Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was
the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster.
After military experience fighting the Welsh during the revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr, and against
the powerful aristocratic Percys of Northumerland at the Battle of Shrewsbury, Henry came into
political conflict with his father, whose health was increasingly precarious from 1405
onward. After his father's death in 1413, Henry assumed control of the country and embarked
on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years' War between the two nations. His military
successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt and saw him come
close to conquering France. After months of negotiation with Charles VI of France, the
Treaty of Troyes recognized Henry V as regent and heir-apparent to the French throne, and
he was subsequently married to Charles's daughter, Catherine of Valois. Following Henry V's sudden
and unexpected death in France two years later, he was succeeded by his infant son, who reigned
as Henry VI.
Early life Henry was born in the tower above the gatehouse
of Monmouth Castle. He was the son of Henry of Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, and sixteen-year-old
Mary de Bohun. He was also the grandson of the influential John of Gaunt and great-grandson
of Edward III of England. At the time of his birth, Richard II, his cousin once removed,
was king. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne, Henry's date
of birth was not officially documented. His grandfather, John of Gaunt, was the guardian
of the king at that time. Two birth dates are suggested: 9 August or 16 September, in
either 1386 or 1387.
Upon the exile of Henry's father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge
and treated him kindly. The young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland, and while in the
royal service, he visited Trim Castle in County Meath, the ancient meeting place of the Irish
Parliament. In 1399, Henry's grandfather died. The same year King Richard II was overthrown
by the Lancastrian usurpation that brought Henry's father to the throne, and Henry was
recalled from Ireland into prominence as heir apparent to the Kingdom of England. He was
created Prince of Wales at his father's coronation, and 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. A contemporary record notes that during that year Henry spent
time at The Queen's College, Oxford, under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort, the
Chancellor of the university. From 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff
of Cornwall. Less than three years later, Henry was in
command of part of the English forces—he led his own army into Wales against Owain
Glyndŵr and joined forces with his father to fight Harry Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury
in 1403. It was there that the sixteen-year-old prince was almost killed by an arrow that
became stuck in his face. An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound, but Henry
had the benefit of the best possible care. Over a period of several days, John Bradmore,
the royal physician, treated the wound with honey to act as an antiseptic, crafted a tool
to screw into the broken arrow shaft and thus extract the arrow without doing further damage,
and then flushed the wound with alcohol. The operation was successful, but it left Henry
with permanent scars, evidence of his experience in battle. For eighteen months, in 1410–11,
Henry was in control of the country during his father's ill health, and he took full
advantage of the opportunity to impose his own policies, but when the king recovered,
he reversed most of these and dismissed the prince from his council.
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 – legitimised sons of John of Gaunt – he
had 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 is probable that the Beauforts had discussed
the abdication of Henry IV, and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince.
Supposed riotous youth It may be that the tradition of Henry's riotous
youth, immortalised by Shakespeare, is partly due to political enmity. 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 in Henry's
early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle, a supporter of the Lollards. Shakespeare's
Falstaff was originally named "Oldcastle", following his main source, The Famous Victories
of Henry V. However, his descendants objected, and the name was changed. 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 suddenly changed into
a new man. Accession to the throne
After Henry IV died on 20 March 1413, Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April
1413 at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was marked by a terrible snowstorm, but the common
people were undecided as to whether it was a good or bad omen. Henry was described as
having been "very tall, slim, with dark hair cropped in a ring above the ears, and clean-shaven".
His complexion was ruddy, the face lean with a prominent and pointed nose. Depending on
his mood, his eyes "flashed from the mildness of a dove's to the brilliance of a lion's".
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 would rule England as the head of a united
nation. On the one hand, he let past differences be forgotten – the late Richard II was honourably
re-interred; 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. On the other
hand, where Henry saw a grave domestic danger, he acted firmly and ruthlessly – such as
the Lollard discontent in January 1414, including the execution by burning of Henry's old friend
Sir John Oldcastle, so as to "nip the movement in the bud" and make his own position as ruler
secure. His reign was generally free from serious
trouble at home. The exception was the Southampton Plot in favour of Mortimer, involving Henry
Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham and Richard, Earl of Cambridge, in July 1415.
Starting in August 1417, Henry V promoted the use of the English language in government,
and his reign marks the appearance of Chancery Standard English as well as the adoption of
English as the language of record within Government. He was the first king to use English in his
personal correspondence since the Norman conquest, which had occurred 350 years earlier.
