RICHARD II 



RICHARDSON 



Richard II, 

 King of England 



Richard H (1367-1400). King 

 of England. The younger son of 

 Edward the Black Prince, he was 

 born Jan. 6, 

 1367, and suc- 

 ceeded his 

 grandfather, 

 Edward III, as 

 king of Eng- 

 land, June 21, 

 1377. During 

 his boyhood 

 the govern- 

 ment of the 

 country was 

 mainly in the hands of his uncles. 

 In 1381 occurred the rising of the 

 peasantry commonly called Wat 

 Tyler's revolt. When all the au- 

 thorities appear to have been panic- 

 stricken, the boy king displayed a 

 courage and presence of mind 

 which saved a critical situation. 



As Richard grew older he sought 

 to shake off the yoke of his uncles, 

 but his chosen counsellors and fa- 

 vourites were " appealed " of trea- 

 son. Richard found himself obliged 

 to submit, but in May, 1389, a 

 successful coup d'etat removed the 

 controlling nobles from his council, 

 and for eight years the king ruled 

 with moderation and wisdom. It 

 would seem, however, that he had 

 been only nursing his revenge. Sud- 

 denly, in 1397, the group of nobles 

 against whom his resentment was 

 hottest were arrested for treason, 

 and were executed, put to death in 

 prison, or banished. There re- 

 mained two nobles whom Richard 

 suspected, Henry of Hereford and 

 Mowbray, duke of Norfolk. In 

 Sept., 1398, both were banished. 

 A cowed parliament had already 

 bestowed upon Richard despotic 

 powers which he now exercised 

 arbitrarily. When John of Gaunt 

 died he seized the inheritance of 

 Lancaster, which should have 

 passed to Henry of Hereford. 



Then when Richard, in 1399, had 

 gone to Ireland, Henry returned to 

 England to claim his inheritance, 

 and to reform the government. 

 Richard suddenly found himself 

 deserted, was taken prisoner by 

 Henry, carried to London, and 

 compelled to abdicate, Sept. 29 , 

 whereupon Parliament declared 

 Henry to be lawful king of England 

 by right of descent. Richard was 

 imprisoned in Pontefract Castle, 

 where he died or was murdered, 

 Feb. 14, 1400. See Appellants; 

 Henry IV ; Peasants' Revolt ; 

 Pontefract ; consult also England 

 under Richard II, De L. O'Leary, 

 1908 ; The Reigns of Edward II, 

 Edward III, and Richard II, 2 

 vols., Sir J. H. Ramsay, 1913. 



Richard IH( 1452-85). King of 

 England. The youngest brother of 

 Edward IV, he was born Oct. 2, 



1452, and usurped the throne of 

 England, setting aside the lawful 

 king, his nephew Edward V, June 

 26, 1483. Apart from traditions for 

 which his enemies are responsible, 

 his record until his brother's death 

 had been that of a very able soldier 

 whose loyalty had never swerved. 

 Yet by a series of absolutely un- 

 scrupulous actions between April 9 

 (when Edward IV died) and June 

 26, he struck down one after 

 another of the men who were likely 

 to stand in the way of his ambi- 

 tions, and seized the crown. 



Edward and his brother were 

 imprisoned in the Tower. Richard 

 started on a royal progress through 

 the country, and the two princes 

 disappeared. The throne won by 

 crime could 

 only be re- 

 tained by ter- 

 r o r i s m, and 

 Richard insti- 

 tuted a reign 

 of terror. The 

 atmosphere 

 became thick 

 with conspira- 

 Richard III, cies. The hopes 



King o! England o f plotters 

 centred upon the young earl of 

 Richmond, Henry Tudor. Bucking- 

 ham, who had helped Richard to his 

 crown, raised a rebellion in Nov., 

 1483, but it collapsed, and Buck- 

 ingham was executed. On Aug. 7, 

 1485, Richmond landed at Milford 

 Haven, and on the 22nd Richard, 

 deserted at the critical moment by 

 professed supporters, was slain at 

 the battle of Bosworth. See His- 

 tory of Richard III, Sir T. More, 

 1833 ; History of Richard III, J. 

