Rewriting history in Henry IV The master of historiography is, perhaps, Shakespeare, as his historical comedies demonstrate. While most writers simply borrow from history to fuel their creative fires, Shakespeare goes so far as to rewrite history. The first part of Henry IV follows the story quite closely, and Shakespeare draws this story primarily from Raphael Holinshed's Chronicle of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Samuel Daniel's verse epic The Civil Wars (Abrams 823). The play opens shortly after Henry Bolingbroke. usurped the throne from Richard II, becoming the fourth King Henry and changing the royal lineage from the House of Plantagenet to the House of Lancaster. In the opening sequence, Henry IV is about to swear peace to England and promise a crusade to liberate the Holy Land. No reason for this crusade emerges in 1 Henry IV, other than the fact that it is unfinished business from Shakespeare's previous play, Richard II (Kelly 214). Henry's promise of civil peace is ironic because during this first scene he receives news that his troops have been overtaken by Glendower in Wales, and Hotspur has met and defeated the Scots in the north (1.1.36-61). Upon hearing the news, the King responds: "It seems then that the news of this rumbling / interrupts our affairs for the Holy Land" (1.1.47-8). Postponing affairs to Jerusalem, Henry IV eventually leads England into civil war with Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. These actions will eventually trigger the Wars of the Roses between the Lancastrians (Henry IV's family) and the Yorkists (Richard II's descendants). The show then shifts focus to young Henry, nicknamed Hal. Shakespeare portrays the... center of the card... as a king. Shakespeare the historian is not as wonderful as Shakespeare the playwright, yet through Shakespeare's historical works many modern readers draw their knowledge of history before Shakespeare. Works Cited* Drabble, Margaret, ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1985.* Jacob, E. F. The Fifteenth Century: 1399-1485. London: Oxford UP, 1961.* Kelly, Henry Ansgar. Divine Providence in the England of Shakespeare's stories. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1970.* McFarlane, KB Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights. London: Oxford UP, 1972.* Rowse, AL Bosworth Field: From Medieval to Tudor England. New York: Doubleday, 1966.* Shakespeare, William. 1 Henry IV. Ed. MH Abrams. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. vol. 1, 6th ed. New York: Norton, 1993.