The Parliament which assembled in Westminster in October 1386 was always going to be difficult. King Richard II, nine years into his reign yet still only nineteen, was unpopular on account of his arrogance, favoritism, and financial profligacy. He had been humiliated by the failure of his military campaign against the Scots the previous year and was now facing the prospect of a French invasion, with troops massing across the Channel. Promised reductions in royal expenditure had not been forthcoming. Richard’s chancellor, Michael de la Pole, and the Lord Mayor of London, Nicholas Brembre, were widely despised as corrupt, and when de la Pole, in the king’s name, demanded exorbitant subsidies for a French war, the lords and commons raised such an outcry that the king walked out, thereby rendering effective business impossible. A delegation was sent to him which threatened to dissolve Parliament unless he returned and even, according to one chronicler, hinted at the prospect of his deposition. Richard gave in, de la Pole was impeached (only to be reprieved later), a meager subsidy was granted, and a special council was formed to “advise,” i.e. restrain, the king. The French invasion did not materialize, owing to unfavorable winds in the Channel, but had it done so it would have met with ineffective resistance. Clearly, matters could not rest there, nor did they: the turbulent events of 1386 led two years later to