Summary and Critical Commentary

Abstract

Henry Bolingbroke of Lancaster has seized the throne from King Richard II, and is now King Henry N. He is plagued by rebellion in his kingdom and by the bad behaviour of his son Hal, Prince of Wales. The Percy family, the Earls of Northumberland and Worcester, and young Henry Percy (called Hotspur), who placed him on the throne, are now joining with the Welsh Owen Glendower in rebellion. They wish to replace King Henry with Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March, whose father had been named by Richard II as his rightful heir.