"Richard II, who ascended to the throne as a young man, is a regal and stately figure, but he is wasteful in his spending habits, unwise in his choice of counselors, and detached from his country and its common people. He spends too much of his time pursuing the latest Italian fashions, spending money on his close friends, and raising taxes to fund his pet wars in Ireland and elsewhere. Commoners and the nobles alike feel perturbed when he begins to 'rent out' parcels of English land to certain wealthy noblemen to fund one of his wars, and then seizes the lands and money of a recently deceased and much respected uncle to help fill his personal coffers. As a result, the subjects turn against their king."