Henry VI of England (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 31 August 1422 to 4 March 1461, succeeding Henry V of England and preceding Edward IV of England. Henry was a child when he inherited the throne, and England lost almost all of its lands in France in the last phase of the Hundred Years' War, which ended in 1453. As a result of the defeat in the war, Henry faced a rebellion by Richard of York and the "Yorkists", leading to the Wars of the Roses beginning in 1460. Henry was overthrown in 1461 and replaced by Edward IV of England, and he was briefly restored as king from 3 October 1470 to 11 April 1471. However, he was again deposed, and he was murdered in the Tower of London.
He is also remembered for his deep personal piety and as the founder and patron of educational institutions, notably Eton College (founded 1440) and King's College, Cambridge (founded 1441). The circumstances of his final death in 1471 have long been debated by historians.
Biography[]
Early life and accession[]
Henry was born on 6 December 1421, during the latter stages of the Hundred Years' War to a celebrated military king, Henry V of England, and Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France. His birth was significant as it continued the House of Lancaster line and strengthened claims to both the English and French thrones. He was only nine months old when he succeeded his father as King of England in August 1422, and the death of his maternal grandfather Charles VI of France on 21 October 1422 led to Henry becoming the de jure King of France.
As an infant king, Henry's minority required governance by a regency, and his early life was dominated by nobles and clerics with competing political agendas. Contemporary chronicles note Henry’s gentle temperament and early inclination toward religious devotion.
Minority and the Hundred Years' War[]
England was winning the Hundred Years' War by the time that he inherited the throne, but England was losing the war by the time that he had come of age to rule. During his minority government was conducted by a regency council. In England his uncle Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and senior clergy such as Cardinal Henry Beaufort played dominant roles in domestic government, while his other uncle, John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford, led English policy in France. The rivalries within the council — especially between Gloucester and Beaufort — shaped much of the politics of Henry's youth.
The final phase of the Hundred Years' War culminated in a series of French victories in the 1440s and early 1450s. The decisive defeat at the Battle of Castillon in 1453 effectively ended English territorial ambitions in France; by the end of the war England retained only the port of Calais on the continent.
Marriage and attempts at peace[]
In 1445, he married Margaret of Anjou in an attempt to make peace with France to end the war, but this attempt failed. The marriage was arranged as part of a truce negotiated in the Treaty of Tours (1444) and was intended to secure a lasting peace with France. Margaret of Anjou subsequently became a dominant political figure and, after the outbreak of civil war, the leader of the Lancastrian cause in the field and in diplomacy.
Political crisis and Suffolk[]
His adviser William de la Pole conspired against him in 1448, and the next three years saw France take over almost all of England's lands in northern France, and De la Pole was beheaded by angry Englishmen. Popular discontent over military losses, corruption and rising taxes erupted in 1450 in Jack Cade's Rebellion, a large popular uprising in southern England that highlighted the weakness of Henry's government. William de la Pole was attainted, exiled and murdered while being brought back to England in 1450, an event that underlined the scale of domestic unrest.
End of the war and its aftermath[]
In 1453, the war came to an end after 116 years of conflict, leaving England with just Calais on the European continent. The failure of the war led to Richard of York rebelling in 1460 in the first of the Wars of the Roses.
The loss of the French possessions and the political turmoil appear to have contributed to Henry's mental breakdowns in the early 1450s. From late 1453 into 1454 he suffered a prolonged period of incapacity during which governance was placed in the hands of Richard of York as Protector of the Realm. Henry later recovered, but these episodes weakened royal authority and helped precipitate the coming civil war.
Deposition and civil war[]
On 4 March 1461 he was forced to yield power to Edward IV of England, his heir the Duke of York's son, after the Battle of Towton. Henry and Margaret's only son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, was the Lancastrian heir; his death at the Battle of Tewkesbury (1471) extinguished the direct Lancastrian line and removed most realistic hopes for a Lancastrian restoration after Henry's death.
Margaret of Anjou continued to resist the Yorkists, but Henry was captured in 1465 and imprisoned at the Tower of London.
Brief restoration and final imprisonment[]
Richard Neville restored him to the throne in 1470, but he was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury by the Lancastrians. Henry was again imprisoned, and he was murdered in the Tower of London on 21 May 1471.
Gallery[]
| King of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Henry V |
31 August 1422 – 4 March 1461; 3 October 1470 – 4 May 1471 | Succeeded by: Edward IV |