ABSTRACT
The corpse of Richard II stinks up Shakespeare’s Henriad. Although Richard’s murder supplies a convenient and sometimes cynical excuse for rebellion, the dead king does not merely represent a political pretext for Yorkist insurrection. Both Henry IV and Henry V seriously consider that Richard’s spirit might need to be placated, or that their difficulties represent divine punishment for regicide. The event of Richard’s death triggers aftershocks that might be felt politically or eschatologically by those who survive him.
