Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Lords Appellant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lords Appellant were a group of powerful barons who came together during the 1380s to seize political control of England from King Richard II. The group was so called because its members claimed simply to be appealing to the King for good government (their major complaint was Richard's decision to make peace with France). The Lords were led by the Duke of Gloucester (youngest son of King Edward III and King Richard's uncle), the Earl of Arundel and the Earl of Warwick, and also involved Richard's cousin the Earl of Hereford and Northampton, who would eventually become Henry IV.
In 1387 the Lords Appellant launched an armed rebellion against King Richard and defeated his forces at Radcot Bridge outside Oxford. They maintained Richard as a figurehead with little real power, but impeached, imprisoned, exiled, or executed most of his court. For example, Richard's Chancellor the Earl of Suffolk was impeached in 1386, and the Duke of Ireland was stripped of his titles and exiled.
In 1389 Richard's uncle and supporter the Duke of Lancaster returned from Spain and Richard was able to rebuild his power gradually until 1397 when he reasserted his authority and destroyed the Lords Appellant.