DRAMATIS PERSONAE
KING RICHARD THE SECOND
QUEEN ISABEL, Duchess of York, wife to King Richard
JOHN OF GAUNT, Duke of Lancaster - uncle to the King
EDMUND LANGLEY, Duke of York - uncle to the King
The historical  Richard II of England,  who was born in 1367, and reigned from 1377, when he was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke in 1399. 
 The historical Richard was a great patron of the arts ( Geoffrey Chaucer  was among the beneficiaries) and oversaw the transformation of Westminster Hall from its Norman origins to what we recognize today. His rule was authoritarian and nepotistic, though, and after his crushing of the 1381 peasant’s revolt (at the tender age of 14), his power began to unravel, clashing with noble interests and with Parliament. 
 Shakespeare follows the historical document fairly closely– Richard has a powerful way with language– although the king’s abdication and murder are his dramatic inventions. 
 
 Richard II’s portrait at Westminster Abbery,  via.
Richard II Characters of the Play