Everything about Henry V Of England totally explained
Henry V (
16 September 1387 –
31 August 1422) was one of the most significant English warrior kings of the
Middle Ages. He was born at
Monmouth,
Wales, in the tower above the gatehouse of
Monmouth Castle, and reigned as
King of England from
1413 to 1422.
Henry was the son of Henry of Bolingbroke, later
Henry IV, and sixteen-year-old
Mary de Bohun, who was to die in childbirth at 26, before Bolingbroke became king.
At the time of his birth during the reign of
Richard II, Henry was fairly far removed from the throne, preceded by the king and another collateral line of
heirs. The precise date and even year of his birth are therefore not definitely recorded; sources offer as the most likely either 9 August or 16 September, in 1386 or 1387. By the time Henry died, he hadn't only consolidated power as the King of England but had also effectively accomplished what generations of his ancestors had failed to achieve through
decades of war: unification of the crowns of England and
France in a single person. In 2002, he was ranked 72nd in the
100 Greatest Britons poll.
Early accomplishments
Upon the exile of
Henry's father in 1398, when Henry was twelve,
Richard II took the boy into his own charge and treated him kindly. The young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland, while in the royal service there, visiting the castle at Trim in Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament. In 1399, the
Lancastrian usurpation brought Henry's father to the throne and Henry recalled from Ireland into prominence as heir to the kingdom of England. He was created
Prince of Wales on the day of his father's coronation. He was created
Duke of Lancaster on
10 November 1399, the third person to hold the title that year. His other titles were Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, and Duke of Aquitaine.
From October 1400, the administration was conducted in his name. Less than three years later, Henry was in actual command of part of the English forces — he led his own army into Wales against
Owain Glyndŵr and returned to join forces with his father to fight
Harry Hotspur at
Shrewsbury in 1403. It was there that the sixteen-year-old prince was almost killed by an arrow which became lodged in his face. An ordinary soldier would have been left to die from such a wound, but Henry had the benefit of the best possible care, and, over a period of several days after the incident, the royal physician crafted a special tool to extract the tip of the arrow without doing further damage. The operation was successful, though it left the prince with permanent scars which would serve as a testimony to his experience in battle.
Energetic and dynamic, Henry is perhaps best remembered for his victory at
Agincourt, a chapter in his life immortalized in Shakespeare's play. His marriage to Catherine of Valois, daughter of the King of France, was designed to bring peace to two nations that had been at war for more than 80 years; the couple's firstborn son was named as heir to the throne of France. However, Henry V died while his son,
Henry VI, was an infant, and the power struggle over control of the French throne led to renewed hostilities in the
Hundred Years' War.
Role in government and conflict with Henry IV
The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henry's energies until 1408. Then, as a result of the king's ill-health, Henry began to take a wider share in politics. From January 1410, helped by his uncles
Henry and
Thomas Beaufort — legitimated sons of
John of Gaunt — he'd practical control of the government.
Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king, who in November 1411 discharged the prince from the council. The quarrel of father and son was political only, though it's probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV, and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince. It may be to that political enmity that the tradition of Henry's riotous youth, immortalised by
Shakespeare, is partly due. Henry's record of involvement in war and politics, even in his youth, disproves this tradition. The most famous incident, his quarrel with the chief justice, has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir
Thomas Elyot in 1531.
The story of
Falstaff originated partly in Henry's early friendship with Sir
John Oldcastle. That friendship, and the prince's political opposition to
Thomas Arundel,
Archbishop of Canterbury, perhaps encouraged
Lollard hopes. If so, their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers, like
Thomas Walsingham, that Henry on becoming king was changed suddenly into a new man.
Accession to the throne
After Henry IV died on
20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him the next day and was crowned on
9 April 1413.
Domestic policy
Henry tackled all of the domestic policies together, and gradually built on them a wider policy. From the first, he made it clear that he'd rule England as the head of a united nation, and that past differences were to be forgotten. The late King
Richard II of England was honourably reinterred; the young
Mortimer was taken into favour; the heirs of those who had suffered in the last reign were restored gradually to their titles and estates. Henry used his personal influence in vain, and the gravest domestic danger was
Lollard discontent. But the king's firmness nipped the movement in the bud (January 1414), and made his own position as ruler secure.
