Dr Helen Castor

Helen Castor is an acclaimed medieval and Tudor historian, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and a Fellow Commoner of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her books include the prize-winning Blood & Roses; She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England before Elizabeth, and Joan of Arc, dubbed ‘a triumph of history’. She has presented a range of radio and television programmes for the BBC and Channel 4, including documentaries based on She-Wolves and Joan of Arc. Her new book, The Eagle and the Hart, tells the story of the tumultuous reigns of Richard II and Henry IV.

About the event

Richard of Bordeaux and Henry Bolingbroke were first cousins, born three months apart. Their lives were entwined from the beginning. When they were still children, Richard was crowned Richard II with Henry at his side, carrying the sword of state: a ten-year-old lord in the service of his ten-year-old king. They grew up to be opposites: Richard was the white hart, a thin-skinned narcissist, and Henry the eagle, a chivalric hero, a leader who inspired loyalty where Richard inspired only fear.

Henry had all the qualities Richard lacked, all the qualities a sovereign needed, bar one: birthright. In this talk, Helen Castor explains why Richard became consumed by the need for total power, and how, when he banished Henry into exile, the stage was set for a final confrontation.