Abstract, King Richard visited the secure, fortified cathedral many times in the last years of his reign. After capture by Henry Bolingbroke he was imprisoned in one of the towers. His chaplain became the bishop and there are reminders of the king in the architecture.
King Richard II was born, 1366, in the Archbishop’s Palace of Bordeaux in Aquitaine, an area covering much of central and southwest France and he died, 1400, in Pontefract Castle. During his 22-year reign, 1377 to 1399, he was recorded as being a frequent visitor to Lichfield in the last years of his life.
Richard
II from the Wilton Diptych. Kneeling in prayer would have been an appropriate
pose for Richard. Wikimedia Public Domain
Richard Scrope was a papal chaplain
and an auditor to the Curia in Rome[1] at a
time when much of Europe recognised the alternative pope, Clement VII who resided
in Avignon, south-east France.[2] In 1385,
he was elected by the Rome pope to be Bishop of Chichester, but this was
rejected by Richard II. Instead, on 18 August 1386 the Rome pope, Urban VI, promoted
him to be the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry[3] and consecrated
him on the following day; Richard must have agreed.[4] Scrope
was enthroned in Lichfield on 29 June 1387 and Richard with Anne of Bohemia his
queen, both aged 21, the Archbishops of York and Dublin and various earls and
knights attended. The ceremony was followed by a huge feast in the bishop's
palace,[5] and this
must have stretched the resources of the Close. In the same year,1387, Richard
granted a licence to seven petitioners to amalgamate two pre-existing guilds in
Lichfield. The new guild had a chaplain to pray for the king and his queen and
give a blessing for the bishop.[6]
Richard spent Christmas
at Lichfield in 1397, staying until mid-January, including a celebration
of his birthday on 6 January. He visited Lichfield at least six times in 1398. Anne
his wife had died four years previously and he had politically married a child
princess of France allowing a thirty-year truce; probably the greatest of his
achievements. He is recorded as being at Lichfield on 8, 17–20 January, 24–27
May, 22–26 June, 8 September, 25 December to 6 January 1399. This is over 30
days accommodation and it is most likely the visits were longer than
recorded. Lichfield
would have been a good residence for Richard to pursue his love of hunting in
the surrounding forest. He was also keen on churches and cathedrals and it is
likely the protection of the moated and fortified cathedral attracted this
insecure king to Lichfield.
On 2 June 1398,
the pope moved Bishop Richard Scrope to the Archbishopric of York probably on
the recommendation of Richard. The king then forwarded his adviser and chaplain
John Burghill, to be bishop of Lichfield.[7] He was
installed at Lichfield on 8 September 1398 and the enthronement was attended by
three archbishops, Canterbury, York, and Dublin, five bishops, four
dukes, and four earls. The fully robed clergy met the new bishop at the west
end of the Close and were surprised to find him bare-footed. Burghill was a
Dominican or Black Friar and this was a demonstration of his belief in asceticism,
though later detractors described it as miserliness. They processed to an atrium
at the west end door,[8] which was
possibly both an extension inwards and outwards of the central doorway.[9] Oaths
were said in the atrium before the party filed to the high altar for the
commission. A feast followed in the palace to which all the cathedral clergy
were invited.
Photograph of the remains of a foundation revealed in 2000.
In 1398,
Archbishop Roger Walden ordered celebrations on the feast of St Chad.[12] This
could have been at the behest of Richard and supported by the new Bishop of
Lichfield. It shows Richard’s strong interest in the power of saints and their
intercessory power.[13] It adds
to the notion Richard was a frequent visitor to Lichfield.
Richard returned for Christmas in
1398, lodged in the bishop’s palace and received a papal nuncio and an envoy of
the Eastern Emperor, Manuel II. Tournaments with jousting were held daily,
probably up to his birthday in 1399, and a banqueting hall was built next to
the great hall of the palace. Richard in the last two years of his reign
increasingly became extravagant and autocratic, believing his kingship was
divine. He announced to Parliament no restraint could legally be put on him. This
high ambition, punitive taxation and execution of rivals standing in his way
now made him many enemies. He had a bodyguard of 400 bowmen,[14] which
must have stretched the residency in the Close. Parliaments were held around
the Midlands, but never in London or inexplicably at Lichfield, which suggests
his visits to Lichfield were for recreational pursuits.
Richard II at Westminster Abbey in mid-1390s, Wikipedia Public Domain. Richard’s greatest architectural project was the rebuilding of Westminster Hall.
On 1 June 1399, Richard journeyed to
Ireland to restore his dwindling authority. This gave an opportunity for his
exiled and dispossessed enemy, Henry Bolingbroke, to return from France and
land at Hull. He invaded with a small force that quickly grew in numbers.
Richard hurriedly returned, but could not raise any support. On 19 August,
Richard surrendered to Henry Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life
was spared. Both men then made their way to London, broken by a short stay
at Lichfield. On the evening of 23 August, the party arrived at Lichfield and
Richard was imprisoned in one of the towers, most likely the north-east tower
and part of the Bishop’s Palace. That night Richard attempted to escape through
a window of the tower,[15] but was
recaptured in an adjoining garden. He was removed from the Close and transferred
to the house of the Archdeacon of Chester, on the corner of Beacon Street and
Shaw Lane. Ten or twelve armed men kept close guard over him day and night, and
Richard complained that he was not even allowed a change of clothes.
North-east tower
remains.
On arrival in London, 1 September,
he was imprisoned in the Tower of London. A commission, including Archbishop
Scrope,[16] a past friend
of Richard, visited the king and agreed, perhaps reluctantly, on his
imprisonment. Richard was later moved to Pontefract Castle and died, some say starved
to death, on or around 14 February 1400, aged 34. His interment at the
Dominican friary church at Kings Langley in Hertfordshire was conducted by his
friend, Bishop John Burghill.[17] Afterwards,
Burghill became a great benefactor leaving much to the cathedral, and this was warmly
commemorated after his death in 1414.
