Pontefract Lacy in 1348. King Richard II was murdered at the castle in 1400. Little is known of the precise nature of his demise; in particular Shakespeare may have "adjusted" the facts for his own purposes. There are at least three theories which attempt to explain his death: He was starved to death by his keepers, he starved himself to death or he was murdered by Sir Piers (Peter) Exton on 14 February 1399 or 1400. Fifteenth century Robin Hood ballads place the outlaw's activities in the forest of Barnsdale, the southern edge of which borders Pontefract. In particular, the medieval
Hugh Waterton of Eaton Tregoz near Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, which by an inquisition taken after his death was found to contain castle buildings and a deer park of 144 acres. By 1377 he was one of Gaunt's retainers, and in 1399 an executor of his will. From the late 1370s he was also associated with Gaunt's son, Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV, becoming a Privy Councillor and by 1386 was Bolingbroke's chamberlain. On 10 July 1386 he was among those who gave evidence in the celebrated case between Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton, and Sir Robert Grosvernor as