The presence of a deputy, however, always had an irritating effect upon the English colonists, and when in 1382 Richard II. ordered a Parliament to meet in Dublin, its first act was to protest against the absence of the viceroy. To satisfy the nobles and prelates the king appointed Philip de Courtenay, a cousin of his, viceroy for life. The commission was drawn up in 1385, but it was not until two years later that de Courtenay landed in Ireland. His reign was brief and stormy. The two great Anglo-Irish families, the Desmonds and the Ormondes, were in conflict, and the Irish were besieging and harassing the colonists. De Courte was not the man for the occasion. He was {42} charged with oppression and extortion, and the king, who had already made up his mind to make his favourite, de Vere, Earl of Oxford, Viceroy of Ireland, gladly accepted the accusations against de Courtenay, and ordered him to remain under arrest in Dublin until the arrival of his successor, who would investigate the charges against his character. De Courtenay appealed to the Council in Dublin, and they declared the accusations to be unjust. [Illustration: The Throne Room, Dublin Castle] The appointment of de Vere to the viceroyalty was an outcome of the struggle between Richard II. and his Barons. De Vere was the reigning favourite, and when it was proposed that he should be sent to Ireland as viceroy, the nobles enthusiastically endorsed the selection, and, glad to be rid of him at any price, cheerfully voted supplies. Richard created his creature Marquis of Dublin, and allowed him to nominate Sir John de Stanley as his deputy. It was not de Vere's intention to proceed to Ireland, and under various pretexts he avoided assuming personal control of the Irish government. Meanwhile Richard had created him Duke of Ireland, and entrusted him with powers almost regal, at one time actually proposing to make him King of Ireland. When the nobles rebelled against Richard, de Vere raised an army on behalf of his king, but was defeated in his first encounter with the barons. He died abroad after the five judges, who had supported Richard in his attempt to make de Vere King of Ireland, were brought to trial for having declared that the king was above the law, and were punished by being {43} exiled to Ireland! Richard, weak-minded and unreliable, was at least faithful to de Vere, and he had his favourite's corpse brought from Louvain, and interred to the accompaniment of magnificent ceremonies at Colne Priory in Essex. [Sidenote: Richard II. arrives]