ABSTRACT
Kings and kingship were the foundation of English polity in the medieval period: The King stood at the head of the social and economic pyramid, supported by a sophisticated legal and fiscal framework which had been evolving since the Conquest. Even the development of the contract system under Edward iii had not destroyed this: the magnates frequently acted as the king's captains in recruiting companies Henry of Derby and, latterly, Richard, Duke of York. His attempt to sequester the vast estates of the Duchy of Lancaster on the death of his uncle John of Gaunt, provoked a rising led by the exiled Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, old Gaunt's heir. The House of Lancaster had not, obtained the throne by legitimate or constitutional means. Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt, third son of Edward iii, had usurped the sceptre from his cousin Richard ii, son of Edward, Prince of Wales.
