This Teeming Womb of Royal Kings

An anonymous 16th century painting of Richard II

 If you've read Shakespeare, you've probably concluded that the Black Prince, Richard II, is the king that only his own mother loved. Shakespeare's history play dramatically chronicles the the defeat of Richard II, made to appear as dark in heart as he proved in mind, to the noble Hal, Henry of Bolingbroke. Even though Richard II contains a most vibrant and sentimental description of Britain...

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of Majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise;
This fortress built by Nature for herself,
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands;
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear'd by their breed, and famous by their birth.

Richard II, Act 1

...Shakespeare's characterization of Richard is not a little unjust. (Hal, after all, was even more--if that's possible--unpopular and foolish.) Richard's reign abuts the economic aftermath of the black plague. The political and economic turmoil was more than a ten-year-old sovereign could have hoped to understand; a council ruled in his stead. Granted, coming of age while on the throne of England rarely does wonders for one's moral character. Yet Richard's faults were hardly unique. Yes, he lived a romantic fantasy (oblivious to the political risk of the divine right). And yes, he played favorites in a foolhardy fashion (What king hasn't?).  For these sins, the Black Prince, described as "the first casualty of the Wars of the Roses between the Houses of Lancaster and York," was harshly imprisoned after his usurpation and allegedly murdered.

A depiction of the White Hart, the personal emblem of King Richard I

Ironically, this oft-maligned monarch is unintentionally memorialized through two mundane aspects of modern culture: one, culinary, and the other, sartorial. Neither bolsters the modern eye's confidence. Although Richard was far from being the first to daily consume "salat," court descriptions of Richard's favorite dish are among the first to parallel our modern salad: "Take parsel (parsley), sawge (sage), garlec, chibollas (young onions), leeks, myntes, fennel, ton tressis  (watercress)...waishe clene..myng (mix) wel with rawe oile. Lay one vinegar and salt."

Richard is more often recognized for the introduction of the handkerchief, which came into fashion in his royal court. The court ledger from this period chronicles that it became the custom to have "clothe supplied in little pieces for giving the King for carrying in his hand to wipe and clean his nose." Call me anachronistic, but I can't imagine that either idiosyncrasy did anything to negate history's depiction of the Black Prince's whimsical, even wimpy nature.

Irish Linen Handkerchiefs via Orvis