Henry IV marriage to Joan of Navarre (whom was rumored to practice necromancy) was highly unpopular - she was convicted of witchcraft in 1419

Henry IV was born in 1367 to John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster. In 1830, at the age of 13, Henry married Mary Bohun and together they had seven children before she died in 1394. In 1397 Henry was created Duke of Hereford and he remarried Joan of Navarre in 1402.

During 1398, Henry was banished from England for ten years by Richard II and on his fathers death in 1399 his estates were confiscated. Whilst Richard was campaigning in Ireland, Henry gathered an army and invaded England, seizing the throne from Richard during his absence.

The manner in which Henry seized the English throne set the tone for the rest of his reign – constant rebellion was becaming the order of the day. In Wales, a national uprising lasted until 1408; he was continually at war with the Scots; the powerful families of Percy and Mortimer revolted from 1403 to 1408; and Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, proclaimed his opposition to the Lancastrian claim in 1405.

Henrys marriage to Joan of Navarre (whom was rumored to practice necromancy) was highly unpopular - being convicted of witchcraft in 1419. In 1405 the Archbishop of York, Richard Scrope, was executed for conspiring against Henry, which only added to the kings unpopularity. He developed a nasty skin disorder and epilepsy, which convinced the local populace that God was punishing him for executing an archbishop.

Quashing the numerous rebellions was becoming costly and Henry sought financial help from Parliament. This gave the House of Commons the ammuntion they need to expand their powers, which they did in 1401. The Protestant movement founded by John Wycliffe during the reign of Edward III, gained momentum and it forced Henry IV to bring into power the first anti-heresy statute, "De Heritico Comburendo", which became law the same year.

Succumbing to the effects of his leprosy and epilepsy, Henry IV had to watch as his son Prince Henry controlled the government for the last few years of his reign. In 1413, Henry died in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey.

Rafael Holinshed explained his unpopularity in Chronicles of England: "... by punishing such as moved with disdain to see him usurp the crown, did at sundry times rebel against him, he won (himself more hatred, than in all his life time ... had been possible for him to have weeded out and removed." Unlikely as it may seem (due to the amount of rebellion in his reign), Henry left his eldest son an undisputed succession.