 Gairdner, 2nd ed. 1898; Richard 

 III, his Life and Character, Sir 

 C. R. Markham, 1906. 



Richard (1209-72). King of the 

 Romans, known as Richard of 

 Cornwall. Born at Winchester, 

 Jan. 5, 1209, the second son of King 

 John of England, he was made earl 

 of Cornwall in 1225, and, after 

 quarrelling with his brother, Henry 

 III, led a crusade to the Holy Land 

 in 1240. Declining the crown of 

 Sicily in 1252, five years later he 

 was elected king of the Romans. 

 Reconciled to Henry, he fought for 

 him in the Barons' War, and was 

 taken prisoner at the battle of 

 Lewes, 1264. Liberated after the 

 battle of Evesham, he died April 

 2, 1272. 



Richard, FRANCOIS MA^IE BEN- 

 JAMIN (1819-1908). French pre- 

 late. Born of the noble family of 

 Lavergne at Nantes, he was edu- 

 cated for the priesthood at St. Sul- 

 pice, Paris, was vicar-general of 

 Nantes, 1850-70, and bishop of 

 Belley, 1871. In 1875 he became 

 coadjutor to the archbishop of 



Francois Richard, 

 - French prelate 



la 



Bienheureuse 

 He 



Paris, whom he 

 eucceeded i n 

 1886,becoming 

 cardinal, 1889. 

 He was a 

 staunch de- 

 fender of 

 Church rights 

 against the 

 State. He pub- 

 lished several 

 books, includ- 

 ing La Vie de 

 Franchise d'Amboise, 1865. 

 died Jan. 29, 1908. 



Richards, SIR FREDERICK WIL- 

 LIAM (1833-1912). British sailor. 

 Born Nov. 30, 1833, he entered 

 the navy in 1848, reaching the 

 rank of commander, 1860. He 

 was junior lord of the Admiralty in 

 1882-85, and First Sea Lord from 

 1893 to 1899. He had previously 

 served in the Zulu and Boer 

 Wars, 1879-81, and commanded 

 the naval forces in the Burma 

 Annexation War, 1885-86. He 

 died Sept. 28, 1912. 



Richards, JOHN MORGAN (1841- 

 1918). American business man. 

 Born at Aurora, New York, Feb. 

 16, 1841, he was the son of Rev. J. 

 Richards, D.D., a Presbyterian 

 minister, and belonged to a family 

 that emigrated to America early 

 in the 18th century. He entered 

 business life, and in 1867 settled in 

 London, where he was the head of 

 the firm of J. M. Richards and Sons. 

 Largely responsible for making the 

 cigarette popular in Great Britain, 

 he was known as a pioneer of ad- 

 vertising. He wrote With John 

 Bull and Jonathan, 1905 , and 

 Almost Fairyland, 1914 ; and 

 edited the Life and Letters of his 

 daughter, John Oliver Hobbes, 

 1911. From 1888-1905 he was the 

 proprietor of The Academy. 

 Richards died Aug. 10, 1918. 



Richardson, SIR BENJAMIN 

 WARD (1828-96). British physi- 

 cian. Born at Somerby, Leicester- 

 shire, Oct. 31, 

 1828, and edu- 

 cated at Glas- 

 gow, he came 

 to London, 

 1853, and was 

 appointed 

 physician to a 

 number of 

 London hospi- 

 Sir B. W. Richardson, tals. He wrote 

 British physician widely, asso- 

 ciating himself chiefly with sanitary 

 reform, founding the Journal of 

 Public Health and Sanitary Re- 

 view, 1855, and wrote Hygienic 

 treatment of pulmonary consump- 

 tion, 1857; Cause of the coagula- 

 tion of the blood, 1858 ; Medical 

 history and treatment of teeth, 

 1860, etc. He died Nov. 21, 1896. 



