Henry V of England

Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years' War against France made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Immortalised in Shakespeare's Henriad plays, Henry is known and celebrated as one of the greatest warrior-kings of medieval England.

Henry of Monmouth, the eldest son of Henry IV, became heir apparent and Prince of Wales after his father seized the throne in 1399. During the reign of his father, the young Prince Henry gained early military experience in Wales during the Glyndŵr rebellion, and by fighting against the powerful Percy family of Northumberland. He played an important part at the Battle of Shrewsbury despite being just sixteen years of age. As he entered adulthood, Henry played an increasingly central role in England's government due to the declining health of his father, but disagreements between Henry and his father led to political conflict between the two. After his father's death in March 1413, Henry ascended to the throne of England and assumed complete control of the country, also reviving the historic English claim to the French throne.

In 1415, Henry followed in the wake of his great-grandfather, Edward III, by renewing the Hundred Years' War with France, beginning the Lancastrian phase of the conflict (1415–1453). His first military campaign included capturing the port of Harfleur and a famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt, which inspired a proto-nationalistic fervour in England and Wales. During his second campaign (1417–1420), his armies captured Paris and conquered most of northern France, including the formerly English-held Duchy of Normandy. Taking advantage of political divisions within France, Henry put unparalleled pressure on Charles VI of France ("the Mad"), resulting in the largest holding of French territory by an English king since the Angevin Empire. The Treaty of Troyes (1420) recognised Henry V as regent of France and heir apparent to the French throne, disinheriting Charles's own son, the Dauphin Charles. Henry subsequently married Charles VI's daughter, Catherine of Valois. The treaty ratified the unprecedented formation of a union between the kingdoms of England and France, in the person of Henry, upon the death of the ailing Charles. However, Henry died in August 1422, less than two months before his father-in-law, and was succeeded by his only son and heir, the infant Henry VI.

Henry's reputation as a successful soldier-king has dominated his popular memory. French and Burgundian assessments were more divided, ranging from praise for his prudence and military discipline to portrayals of him as a vainglorious tyrant. Modern historians have been more sceptical of his political legacy, though they disagree over the degree to which he is to blame for the eventual collapse of his French conquests. Others have argued that Henry's most enduring contribution lay in the ideal of kingship he came to embody: that of the sovereign as "military commander, conqueror, guardian of religious unity, protector of law and order, administrator, diplomat and promoter of national consciousness."

Early life

Birth and family

thumb|right|Henry's father, [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]]

Henry was born on 16 September 1386 in the tower above the gatehouse of Monmouth Castle in Monmouthshire, and for that reason was sometimes called Henry of Monmouth. He was the son of Henry of Bolingbroke (later Henry IV of England) and Mary de Bohun. His father's cousin was the reigning English monarch, Richard II. Henry's paternal grandfather was the influential John of Gaunt, a son of Edward III. As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne, Henry's date of birth was not officially documented, and for many years it was disputed whether he was born in 1386 or 1387. However, records indicate that his younger brother Thomas was born in the autumn of 1387 and that his parents were at Monmouth in 1386 but not in 1387. It is now accepted that he was born on 16 September 1386.

Little is known about Henry's early years. Henry had a nurse, Joan Waring, who was paid 40 shillings to look after him. Due to the absence of Henry's father and the death of his mother, Henry was left in the care of his maternal grandmother, Joan, Countess of Hereford. Young Henry might have spent his early years there, in the care of a governess, Mary Hervy. It was said that Henry was small at birth and a lack of physical strength may have marked his early life. However, it disappeared when Henry reached his teens.

Following a quarrel between Henry's father and the Duke of Norfolk, Richard decided to settle the matter by a chivalric trial by combat. However, before the duel could take place, Richard banished both Henry's father and Norfolk. Upon the exile of Henry's father in 1398, Richard II took the boy into his own charge and treated him kindly.

Early military career and role in government

From 1400 to 1404, he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall. During that time, Henry was also 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 Henry "Hotspur" Percy at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403.

