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1413 - 1435
Henry the IV had left the government in better shape than he found it in and it was even more stable under Henry V. He very wisely brought March out of banishment. In doing so, he discovered that March, now 21, was in awe of him and proving to be a loyal subject. Four years later, though, March unknowingly was brought into a plot to kill Henry. When he realized what was happening he told the king about it and was pardoned for his involvement. He proved to be a loyal and valuable servant to the crown until his death ten years later. Even though Henry felt he had vindicated himself by befriending March he still had the same feelings of guilt and fear of punishment for usurpation that plagued his father. No manner of pardons or blandishments would rid him of his guilt. Despite the gnawing of his conscience, Henry V had one ambition; to gain back lands in France lost during Richard II’s time. To this end he managed to get funding and to put together an army. After the assassination plot was uncovered he took 10,000 men to France and scored a notable victory at Agincourt despite losing most of his troops to dysentery. After Agincourt he retrieved much of the lands lost after the Hundred Years War. The Treaty of Troyes was signed naming Henry successor to Charles VI and making Henry V regent of France until Charles died. The Dauphin (Charles) was exiled.
To seal the Treaty of Troyes Henry took Katherine of Valois as his bride. She was the youngest daughter of Charles the VI, the demented king of France. Her childhood was terrible as her father was seldom lucid and her promiscuous mother had abandoned her. She had spent the last few years before her marriage in a nunnery. She was not a very bright girl but she was extremely beautiful and had a sensual charm. Theirs seemed to be a love match as well as a dynastic one and in December of 1420 they returned to England where she was crowned Queen of England in February of 1421. The king went back to France leaving his pregnant wife in England where, on December 6, 1421, she gave birth to a little son. Naturally, when Henry received news of the birth he named the child Henry. When the baby was six months old Katherine left him with her brother-in-law, Duke of Gloucester, and went to France to join Henry. Henry embarked on several more campaigns but was becoming very ill with dysentery. He had left his wife with her parents and joined an expedition in Vincennes. He was so ill he could not sit a horse. He had to give up his command to his brother Bedford. When he finally asked the physicians how long he had to live. They told him two hours. He died in agony having never seen his infant son.
The child was crowned Henry VI, King of England in September of 1422. The following month, his grandfather, Mad King Charles died and Henry was declared King of France as well, in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes. As designated by his father, Henry’s three great-uncles, John, Henry and Thomas Beaufort, were responsible for his welfare until his majority. His uncle, Duke of Gloucester was named Protector and Defender of England and his other uncle, Duke of Bedford, Regent of France. A regency council was formed of lords and bishops who held the most authority in the land and they, not Gloucester, ruled. However, Gloucester would squabble continually with Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, which affected the council’s rulings for years. Certainly, little Henry was well protected but was the realm? When Henry was two years old Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was named his legal guardian; still another ingredient to the mix. Fortunately, for the boy, he was allowed to live with his mother during his early years. However, some time after 1425, Katherine of Valois became acquainted and fell in love with Owen Tudor, a Welshman, who had seen action in France with Sir Walter Hungerford. Hungerford had been given a stewardship in the young king’s household and used his influence to have Tudor installed as Keeper of the Queen’s wardrobe. They had a child. Rumor was that they were secretly married but it was 1438 before their union was legally recognized. The couple went to live in Hertfordshire where they had several more children. Henry was old enough at the beginning of his mother’s relationship with Tudor to be brought to court for his formal training. He was a sensitive little boy and showed early signs of the pious, yet disturbed man, he was to be. Little wonder considering how his guardians quibbled around him.
In 1425 the Earl of March died of plague in Ireland. He had no heirs of his own so all of his estates went to his sister’s son, Richard of Cambridge, but the council claimed everything for the crown because Richard’s father had been attainted. Richard’s hands were tied for the time being, however he was allowed to call himself Richard, Duke of York. During the 1420s as Governor of Normandy and Regent of France, Uncle Bedford was trying to hold on to Henry’s monarchy in France. He was receiving less funding from Parliament and was also receiving opposition within his retinue. In 1429 the Earl of Salisbury laid siege on Orleans defying Bedford’s warning not to. A young peasant girl named Joan, went to the Dauphin and convinced him to let her lead the defense of Orleans. She triumphed and saw the Dauphin crowned King Charles VII on June 18th. Henry was also crowned in 1429, on November 5th, but because he was still so young the council continued to control the government. The English could have regained their French territories had it not been for the constant bickering of their council. Bedford’s situation was tenuous but he held on. In 1430 the Duke of Burgundy captured Joan of Arc and sold her to Bedford. She was burned at the stake in 1431. Henry VI was in France at that time but not at her execution. Bedford was desperate to regain English power in France so he pressed to have Henry crowned King of France. Henry was in Notre Dame Cathedral on the 16th of December for his coronation when the French rioted in the streets outside. The situation was so bad Bedford had to scuttle the plan and get Henry back to England as soon as possible. In 1435 a council of European magnates, to which England sent ambassadors, asked the English to give up the French throne. The English representatives were so imperious in their refusal it lead the Duke of Burgundy to desert the English. Bedford died on September 15th. Six days later Charles VII and Phillip of Burgundy signed the treaty of Arras, nullifying the treaty of Troyes. Upon hearing all of this Henry cried and ranted beyond control.
Chapter 1, | Chapter 3
