HENRY VI 1422 - 1461 AND 1470 - 1471 (H6) LIFE 1421

Henry VI 1422 - 1461 and 1470 - 1471 (H6) Lived 1421 - 1471

xxxxxHenry VI was but nine months old when his father died in August 1422, the youngest king England has ever had. Although the infant Henry was King of France by the Treaty of Troyes, the Duke of Orleans also assumed this title on the death of his father in October, so the Hundred Years’ War, that long series of battles and sieges between England and France, continued unabated.

xxxxxHenry’s guardian, his uncle John, Duke of Bedford, won ground against the French, but English fortunes changed in 1429, when the young girl Joan of Arc raised the siege of Orleans, and the Dauphin was crowned Charles VII at Reims. Although the young Maid of Orleans was captured and executed in 1431, and Henry was crowned King of France in Paris that year, English power was clearly on the decline. England had no military leader of real ability, whilst at home the minority council was rendered virtually useless by constant disputes between its members. In 1435 matters grew worse. The Duke of Bedford was killed in battle, and the Burgundians, up until then staunch allies of the English, changed their allegiance, and put all their support behind the French king, Charles VII.

xxxxxIt was against this background that in 1437 Henry VI assumed personal command of his kingdom at the age of 16. The need of the times was for a firm, determined monarch, but Henry quickly showed that he lacked all the necessary leadership qualities. Pious and studious by nature, and under the influence of the powerful Beaufort family, and then the Duke of Suffolk, his rule was nothing short of a disaster. Added to this, his marriage to the domineering Margaret of Anjou in 1445, plus the constant rivalry between his chief ministers, virtually brought the government of the nation to a standstill. The Cade Rebellion of 1450, affecting much of south-east England, was a revolt not only against the social conditions of the time, but also against the lack of firm leadership at the top. The last straw came in 1453 when, with the loss of Bordeaux, the English were thrown off the continent. Of all the vast possessions once held in France only the port of Calais remained in their hands.

xxxxxIt is hardly surprising, therefore, that in 1455 the Duke of York, who, in fact, had a stronger claim to the throne than the king himself, should make a bid for the crown. He had already acted as protector of the realm in 1453 when the king had begun to go insane, and he now took up arms against the House of Lancaster. The vicious civil war that followed, later called The Wars of the Roses, raged for thirty years with varying fortunes for both sides. The major battles were fought at St. Albans (1455) - won by the Yorkists - and at Wakefield (1460), where Henry’s wife, Margaret of Anjou, defeated and killed Richard, Duke of York. But all was not over. Richard’s son Edward then defeated Margaret at the Battle of Towton in March 1461, and in June was crowned as Edward IV at Westminster Abbey. Henry, plus wife and son, fled to Scotland. Henry was captured in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. From here, as we shall see, he was destined to make a come-back in 1470 (E4), brief though it proved to be.

xxxxxIncidentally, it was Henry VI who, in 1440, founded Eton College, near Windsor, one of England’s most famous public schools, and, a year later, established the equally famous King’s College at Cambridge.

1422	Henry VI succeeds his father at the age of nine months! His guardian is the Duke of Bedford, killed in battle in 1435. Henry assumes power two years later, aged sixteen.
1423	The Florence sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti starts work on the Gates of Paradise, the bronze doors he designed for the Baptistry of Florence Cathedral. The work is completed in 1452.
1429 1431	Joan of Arc takes command of the French army in the Hundred Years' War. She raises the siege of Orleans, and defeats the English at the Battle of Patay. As a result, Charles VII is crowned King of France at Reims. After a trial lasting four months, the visionary Joan of Arc, aged 19, is burnt at the stake as a heretic. The young English king, Henry VI, is crowned King of France at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
1432	The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck, one of the first oil painters, completes his masterpiece, the Adoration of the Lamb, a panel in the altarpiece in the church of St. Bavo, Ghent. The magnificent tomb of the Mongol leader Tamerlane, known as the Gur-e Emir, is completed in Samarkand (today’s Uzbekistan).
	Under their leader Itzcoatl, the Aztecs of Mexico, having defeated the city-state of Azcapotzalco, join up with the cities of Texcoco and Tiacopan and begin to carve out a huge Empire from the Pacific to the Atlantic oceans.
1434 1435	Following the capture of Angkor Thom by the Thais, the capital is abandoned for Phnom Penh. This marks the start of a long decline in the fortunes of the Khmer Empire Donatello, the brilliant Italian sculptor and painter, working in Florence, completes his life-size bronze figure of David, regarded by many as his masterpiece.
1436	In Florence, birthplace of the Renaissance and home to the Medici family, the cathedral's magnificent dome, designed by the city’s architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, is finally completed.
1437	The Portuguese Prince, known as Henry the Navigator, fails to capture Tangiers in Morocco, but continues his exploration southwards along the west coast of Africa. The astronomer and mathematician Ulugh Beg, ruler of Samarkand, produces the Zij of Ulugh Beg, a set of astronomical tables which includes a catalogue of some 1,000 stars.
1440	Oba Ewuare becomes ruler of the Kingdom of Benin, West Africa. He rebuilds his capital (known today as Benin City) and begins to expand his territory westward towards Lagos.
1448	The German printer Johannes Gutenberg sets up a printing business at Mainz and pioneers a method of printing, destined to bring about a communications revolution.
1449	A huge Chinese army is ambushed and defeated by Mongol forces north-west of Peking. Thousands are killed and Cheng-t'ung, the Ming Emperor, is captured.
1450	An English landowner, Jack Cade, heads a Kentish rebellion against corruption and high taxation. He defeats the king's army at Sevenoaks, but is later hunted down and killed. The once-flourishing Zimbabwe Empire of south-east Africa begins to be abandoned at about this time, unable to support its population. Its vast stone works fall into ruins. Minchancaman, the last ruler of the Chimu Empire extends his lands southwards to take in Lima (Peru), and comes into conflict with the Incas under their famous leader Pachacuti.
1452	The Italian artist Piero della Francesca begins work on his Arezzo frescoes. Completed in 1466, this cycle is now recognised as one of the art treasures of the early Renaissance.
1453	The Hundred Years’ War, that long conflict of battles and sieges, ends with a French victory at Bordeaux. England loses all its possessions in France except the port of Calais. Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks and brings to an end the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Constantine is killed and the basilica of St. Sophia is turned into a mosque.
1455	The Wars of the Roses, a struggle for the English throne, breaks out between the Houses of York and Lancaster. The Lancastrians are defeated at the Battle of St. Albans.
1456	The French lyric poet François Villon writes his first major work Le Petit Testament. This and his Le Grand Testament, five years later, are in the form of imaginary last wills.
1460	The ancient Mayan Empire, which regained some of its former power in the twelfth century, finally breaks up. The major city of Mayapan and other important centres are abandoned. The Lancastrians lose the Battle of Northampton, but in December Richard of York is defeated and killed at the Battle of Wakefield. His son Edward takes over the Yorkist cause.
1461	Edward of York is proclaimed king as Edward IV after defeating the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton. Henry VI, together with his wife and son, flee to Scotland.

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Acknowledgements

Henry VI: artist unknown – National Portrait Gallery, London. Joan of Arc: stained glass window in the Church of St.Mary of the Angels, Wellington, New Zealand. Eton College: early postcard, date and artist unknown. Coat of Arms: licensed under Creative Commons. Author: Sodacan – https://commons.wikimedia.org.

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