Richard II came to the throne as a young child, only to lose it to his cousin Henry IV in 1399. But why did Henry take such drastic action? And what became of the teenage boy who stood up to a crowd of angry peasants and held his own? This week on The Medieval Podcast, Danièle speaks with Helen Castor about these rival cousins, the events that shaped them, and how an anointed king could lose his hollow crown.

Helen Castor is a British historian of the medieval and Tudor period and a BBC broadcaster. Her new book is The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV.

The creator and host of The Medieval Podcast is Danièle Cybulskie.

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