At the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403, the sixteen-year-old Henry fought alongside his father against the rebel forces of Henry "Hotspur" Percy. During the engagement, he was struck in the face by an arrow that penetrated six inches into his skull, lodging near the left cheekbone and narrowly missing vital arteries and the brain. Henry received the best available care. The royal physician John Bradmore treated the wound with honey, which acted as a natural antiseptic, and designed a specialised mechanical screw-tool to extract the arrowhead without causing further damage.Bradmore later recorded the procedure in his Latin manuscript Philomena, describing how he widened the wound, inserted the instrument, and gradually withdrew the arrowhead over several days while flushing the wound with white wine to prevent infection. Henry was described as having been "very tall (6 feet 3 inches), slim, with dark hair cropped in a ring above the ears, and clean-shaven". His complexion was ruddy, his 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 affairs

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. He let past differences be forgotten—the late Richard II was honourably re-interred; the young Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, was taken into favour; the heirs of those who had suffered under the last reign were restored gradually to their titles and estates. Yet, where Henry saw a grave domestic danger, he acted firmly and ruthlessly, such as during the Oldcastle Revolt in January 1414 and the execution by burning of Henry's old friend, Sir John Oldcastle, in 1417 to "nip the movement in the bud" and make his own position as ruler secure.. Medievalist John Hurt Fisher argued that Henry's reign was the "turning point in establishing English as the national language of England".

thumb|500px|centre|English [[Middle English#Chancery Standard|chancery hand. Facsimile of a letter from Henry, 1418.]]

Parliament and legislation

Henry's relations with Parliament were cooperative throughout his reign. As Prince of Wales he had observed his father's difficulties managing the assembly, and on the second day of his own reign he issued writs of summons, opening what his biographer Christopher Allmand has called "a joint enterprise in government." Parliament was called eleven times during the reign, and Henry attended six of those sittings.

The addresses to Henry's first six parliaments were composed by Henry Beaufort and projected a consistent image of the king as one who upheld the law, defended the Church, and stood firm against the national enemy. When Parliament assembled at Leicester in April 1414, Henry was reminded that as king he must enforce the law, act justly, and seek "bon governance." Allmand reads these addresses as a managed projection of Henry as a ruler who fulfilled every aspect of the royal office.thumb|Henry marching his forces against the [[Lollardy|Lollards]]

Much of the legislative business of the reign concerned the suppression of Lollardy and the restoration of local order: disturbances in Staffordshire, Cheshire and Northumberland were addressed at the Leicester parliament of 1414, and further unrest in Lancashire and Cheshire between 1419 and 1421 appears in the parliamentary records of seven of the eleven sittings. Lawlessness at sea was tackled by the Safe Conducts Act 1414, passed at Beaufort's urging to protect English merchants from piracy, and by new duties on wool, wine, and hides to support maritime interests. Few statutes of the reign originated as parliamentary petitions; of those passed in 1413, only ten did so.

Parliament also proved generous in supply. In 1413 it granted Henry a four-year subsidy on wool and woolfells, together with tonnage and poundage for one year – terms more favourable than any granted to his father – and extended tonnage and poundage in 1414. In February 1415 two further subsidies, calculated at £37,000, were voted to fund the expedition to France, and after Henry's victory at Agincourt, Parliament granted tonnage and poundage for life. Henry also used parliamentary approval to promote men to the peerage, and to restore nobles who had fallen out of favour under Henry IV.

War in France

Dispute with France

Henry had set his sights on war with France from early in his reign: he was already soliciting contributions for a French expedition by June 1413, and by 1414 cannon were being cast at the Tower of London in readiness. The contemporary case for war drew on a familiar stock of grievances, such as old commercial disputes, or the assistance France had given Owain Glyndŵr. This was reinforced by the disordered condition of France itself, where the mentally unstable Charles VI presided over a court increasingly split between Armagnac and Burgundian factions. A later tradition held that ecclesiastical statesmen had encouraged Henry into the French war in order to divert attention from troubles at home; this is the version that reached Shakespeare through the Tudor chroniclers. Historians have generally doubted it, and in any case Henry's preparations were well advanced before any such pressure could have been brought to bear. Many of his troops succumbed to illness; therefore, he decided to begin marching his army towards Calais on 8 October, against the warnings of his council. Around mid-October, he encountered a blockade of the classic ford at Blanchetaque near Abbeville, forcing Henry inland in search of another crossing. On October 19 and 20, Henry and his army crossed south of Péronne at Béthencourt and Voyennes, then turned north again towards Calais. On 24 October, 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 early on the morning of 25 October, decisively defeating the French, who suffered severe losses. The French men-at-arms were bogged down in the muddy battlefield, soaked from the previous night of heavy rain, thus hindering the French advance and making them sitting targets for the flanking English archers. This victory both solidified and strengthened Henry V's own rule in England and also legitimized his claim to the French throne more than ever.

