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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 97, Henry V:
January 31, 2005:
Prince Henry was the eldest son of Henry IV. Even though Richard II had exiled young Henry's pop in 1398 he still fulfilled his family responsibilities. He took the kid in tow and knighted him in1399. It turned out that young Henry's uncle Beaufort was also the Bishop of Winchester. After the coup in 1399, when Bolingbroke became king Henry IV, young Henry came under the tutelage of Beaufort. Beaufort is the one who actually saw to the youngster's education with the result that Henry V was the first English king who was literate in his own language.
With his pop as king, Prince Henry receive a whole bunch of titles. He was earl of Chester, duke of Cornwall, prince of Wales, and duke of Lancaster and Aquitaine. Aquitaine was a province in France that was almost constantly in dispute between the English and the French royalty. Prince Henry was an assertive youngster and he took over command of the war with Wales in 1403. As we have said, he was quite successful there, crushing Glendower's revolution by 1408.
By then Henry IV was already failing and the Prince began to assert himself in the English government. There was a snorting contest between Prince Henry on one side and his father supported by Thomas Arundel, the archbishop of Canterbury. This Arundel figured prominently in English history in his struggles with and against various kings and as the perennial opponent of the Lollards. We will get to the Lollards and John Wycliffe later.
As to Henry V, his assertive life was one of the subjects of the great playwright Shakespeare. How much of the that is fact and how much fiction is a matter of debate. Anyone may venture a guess. Whatever else, Henry was an assertive Prince and a very effective king. He took the throne in 1413 as King Henry V.
One of the first things he had to deal with was a Lollard uprising in 1414 which he promptly put down. There was no rest however, for he was faced with a conspiracy against his rule by some supporters of Edmund Mortimer. This Mortimer had some legitimate claim to th English throne in that he was the second son of Edward III. Now, this gets kind of silly. It seems Mortimer was loyal to Henry V and tipped him off about the conspiracy. Go figure! For sure, Henry was merciless with the conspirators and he rewarded Mortimer who continued to serve him in France and Ireland.
These things were just distractions from Henry's main ambition which was to assert English power in France. The French had ceded some real estate in the Treaty of Calais, but Henry V wanted more. He also claimed Normandy, Touraine, Maine, and more. He did not count on the French giving in on his demands so he was preparing for war. Of course, history shows that once a power prepares for war, the war becomes inevitable.
This continuation of the hundred year war was where Henry demonstrated his diplomatic and military genius. In this effort English sea power became dominant and the English navy had full control of the Channel. He also had the English populace behind him which made it easier to raise the necessary fund for his campaign. The whole thing was very well planned and executed, but it still took a goodly while (seven years) to bring off.
The invasion of France came off in 1415. Henry had a small, but very effective army of about 9,000. With that, he besieged Harfleur which fell in September. From there he began the route to Calais, but Agincourt was in the way. No matter, he took it on and was victorious by October. That victory surprised a few Europeans and brought Henry an alliance with no less than the Holy Roman Emperor, Sigismund. This guy was useful, because he influenced Genoa, a significant naval power, to sit out the war rather than aid France.
As to Henry, he went on to conquer Normandy which he then divided up between English nobles and other Englishmen. That brought the French to the table and the result was the Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420. In that treaty, Henry would marry Catherine the daughter of Charles VI. The big thing there is Henry became heir to the French throne and his descendants would automatic become heirs. The down side was, Charles' son did not agree. That meant the war had to continue. It did and it finished Henry V. While besieging Meaux, Henry died of dysentery. It seems he should have quit when he was winners.
On the plus side, Henry did turn England around and made it
the dominant force in Europe. Domestically, he did govern England
well. The courts functioned smoothly, law was enforced reasonably
fairly, and his administration was stable. Parliament supported
him throughout. On the down side England was running in debt and
could not long support the foreign adventures. He left kind of
a mess for Henry VI who had to govern both France and England.
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