King Richard II by Bryan Bevan. - $36 - (Los Angeles, CA)
This is a portrait of Richard II, one of the most controversial of the medieval Plantagenet sovereigns. Overshadowed in his youth by the personality and illustrious name of his father, the Black Prince, he nevertheless lacked neither mental or physical courage. He succeeded to the throne as a boy king at a period when England was undergoing economic and political change. His reign of 22 years was one of the most dramatic in England's history. The Peasants' Revolt marked an epoch of frightening social unrest when Englishmen first became aware of their rights. Richard never regarded himself as a constitutional king. His ultimate aim was to establish a regime of royal absolutism, restoring the monarch as he conceived it to its rightful place in the kingdom. Why did he fail? Bryan Bevan assesses Richard's civilized tastes and the artistic importance of his reign. He considers Richard's deposition a great tragedy, for he believes that the English Renaissance would have come earlier if he had remained King.
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From ebay.com - 1 month ago