ABSTRACT
In tracing the turbulent political history of the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV we have repeatedly found it necessary to view the attitudes and the shifting alliances of the great magnates in the context of opinion in the country at large. We shall find in due course that, later in the fifteenth century, the view of the political classes continued to be an important factor in politics. ‘Public opinion’, ‘political society’ and ‘the political classes’ are good general terms, but ones whose connotations change with time. It will help us to understand our period better if we can explore a little more carefully what they mean with reference to the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
