Henry V

1413 - 1422

aka Prince Hal

A truly English king, whose famous victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt inspired the beginnings of a national identity. He was an extremely ruthless, capable warrior who held strong political views. He was well-educated, cultured and deeply religious. Tall in stature and athletic, he had a disfiguring scar down his face earned on the battlefield at Shrewsbury. His leadership qualities and his strong sense of justice inspired loyalty. It was said even his enemies respected him. While he enjoyed his youth to the full, Henry was still a warrior at heart. From his early teens he was engaged in his father’s battles against Owen Glendower, the self-proclaimed Prince of Wales. To defend his principality, Henry even took command of the troops when he was just 16.

During the latter years of his father’s reign, Henry pushed to take the throne from him although he was still only a young man. Prince Henry and the Beauforts opposed King Henry and his friend Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury. Arundel was dismissed in 1410 and Prince Henry briefly held polititcal power. His father fought back, regaining control but dying just a year later. After his Coronation, Henry worked hard to resolve the divisions in his kingdom. Richard II had ruled like a despot and the old King Henry faced countless rebellions partly because he took the thrown from Richard by force rather than right. Henry V was determined to rule differently. Those who had opposed his father had their land and titles returned. Richard II’s body was reburied at Westminster Abbey. He also took Richard’s heir, Edmund Mortimer, and treated him like family. In return Edmund confided details of the Cambridge plot to Henry. This was an attempt by the Earl of Cambridge and Lord Scrope to place Edmund on the throne.

A year into Henry’s reign, Sir John Oldcastle, an old friend of Henry’s, faced charges of heresy. Sir John was a Lollard. This early Protestant sect, led by John Wyclif, believed the church should make reforms and renounce its great wealth. While the previous two kings had let the movement go largely unchallenged, in 1414, Henry quashed their first open revolt. After charges were brought against him, Oldcastle was convicted and confined to the Tower of London. He managed to escape and spent the time between then and his capture and execution in 1417 plotting against the King.
England had been in turmoil during the reigns of the previous two kings. To show unity and strength Henry went on campaign in France, reigniting this old feud. His decisive victories were met with approval. Parliament gave him large sums of money acquired by new taxes to ensure his well-conceived military strategy could be sustained. France was ruled at this time by Charles VI who was often incapacitated by mental illness. Henry took the opportunity to make claims to territories held by his ancestors, as well as those agreed in the 1360 Treaty of Bretigny signed with Edward III. These territories included Normandy, Touraine, Maine, Aquitaine and Poitou.
In 1415, Henry invaded France. That September, the french port of Harfleur fell to England. One month later, Henry was victorious at the battle of Agincourt. Despite the odds being against him, Henry lost only 400 of his English troops while 6000 French soldiers died The English army was assisted by the muddy conditions which trapped the French allowing skilled English archers to pick them off. Henry took a lot of prisoners of war. To ensure they didn’t turn on his men he had them executed. A year later, the English were victorious again, defeating the French fleet at the battle of the Seine. That same year, Emperor Sigismund and Henry worked together on the Great Schism thereby ending the tradition of having one pope in Rome and another in Avignon. This reflected Henry’s deeply religious convictions.

In 1420, In compliance with the Treaty of Troyes, the French king allowed Henry to marry his daughter Catherine. Unfortunately Henry died two years later never having seen his young son or become King of France. He died of dysentary. In order to stop the spread of infection his body was boiled down to the bone before being chopped up and shipped back to England in a casket.

Henry V Factfile