A belief in prophecy, omens and portents was strong in medieval England. But few English kings appear to have embraced the supernatural as wholeheartedly as Richard II.
Today a common view of medieval society is of a culture that roundly condemned all forms of belief in occult practice, superstition and magic. A society dominated by an all-powerful church that rigorously persecuted all forms of non-conformist belief. But things were not that simple.
For one thing, it was by no means unusual for English medieval kings to consult astrologers or even to employ courtiers who practiced magic. Indeed, surviving horoscopes exist for every later medieval English king from Edward II onwards (except for Henry IV). Edward II’s court physician actively practiced and even openly advocated the use of healing charms and spells.
For an English medieval king to dabble in such practices was nothing unusual. But Richard II, more than most, displayed a profound interest in astrology, prophecy and occult divination.
Such beliefs may even have held such sway over Richard that they influenced his actions and some of his political decisions.
Magic and the Occult in Medieval England
It is a common misconception to see the Middle Ages as a period when such things as magic and occult beliefs were heavily persecuted. This is far from the case. There were no secular laws against witchcraft in medieval England. Neither were there any large-scale persecutions. These things were a feature of the early modern period, not the Middle Ages.
The attitude of the church to such beliefs was primarily that they represented misguided superstition. Certain magic and occult practices were viewed more negatively and hence more likely to be prosecuted in ecclesiastical courts. Anything viewed as inherently malignant, such as dealing with demons, cursing people, bewitching people or practicing necromancy was particularly feared.
On the other hand, astrology, healing charms and spells used to ward off evil fell into a much greyer area. This kind of practice was widespread. Many medieval spells and charms involved using Christian liturgy such as the Lord’s Prayer. Some invoked the power of saints and had names like the Charm of Saint Eustace or the Charm of Saint William. Many in the church regarded this kind of magic as foolish superstition but usually nothing warranting any remedy beyond confession and penance.
Witchcraft
In early modern England, anyone who practiced any form of magic risked being accused of witchcraft. This was not yet the case in medieval England. The idea that witches formed satanic covens to conspire against the wider community was unknown for most of the Middle Ages.
However, the idea that individual people might be witches or sorcerers was accepted. Nevertheless, such individuals were rare and usually assumed to be acting alone. In any case, a great many ordinary people practiced magic casually, perhaps invoking a saint’s charm to cure an ailment or ward off evil. Neither they, nor their neighbours, would have regarded them as witches or sorcerers.
If you were indiscrete or had powerful political enemies, even such casual practice might still get you in trouble, however. In 1417, the Ecclesiastical Court in Sleaford charged a certain John Smith with necromancy, sorcery, conjuration and the invocation of malign spirits. These sound like very serious charges. One might be forgiven for thinking John was attempting to summon demons. In fact, John appears to have done no more than perform divinations with bread to identify a thief who’d robbed the local church. Even so, John’s occult dabbling had clearly intruded too flagrantly in church affairs for ecclesiastical authorities to turn a blind eye.
Magic, the Occult and Europe’s Elites
If performing divination magic is worthy of prosecution you might be forgiven for thinking astrology would also meet with persecution. But you’d be wrong. Astrology was popular with medieval Europe’s elite and often viewed as an esoteric science rather than sorcerous divination. Many nobles, kings and even popes employed the services of astrologers.
Prophecy also might be counted as a form of occult divination in situations where it was not delivered in a clearly Christian context. But it wasn’t so simple. Whoever might legitimately receive a divinely inspired vision or prophecy and in what circumstances, was another very grey area. Clearly the Bible showed that people did receive visions and could be inspired to prophecy. But how does one tell the difference between true and false prophecy? The question was never adequately resolved by church authorities in medieval times, although it was hotly debated.
As result, significant areas of uncertainty existed in defining the boundary between what was acceptable and what should be condemned.
Such supernatural and occult practice as astrology, visions and prophecy therefore occupied a rather ill-defined area. What was acceptable and unacceptable regarding such things was often open to different interpretations.
Richard II, Religion and Belief
Richard II, like all other western kings of this period, fully embraced the Catholic church. At the time of his reign the Church was facing a challenge from the Lollard heresy (an early form of proto-Protestantism). Richard’s stance was to support the church line. However, he did very little to actively suppress the heresy and even employed a few known Lollards in his household. In this sense we might characterise Richard’s faith as orthodox but tolerant.
