| | | 1375 | Construction of Bolton Castle |
| Work on Bolton Castle was begun by Lord Scrope, the Chancellor to Richard II. |
| Galilee porch as Peterborough |
| The Galilee porch on the West front of Peterborough Cathedral was started in 1375. |
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| Worcester Cathedral major building work |
| Work progressed on the vaults of the nave and crossing, the west front, north porch and east cloister. Until 1395. |
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| Simon Sudbury becomes Archbishop of Canterbury |
| Simon Sudbury becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
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| 1376 | Jun - Death of the Black Prince |
| Heir to the English throne, the Black Prince died. His son Richard would become the next king of England as Richard II. |
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| 1377 | Construction of Farleigh Hungerford Castle |
| Sir Thomas Hungerford began the construction of a castle at Farleigh. |
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| Carisbrooke defended against the French |
| The French landed on the Isle of Wight and attacked Carisbrooke castle. The castle did not fall to the French. |
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| Building work at Gloucester Cathedral |
| Work on Perpendicular style choir and cloisters was begun at Gloucester Cathedral. |
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| Jun 21 - Edward III Dies |
| Edward III, the King of England died in June 1377. One year earlier Edward's eldest son and heir to the throne, Edward the Black Prince died. Richard, the son of the Black Prince, was proclaimed heir to the throne. King Edward was ill for some time before his death, and John of Gaunt another of Edward's sons took the affairs of the nation under his control. |
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| Jun 23 - Richard II becomes king |
| Richard, the son of Edward the Black Prince, and grandson of Edward III, became king. |
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| Jul 16 - Richard II crowned |
| The 10 year old Richard II was crowned king of England. Ceremonies were overseen by his uncle John of Gaunt. |
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| 1378 | Canterbury Cathedral rebuilding work |
| Work on rebuilding the nave and transepts of Canterbury Cathedral was started. The designer was Henry Yeveley one of the greatest architects in the late medieval period. |
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| 1379 | Canterbury Cloisters |
| Canterbury Cloisters built by Henry Yevele. |
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| Canterbury Nave and South Transept |
| Canterbury Nave and South Transept built by Henry Yevele. |
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| New College Oxford founded |
| William of Wykeham founded his college, New College, Oxford. The foundations being laid in 1380. |
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| 1380 | Construction of Wressle Castle |
| Sir Thomas Percy built Wressle Castle. |
| Richard takes control |
| Since coming to the throne in 1377, Richard had been too young to rule. This ended when the last of the 'continual councils' was dismissed. |
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| 1381 | Construction of Raby Castle |
| John Neville, the 5th Lord of Raby, began the building of Raby Castle. |
| May - Start of the Peasant's Revolt  |
| Essex villagers resisted tax collection; beginning of the Peasant’s Revolt in England.
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| Jun 7 - Peasant's Revolt reaches Maidstone |
| The Kentish section of the Revolt reached Maidstone where they were joined by Wat Tyler who became their leader. They released John Ball from the church prison. |
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| Jun 10 - Peasant's Revolt reaches Canterbury |
| William Courtenay was elected the new archbishop of Canterbury by the Kentish rebels who crowded into the church. The previous archbishop was in London with the king and was to be beheaded by the rebels. The Essex section of the revolt burnt and sacked a Hospitaller commandery that had previously belonged to the Templars called Cressing Temple. |
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| Jun 10 - William Courtenay becomes Archbishop of Canterbury |
| William Courtenay became the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
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| Jun 11 - Rebels move towards London |
| Both the Kentish and the Essex rebels move towards London. |
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| Jun 12 - Rebels reach London |
| The Essex rebels reach Mile End near Aldgate and the Kentish rebels reach Southwark. |
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| Jun 13 - Rebels enter London |
| The English rebels entered London and joined the local poor in attacking the Savoy Palace and other property; a general insurrection began in Cambridgeshire.
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| Jun 14 - Richard meets the rebels |
| Richard II negotiated with the rebel peasants at Mile End, London. At the same time a group of rebels entered the Tower and Archbishop Simon of Sudbury, Sir Robert Hales and other officials were killed. Disturbances also started in St.Albans.
