_Death of Richard II._--By what authority has the belief that Richard II.
died in Pontefract Castle, in Yorkshire, arisen? Every history that I have
consulted (with the exception, indeed, of Lord Lyttleton's) coolly assumes
it as a fact, in the teeth of the contemporary Froissart, who says plainly
enough--
"Thus they left the _Tower of London where he had died_, and paraded
the streets at a foot's pace till they came to
Cheapside."--_Froissart's Chronicles_, translated by Johnes, vol. vii.
p. 708.
It is barely possible that our modern historians may have been misled by
Shakspeare, who makes Pontefract the scene of his death.
Another circumstance which militates against the received story, is the
fact that all historians, I believe, agree that his _dead body_ was
conveyed to burial from the Tower of London. Now, it seems odd, to say the
least, that if he really died at Pontefract, and his corpse was removed to
London, that no one mentions this removal--that Froissart had not heard of
it, although, from the nature of the country, the want of good roads, &c.,
the funeral convoy must have been several days upon the road. Can any one
give me any information upon this question? I may just say that, of course,
no reliance can be placed on the fact of the "very identical tower" in
which the deposed king died being shown at Pontefract.