Groundbreaking new essays provide a wealth of insight into a less-explored period of Henry's reign.Investigations of Henry IV's reign have tended to concentrate on how he seized power, rather than how he governed. However, the period between 1403 and 1413 was no less dramatic and challenging for Henry than the initial years ofhis rule: he faced a series of rebellions, a financial crisis, deep-seated opposition in parliament, ill-health and a number of serious dilemmas relating to foreign policy. The essays here examine, and provide fresh interpretations of, both these particular aspects, and of broader topics adding to our understanding and government and society in the period, including the role of the lower clergy in parliament, and the mechanisms and scope of royal patronage. Contributors: A.J. POLLARD, MICHAEL BENNETT, CHRIS GIVEN-WILSON, ANTHONY TUCK, HELEN WATT, MARK ARVANIGIAN, GWILYM DODD, A.K. MCHARDY, W. MARK ORMROD, DOUGLAS BIGGS, KATE PARKER

Introduction - Anthony J PollardHenry IV, the Royal Succession and the Crisis of 1406 - `The Quarrels of Old Women': Henry IV, Louis of Orléans, and Anglo-French Chivalric Challenges in the Early Fifteenth Century - Christopher Given-Wilson`On Account of the Frequent Attacks and Invasions of the Welsh': The Effect of the Glyn Dwr Rebellion on Tax Collection in England - Helen WattManaging the North in the Reign of Henry IV, 1402-1408 - Mark ArvanigianPatronage, Petitions and Grace: the `Chamberlain's Bills' of Henry IV's Reign - Gwilym DoddHenry IV: The Clergy in Parliament - The Rebellion of Archbishop Scrope and the Tradition of Opposition to Royal Taxation - W. Mark OrmrodAn Ill and Infirm King: Henry IV, Health, and the Gloucester Parliament of 1407 - Doug BiggsPolitics and Patronage in Lynn, 1399-1416 - Kate ParkerThe Earl of Arundel's Expedition to France, 1411 - A. Tuck