Henry IV

Also known as: Henrie Plantagenet / Henrie duke of Hereford / Henrie earle of Derbie / Henrie erle of Derbie / Henrie of Bollingbrooke / Henrie of Derbie / Henrie of Derbie duke of Lancaster and Hereford / Henrie of Lancaster / Henrie of Lancaster duke of Hereford / Henrie of Lancaster earle of Derbie / Henrie the fourth / Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby / K. Henrie / K. Henrie the fourth / duke Henrie / duke of Hereford / duke of Hereford or Lancaster / earle of Derbie / king Henrie the fourth / lord Henrie of Lancaster / sonne and heire to Iohn of Gaunt · Family: England · Role: earl of Derby · First appears: Richard II 29

c. 1385, Henry was created Earl of Derby and married Mary de Bohun, daughter and heir of Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford. They had six children, including Henry V, Blanche of Lancaster, Duchess of Bavaria, Philippa of Lancaster, Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey Duke of Gloucester. He joined Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, and Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick when they gathered against the advisers of Richard II, and in 1398 was made Duke of Hereford before accusing Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk of treason and being banished.

In 1399, while Henry remained in France, English nobles invited him to return and take the crown. He landed at Ravenspur with Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury and gathered an army, while Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland and Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester came over to his side. After Richard II surrendered and was deposed, Henry claimed the crown, saying, “I Henrie of Lancaster claime the realme of England and the crowne”; he was enthroned, crowned at Westminster, and named his sons in the succession, with Henry V created Prince of Wales.

As king, Henry faced conspiracies supporting Richard II, rebellion from Owen Glendower, and the changing allegiance of the Percies, who had first been “both faithfull freends, and earnest aiders” before turning against him. He defeated Hotspur at Shrewsbury in 1403, where Hotspur was slain, and later suppressed the rising led by Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, executing several of its supporters while pardoning others, including William Clifford and Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal. In 1403 he married Joan of Navarre, and he also detained James I of Scotland after his capture at sea.

In his later years Henry made Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence and Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter greater in rank, sent forces to aid John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and prepared an expedition to Jerusalem. Suspicion briefly divided him from Henry V, but “Thus were the father and the sonne reconciled.” Henry died at Westminster in 1413 after thirteen years as king, was buried at Canterbury, and was succeeded by Henry V.