During the battle, Henry ordered the killing of the French prisoners taken so far, an act the eyewitness author of the Gesta Henrici Quinti explained as a response to the threat of a renewed attack by the still-uncommitted French rearguard. The Burgundian chroniclers Jean Le Fèvre and Jean de Waurin, both present at the battle, record that Henry's men-at-arms were reluctant to comply because they stood to lose substantial ransoms. and Harfleur was relieved. Diplomacy successfully detached Emperor Sigismund from supporting France, and the Treaty of Canterbury – also signed in August 1416 – confirmed a short-lived alliance between England and the Holy Roman Empire.

1417–1421 campaigns

thumb|upright=1.3|Late-15th century depiction of Henry's marriage to [[Catherine of Valois. British Library, London]]

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. After taking Caen, he quickly conquered Lower Normandy and Rouen was cut off from Paris and besieged. This siege has cast an even darker shadow on the reputation of the king adding to the loss of honor following his order to slay the French prisoners at Agincourt. The leaders of Rouen, who were unable to support and feed 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 the Burgundians and the Armagnacs. Henry skillfully played one against the other without relaxing his warlike approach. The treaty was made possible by the assassination of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, on 10 September 1419 at a parley on the bridge of Montereau-Fault-Yonne by partisans of the Dauphin Charles. The murder alienated John's successor, Philip the Good, who sought revenge and entered into an alliance with Henry V. This Anglo-Burgundian alliance gave Henry the political leverage to force Charles VI to accept terms that disinherited the Dauphin and recognised Henry as heir and regent of France. The treaty also arranged Henry's marriage to Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI, with a dowry of 600,000 écus. The agreement was ratified by the Estates General in Paris in July 1420, though it was never accepted by the Dauphinist territories south of the Loire.

On 2 June 1420 at Troyes Cathedral, Henry married Catherine, with their son, the future Henry VI, born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle. Only two days after his marriage, Henry besieged Sens, which fell in less than a week.

Death

right|thumb|Effigy of Henry V in [[Westminster Abbey (the head is modern)]]

Henry fell ill in June 1422, shortly after the siege of Meaux. Contemporary sources such as Jean de Wavrin claimed the king was afflicted by smallpox, leprosy, or erysipelas ("St. Anthony's fire"), while Thomas Basin suggested the king had contracted dysentery in Meaux. Scholars believe dysentery is the most probable explanation as unsanitary conditions in the English camp facilitated the spread of the disease. In late June 1422, he appeared well enough to lead his forces toward Cosne-sur-Loire to engage Dauphinist troops, but he suffered a relapse, possibly from heatstroke or a resurgence of dysentery, and was carried in a litter. Henry was taken back to the Château de Vincennes east of Paris, where his condition deteriorated. In his final days, he dictated codicils to his will, naming his brother John, Duke of Bedford, as regent of France and appointing a council to govern England during his son's minority. Henry died in the early hours of 31 August 1422, aged 35; he had reigned for nine years.

After his death, his body was embalmed and transported to England, where a solemn funeral procession preceded his burial in Westminster Abbey on 7 November 1422. Henry's tomb carries the 16th-century Latin inscription "Henry V, hammer of the Gauls, lies here. [...] Virtue conquers all. [...] Flee idleness". The monument is a few yards away from the grave of his close companion and Privy Counsel member Richard Courtenay; they are not buried together, and the graves are not on top of each other as stated by some sources.

Legacy

Political

thumb|right|A statue of Henry V in the interior of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]

Henry V's death at thirty-five years of age was a political and dynastic turning point for both the kingdoms of England and France. The Lancastrian ruler had been set to rule both realms after Charles VI's death, which occurred in October 1422, less than two months after Henry's own premature death. This caused his infant son, also called Henry, to ascend the throne as King Henry VI of England, at the age of nine months. Due to the new king's age, a regency government was formed by Henry's surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. This acted as the sole governing force of England and its possessions in France until Henry VI came of age in 1437. Although for a time this largely proved to be a success, with England achieving their greatest territorial extent in France under the command of Bedford, the later reign of Henry VI saw the majority of the territories held by the English lost or returned to the French, through reconquest or diplomatic cession; English military power in the region eventually ceased to exist. This marked the end of England's sustained military success in the Hundred Years' War, with all their historic possessions in France being lost, with the exception of the Pale of Calais, which remained England's only foothold in the continent until it was lost in 1558. The loss of land in France contributed significantly to civil strife over the succession of the English crown in the ensuing decades, culminating in the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) between Henry V's descendants, the House of Lancaster, and its rival, the House of York.