Foreign affairs Diplomacy
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 the French had lent to Owain Glyndŵr
were used as an excuse for war, while the disordered state of France afforded no security
for peace. The French king, Charles VI, was prone to mental illness, at times he thought
he was made of glass, and his eldest son was an unpromising prospect. However, it was the
old dynastic claim to the throne of France, first pursued by Edward III, that justified
war with France in English opinion. Following Agincourt, Hungarian King 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. Henry had intended to crusade for the order after
uniting the English and French thrones, but he died before fulfilling his plans. 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 foreign policy. 1415 campaign
On 11 August 1415, Henry sailed for France, where his forces besieged the fortress at
Harfleur, capturing it on 22 September. Afterwards, Henry decided to march with his army across
the French countryside towards Calais, despite the warnings of his council. On 25 October
1415, on the plains near the village of Agincourt, a French army intercepted his route. Despite
his men-at-arms being exhausted, outnumbered and malnourished, Henry led his men into battle,
decisively defeating the French, who suffered severe losses. It is often argued that the
French men-at-arms were bogged down in the muddy battlefield, soaked from the previous
night of heavy rain, and that this hindered the French advance, allowing them to be sitting
targets for the flanking English and Welsh archers. Most were simply hacked to death
while completely stuck in the deep mud. Nevertheless, the victory is seen as Henry's greatest, ranking
alongside the battle of Poitiers. During the battle, Henry ordered that the
French prisoners taken during the battle be put to death, including some of the most illustrious
who could be used for ransom. Cambridge Historian Brett Tingley posits that Henry was concerned
that the prisoners might turn on their captors when the English were busy repelling a third
wave of enemy troops, thus jeopardising a hard-fought victory.
The victorious conclusion of Agincourt, from the English viewpoint, was only the first
step in the campaign to recover the French possessions that he felt belonged to the English
crown. Agincourt also held out the promise that Henry's pretensions to the French throne
might be realised. Diplomacy and command of the sea
Command of the sea was secured by driving the Genoese allies of the French out of the
English Channel. While Henry was occupied with peace negotiations in 1416, a French
and Genoese fleet surrounded the harbour at the English-garrisoned Harfleur. A French
land force also besieged the town. To relieve Harfleur, Henry sent his brother, John of
Lancaster, the Duke of Bedford, who raised a fleet and set sail from Beachy Head on 14
August. The Franco-Genoese fleet was defeated the following day after a gruelling seven-hour
battle, and Harfleur was relieved. Diplomacy successfully detached Emperor Sigismund from
France, and the Treaty of Canterbury paved the way to end the schism in the Church.
1417–20 campaign
So, with those two potential enemies gone, and after two years of patient preparation
following the Battle of Agincourt, Henry renewed the war on a larger scale in 1417. Lower Normandy
was quickly conquered, and Rouen was cut off from Paris and besieged. This siege cast an
even darker shadow on the reputation of the king than his order to slay the French prisoners
at Agincourt. Rouen, starving and unable to support the women and children of the town,
forced them out through the gates believing that Henry would allow them to pass through
his army unmolested. However, Henry refused to allow this, and the expelled women and
children died of starvation in the ditches surrounding the town. The French were paralysed
by the disputes between Burgundians and Armagnacs. Henry skilfully played them off one against
the other, without relaxing his warlike approach. In January 1419, Rouen fell. Those Norman
French who had resisted were severely punished: Alain Blanchard, who had hanged English prisoners
from the walls of Rouen, 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.
Philip the Good, 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, and on 2 June 1420, he married Catherine of Valois, the French king's daughter.
From June to July 1420, Henry's army besieged and took the castle at Montereau. He besieged
and captured Melun in November, returning to England shortly thereafter.
1421 campaign and death 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 the Château de Vincennes near Paris, apparently
from dysentery, perhaps toxic megacolon, which he had contracted during the siege of Meaux.
He was almost 36 years old. Shortly before his death, Henry V named his
brother John, Duke of Bedford, regent of France in the name of his son Henry VI, then only
a few months old. Henry V did not live to be crowned King of France himself, as he might
confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes, because ironically, the sickly
Charles VI, to whom he had been named heir, survived him by two months. Henry's comrade-in-arms
and Lord Steward John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley brought the body of King Henry home to England
and bore the royal standard at his funeral. Henry V was buried in Westminster Abbey on
7 November 1422. Arms
As Prince of Wales, Henry's arms were those of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent
of three points. Upon his accession, he inherited use of the arms of the kingdom undifferenced.
Marriage and ancestry He married Catherine of Valois in 1420, and
their only child was Henry, who became Henry VI of England.
Notes
See also References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh,
ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University Press.
Barker, Juliet, Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England, London .
Earle, P, The Life and times of Henry V, London . Fisher, John H, The Emergence of Standard
English, Lexington, KY, USA: The University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 978-0-8131-0852-0 .
Harriss, Gerald Leslie, ed., Henry V. The Practice of Kingship, Oxford .
Hutchinson, HF, Henry V. A Biography, London . Mortimer, Ian, 1415: Henry V's Year of Glory,
London: Bodley Head . External links
Henry V, UK: British Monarchy . Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe, The Myth of Henry
V, UK: BBC . Tyler, J Endell, Henry of Monmouth: Memoirs
of Henry the Fifth, Project Gutenberg . "Henry V", Plantagenets, UK: English monarchs .
Works by or about Henry V of England in libraries BBC Radio 4 Great Lives on Henry V - listen
online: http:www.bbc.co.ukb00p62v6