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| Jun 15 - Watt Tyler killed |
| Richard II again met the rebels, at Smithfield; they demanded the confiscation of church land; Watt Tyler was killed and the rebels dispersed; the Prior of Bury St.Edmunds was executed by the townspeople; University property was attacked in Cambridge (-17.6).
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| Jun 16 - Rebellion elsewhere |
| The English rebellion spread to Norfolk and (19.6) Somerset; Sir John Cavendish murdered by rebels.
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| Jun 17 - Rebellion again |
| Norfolk rebels entered Norwich and (18-26.6) were repelled by local landowners, led by Henry le Despenser, bishop of Norwich; the bishop met the rebels (26.6) at North Walsham and captured their stronghold; rebel attacks occurred at Peterborough Abbey and Dunstable priory, and in Buckinghamshire and Leicestershire. |
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| 1382 | A new castle at Sherriff Hutton is begun |
| Building work on a new castle started under the direction of John Neviille. |
| Founding of Winchester College |
| William of Wykeham founded Winchester College so that prayers could be said for his soul for all time. It also provided training for boys that were to enter his other college, New College Oxford. |
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| Jan 14 - Richard marries |
| Richard II married Anne, the sister of Wenceslas of Bohemia. This was a diplomatic move over the French as the king of France Charles V wanted Anne his marry his own son. The marriage was not popular as a large loan had to be paid to Wenceslas for the privilege. |
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| May 21 - Earthquake |
| An earthquake occurred somewhere in the Straits of Dover and was felt in southern England and in the Low Countries across the North Sea. The event happened during a meeting to condem the works of John Wycliffe. |
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| 1384 | Apr - Criticism of Richard |
| At a session of Parliament held this year both John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock argued with Richard about the way in which the country was being run, his finances and the influences of his advisors. |
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| 1385 | Richard make his uncles Dukes |
| Richard gave his uncles Edmund of Langely and Thomas of Woodstock new titles. He made Edmund the Duke of York and made Thomas the Duke of Gloucester. |
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| Richard leads army to North |
| Differences between Richard and his uncles were temporarily suspended when an army from France landed in Scotland to help the Scots attack the North of England. Richard took an army to deal with the threat. No battles took place and the English spent most of their time burning the area in front of the Scots to prevent them advancing. In the destruction Melrose and Dryburgh abbeys were damaged. |
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| Licence granted to crenellate at Donnington |
| Threats of invasion prompted Richard to allow the creation of fortified manor houses. Donnington is one example. |
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| Qtr 2 - French prepare for invasion |
| All through the summer months, the French prepared men and supplies in the Norman ports. |
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| 1386 | Richard makes de Vere more powerful |
| Robert gave the title of Marquis of Dublin to his favourite Robert de Vere. This gave de Vere power over all royal lands in Ireland and made him almost as powerful as Richard's uncles. |
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| Licence granted to crenellate at Bodiam |
| The king granted Sir Edward Dalyngrugge a licence to crenellate his mansion in Sussex due to threats of invasion. But Dalyngrugge decided to build a completely new structure instead. |
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| Spring - Gaunt and the Castilian throne |
| With the defeat of the Castilians by the king of Portugal, James of Aviz, John of Gaunt saw his chance of taking the Castilian throne by right of his wife. He asked Richard for a loan to be repaid once he had the throne. Richard was pleased to pay the loan and get rid of Gaunt, as Gaunt was criticising Richard's handling of finances and his choice of advisors. |
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| Summer - Commission appointed |
| With the French threatening to invade, Richard's continued disregard of his uncles' requests to remove his Chancellor and Treasurer from office, a delegation met Richard at Eltham. His uncle, Duke of Gloucester acted as spokesman for Parliament. He reminded Richard of his duties and demanded that his advisors be removed. He reminded Richard that if he didn't comply he could be removed from his position as King. Richard had little choice and a commission was set up to oversee the king's affairs. |
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| Summer - French fleet mass at Sluys |
| An invasion from France seemed to be imminent as the French fleet mass at Sluys. |
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| Jul 8 - John leaves Plymouth |
| John of Gaunt set sail from Plymouth, his task to take the Castilian throne. |
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| 1387 | The Canterbury Tales |
| Geoffrey Chaucer begins the Canterbury Tales. |
