on
the
border,
the
easier
it
would
be
for
him
to launch
his
long-delayed
Spanish
expedition
-
but
they
had
demanded considerable
diplomatic
skill
and
had
involved
him
in
several
acrimonious
disputes
with
the
Percys,
the
Nevills
and
other
powerful
magnates of
the
region.
On
the
expiry
of
the
most
recent
truce
in
February
1383
¹
he
had
travelled
north
yet
again
and
had
actually
concluded
an
agreement with
Henry
Percy,
Earl
of
Northumberland,
by
the
terms
of
which
the latter
assumed
responsibility
for
the
safety
of
the
northern
shires
in return
for
a
generous
subsidy
from
the
King.
For
Gaunt,
this
was
a remarkable
achievement;
unfortunately
it
failed
to
recommend
itself
to the
French,
whose
traditional
friendship
with
Scotland
-
'the
auld