WI: Richard II has a child with Anne of Bohemia

[isabella]

Elizabeth wouldn't be such an unusual name. Anne's mother was Elizabeth of Pomerania, so with Richard already being an offbeat dude as it is, naming his firstborn daughter after his mother in law is pretty in-character.

I forgotten to check that, then Elizabeth work…

I assume that Anne of Bohemia still does more or less on schedule and gives birth to only one child. If it's a boy, it's very straightforward. A boy probably marries Isabella of Valois to secure Richard's long-desired French alliance.

With a girl, it would be prudent for Richard himself to remarry right away, though the pickings are going to be awfully slim if he insists on marrying only a royal princess, but he probably doesn't do that and leaves his daughter in a precarious situation. If he still manages to get himself deposed and murdered, Bolingbroke likely secures Elizabeth's wardship and then marries her to his son Monmouth, while he slides into the regency with his closest allies, while purging Richard's closest supporters.

Pretty unlikely who Bolingbroke would be able to go on with full usurpation with a clear heir(ess) of Richard, specially if the girl is already engaged/married to Edward of York.

Yeah, I was thinking that Anne would be the one naming the child. Who is Richard likely to remarry? Not Isabella, she can't produce children for a decade or so. Perhaps the daughter marries OTL's Henry V?

Richard is pretty likely to go as OTL for his remarriage, and while he liked Monmouth is unlikely to marry his daughter to him, not when he has a better alternative in Norwick

 

[material_boy]

Both the entails of Edward I and Edward III recognized the rights of daughters to inherit the English crown

I'm not getting into another argument about entails 🤣

Suffice it to say, there is no precedent for a queen and entails are of dubious legality, even if the political community were willing to accept a woman -- and I'm not at all convinced they were. Edward III's entail does not recognize the rights of daughters anyway.

Beatrice of Portugal was her father’s heiress meaning who your point is not valid as Jeanne had the same age while Beatrice the same status of Richard’s daughter and Norwick was most likely Richard’s chosen heir in OTL

The arrangement with Beatriz came before Richard took control of personal government, though, so we can't consider this an insight into Richard's thinking. Indeed, Jonathan Sumption writes in the third volume of his HYW series that it was John of Gaunt who impressed upon Richard's regency council the strategic importance of a Portuguese alliance. Gaunt believed such an alliance was necessary both for him personally (to keep his claim to the Castilian throne alive) and for England more generally.

Sumption writes that, at this time, that the lords had roughly split into two camps with regard to the war's prosecution:

1. Those who advocated a "northern strategy" to attack France using the tactics that Edward III had deployed so successfully in the 40s and 50s, with Brittany providing a base from which to launch such attacks. (The focus of the "northern strategy" would shift to Flanders after the Flemish revolt.)
   
   
2. Those who advocated a "southern strategy" and believed that England could not defeat France without first breaking the Franco-Castilian alliance. Castile's naval supremacy had devastated English shipping and trade and terrorized southern English coastal towns. England, however, had no base from which to launch a campaign into Castile after Juan I crushed Charles the Bad and took control of the Navarrese marches. And so, a Portuguese alliance was the only option for those lords who believed they needed to knock Castile out of the war before attacking France directly.

Gaunt and Langley were in the "southern strategy" camp. Woodstock was in the "northern strategy" camp. There was no real consensus among the lords generally, but Gaunt is credited with convincing the council to pursue a southern strategy in 1380, though Portugal's extreme ill-preparedness doomed the subsequent 1381-2 campaigns.

 

[material_boy]

Pretty unlikely who Bolingbroke would be able to go on with full usurpation with a clear heir(ess) of Richard, specially if the girl is already engaged/married to Edward of York.

Norwich seems to have married for love, taking a bride far below his rank at a time when the king was looking to wed him to a princess. Doubtful this changes in ATL.

I can 100 percent see Bolingbroke leading the lords to depose Richard, taking control as regent, breaking whatever arrangement exists, and then wedding the girl to Monmouth.

 

[ordinarylittleme]

I'm not getting into another argument about entails 🤣

Suffice it to say, there is no precedent for a queen and entails are of dubious legality, even if the political community were willing to accept a woman -- and I'm not at all convinced they were. Edward III's entail does not recognize the rights of daughters anyway.



The arrangement with Beatriz came before Richard took control of personal government, though, so we can't consider this an insight into Richard's thinking. Indeed, Jonathan Sumption writes in the third volume of his HYW series that it was John of Gaunt who impressed upon Richard's regency council the strategic importance of a Portuguese alliance. Gaunt believed such an alliance was necessary both for him personally (to keep his claim to the Castilian throne alive) and for England more generally.

Sumption writes that, at this time, that the lords had roughly split into two camps with regard to the war's prosecution:

1. Those who advocated a "northern strategy" to attack France using the tactics that Edward III had deployed so successfully in the 40s and 50s, with Brittany providing a base from which to launch such attacks. (The focus of the "northern strategy" would shift to Flanders after the Flemish revolt.)
   
   
2. Those who advocated a "southern strategy" and believed that England could not defeat France without first breaking the Franco-Castilian alliance. Castile's naval supremacy had devastated English shipping and trade and terrorized southern English coastal towns. England, however, had no base from which to launch a campaign into Castile after Juan I crushed Charles the Bad and took control of the Navarrese marches. And so, a Portuguese alliance was the only option for those lords who believed they needed to knock Castile out of the war before attacking France directly.

Gaunt and Langley were in the "southern strategy" camp. Woodstock was in the "northern strategy" camp. There was no real consensus among the lords generally, but Gaunt is credited with convincing the council to pursue a southern strategy in 1380, though Portugal's extreme ill-preparedness doomed the subsequent 1381-2 campaigns.

Your answer is lovely but I'm a little too dumb to see how it fits in with the question I posed initially, sorry

 

[Ivan Lupo]

From everything I have ever read about who Richard may have preferred as heir, it seems he kept that close to the vest. It also appears that Edmund Mortimer was viewed as the heir presumptive, inheriting the claim of Lionel of Clarence. Haven't seen or read anything stating that he preferred Norwich, who would be considerably older than Richard's proposed daughter, though it is definitely clear that Norwich and his father Langley were favorites of Richard, before they both switched sides when Bolingbroke invaded in 1399.

Norwich was never particularly overambitious, and he served Henry IV and Henry V pretty loyally until his death at Agincourt, even while his brother Conisburgh was caught up in a plot to overthrow Henry in favor of Mortimer.

There's also the possibility that becoming a father can fundamentally change Richard's outlook and behavior, even if he decides not to remarry. If wants to arrange for his daughter to have the safest marriage and to combine the two lead claims to the throne, the best choice would be Mortimer.

 

[Kynan]

I honestly doubt Richard does much different in a scenario where he has a daughter, and a son simply provide those who want him removed from power a much cleaner handover. And while the legality of a female Queen Regnant is sticky, it really depends on how Richard treats his daughter in terms of inheritance. If not even he is treating her as a direct heiress but maybe a potential mother to heirs, that’ll set the tone and probably do a whole lot to establish the precedent going forward. If he is, then for some she’ll be the key to the throne, and others an obstacle to be sent off to a nunnery.