Richard II: The King with a God Complex

2026-05-21

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Richard II’s story is honestly one of the wildest royal rises and falls in English history, and in this episode I’m joined once again by Matt Lewis to untangle the life of the king who seemed determined to make everyone around him uncomfortable.We look at Richard becoming king as a child after the death of his grandfather, Edward III, and how surviving the Peasants' Revolt at just fourteen years old may have completely shaped the way he viewed kingship, rebellion, and power for the rest of his lif...

We look at Richard becoming king as a child after the death of his grandfather, Edward III, and how surviving the Peasants' Revolt at just fourteen years old may have completely shaped the way he viewed kingship, rebellion, and power for the rest of his life.

Richard wasn’t your typical medieval warrior king. He loved ceremony, art, and royal pageantry, and seemed to believe that kings should be treated as something almost sacred. The problem? England’s nobles very much disagreed. Matt and I talk about Richard’s favorites, his growing paranoia, revenge against the nobles who humiliated him, and how things spiraled so badly that he eventually lost his crown to his own cousin, Henry IV of England.

Was Richard II a tyrant? A misunderstood visionary? A traumatized child king who never learned to trust anyone? Honestly…by the end of this conversation, I’m still not entirely sure what to think about him. Other than I don't like him.

Link to the Wilton Diptych: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/english-or-french-the-wilton-diptych

Host: Rebecca Larson

Guest: Matt Lewis

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