Like many of his contemporaries, Richard’s Catholicism extended to a fervent belief in the power of saints and holy relics. He especially venerated Edward the Confessor, a peacemaker and England’s only sainted king. He viewed kingship as being imbued with a special, divinely exalted, significance. This played into his conviction that the true majesty of the office of king had been diminished by rebellious and ungrateful subjects. For Richard, the person of the king was not merely the embodiment of secular authority. A king should also be held in awe as a person exalted above his subjects by divine mandate.
Richard’s grand efforts to associate his regime with the saintly Edward the Confessor would eventually lead him to adopt the Confessor’s coat of arms. Beyond this, Richard himself became enamoured with a sense of divinely ordained personal destiny.
Prophecy and Destiny
For a man who believed in a strong sense of destiny, like Richard II, it would have been surprising if he had not placed great stock on prophecy.
The pro-Richardian Dielacres Chronicle included flattering prophecies regarding Richard’s reign. Although this chronicle was subsequently redacted by Richard’s Lancastrian successors to paint a less positive picture, it was not possible to entirely erase such elements.
Richard himself appears to have been especially influenced by prophecies that implied he would be elevated to a glorious imperial destiny. A work known as The Verses of Gildas, originally composed in the 1320s, was especially important. The Verses grandly predicted that a king would arise to conquer Ireland. This man would go on to triumphs in Scotland, Gascony, France, Spain, Egypt and eventually regain the Holy Land for Christendom.
Several letters written by Richard and his courtiers reference this prophecy, showing it was very much in his mind. The French courtier, Phillippe de Mezieres appears to have set out to encourage such belief. Mezieres actively associated Richard with Britain’s Arthurian legacy. He urged Richard to make peace with France so that he could lead a grand crusade to retake the Holy Land and fulfil his ‘destiny’.
Portents of Doom
However, prophecies could be read negatively as well as positively. In 1398/9 a prophecy known as The Pomp of John greatly troubled Richard. According to Walsingham, Richard feared this prophecy might spell ill fortune for him, since he believed that he may have been secretly christened John.
Such a claim must be taken with a pinch of salt since Walsingham takes a hostile line to Richard. However, the popularity of such prophecies at this time and the number of references to such things all suggest that Richard very likely did take them seriously.
Holy Relics
In addition to prophecy, Richard strongly believed in the power of relics.
During his reign a relic known as the Holy Oil of Canterbury came to light. It was allegedly discovered in the Tower of London in a stone ampulla enclosed within a golden eagle. It purported to be the holy oil which the Virgin Mary had given to Saint Thomas of Canterbury.
The relic supposedly had the power to grant anyone who wore it around their neck victory in war and prosperity in peace. Furthermore, it was foretold that the oil would one day be used to anoint the Christian king who reconquered the Holy Land.
Richard clearly placed great stock in such stories since he took the oil with him on campaign in Ireland in 1399 and diligently wore it around his neck.
Belief in relics and the power of prophecy stemmed from mainstream medieval Christian tradition, however questionable some of these beliefs may appear to modern Christians. However, Richard’s dreams of a grand destiny also appear to have inspired an active interest in other occult forms of divination. And many of these did not fall within the orthodox bounds of Christian belief at the time.
A Treatise on Geomancy
In March 1391, Richard was presented with an occult work – a treatise on the practice of geomancy. That this work was of personal interest to Richard is apparent from the introductory remarks present in the text:
“[The king] through very long and arduous acquaintance with astronomy has not declined to taste the sweetness of the fruit of the subtle sciences for the prudent governance of himself and his people.”
A treatise on geomancy prepared for Richard II, dated 1391
But what was geomancy exactly? Geomancy was a form of occult divination based on the interpretation of geometric patterns. Typically, medieval geomancy was performed by creating sixteen lines of points, marked in a semi-random pattern. This could then be used to perform divinations and was often supplemented by horoscopes.
