Henry V Interesting Facts

1 The first King of English

Henry could read and write fluently in English. This made him the first King of England to use English rather than French as the first language of government.

2 French Tennis Balls

When he was a young man, the foolish French king sent Henry tennis balls as a gift. They were intended to convey the mesage that Henry should continue to play games rather than go to war. Henry disregarded the message and fought all the harder.

3 The King hides his face

Portraits of Henry reveal he had his hair cut in the style of a priest or a monk. Only the left side of his face is visible because of the scar caused by an arrow wound on the right

4 Agincourt

Henry won the battle of Agincourt on 25th October, 1415. His army numbered a paltry 6,000, he’d lost a third of his men to dysentery the previous month. The French side was five times larger at around 30,000 men. The odds were stacked against the English soldiers. The French were assured of victory. So confident were they that they decided against using their archers. Instead their swordsmen battled through heavy mud. In their heavy armour they were marooned while the nimble English archers picked them off where they stood. Henry lost 400 men while the French lost at least 6,000. Henry’s campaign in France was well thought through and skilful strategically. His is still regarded as one of England’s greatest military leaders.

5 Art imitates Life

Shakespeare’s character Falstaff was said to have been based on Sir John Oldcastle, an old friend of Henry’s. In Shakespeare’s plays, Falstaff is a disreputable character who leads Prince Hal into trouble. A descendant of Oldcastle’s, Lord Cobham, is said to have objected to this portrayal of Sir John, forcing Shakespeare to have one of his characters state in a later play that ‘Oldcastle died a martyr and this is not the man". Sir John Oldcastle was executed for following the religious beliefs of John Wyclif and his followers, the Lollards.

6 Witchcraft

The second wife of Henry’s father, Henry IV, was Joan of Navarre. She was accused by her priest of using witchcraft to try to kill her stepson, the young Henry. She was imprisoned without trial for four years. When she was released she lived for another two decades but the rumour persisted. When she evenually died it was said that the lions at the Tower of London died too.

7 Pepys and Queen Catherine

Henry’s wife Catherine was embalmed after her death in 1437. For over 300 years, and for a small charge, curious onlookers could view her mummifiied corpse. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys went for a look, and even a kiss,
in 1669. It was his birthday and he remarked that he was 36 years old when he first kissed a queen.

8 Boiled to the bone

Henry wasn’t buried until two months after his death. Having died of dysentery on campaign just outside Paris, his body was boiled down to the bone before being chopped up and placed in a casket filled wih sweet-smelling incense.