Summary. King Richard visited the secure, fortified cathedral many times in the last years of his reign. He was imprisoned in a tower after capture by Henry Bolingbroke. His chaplain became the bishop.
King Richard II was born, 1366, in the Archbishop’s Palace of Bordeaux in Aquitaine, a large area in central and southwest France. During his 22-year reign, 1377 to 1399, he was 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 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.
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.
West
front drawing from ‘The Builder’, (1891), February 7, 108–9. It shows a pair of buttress foundations
discovered under the paving outside the west front, probably during Scott's
work in 1850s.[10]
The rubble foundation between the end pillars was revealed in 2000.[11] Was
this part of an outward and inward projecting atrium or narthex?
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 is another reason why Richard was a frequent visitor to Lichfield.
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. Was this the tower used to imprison Richard II, or was it the
southwest tower known to have a dungeon?
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 is positioned on the right hand of Chad on the west front, which reflects his love for Lichfield.
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. All known images show a beard-less
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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