Why Richard’s geomancy was acceptable and John Smith’s divination with bread was not is an interesting question. In a sense it clearly illustrates the ambiguity of medieval views on the occult. One man was tasting the sweetness of the fruit of subtle sciences. The other was practicing necromancy, sorcery, conjuration and the invocation of malign spirits. Of course, it is probably worth remembering that one of these men was a king with the power to bestow wealth upon the church and the other was not.
Richard’s Occult Advisors
During his reign Richard employed occult specialists to provide him with advice and aid. Amongst these was a certain monk by the name of Robert Tideman of Winchcombe. Tideman was employed in the position of Richard’s physician. Like many such monk-physicians, he almost certainly had some genuine medical skill. However, Tideman also had a reputation for his occult learning. He was even subject to speculation that he’d been expelled from Hailes Abbey for practicing the evil arts of brewing charms and weaving spells. Despite this, he became one of the king’s most trusted advisors and was named as an executor in Richard’s will.
In 1397 Richard had a notable French Astrologer brought to England for a private consultation. However, he does not appear to have employed the services of astrologers on a permanent basis. Rather, Richard preferred to engage astrologers for freelance work, as and when needed.
The line between astrology and astronomy was somewhat blurred in medieval times. Richard appears to have fostered an interest in both. Two surviving horary quadrants from 1398 and 1399 bear Richard’s white hart insignia. These devices can be used to find the time of day with reference to the sun. Such items were relatively new innovations and would have been very expensive. The fact that Richard possessed them suggests a keen interest in the latest astronomical scholarship of his day.
Oneiromancy
One of the occult practices that became popular in the later Middle Ages was the art of Oneiromancy. Oneiromancy benefited from Arabic occult works, translated into Latin in the period following the early crusades. Works such as the Oneirocriticon of Achmet found their way into European culture from the C12th onwards.
Oneiromancy holds that it is possible to obtain divinations with regards to the future by the correct interpretation of dreams. Books like the Oneirocriticon provided an instruction manual as to how such dreams might be interpreted.
Exactly how well-versed Richard II was with such esoteric scholarship is unclear. However, Richard certainly believed dreams held prophetic potency. In 1397 Richard was haunted by nightmares of the dead Earl of Arundel, a man he’d recently executed. So seriously did he take his night terrors that he ordered Arundel’s corpse to be exhumed to check he was still dead.
An Apocalyptic Portent
In the spring of 1399, a hermit was brought before Richard for judgement. The fellow, perhaps foolishly, berated Richard and advised him to amend his ways. If he would not, the hermit warned, ‘such dire news will shortly occur with you as you have never read nor seen’. Richard was unmoved and had the hermit incarcerated in the Tower of London.
Not long after this, Richard II departed on campaign in Ireland. In his absence his regime collapsed, and England fell into the hands of Henry Bolingbroke. On 1st October 1399 it was all over. Richard II was formally deposed. Dire news had indeed come Richard’s way.
For a man who placed more stock than most in prophecies, divinations and portents, it was an ironic end.
Medieval Magic, Religion and Superstition
It is all too tempting to see medieval Christianity as sitting entirely independently of superstition, the occult and magic. But this would be an over-simplification of the truth. Medieval myths, magic and superstition borrowed heavily from Christianity as well as older pagan beliefs. Christian theology discouraged occult beliefs but the relationship between faith and superstition remained troubled, complex and ambiguous. It was very far from a relationship based on constant hostility and confrontation. Indeed, a great many of the most notable practitioners of magic in medieval times were themselves clerics.
Magic, in a medieval context, is therefore a complex subject. Who practiced it, what they practiced and how wider society viewed it, varied considerably with the circumstances. This was not the age of the witch hunts. Rather it was an age in which the practice of magic itself and the response of church and secular powers to such practice was constantly evolving.
You can learn more about the multifaceted relationship between religion, superstition and magic in the Middle Ages in my book, Myths and Legends of the Medieval World.
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References and Further Reading
Richard II and the Revolution of 1399, M Bennett, The History Press, 2006
Images
Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child by his Patron Saint John the Baptist and Saints Edward and Edmund (The Wilton Diptych), anon artist, 1390s (via Wiki Commons)
Geomantic instrument from Egypt or Syria, c.1242, Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al Mawsuli (via Wiki commons)