Hello everyone and welcome to the History of England, episode 130, use a patient.

Last week I left you all hanging onto a cliff, just a recap.

So I brought a quick return and quickly suborned some key royal servants in particular Edmund,

the Duke of York and the man Richard had left as keeper of the realm.

Now given that Richard had taken an army to Ireland, you might be forgiven for thinking

that all he had to do was come back from Ireland with said army.

Sadly, nothing is that simple.

Richard's ships had gone away and so he came over only with the elves of Sorcery,

Buster, Gloucester, the juke's of O'Marland Exeter and a very small army.

As we rejoin the story, Sorcery is in Chester trying to raise a new one.

Richard in St South Wales, Bollingbrook is in control of Central and East in England

and has laid siege to Bristol, held by Courtney in the King's name.

At the moment all Henry's saying is that he wants justice and his lands back.

So things were looking anything but rosy for the King.

At Bristol, Henry Percy the heir of Northumberland promised to pardon everyone who surrendered.

Proud in his loyalty to the King and confident in the loyalty of the men at his back, Courtney

laughed in the face of such an offer.

When he turned round, he was to see his men oozing out of every available orifice in

the castle, Gates' windows, garbage shoots, a bit like plasticine oozing out of Mr. Potato

Head.

Courtney immediately clarified that when he'd laughed, it had been at the very height here

of anyone holding Bristol against someone as magnificent as Henry Bollingbrook and gave

...