Henry VI 1421-71
King of England

Born in Windsor, Berkshire, he was the son of Henry V and Catherine de Valois, and became king on the death of his father in 1422. During his minority, his uncle, John, Duke of Bedford, was regent in France, and another uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was Protector of England, with a council appointed by parliament. English power in France declined steadily from 1429, though Henry was crowned king of France in Paris (1431). After Bedford's death (1435), the English were gradually expelled from all France, except Calais (1453). Henry was obsessively pious, and from 1453 experienced bouts of insanity. In 1445 he married the strong-minded Margaret of Anjou, who had Gloucester arrested for treason (1447). Five days later he was found dead in his bed, but there is no proof that he was murdered. Jack Cade obtained temporary possession of London, but was soon captured and executed (1450). As a descendant of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, Edward III's third son, Richard, Duke of York, had a better claim to the crown than Henry and in 1454, during one of Henry's mental lapses, York was appointed Protector. On the king's recovery York raised an army to maintain his power, and took Henry prisoner at St Albans (1455). This was the first of many battles between the Houses of York and Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses. A return of Henry's illness made York Protector again (1455-56); and on his recovery Henry attempted to maintain peace between the factions. York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield (1460), but his heir, Edward IV, was proclaimed king (1461), and Henry was deposed (1461), imprisoned in the Tower of London, then exiled. Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick restored him to the throne (1470), but six months later he was again in Edward's hands. At Tewkesbury (1471) his son, Edward, was killed and his wife, Margaret, who had headed the Lancastrian forces, was taken prisoner. Edward returned to London, and that night Henry was murdered in the Tower of London. Henry, the 'royal saint', founded Eton and King's College, Cambridge. It was probably his inability to govern rather than the advent of bastard feudalism which was responsible for the so-called Wars of the Roses.

Bibliography: Mabel E Christic, Henry VI (1922)