Study Questions

1. What charges does Sir William Bagot bring against the Duke of Aumerle?

2. Which noblemen support Bagot’s charges?

3. Who defends Aumerle against the accusations that are made?

4. What does the Bishop of Carlisle predict if Bolingbroke is crowned as King Henry IV?

5. What is the Earl of Northumberland’s response to the Bishop of Carlisle’s prophecy?

6. What does the Duke of York tell Richard when he asks why Bolingbroke has sent for him?

7. What object does King Richard request after his abdication and what does he do with this object?

8. Where does Bolingbroke order that Richard is to be held as prisoner?

9. When does Bolingbroke announce that his coronation will take place?

10. Who instigates a plot against the new king?

Answers

1. Bagot accuses the Duke of Aumerle of plotting the Duke of Gloucester’s murder. He also accuses Aumerle of swearing he would refuse the offer of a hundred thousand crowns rather than see Bolingbroke’s return to England, and he claims Aumerle had declared that England would be “blest” if Bolingbroke died in exile.

2. Lord Fitzwater, Harry Percy, and an unnamed Lord support Bagot’s accusations.

3. The Duke of Surrey defends Aumerle.

4. The Bishop of Carlisle prophesies civil war and bloodshed for generations to come if Bolingbroke is crowned.

5. The Earl of Northumberland orders the Bishop of Carlisle’s arrest for high treason.

6. York tells King Richard that he has been summoned before Bolingbroke and the Parliament “To do that office of thine own good will,/ Which tired majesty did make thee
offer:/ The resignation of thy state and crown/ To Henry Bolingbroke.”

7. King Richard requests a mirror after his abdication. After gazing at his reflection, he hurls the mirror to the ground, shattering it into “a hundred shivers.”

8. Bolingbroke commands that Richard is to be held prisoner in the Tower of London.

9. Bolingbroke decrees that his coronation as King Henry IV will take place the next Wednesday.

10. The Abbot of Westminster instigates a plot against King Henry IV.