Divorced, Beheaded, Died: The History of Britain's Kings and Queens in Bite-Sized Chunks by Kevin Flude Page B
Authors: Kevin Flude
Tags: Historical, History, Biography & Autobiography, Reference, Europe, Great Britain, Royalty, Queens
Ads: Link
Mortimer and the charismatic Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy, the Earl of Northumberland’s son. Mortimer had previously supported Henry IV despite having a better claim to the throne himself, but Henry was slow to ransom him when he was captured by Owain. So Mortimer decided to make his own claim to the throne in conjunction with Owain. In addition, the powerful Northumberland Percy family, who had done sterling work for Richard and Henry against the Scots, Welsh and French, felt unrewarded by Henry and switched their support to Mortimer and the rebel Welsh leader. The plan was for Owain to take Wales, Mortimer England and to leave Northumberland for the Percy family.
This was a desperate threat to Henry, so in 1403 he hastened to Shrewsbury to confront Henry Hotspur. It was a terrible battle, with a great number of casualties falling in particular to the archers. Both Henry’s son, the future Henry V, and Hotspur were struck in the face by arrows, but Hotspur was pierced through the brain and he died, giving the victory to Henry.
The threat from the north remained until Henry defeated the Earl of Northumberland and executed the Archbishop of York, who had sided with the Percys. With the end of the Welsh rebellion in 1409, Henry’s regime was secure and the financial difficulties that had plagued his early years diminished, but the execution of the Archbishop was another burden on his conscience. His final years were affected by a variety of unknown illnesses, which may have been at least partially psychosomatic, although some said he had been poisoned by his second wife, Joan of Navarre, who was accused of being a witch, and others claimed he was a leper. In 1413 he fell ill in Westminster Abbey and died in the Jerusalem Chamber, fulfilling a prophesy that he would die in Jerusalem.
H ENRY V
Reigned 1413–1422
Henry was one of our greatest warrior kings. It is a tragedy that he died so young and that his remarkable achievements came to nothing because of the ineffective reign of his only son, Henry VI. He was born at Monmouth Castle in 1386 or 1387, the son of Henry IV and his first wife, Mary de Bohun. When his father came to the throne, young Henry was made Prince of Wales. There is no real evidence that he spent his youth in dissipation, as depicted by Shakespeare. In fact, quite the contrary, he spent his early years fighting to keep hold of his principality. As a teenager, he was trusted with leading the right wing of his father’s army against the heroic Harry Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, where he received a terrible facial wound which disfigured him for life.
As his father’s health deteriorated, Henry took an increasing role in government. On succeeding to the throne in 1413, Henry survived an early coup attempt and began a policy of reconciliation, restoring titles and land to the heirs of those who had rebelled against his father. He founded new religious communities and helped bring to an end the schism in the Catholic Church (at one point there were three competing popes). He also promoted the English language, the first king since 1066 to use it in correspondence and government records.
Henry’s main aim, however, was to win back the lost territories in France. In 1415 he nearly met with disaster at Agincourt, where the small English force was forced into battle against a vastly superior French army. But because of superb generalship, the skill of the English archers and the over-confidence of the French, Henry turned a potential disaster into a triumph. He followed up this success with methodical planning, and had soon reconquered Normandy, occasionally resorting to barbaric tactics, and gained the ascendancy in France. The French King, Charles VI, was forced to sign the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which stated that Henry would inherit the throne upon his death, and Henry married Charles’s daughter Catherine that same year. But Henry was not to fulfil his ambition to sit on the French
This was a desperate threat to Henry, so in 1403 he hastened to Shrewsbury to confront Henry Hotspur. It was a terrible battle, with a great number of casualties falling in particular to the archers. Both Henry’s son, the future Henry V, and Hotspur were struck in the face by arrows, but Hotspur was pierced through the brain and he died, giving the victory to Henry.
The threat from the north remained until Henry defeated the Earl of Northumberland and executed the Archbishop of York, who had sided with the Percys. With the end of the Welsh rebellion in 1409, Henry’s regime was secure and the financial difficulties that had plagued his early years diminished, but the execution of the Archbishop was another burden on his conscience. His final years were affected by a variety of unknown illnesses, which may have been at least partially psychosomatic, although some said he had been poisoned by his second wife, Joan of Navarre, who was accused of being a witch, and others claimed he was a leper. In 1413 he fell ill in Westminster Abbey and died in the Jerusalem Chamber, fulfilling a prophesy that he would die in Jerusalem.
H ENRY V
Reigned 1413–1422
Henry was one of our greatest warrior kings. It is a tragedy that he died so young and that his remarkable achievements came to nothing because of the ineffective reign of his only son, Henry VI. He was born at Monmouth Castle in 1386 or 1387, the son of Henry IV and his first wife, Mary de Bohun. When his father came to the throne, young Henry was made Prince of Wales. There is no real evidence that he spent his youth in dissipation, as depicted by Shakespeare. In fact, quite the contrary, he spent his early years fighting to keep hold of his principality. As a teenager, he was trusted with leading the right wing of his father’s army against the heroic Harry Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, where he received a terrible facial wound which disfigured him for life.
As his father’s health deteriorated, Henry took an increasing role in government. On succeeding to the throne in 1413, Henry survived an early coup attempt and began a policy of reconciliation, restoring titles and land to the heirs of those who had rebelled against his father. He founded new religious communities and helped bring to an end the schism in the Catholic Church (at one point there were three competing popes). He also promoted the English language, the first king since 1066 to use it in correspondence and government records.
Henry’s main aim, however, was to win back the lost territories in France. In 1415 he nearly met with disaster at Agincourt, where the small English force was forced into battle against a vastly superior French army. But because of superb generalship, the skill of the English archers and the over-confidence of the French, Henry turned a potential disaster into a triumph. He followed up this success with methodical planning, and had soon reconquered Normandy, occasionally resorting to barbaric tactics, and gained the ascendancy in France. The French King, Charles VI, was forced to sign the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which stated that Henry would inherit the throne upon his death, and Henry married Charles’s daughter Catherine that same year. But Henry was not to fulfil his ambition to sit on the French
Similar Books
