Henry VI was born at Windsor Castle on December 6th, 1421. He was the only child of King Henry V and succeeded the English throne at the tender age of nine months old when his predecessor died suddenly. Shortly after this, he succeeded the French throne when his grandfather Charles VI died.
Henry’s official coronation took place at Westminster Abbey in November 1429, when he was eight years old. One year later, he crossed the English Channel to Notre Dame and was crowned King of France. He is the only English monarch to have been crowned king in England and France, although his French claim would always be disputed.
Henry was the last of the Lancastrian kings, and his failure to rule and govern in a proper capacity was one of the main causes of the Wars of the Roses.
Early Life
Henry was the only child of the warrior-king King Henry V and Catherine of Valois, daughter of King Charles VI of France. He was one of the youngest kings to ever be crowned in England, and he was also the disputed King of France for most of his reign. This was due to the 1420 Treaty of Troyes agreed upon during the Hundred Years’ War.
Due to Henry being so young when he inherited the English crown, a regency government was put in place to rule on his behalf. John, Duke of Bedford, who was Henry’s uncle, was officially England’s regent, but he spent a large amount of time in France overseeing the ongoing war there. Henry had another uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who oversaw things in England in John’s place.
Henry was well educated and taught by Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, from 1428 to 1437. He had a particular passion for studying religion and the humanities; it is believed this later influenced his kingship as a devoted Christian and pacifist. While these are not terrible qualities, some have argued it contributed to his later failures during the Wars of the Roses.
Henry’s personality was described as timid and shy, a submissive character who was always well-intentioned, but simple. He was a peace-lover and opposed violence and warfare; he was very unlike his father, the famous English king remembered for his victory against the French at Agincourt, among other notable achievements.
Political Influences
Henry’s reign was substantially influenced by his uncles in England, among others in the nobility. Some notable characters were Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Cardinal Beaufort, Henry’s great-uncle, and William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The three were effectively in control of England but disagreed on many things when it came to governing the realm, including foreign policy and the ongoing war in France.
The war in France was slowly becoming stale, and Charles VII had contested Henry’s claim to the throne for a long time, leading to French resistance. John, Duke of Bedford, died in 1135 and the military and diplomatic talent that he had put to use in France soon became ineffective. Joan of Arc was also prominent around this time, which didn’t help matters for England. However, he had garnered an alliance with Burgundy, but this soon fell apart when they suddenly turned on the English and made a peace deal with France.
William de la Pole decided to also go with a diplomatic approach. To try and maintain peace with France, he arranged the marriage of Henry and Margaret of Anjou in 1444, which included a two-year truce. Despite initial reluctance to the pairing, it proved successful and led to him being made Duke of Suffolk, this in itself contributed to his rise in political power, but unbeknownst to Henry a secret agreement was also made that would put Maine and Anjou back in French hands, this would later be discovered and contribute to la Pole’s downfall.
By 1447, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Cardinal Beaufort were both dead. This essentially made the Duke of Suffolk the main influence behind the English throne that was occupied by the weak Henry. The king’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, also played a massively influential role in the dealings of the realm and often ruled in Henry’s place when he went through his bouts of madness.
With Northern France back under French control things, went from bad to worse for England. By 1450, Normandy had also been lost. Henry’s inability to govern, matched with his submissive attitude, eventually led to England losing all of her lands in France, putting an end to the Hundred Years’ War. However, this wouldn’t be the last of Henry’s troubles.
Mental Illness
The Duke of Suffolk was still the main power behind the throne, but he was soon blamed for the loss of territories in France as well as ongoing problems in England, including civil disorder, corruption, the country’s finances, and favouritism in the royal court. He was impeached by Parliament, accused of maladministration, and labelled a traitor. Henry had no choice but to exile him, and as Suffolk fled across the English Channel where he was intercepted and murdered.
Since the late 1440s, Henry’s mental health had begun to take a toll on him. By 1449, many magnates of the realm started to question Henry’s ability to rule, and an uprising started in Kent in 1450. After some skirmishes between Henry and the rebels, it eventually led to a minor victory for the royal forces, but it proved that the realm was in a state of discontent.
With England slowly falling into even more chaos, Richard, Duke of York (Henry’s cousin), was convinced to come to England from his ruling seat in Ireland and put an end to the corrupt government. He proved to be popular, and a list of grievances was written up and presented to Henry, one of which was that Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, be arrested. Henry initially agreed, but then his wife managed to intervene and prevent this, once again proving how easy he was to control.
By 1453, the Duke of Somerset had regained his power in the realm, and Margaret of Anjou announced that she was pregnant. It could be said that things were improving for Henry and England, but this would not be so. In 1451, Aquitaine was taken back by the French – the duchy that had been part of England’s territory for nearly 300 years. By 1453, Bordeaux was also reclaimed, leaving Calais as England’s only remaining French territory.
In August of the same year, Henry had a mental breakdown. He remained bed-ridden and unresponsive for over a year and still did not come to his senses after the birth of his son, Edward of Westminster. It has been suggested that Henry could have possibly had schizophrenia, inherited from his mad grandfather Charles VI of France.
“He fell by a sudden and accidental fright into such a weak state of health that for a whole year and a half he had neither sense nor reason capable of carrying on the government and neither physician nor medicine could cure that infirmity…” and he was, “…smitten with a frenzy and his wit and reason withdrawn.” (Bark, Nigel, October 2002, Medical Hypotheses)
The Duke of York had recently acquired Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, as a strong ally. Warwick was very influential in England, and in 1454 Richard, Duke of York was proclaimed regent and Protector of the Realm. Margaret of Anjou was forbidden from interfering in royal matters, and the Duke of Somerset was imprisoned at the Tower of London. With York’s enemies now under his control, he focused on important government matters and did his utmost to restore order to a flailing England.
