The real life story of the Plantagenet ruler, by “the most remarkable medieval historian of our time” (The Times, London). The talented, confident, and intelligent son of John of Gaunt, Henry IV started his reign as a popular and charismatic king after he dethroned the tyrannical and wildly unpopular Richard II. But six years into his reign, Henry had survived eight assassination and overthrow attempts. Having broken God’s law of primogeniture by overthrowing the man many people saw as the chosen king, Henry IV left himself vulnerable to challenges from powerful enemies about the validity of his reign. Even so, Henry managed to establish the new Lancastrian dynasty and a new rule of law—in highly turbulent times. In this book, noted historian Ian Mortimer, bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England and The Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England, goes beyond the legend portrayed in Shakespeare’s history play, and explores the political and social forces that transformed Henry IV from his nation’s savior to its scourge.

Henry IV (1399-1413), the son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, seized the English throne at the age of thirty-two from his cousin Richard II and held it until his death, aged forty-five, when he was succeeded by his son, Henry V. This comprehensive and nuanced biography restores to his rightful place a king often overlooked in favor of his illustrious progeny. Henry faced the usual problems of usurpers: foreign wars, rebellions, and plots, as well as the ambitions and demands of the Lancastrian retainers who had helped him win the throne. By 1406 his rule was broadly established, and although he became ill shortly after this and never fully recovered, he retained ultimate power until his death. Using a wide variety of previously untapped archival materials, Chris Given-Wilson reveals a cultured, extravagant, and skeptical monarch who crushed opposition ruthlessly but never quite succeeded in satisfying the expectations of his own supporters.

A study of the reign of the German king and emperor Henry IV (1056-1106).

This major new complete edition of Shakespeare's works combines accessibility with the latest scholarship. Each play and collection of poems is preceded by a substantial introduction that looks at textual and literary-historical issues. The texts themselves have been scrupulously edited and are accompanied by same-page notes and glossaries. Particular attention has been paid to the design of the book to ensure that this first new edition of the twenty-first century is both attractive and approachable.

Vincent J. Pitts chronicles the life and times of one of France’s most remarkable kings in the first English-language biography of Henri IV to be published in twenty-five years. An unwelcome heir to the throne, Henri ruled over a kingdom plagued by religious civil war and political and economic instability. By the end of his reign in 1610 he had pacified his warring country, restored its prosperity, and reclaimed France’s place as a leading power in Europe. Pitts draws upon the rich scholarship of recent decades to tell the captivating story of this pivotal French king. From boyhood, Henri was destined to be leader and protector of the Huguenot movement in France. He served as chief of the Calvinist party and fought for the Huguenot forces in the bloody Wars of Religion before an extraordinary sequence of dynastic mishaps left the Protestant warlord next in line for the French crown. Henri was forced to renounce his faith in support of his claim to the Catholic throne and to unite his deeply divided country. A master of political maneuvering, Henri restored order to a country in the throes of great religious, political, and economic upheaval. He was assassinated in 1610 by a Catholic zealot. Vincent Pitts expertly recounts this history and skillfully untangles its complex set of personalities and events. Pitts engages the vast amount of literature relating to the king himself as well as the large body of recent scholarship on France during this time. The result is a fascinating biography of a French king and a comprehensive history of sixteenth-century France.

Henry of Bolingbroke was one of the most important noblemen of the later fourteenth century. Brave, chivalrous and cultured, a talented musician, he excelled at the jousts held at his cousin Richard II's Court, acquiring military experience at Radcot Bridge in Oxfordshire and later fighting with the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. A great medieval traveller, he visited Konigsberg as Earl of Derby, travelling to Danzig, Prague and later Venice and Jerusalem. Bitterly opposed to Richard II's favourites, Bolingbroke as one of the Lords Appellant played a vital part. Henry's most controversial actions were the deposition of Richard II (1399) and the execution of Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, after he had usurped Richard's throne. As Henry IV, an usurper, the King knew little peace, incessantly engrossed as he was in preserving his throne; and the French and Scots never allowed him to forget his usurpation. For many years he fought a savage and frustrating war against the great Welsh rebel Owain Glyn Dwr, but defeated the immortal Harry Percy (Hotspur) at the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403). In his relations with his Parliaments, Henry showed acumen and praiseworthy restraint, unlike his predecessor who was determined to be an absolute King. His short reign was remarkable for the development of Parliament.

"Out of the turbulent, shadowed histories of the vaious medieval kingdoms destined to become Spain looms a strange, awkward figure--Henry IV of Castile... All his life he was an eccentric and a failure--the luckles veteran of futile campaigns, the bewildered victim of unending intrigue. A gentle giant who loved music and animals in an age when monarchs were generally preoccupied with conquest and slaughter, he found companionship chiefly amontg the lowborn... [This book] is a personal drama: a penetrating study of the nature, psychological and sexual, of a hitherto little-known king... played out against a vivid background of violence and war, with a cast of characters unequaled anywhere in the annals of history for their cunning and treachery"--Jacket flap.

The year is 1402, and King Henry IV sits uneasily on the throne that he wrested from his predecessor, Richard II. King Henry disapproves of his son, Prince Henry, and his habit of hanging around criminals like the witty but dishonest Falstaff. Meanwhile, young "Hotspur" Percy helps his family plot a rebellion to overthrow the king. Civil war is imminent, and the fate of the kingdom will be decided in a great battle at Shrewsbury. Faced with bloodshed, Prince Henry must find it within himself to be the son and heir his father has always wanted him to be. First published in 1598, this unabridged version of William Shakespeare's history play is the second in his tetralogy about the rise of the English royal House of Lancaster.