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| Apr - Future Henry V born |
| It is believed that Henry, the future king of England Henry V, was born at the gatehouse tower of Monmouth castle in late summer. His father was Henry Bolingbroke the future Henry IV king of England and his mother was Mary de Bohun. Mary was seventeen when Henry was born. |
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| Dec - Invasion threat from France |
| During the winter months of 1387 and spring months of 1388, Henry Bolingbroke prepared defences along the south coast. |
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| Dec 19 - Battle of Radcot Bridge |
| Forces belonging to the Lords Appellant defeated forces led by Robert de Vere, the favourite of Richard II. |
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| 1389 | May - Richard II declared his intention to rule freely |
| Richard announced that he intended to rule unaided. |
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| 1390 | Construction of Lumley Castle |
| Lumley Castle at Chester-le-Street was built by Ralph, Lord Lumley. |
| Apr 19 - Robert III becomes King of the Scots |
| Robert II, king of the Scots died at the age of seventy-four and was succeeded by Robert III who ruled from 1390 to 1406. Robert II was buried at Scone Abbey. |
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| 1393 | Construction of Wardour Castle |
| The work on Wardour Castle (now Old Wardour Castle) was begun in this year. The architect in charge may have been William Wynford who was responsible for the changes made to Winchester Cathedral around about the same time. The castle is very unusual in that is is hexagonal and aligned to the north-east. |
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| 1394 | Queen Anne dies |
| Richard II's first wife Anne of Bohemia died. |
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| Winchester Cathedral rebuilding work |
| Work began on converting the Norman front and nave of Winchester Cathedral to the Perpendicular style by the Bishop of Winchester, William of Wykeham. |
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| 1395 | Guy's Tower completed at Warwick Castle |
| The construction of the huge circular tower called Guy's Tower at Warwick Castle was completed. |
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| 1396 | Richard II marries Isabella |
| The marriage of Richard II and the seven or eight year-old daughter of Charles VI, King of France was arranged. |
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| 1397 | Wilton Diptych painted |
| A series of minature images painted on the side of the Black Prince's tomb in Canterbury Cathedral. |
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| 1398 | Urquhart Castle becomes the King's property |
| An act of Parliament is passed which brings the ownership of Urquhart Castle into the hands of the English King. |
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| Sep 16 - Bolingbroke exiled |
| Richard II had executed or exiled other members of the Lords Appellant the previous year and now Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray were concerned that their turn was next. Mowbray confided these concerns with Bolingbroke. Bolingbroke informed the King of Mowbray's treasonable words and Mowbray was arrested. Mowbray denied the accusations and that he ever talked to Bolingbroke. To bring the dispute to an end, a duel between Bolingbroke and Mowbray was arranged. But before the duel took place Richard changed his mind and banished Bolingbroke for ten years and Mowbray for life. |
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| 1399 | Feb - Death of John of Gaunt |
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| Mar - Bolingbroke's land confiscated |
| Bolingbroke should have inherited the lands from his father, John of Gaunt, but Richard had other ideas. The king confiscated Bolingbroke's inheritance and increased his term of exile to life. |
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| Summer - Richard goes to Ireland |
| Richard sailed to Ireland to suppress a rebellion. He took almost all of his closest supporters with him, leaving an inexperienced Edmund of York in command. |
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| Jul - Bolingbroke returns to England |
| Landing at Ravenspur in Yorkshire, Bolingbroke returned to England intent to taking the throne from Richard. He marched south to Bristol taking control of Lancastrian castles on route, all of which welcomed his return. |
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| Aug - Richard is captured |
| Richard returned to England landing in Wales. Richard was captured at Conway Castle and was moved to Pontefract Castle where he was imprisoned. |
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| Sep - Bolingbroke accepted by Parliament |
| Parliament accepted Bolingbroke's claim to the throne. He was to become Henry IV, king of England. |
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| Oct 13 - Henry IV becomes king |
| Henry IV is crowned king of England after the abdication of Richard II. |
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| Oct 15 - A new Prince of Wales |
| Bolingbroke's son Henry, Prince of Monmouth, was made Prince of Wales. The Prince was not the true heir to the English throne as this honour fell to the young Earl of March, but Henry would become Henry V, king of England. |
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