The Red and White Rose
By Christmas of 1454, Henry had regained his senses. However, the powerful nobles who had been in control of England now backed the House of York and supported their claims to take full control of the government as well as the throne, but Henry had the Duke of Somerset released from the Tower of London and restored to his previous position.
The Yorkists’ retreated with their allies and by April 1455, Henry had reconvened his court at Westminster and selected an assembly of nobles to hold a council at Leicester. The Duke of York anticipated that Somerset would attempt to bring charges against him and his allies for abusing their power, so they raised a small force and intercepted the king and his entourage before they could reach Leicester.
The Duke of York reached the king at St Albans. The two sides attempted negotiations; the Yorkists wanted the Duke of Somerset executed, but Henry refused and threatened to crush his rivals, uncharacteristic for a man who was usually submissive and peaceful. However, an outcome of peace was not to be had, and Richard decided to attack.
The First Battle of St Albans took place on 22 May, 1455, and is often considered as the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. The Duke of York claimed victory, with Somerset struck down on the battlefield, as well as many of the king’s other important allies. Henry was wounded and captured, then escorted back to London where Richard was appointed Lord Protector soon after.
In the following years, more negotiations were attempted to bring the two rival factions to an agreement. When Henry had recovered from his severe episodes of mental illness, Richard’s role as Protector ended, but it was agreed that he would become heir to the English throne thanks to his direct descent from Edward III. The Loveday of 1458 was an attempt at reconciliation; it took place at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, and to begin with the two parties managed to agree on certain things, including the Yorkists’ paying reparations for their part at St Albans, and some Lancastrian lords taking their dead fathers’ places.
However, peace did not last. Within months, the Yorkists’ and Lancastrians were once again at each other’s throats. At the Battle of Northampton in 1460, Henry was captured again and this time imprisoned; his wife and son fled to Scotland, where she tried to gain support for her husband’s cause.
By the end of 1460, Margaret of Anjou had returned to England with an army. She faced the Duke of York at the Battle of Wakefield, where he fell in battle. Some time later, she went head-to-head with the Earl of Warwick at the Second Battle of St Albans, February 1461. It is claimed that Henry laughed and sang as the battle was fought, unphased by the carnage around him. His wife was victorious, and she released her husband from captivity.
Henry and Margaret’s victory wouldn’t last before war broke out again. Edward, the Duke of York’s son, defeated the royal forces at the Battle of Towton in March 1461, but Henry and Margaret escaped and fled to Scotland. Edward was crowned King Edward IV of England. Peace lasted until 1471, but the official end of the Wars of the Roses wasn’t until 1487.
Margaret of Anjou had crossed to France to seek aid, and in 1464 Henry left Scotland and returned to England, an outlaw in his own realm. He remained in Northern England, seeking refuge in Lancastrian lands, but he was betrayed and handed over to the king, who imprisoned him in the Tower of London.
Some years later, Edward had a disagreement with two of his main allies, the Earl of Warwick and George, Duke of Clarence. They formed a secret alliance with Margaret of Anjou and Louis XI of France. Warwick defeated Edward and he was exiled, thus restoring Henry to the throne in October 1470. Henry’s time in captivity had taken more of a toll on his mental wellbeing, so while he had reclaimed his crown, Warwick and Clarence still ruled in his stead.
However, things soon took a turn for the worse once again. Warwick declared war on Burgundy, whose leader allied himself with Edward and gave him the forces he needed to take back the English crown. He returned to England in 1471 and made peace with Clarence, and on the 14 April of the same year Warwick was killed at the Battle of Barnet. In May, the Yorkists’ claimed victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury and Henry’s only son, Edward of Westminster, was struck down and killed.
Death and Legacy
Henry was once again imprisoned at the Tower of London on 21 May 1471, where he later died – Edward was re-crowned the following day. It was originally claimed that he died of ‘melancholia’, but this is very unlikely. It has been suggested that Edward IV had him murdered, or possibly Richard, Duke of Gloucester (the future Richard III). Henry was buried in Chertsey Abbey in Surrey, but he was later moved to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle – the body was exhumed in 1910, and his skull was found to be damaged, suggesting that he had indeed been murdered.
Henry VI’s kingship is remembered for being weak and incompetent, a man who was easily swayed by others for their own advantage. He favoured peace and diplomacy over violence, unlike many of his predecessors, including his father Henry V. While Henry was massively influenced by those around him, some have argued that he was a pious and kind king who was the victim of an unstable crown.
Despite his many flaws, Henry was responsible for the foundations of Eton College, King’s College, Cambridge, and All Souls College, Oxford, he also respectively founded King’s College Chapel and Eton College Chapel. Henry was also informally regarded as a saint and martyr, and many miracles were attributed to him. His hat was kept by his tomb, and pilgrims flocked here to wear it, thinking it would aid them against migraines and headaches. Shakespeare also composed a number of trilogies about Henry VI, but in his stories the king’s madness is never mentioned.
Henry VI was the last of the Lancastrian monarchs and is partially responsible for the Wars of the Roses taking place. However, while the Yorkists’ had reclaimed the English throne, the Plantagenet line of kings would very soon come to an end, putting the final nail in the coffin for a dynasty that had ruled England for over 300 years.
References
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VI-king-of-England
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-VI-king-of-England
https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-VI/