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n King Henry V is generally reckoned to have been an‘Good King’, best remembered for winning the Battle of Agincourt and forngetting some of Shakespeare’s best lines –
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n‘Once more unto the breach, dearnfriends, once more’,n
n‘Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George’,n
n‘We few, wenhappy few, we band of brothers’,n
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nand all that. Henry’s son, also callednHenry, became King Henry VI. He should have been a ‘Good King’ too, because henwas a kindly, pious man, but throughout his life he was dogged by periods ofnmental instability.
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| The boy King Henry VI |
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nHe became King of England when he was only nine months old,nmaking him the youngest-ever English monarch to succeed to the throne, andnduring his childhood his father’s brothers, John and Humphrey, acted as regentsnon his behalf. In 1437, when Henry was sixteen years old, he took power in hisnown right, although his court was dominated by favourites. Henry was thengreat-grandson of King Edward III, and another of Edward’s great-grandsons,nRichard, 1st Duke of York, was named as Henry’s heir presumptive,nalthough York was sent to govern Ireland and excluded from life at Henry’sncourt. In 1445, Henry married the fifteen-year-old Margaret of Anjou, anpolitical match intended bring a peaceful conclusion to the Hundred Years Warnbetween England and France, and in 1453 their only son, Edward, was born.
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| King Henry VI |
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nTwonof Henry’s favourites, the Dukes of Somerset and Suffolk, caused particularnunrest in the country and the reputation of the monarchy was greatlyndiminished; Suffolk was very unpopular and a Commons campaign against himnforced Henry to send him into exile, although his ship was intercepted in thenEnglish Channel and Suffolk’s murdered body was washed ashore at Dover.nSomerset mishandled the military campaign in Normandy and lost all the landngains made by Henry V, leaving Calais as the only English territory on thencontinent.
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| The Houses of Lancaster and York |
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nIn 1452, Richard, Duke of York, returned from Ireland with thenintention of putting an end to the corruption in Henry’s court and afternsetbacks, he was named regent and Protector of the Realm in 1454, when a boutnof Henry’s insanity had rendered him unable to rule. York gained a powerfulnally in Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and when Henry regained his sanitynlate in 1454, Warwick and other disaffected nobles backed the House of York’snclaim to the throne.
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| Richard of York giving Battle in Vain |
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nThus began the War of the Roses, with the first action,nthe First Battle of St Albans, resulting in victory for Richard of York, whoncaptured Henry VI and committed him to the Tower of London, together with thendeaths of some of the leading Lancastrian nobles. I won’t go into the detailsnof the War of the Roses just now, but York never became King, although he wasnnamed as Henry VI’s successor, in spite of being older than him. Richardnmarried Cecily Neville and they had eight children, and their eldest survivingnson, Edward, was declared King Edward IV soon after his father had been killednat the Battle of Wakefield in 1460.
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| Margaret of Anjou |
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nMargaret of Anjou took refuge in Scotlandnand planned to regain the throne for her husband and son, and when Edward IVnargued with Warwick and with his younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence,nMargaret allied herself with them, and after Warwick’s daughter, Anne, had beennmarried to her son, Edward of Westminster, Margaret backed Warwick’s campaignnagainst the Yorkists.
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| Warwick killed at the Battle of Barnet |
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nIn 1470, Edward VI was forced into exile and Henry VI wasnreturned to the throne, with Warwick and Clarence effectively ruling on hisnbehalf, as his insanity had relapsed. Queen Margaret and Anne remainedntemporarily in exile in France and returned to England in 1471, only to learnnthat Edward IV had been reconciled with his brother, Clarence, and that Warwicknhad been killed at the Battle of Barnet. Margaret and her son, Edward, foughtnagainst the Yorkists at Tewkesbury, where Edward was killed, the only heirnpresumptive to die in battle. Henry VI was returned to the Tower of London andnEdward IV resumed his reign; Henry died in prison in 1471, some say ofnmelancholy when he heard of the death of his son, Edward, at Tewkesbury, othersnsay he was murdered on the orders of Edward IV, others yet think he was killednby Edward’s brother, Richard.
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| The Tomb of Henry VI |
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nThis Richard, then Duke of Gloucester, laternmarried Anne Neville (widow of the same Edward of Westminster), to whom he hadnonce been betrothed. When Edward IV died, this brother Richard committednEdward’s sons, Edward and Richard, to the Tower of London (the Princes in thenTower), usurped the throne and was declared King Richard III.
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| Murder of the Princes in the Tower |
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nNow, if you’renfinding it difficult following all these assorted Henries, Richards andnEdwards, you’re probably not alone, so just for a bit of a break, I’ll take anlook at another of Richard of York’s sons already mentioned, thankfully called George.
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