Pontefract Castle, South Yorkshire, England, British Isles [Map]

Chronicle of Adam of Usk [~1352-1430]. 15th June 1381. In this rising of the commons were many great men of the land in many places beheaded. The Savoy [Map], the palace of the duke of Lancaster [aged 41] and the fairest in the kingdom, standing near London on the bank of Thames, was, from the commons' hatred of the duke, utterly destroyed by them with fire; and the duke himself, for fear of them, fled into Scotland¹. To appease them and to quiet their fury, the king [aged 14] granted that the state of villeinage, as well in their persons as in their labour, should be henceforth done away, freedom fully given, and all prisoners set at large. And this he commanded and made to be openly proclaimed throughout the counties of the kingdom. And then what a throe of grief passed through the desolated land! For they boasted that they would slay all those of higher birth, would raise up king and lords from among themselves, would stablish new laws, and, in a word, would make new, or rather - disfigure, the face and estate of the whole island. Then every man struck off the head of his enemy, and despoiled his richer neighbour. But, by the mercy of God, when their leader, being in Smithfield near London, doffed not his hood before the king nor in anything did reverence to the king's majesty, his head was deftly struck off, in the very midst of his flock of kites, by sir William Walworth, knight and citizen of London; and straightway, being raised on the point of a sword, it was shown before them. Then the commons in sore dread sought flight by stealth, and there and then casting away their rebellious weapons, as though unguilty of such riot and wickedness, like foxes into their holes, they pitifully crept home. But the king and the lords pursued them, and some they made to be dragged behind horses, some they slew with the sword, some they hanged on the gallows, some they quartered; and they destroyed thousands².

Note 1. John of Gaunt was at this time in the north, negotiating a truce with Scotland. Knighton (ij. 143-7) tells us that so unpopular was his name that his duchess was refused admission into his own castle at Pontefract [Map], and that he himself was denied hospitality by the earl of Northumberland; and that it was reported that a large force of the insurgents was sent north in pursuit of him. He retired to Edinburgh on a safe-conduct from the Scots, by whom he was well entertained.

Note 2. The severity of the punishments inflicted after the suppression of the outbreak is fully set forth in the pages of Walsingham's History. Richard, however, interfered to prevent indiscriminate slaughter of the insurgents when first beaten in the field.— Wals. Hist. Angl. (Rolls series), i. 466.

Annals of Kings Richard II and Henry IV. Richard [aged 33], formerly King of England, being held in custody in Pontefract Castle [Map], when he heard of the misfortune that had happened to his brother, John Holland, and to the others, is said to have been plunged into such grief that he wished to kill himself by starvation. He is said to have abstained to such an extent that, when the opening of his stomach had closed, and afterwards, by the counsel of friends, he wished to satisfy nature by eating, his appetite being entirely shut off, he was unable to eat. And so it came about that, his nature weakened, he failed, and on Saint Valentine’s Day [14th February 1400] he ended his last day at the aforesaid castle. His body was carried and displayed through the most celebrated places lying between the said castle and London, namely in those places where it spent the night. At least that part of the body by which it could be recognised was shown, namely from the lower part of the forehead down to the throat. At last, when it had come to St Albans and had spent the night there, the solemn Office of the Dead was performed for his soul by the convent. In the morning, after Mass had been celebrated by the abbot, it was carried to London, to the church of St Paul, where the king was present at the funeral rites on the first day, and on the following day with certain nobles of the realm and citizens of London. And soon, when Mass had been completed, the body was brought back to Langley to be buried among the friars, and it reached the aforesaid place in the dark of night. Immediately messengers were sent on the king’s behalf to the Abbot of St Albans, to warn the abbot, on the king’s behalf, that on the following day, very early in the morning, he should hasten to the place, where, together with the Bishop of Chester and the Abbot of Waltham, he was to be present at the final royal funeral rites. And so it was done. Thus, without pomp, without anything more, the royal body was committed to burial.

Ricardus, quondam Rex Angliæ, constitutus sub custodia in Castro de Ponte Fracto, cum audisset infortunium quod contigerat fratri suo, Johanni Holand, et cæteris, in tantam, ut fertur, demersus est tristitiam, quod semetipsum inedia voluit peremisse. In tantum dicitur abstinuisse, quod, clauso orificio stomachi, cum expost, consilio amicorum, voluisset naturæ satisfecisse comedendo, præcluso omnino appetitu, comedere non valeret; ut factum est, ut, debilitata natura, deficeret, et die Sancti Valentini diem supremum clauderet, apud castrum præfatum. Cujus corpus per loca celeberrima quæ interjacent, a dicto castellà usque Londonias, deportatum fuit, et ostensum; in hiis, videlicet, locis ubi pernoctavit; ea pars saltem corporis per quod cognosci poterat, scilicet, ab ima parte frontis usque ad guttur. Tandem, cum ventum fuisset ad Sanctäüm Albanum, et, [dum] ibi pernoctasset, factum fuisset Officium solemne Mortuorum pro ejus anima a Conventu, mane celebrata Missa per Abbatem, deportatum est Londonias, ad ecclesiam Sancti Pauli, ubi Rex affuit exequiis primo die; et in crastino, cum quibusdam regni nobilibus et civibus Londoniarum. Et mox expleta Missa, corpus reducitur ad Langleye, inter Fratres tumulandum; pervenitque cæca nocte ad præfatum locum. Et mox missi sunt nuncii de parte Regis ad Abbatem Sancti Albani, qui monerent Abbatem, ex parte Regis, ut in crastimo, summo mane, maturaret ad locum, ubi, cum Episcopo Cestrensi et Abbate Waltham, supremis regiis funeralibus interesset. Et factum est ita; sicque sine pompa, sine pluri, traditum fuit corpus regium sepulturæ.