Richard II a son of Edward, the Black Prince, was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III. Upon the death of Richard's father prior to the death of Edward III, Richard, by agnatic succession, became the first in line for the throne. With Edward III's death the following year, Richard succeeded to the throne and was crowned on July 16 1377, at the age of ten.

As an individual, Richard was said to have been tall, good-looking and intelligent. Less of a warrior than either his father or grandfather, he sought to bring an end to the Hundred Years' War that Edward III had started. He also cultivated a courtly atmosphere where the king was an elevated figure, and art and culture were at the center, in contrast to the fraternal, martial court of his grandfather. However, he proved himself as a brave man either - during peasant's revolt in 1381 he undertook various negotiation attempts with rebels. During negotiations William Walworth, the mayor of London, pulled rebel leader Wat Tyler down from his horse and killed him. The situation became tense once the rebels realized what had happened, but the king acted with calm resolve and, saying "I am your captain, follow me!", he led the mob away from the scene.

In May 1389 Richard turned 22 and he claimed the right to govern in his own name. Richard assumed full control of government on 3 May 1389, claiming that the difficulties of the past years were due solely to bad councilors. He outlined a foreign policy that reversed the actions of the appellants by seeking peace and reconciliation with France together with a promise to lessen the burden of taxation on the people significantly. Still, later events would show that he did not put the indignities suffered during the preceding years behind him entirely. Discord broke out in December 1397, when Duke of Hereford and Duke of Norfolk became engaged in a quarrel. According to Bolingbroke, Mowbray had claimed that the two, as former Lords Appellant, were next in line for royal retribution. Mowbray vehemently denied these charges, as such a claim would have amounted to treason. A parliamentary committee decided that the two should settle the matter by battle, but at the last moment Richard exiled the two dukes instead.

But Henry Bollingbroke planned revenge. In 1399 when the king had taken most of his household knights and the loyal members of his nobility with him to Ireland, Henry Bolingbroke landed at Ravenspur in Yorkshire and moved south. Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, who was acting as keeper of the realm, had little choice but to side with Bolingbroke. On 19 August, Richard II surrendered to Henry at Flint Castle, promising to abdicate if his life were spared.