John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in "King Richard II" “That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself." (Act II, Scene 1, Lines 65-66) It is 1399 in Lancaster, England where headstrong, thirty-two-year-old King Richard II has nearly brought England to its knees in his twenty-two-year reign. John of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster), an English royal prince, military leader, statesman and uncle to the King is near death when the King banishes his son for six years. Shakespeare honors the Duke with some of the most beautiful poetry in the canon about beloved England, "royal throne of kings, this scept'red isle". The Duke soon dies before ever again seeing his son who only months later returns with an army to depose Richard and gain the crown as King Henry IV. Join us for a journey into the annals of late 14th century England in one of its darker periods.