Richard II

Summary

A story of power and plotting, Richard II is the first of Shakespeare's four plays about the House of Lancaster. In the presence of King Richard, Henry Bolingbroke (who would eventually be Henry IV) accuses Thomas Mowbray (Duke of Norfolk) of embezzling crown funds and of plotting the death of his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. They will not be reconciled and are about to fight, but Richard stops the combat before it can begin.