ABSTRACT
Edward III’s 1376 charter confirmed Richard as his heir and resolved any doubts about his prior right to the throne. The constitution made no provision for a royal minority, and there was no consistency in the apparatus assembled to govern until a boy king was of age. The Peasants’ Revolt began as localised opposition to the new commissioners’ activities in Kent and Essex, but escalated rapidly. Richard’s personal intervention, demonstrating the almost mystical authority of a king who ruled by divine grace, marked the beginning of the end of the great revolt. In January 1385, Richard celebrated his eighteenth birthday and wasted no time in seeking to prove himself on the battlefield. The power of appointment and dismissal of ministers, whether this was solely a royal prerogative or could be exercised only with the approval or at the direction of parliament, or even lay with parliament alone, would be a bone of contention for centuries to come.