Architectural

Henry V is not only remembered for his military prowess but for his architectural patronage. He commissioned the building of King's College Chapel and Eton College Chapel, and although some of his building works were discontinued after his death, others were continued by his son and successor Henry VI. He also contributed to the founding of the monastery of the Syon Abbey in west London, which was completed under Henry VI. In the 16th century the monastery was demolished as a result of the growing movement of the English Reformation during the reign of King Henry VIII.

Reputation

Contemporary commentary on Henry V was extensive but shaped by political circumstance and, frequently, by direct patronage. In England, praise centred on the image of Henry as a conqueror. John Lydgate, whose Troy Book had been commissioned by Henry himself in 1412, concluded that work in 1420 by placing the king "in the highest place of the hous of fame", and his verses on the Kings of England (c.1426) ranked Henry among the Nine Worthies. Thomas Hoccleve, a clerk of the Privy Seal, hailed Henry after the 1420 Treaty of Troyes as the "Swerd of knyghthode" and a "worthy Conqueror." The Saint-Denis chronicler Michel Pintouin credited Henry with "magnanimity, prudence and wisdom", judging him better equipped than any prince of his age to conquer a kingdom, Matusiak goes further, contending that from Henry's own perspective, domestic governance, diplomacy, and martial prowess were "part of an integrated whole," and his wars were closely co-ordinated with diplomatic initiatives rather than pursued for their own sake.

According to historian Dan Jones, Henry "had a reputation for being austere to the point of desiccation, yet he was also theatrical and astonishingly adept at the art of public spectacle. He was a hardened warrior. [...] Yet he was also creative, artistic, and literary, with a bookish temperament and a talent for composing music and playing a number of instruments." Jones concludes that Henry V was "the greatest man who ever ruled England."

In popular culture

In literature

thumb|right|160px|[[Lewis Waller as Henry V in the play Henry V by William Shakespeare]]

Henry V has been depicted in many literary works, the most famous and influential depiction being William Shakespeare's series of plays Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V (which, along with Richard II, are known collectively as the Henriad in Shakespearean scholarship). Shakespeare's plays dramatise Henry's transformation from a reckless youth who keeps bad company into a virtuous ruler who wins France for England.

It may be that the tradition of Henry's riotous youth is partly due to political enmity. 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. Shakespeare's Falstaff was originally named "Oldcastle", following his main source, The Famous Victories of Henry V. Oldcastle's descendants objected, and the name was changed (the character became a composite of several real persons, including Sir John Fastolf).

Henry is a minor character in William Kenrick's sequel to Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2, titled Falstaff's Wedding. He is the subject of the historical novel Good King Harry by Denise Giardina. He also appears as a minor character in the historical novels Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer and Azincourt by Bernard Cornwell.

In film and television

Henry V has been depicted in many historical films and operas such as Laurence Olivier's 1944 film Henry V; Olivier played the lead role himself, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Henry also appears in the 1935 film Royal Cavalcade, in which he was played by actor Matheson Lang. Henry is played by Kenneth Branagh in the 1989 film Henry V, for which Branagh was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Director, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Henry V appears as a major character played by Keith Baxter in Orson Welles's 1966 film Chimes at Midnight. He is also played by Timothée Chalamet in 2019 Netflix film The King directed by David Michôd. He is portrayed by Tom Hiddleston in the BBC television series The Hollow Crown.

In comics and video games

Henry V is a character in the comic series The Hammer Man in the BBC comic strip The Victor featuring him as the commander of the hero, Chell Paddock. King Henry V is a character in the video game Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War and also in the Age of Empires II: The Conquerors in which he was featured as a paladin.

Arms

Henry's arms as Prince of Wales were those of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points. Upon his accession, he inherited the use of the arms of the kingdom undifferenced.

Marriage

While he was Prince of Wales, it was suggested that Henry should marry the widow of Richard II, Isabella of Valois, but this had been refused. Negotiations took place for his marriage to Catherine of Pomerania between 1401 and 1404, but ultimately failed.

During the following years, marriage seemingly assumed a lower priority until the conclusion of the Treaty of Troyes, which provided for Henry to marry Catherine of Valois in June 1420, the daughter of Charles VI of France and younger sister of Isabella of Valois. Together the couple had one child, the future Henry VI of England, born in December 1421.