Arms of King Richard II above the west door of Exeter Cathedral.
"The West Front Image Screen of Exeter Cathedral is one of the great architectural features of Medieval England. The screen is covered in a wealth of carving, dominated by three rows of statues in niches. At the bottom are angels appearing to support all the figures above. Most of the figures of the middle row represent Kings of Judah. In the upper row, to right of centre, is a representation of God. On His right hand would have been a seated figure of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her image was destroyed in the Reformation and, later, mistakenly replaced by King Richard II."
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"Richard II (6th January 1367 – c. 14th February 1400) was the younger son of Edward, Prince of Wales (the Black Prince) and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard born in Bordeaux as his father had been granted all his own father, Edward III’s dominions in Aquitaine and Gascony.
Richard’s elder brother, Edward, died at the age of five. When his father died suddenly, Richard was quickly invested as Prince of Wales as Parliament feared that Richard’s uncle, John of Gaunt, would usurp the Throne. Richard’s grandfather, King Edward III, died the following year.
Whilst his father was alive, Richard's Arms were the Royal Arms with a Label of three Points, the centre Point showing a red St. George's Cross. Probably derived from the cult of St George linked to the establishment of the Order of the Garter, this was often the Label of the most senior grandson of the English sovereign (rather than a Label of five Points) and formed the pattern for the present Duke of Cambridge's Label, only a red Scallop for his mother Diana is used.
A Seal created for Richard quickly as Prince of Wales in 1376 shows his Arms with a plain Label, perhaps putting credence to the myth that the Label goes with the title or position as heir apparent.
As King, Richard inherited the Arms of his grandfather's Kingdom but soon added the attributed Arms of Saint/King Edward the Confessor. It has been suggested that this was please the Irish. However, Richard was deeply religious and, having been born on Epiphany - the Feast of the Three Wise Men or Kings - Richard has special regard for the Confessor. He made two grants of the Confessor's Arms to his half-brothers, John Holland, Earl of Kent, and Thomas Mowbray, when they were respectively created Duke of Exeter and Duke of Norfolk as mark of honour.
On his Privy Seal, his Arms are 'guarded' rather than supported by two Lions couchant (or sleeping) addorsed (or back-to-back) each holding an Ostrich Feather charge with a Scroll. The white Hart shown is associated with his mother's white Hind Badge and is a pun on his name - Rich-Hart.
During Richard's first years as king, government was in the hands of a series of regency councils, influenced by Richard's uncles John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock. England then faced various problems, most notably the Hundred Years' War and the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The young King played a central part in the successful suppression of the Revolt. Less warlike than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War. A firm believer in the royal prerogative, Richard restrained the power of the aristocracy and relied on a private retinue for military protection instead. In contrast to his grandfather, Richard cultivated a refined atmosphere centred on art and culture at court, in which the king was an elevated figure.
The king's dependence on a small number of courtiers caused discontent among the influential, and in 1387 control of government was taken over by a group of aristocrats known as the Lords Appellant. By 1389 Richard had regained control, and for the next eight years governed in relative harmony with his former opponents. In 1397, he took his revenge on the Appellants, however, many of whom were executed or exiled. The next two years have been described by historians as Richard's "tyranny". In 1399, after John of Gaunt died, the king disinherited Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, who had previously been exiled. Henry invaded England with a small force that quickly grew in numbers. Meeting little resistance, he deposed Richard and had himself crowned king. Richard is thought to have been starved to death in captivity, although questions remain regarding his final fate.
Richard's posthumous reputation has been shaped to a large extent by William Shakespeare, whose play about him portrayed Richard's misrule and his deposition as responsible for the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. Modern historians do not accept this interpretation, while not exonerating Richard from responsibility for his own deposition. While probably not insane, as many historians of the 19th and 20th centuries believed, he may have had a personality disorder, particularly manifesting itself towards the end of his reign. Most authorities agree that his policies were not unrealistic or even entirely unprecedented, but that the way in which he carried them out was unacceptable to the political establishment, leading to his downfall."
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