On this date in History. October 13, 1399: Coronation of King Henry IV of England and Lord of Ireland.

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Archbishop of Canterbury, coronation, Duke of Lancaster, Henry IV, Henry IV of England, John of Gaunt, Kings and Queens of England, Lords of Ireland, Richard II of England, Usurper

October 13, 1399 coronation of Henry IV and Lord of Ireland

Henry was the son of John of Gaunt (the fourth son of Edward III) and Blanche of Lancaster. John enjoyed a position of considerable influence during much of the reign of his nephew, King Richard II, whom Henry eventually deposed.

Henry IV founded the Lancaster branch of the House of Plantagenet. He was the first King of England since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English rather than French. This also marked the first time since the Norman Conquest when the monarch made an address in English.

Coronation of Henry IV

Another interesting bit of information is that the coronation of Henry IV was conducted by Roger Walden, Archbishop of Canterbury. On November 8, 1397 Walden was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to Thomas Arundel who had been banished from the realm by King Richard II.

On October 13, 1399 he presided over the coronation of Henry IV. However, on October 19, six days later, Walden lost this position when the new king Henry IV restored Arundel to his previous position as Archbishop of Canterbury, and after a short imprisonment he passed into retirement, being, as he himself says, “in the dust and under feet of men.”