When the Lady Chapel was built a
screen was erected across the cathedral behind the high altar and east of
Chad’s shrine. Wyatt found part of the screen when he was joining the choir to
the Lady Chapel in 1788.[18] During the Victorian renovation 'a rayed rose
and hart' was found on one piece of the old screen and could have been the
emblem of Richard and Anne.[19] An inn
in Sadler Street was named the White Hart.
Is this the hart emblem
remarked upon by Robert Bridgeman? On the canopy there are several sculpted
roses. [20]
There are a number of 14-century chapter
houses, York, Lincoln, Westminster and Salisbury that have dedications to the
Virgin Mary. At Lichfield, above the door is a triangular painting of ‘The Assumption
of Mary’. In the bottom right corner stand several ‘Black Friars’, clearly
showing their black cappa or cloak above their white habit. This suggests
Bishop John Burghill arranged this painting and thus a date around 1398–1414 is
likely. St Mary is surrounded by angels and the two at knee height have an
outline of adult faces. The one on the left of the painting appears to be
wearing a crown. The one on the right appears to be a woman. It would be
plausible to assume they are Richard and Anne. Perhaps, then the figure to the
bottom left is the dean, Thomas de Stretton. If this could be verified, it is a
remarkable painting.
 |
| Assumption of Mary painting. Revealed in the Victorian removal of limewash. |
 |
| Figures left and right of Mary. Superimposed is the head of Richard II from The Wilton Diptych. |
Richard II with orb and sceptre on the west front.
This representation is of an older man; Richard died at the young age of 34.
Furthermore, all known images show a clean-shaven man of small stature.
[1]
He was also a friend, with family connections, with the Earls of
Northumberland, the Percy family.
[2]
The Western Schism. England recognised the Roman pope. Wales, Scotland, France and
Spain did not.
[3]
H.E. Savage, The Church Heritage of Lichfield, Unpub. St Chad’s Day
Address (1914) claimed the title from 1386 was transposed to Bishop of
Lichfield and Coventry. He also stated the electing body at Coventry no longer
existed. The addition of Chester to the title had ceased in 1350. H. Wharton, Anglia
Sacra Volume 1.,(London: 1691), 450, has ‘Ricardus Scrope. Episcopus
Lichfeldensis & Coventrensis. His predecessor Walterus Skirlaw also has
this order, but his predecessor Robertus Stretton (449) gives priority to
Coventry. Richard II must have agreed with this new order of title.
[4]
J. Gould, ‘Lichfield and Richard II’, Staffordshire Archaeological and
Historical Society Transactions, (2001), 39, 16–21, from which much of this
post has been constructed. See also J. Tait, 'Scrope, Richard', Dictionary
of National Biography, li (1897), 144-47. The burgesses of Lichfield appear
not to have accepted Scrope’s elevation especially if decided by the King.
[5]
Lichfield Dean and Chapter Acts Book, i, f. 15v.
[6]
By the late 15th-century the guild had increased membership including clergy and
notables from the city.
[7]
H. Wharton, Anglia Sacra. Volume 1. (London: 1691), 451.
[8]
This description of the ceremony comes from H. E. Savage, Bishop John
Burghull, (note the misspelling), an A. C. Lomax publication (Lichfield:
1924), 1–24. It was taken from the Chapter Acts Book, 52–3.
[9]
Beneath the flagstones outside the west end large door has been found a stone buttress
foundation. It is not known when this atrium (narthex?) was built and
demolished. This is referred to by W. Rodwell, Lichfield Cathedral:
Conservation Plan. Unpub. report in Cathedral library (2006), 5. Rodwell
believed there was a previous large, lower, west front.
[10]
The buttresses are mentioned by W. Rodwell, Notes on the 'gallery' and other
features at the west end of the nave. Unpub. assessment in Cathedral
Library, (1989). Rodwell’s view was they would fit perfectly an early
13th-century west front; and at the same time invite closer comparisons between
Lichfield and Wells.
[11]
W. Rodwell, Revealing the history of the Cathedral: 3. Archaeology in the
nave. Unpub. paper in the Cathedral Library, (2000).
[12]
D. Wikins, Concilia magnae Britanniae et Hiberniae a Synodo Verolamensi. (1737)
Volume 3, 235. See also H. E. Savage, (1924), 5.
[13]
N. Saul, Richard II (New Haven and London: 1997), 142–3.
[14]
Ibid, 393.
[15]
There are some accounts that have Richard escaping from the Archdeacon’s House.
H. E. Savage (1924), see note 10, had Richard imprisoned in the fabled town
Castle in Castle Dyke Street and Frog Lane. T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and city of
Lichfield. (London: 1806), 292, has
him in the south-west tower where there is now Newton’s building. It is
possible there were members of the Close who helped him to escape.
[16]
Some years
later, Scrope opposed Bolingbroke and was beheaded at York.
[17]
Thomae Walsingham Historia Anglicana, ed. H. T. Riley (Rolls Series,
1846), 246.
[18]
J. Britton, The history and antiquities of
the See and cathedral church of Lichfield, (London: 1820) 32. In The carvings of Lichfield Cathedral. (2010),
Cathedral booklet, 11, it is suggested the sedilia either side of the altar
contains part (the canopy) of the 15th-century screen. It is made of Bath
limestone and invites the question of where was it sculpted? Its rich detail
would have been appropriate for being near to Langton’s Lady Chapel.
[19]
See note 3, J. Gould, (2001), 18.
[20] J. Gould (2001), 22. A White Hart is depicted on the timber ceiling of St Mary’s Hall, Coventry.
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