With the exception of the
Southampton Plot in favour of Mortimer, involving
Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham and
Richard, Earl of Cambridge (grandfather of the future King
Edward IV of England) in July 1415, the rest of his reign was free from serious trouble at home. Henry V promoted the use of the
English language in government. He was the first king to use English in his personal correspondence since the
Norman conquest 350 years before.
Foreign affairs
Henry could now turn his attention to foreign affairs. A writer of the next generation was the first to allege that Henry was encouraged by
ecclesiastical statesmen to enter into the
French war as a means of diverting attention from home troubles. This story seems to have no foundation. Old commercial disputes and the support which the French had lent to Owain Glyndŵr were used as an excuse for war, whilst the disordered state of France afforded no security for peace. The French king,
Charles VI, was prone to mental illness, and his eldest son was an unpromising prospect.
Following Agincourt, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund made a visit to Henry in hopes of making peace between England and France. His goal was to persuade Henry to modify his demands against the French. Henry lavishly entertained the emperor and even had him enrolled in the
Order of the Garter. Sigismund in turn inducted Henry into the
Order of the Dragon. Sigismund left England several months later, having signed the Treaty of Canterbury, acknowledging English claims to France.
Campaigns in France
Henry may have regarded the assertion of his own claims as part of his royal duty, but in any case, a permanent settlement of the national debate was essential to the success of his world policy.
1415 campaign
Henry sailed for France on
11 August 1415, where his forces besieged the fortress at
Harfleur, capturing it on
22 September. Afterwards, Henry was obliged to march with his army across the French countryside with the intention to reach
Calais. On the plains near the village of
Agincourt, he turned to give battle to a pursuing French army. Despite his men-at-arms being exhausted and outnumbered, Henry led his men into battle, decisively defeating the French. With its brilliant conclusion at
Agincourt on the
25 October 1415, this was only the first step.
Diplomacy and command of the sea
The command of the sea was secured by driving the
Genovese allies of the French out of the
Channel. Diplomacy successfully detached Emperor
Sigismund from France, and by the
Treaty of Canterbury (1416) paved the way to end the
schism in the Church.
1417 campaign
So, with those two allies gone, and after two years of patient preparation following
Agincourt, in 1417, the war was renewed on a larger scale. Lower
Normandy was quickly conquered,
Rouen cut off from
Paris and besieged. The French were paralysed by the disputes of
Burgundians and
Armagnacs. Henry skilfully played them off one against the other, without relaxing his warlike energy. In January
1419, Rouen fell. Those Norman French who had resisted were severely punished: Alan Blanchard, who had hung English prisoners from the walls, was summarily executed; Robert de Livet, Canon of Rouen, who had excommunicated the English king, was packed off to England and imprisoned for five years.
By August, the English were outside the walls of
Paris. The intrigues of the French parties culminated in the assassination of
John the Fearless by the
Dauphin's partisans at
Montereau (
10 September 1419).
Philip, the new duke, and the French court threw themselves into Henry's arms. After six months of negotiation, the
Treaty of Troyes recognised Henry as the heir and regent of France (see
English Kings of France), and on
2 June 1420, he married
Catherine of Valois the king's daughter. From June to July, his army besieged and took the castle at Montereau. He besieged and captured
Melun in November, returning to England shortly thereafter.
1421 campaign
On
10 June 1421, Henry sailed back to France for what would be his last military campaign. From July to August, Henry's forces besieged and captured Dreux, thus relieving allied forces at Chartres. That October, his forces lay siege to
Meaux, capturing it on
2 May 1422. Henry V died suddenly on
31 August 1422 at
Bois de Vincennes near
Paris, apparently from
dysentery which he'd contracted during the siege of Meaux. He was 34 years old. Before his death, Henry V named his brother
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford regent of France in the name of his son Henry VI, then only a few months old. Henry V didn't live to be crowned King of France himself, as he might confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes, as ironically the sickly Charles VI, to whom he'd been named heir, survived him by two months. Catherine took Henry's body to London and he was buried in Westminster Abbey on
7 November 1422.
Following his death, Catherine had a long relationship with a Welsh courtier,
Owen Tudor, whom she may secretly have married. They were the grandparents of King
Henry VII of England.
Ancestry
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