ABSTRACT
In January 1385, Richard celebrated his 18th birthday and wasted no time in seeking to prove himself on the battlefield, leading a military expedition to Scotland. Although this achieved nothing, Richard returned with an enhanced sense of his own position and took the opportunity not only to create the new dukedoms of York and Gloucester for his younger uncles, but made de Vere Marquess of Dublin, and thus the first man in England not of royal blood to be granted a title more senior than that of earl. Earlier, de Vere had married the king’s cousin, Philippa de Coucy, daughter of Edward III’s eldest daughter. Now he aroused further anger by petitioning the Urbanist Pope for an annulment of this marriage so that he could marry his mistress. The parallels with Piers Gaveston are only too clear.
