Richard II found himself under siege not once, but twice in his minority. Crowned king at age ten, he was only fourteen when the Peasants' Revolt terrorized London. But he proved himself every bit the Plantagenet successor, facing Wat Tyler and the rebels when all seemed lost.
Alas, his triumph was short-lived, and for the next ten years he struggled to assert himself against his uncles and increasingly hostile nobles. Just like in the days of his great-grandfather Edward II, vengeful magnates strove to separate him from his friends and advisors, and even threatened to depose him if he refused to do their bidding.
The Lords Appellant, as they came to be known, purged the royal household with the help of the Merciless Parliament. They murdered his closest allies, leaving the King alone and defenseless.
He would never forget his humiliation at the hands of his subjects.
Richard's inability to protect his adherents would haunt him for the rest of his life, and he vowed that next time, retribution would be his.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Oh look, a young king trying to rule medieval England (while his uncles interfere, Parliament objects, his friends make questionable decisions, the French are threatening invasion, half the country seems to be revolting and everyone keeps reminding him that he is too young to know what he is doing).
What could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot, as it turns out.
A King Under Siege follows Richard II through the early years of his reign, beginning with the Peasants' Revolt when Richard is only fourteen.
Fourteen.
At fourteen I would not have been volunteering to ride out and negotiate with thousands of furious rebels.
Richard does.
Admittedly, some of the adults around him aren't being especially helpful.
This becomes something of a theme.
Richard is King of England, which sounds impressive until you realise that being king and actually being allowed to rule are two entirely different things.
His councillors advise him.
His uncles advise him.
Parliament advises him.
The bishops advise him.
Everybody has an opinion.
Richard would occasionally quite like them to stop.
I couldn't entirely blame him.
Unfortunately, Richard has a temper.
Quite a temper.
He also has a tendency to trust the people he loves completely and distrust the people he doesn't with equal enthusiasm.
Enter Robert de Vere.
Robert is Richard's friend, favourite and one of the few people who makes him feel as though being king might actually mean something.
This is lovely for Richard.
Politically?
Less lovely.
The more Richard draws his trusted friends around him, the more furious the great nobles become at being pushed outside that circle. Before long, everyone is accusing everyone else of treason, armies are being raised and Richard's family disagreements have gone rather beyond an awkward Christmas dinner.
And then there is Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester.
Good grief, Thomas.
If Richard has a talent for losing his temper, Gloucester has a talent for making absolutely certain he does.
Their relationship becomes increasingly poisonous, and there were several occasions when I wanted to put the book down, sit both men on opposite sides of a room and tell them that nobody was leaving until they had learned to communicate like reasonable human beings.
This would not have worked.
Thankfully, Anne of Bohemia is considerably more sensible.
I loved Anne.
Her relationship with Richard was probably my favourite part of the book. There is something very sweet about watching these two young people discover that their arranged marriage might actually make them happy.
Anne doesn't want Richard's crown.
She doesn't want to rule him.
She listens.
Considering how many people spend this book telling Richard what he ought to think, that matters.
Simon Burley was another favourite.
He has known Richard since childhood and understands the man beneath the crown better than most. His loyalty never feels like flattery, and his relationship with both Richard and Anne gives the story some of its warmest moments.
Which means that when things begin going badly, I became increasingly concerned whenever Simon appeared.
I was right to be concerned.
The Merciless Parliament is exactly as cheerful as the name suggests.
By this point, what began as a struggle over how England should be governed has become horribly personal. Old grudges, fear, ambition and revenge are all mixed together, and Richard is forced to watch as the people closest to him are systematically removed.
I was furious.
Richard was furious.
Gloucester remained Gloucester.
One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that Richard isn't presented as some poor perfect young king being bullied by horrible nobles.
He makes mistakes.
Quite a few.
Sometimes spectacular ones.
There were moments when I completely understood his reasoning and others when I wanted to grab him by those beautifully embroidered royal sleeves and say:
Richard.
No.
Do not do that.
He usually did it.
And yet I remained on his side far more often than I expected.
Perhaps because underneath all the crowns, ceremonies, politics and Plantagenet tempers is a young man who has been told since childhood that he is God's anointed king while simultaneously being prevented from making his own decisions.
That contradiction runs through the entire novel.
There is a lot of history here. A lot.
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler, John of Gaunt, the Lords Appellant, the French threat, Scotland, Parliament, royal favourites, marriages, rivalries and enough Richards, Thomases and Johns to make you seriously consider keeping notes.
But I never felt as though the characters disappeared beneath it.
And after everything Richard goes through, the ending was immensely satisfying.
No spoilers, but I may have wanted to stand up and applaud.
A King Under Siege made me sympathise with a king I had never given much thought to before, despair over the Plantagenets' complete inability to have a normal family disagreement and become far too emotionally invested in Simon Burley's wellbeing.
Fascinating, dramatic and surprisingly moving.
Five stars.
And Thomas of Woodstock is still not invited to Christmas.
Mercedes Rochelle
Born in St. Louis, MO, with a degree from University of Missouri, Mercedes Rochelle learned about living history as a re-enactor and has been enamored with historical fiction ever since. A move to New York to do research and two careers ensued, but writing fiction remains her primary vocation. She lives in Sergeantsville, NJ with her husband in a log home they had built themselves.
Connect with Mercedes Rochelle:
