Jonty Claypole

And there is a raid led on London by a man called Watt Tyler, a slightly mysterious figure who we actually don't know a great deal about.

And they march on London and sack the place a bit.

And they're demanding a reduction of taxes.

They're demanding an end of serfdom.

I mean, that's a big one.

And the teenage Richard is dashing about like a headless chicken trying to negotiate and tells a whole bunch of porkies.

He says, yes, I'm going to end serfdom.

Sure.

And so he manages to settle things down by lying and also having the army.

Crush the rebels.

And then, of course, he immediately reneges on all of his promises and says, I'm not going to abolish serfdom after all.

Right.

So his reign begins in controversial circumstances and it is checkered throughout.

He's constantly accused of corruption, of favouritism.

There are various attempts to oust him.

He'll see off those attempts and then punish the conspirators.

And it goes on until he's finally deposed in 1400.

However, and certainly in Shakespeare's depiction, Richard II is the wishy-washy king who talks far too much, is unreliable and meets his just end.

The flip side from an artistic point of view is that Richard II...

ushers in an extraordinary artistic renaissance or artistic flowering.