ABSTRACT
The military success of the Lords Appellant in 1387 and their political failure in 1389 were both swift and dramatic. In the long run, the support of public opinion, which the Lords Appellant won so brilliantly, proved an unstable foundation for the exercise of their influence over the Crown. The rising of the Lords Appellant is to be closely related to the personal tensions at court and in the royal council chamber caused by the foolish behaviour of the king, a youth who proved incapable of wielding sensibly the considerable powers prematurely confided in him in the early 1380s. Magnates required skilled administrators to run a stately and luxurious household and to exploit incomes fully, good neighbours to defend their propertied interests in the localities and experienced soldiers to fulfil large-scale military contracts with the Crown.
