Welsh Journals

RICHARD IPs RETURN TO WALES, JULY 1399 THE sequence and nature of events associated with Richard 11's return to Wales in July 1399 have received a fair amount of attention from historians. There is, however, no consensus of opinion on all the problems involved. In fact, differences of interpretation, par- ticularly of events following the king's landing, are so marked that a fresh examination of the evidence is appropriate. In what circum- stances, for example, did Edmund, duke of Aumale and Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester desert the king? Did the break-up of the army precede the king's departure for north Wales ? And if Richard 11's closest companions, when they received news of Lancaster's landing in Yorkshire, were 'mostly traitors and fools',1 what in fact was the nature of their treachery and foolishness? Who betrayed the king or gave him bad advice? What was the chronology of events which form the background to the misfortunes of mid-August, when the king became Henry of Lancaster's prisoner and the first stage of the process which led to his deposition was completed? These are familiar themes, but the evidence relating to them is more complex and difficult than has usually been acknowledged. Several contemporaries believed that Richard's return from Ireland to south Wales was delayed. Unfortunately, the length of the delay and its exact cause are unknown. In order to establish an approximate length of delay, we should need to know when news of the Lancastrian invasion reached Ireland. In fact, only a rough estimate is possible because we do not know when a messenger was sent from England and the time required for his journey is a matter for speculation. The problem is compounded by uncertainty as to when Lancaster landed in Yorkshire. The date of on or about 4 July 1399 has been commonly accepted, but a landing late in June cannot be ruled out.2 One would expect a messenger with such momentous and urgent tidings to have been able to cross to Ireland in a week to ten days. But the messenger's point of departure is uncertain and we do not know whether he was sent from the north or, perhaps some days later, from the south. It may be conjectured that Richard II heard the worst either near the middle of July or, allowing for the possibility of a June landing, approximately a week earlier. 1 K. B. McFarlane, Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights (Oxford, 1972), p. 50. I A. Tuck, Richard II and the English Nobility (London, 1973), p. 214.