Henry VI, The Last Lancastrian
-Chrissie

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            Henry VI became king of England and France before his first birthday. England came to him at the death of his father, Henry V, who died while fighting in France in August 1422. According to the stipulations of the Treaty of Troyes, King Charles VI was to rule France until his death, at which point rule shifted away from him and his family to Henry V and his descendants. And so, when Charles VI died a few months later, the infant Henry also became the king of France, bypassing Charles’ adult son, the Dauphin, also named Charles.

His minority required a regency council, chosen by Parliament and led by his paternal uncles Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford. Bedford continued the war with France, securing the gains made by his brother, Henry V, as best as he could. Gloucester was responsible for England. Henry’s mother, the French princess, sister of the current French king, and Dowager Queen of England, Catherine of Valois, was allowed little involvement in her son’s life. The regency council feared she would influence Henry toward her home country. Her being shoved aside would have drastic consequences for the English throne in future generations.

Meanwhile, the Dauphin continued the fighting in France; he had no intention to surrender his position to a child. Gloucester was not the general his brother had been and could not hold the territory. The French forces, under the peasant-girl turned general Jeanne d’Arc, regained the city of Reims in July 1429. The Dauphin had intentionally held his coronation until it could be conducted at Reims cathedral, the traditional location for all French kings to be crowned since Clovis in the sixth century. The Dauphin became King Charles VII of France on 17 July 1429.

Henry’s regency council had been waiting to hold the boy’s coronation until he could play an active part, but the crowning of Charles pushed the issue. Seven-year-old Henry was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on 6 November 1429. He was then crowned King of France at Notre Dame de Paris on 16 December 1431. Henry VI took full control of his rule in 1437, just after his sixteenth birthday. One of his first priorities was to end the war with France, which caused conflict with his advisors. Further conflict was caused by the negotiations with Charles VII, in which Henry allowed the French to keep a great deal of the land taken by the English over the course of the previous hundred years of fighting, as well as some, like the Duchy of Aquitaine, that had been under English control for centuries. Peace was more important to Henry than territory. This attitude is consistent with how he is described—a gentle and pious man who had no stomach for violence. The negotiations also included an arrangement of marriage between Henry and Margaret of Anjou, the niece of Charles’ wife Marie. They were married in April 1445; Margaret was 15, Henry was 24.

Despite Henry’s desire for peace, the war continued for another eight years, during which time the English lost almost all of their territory on the continent. In August 1453, one last push was made to retake Bordeaux in Aquitaine, which failed. Shortly after he heard the news, Henry had a complete breakdown and fell into a catatonic state that lasted for over a year. The causes of the illness have been debated since it happened. His maternal grandfather, Charles VI, suffered from manic episodes and paranoia, and so Henry’s illness is often said to be inherited. However, Henry’s breakdown was not manic and violent like his grandfather’s breakdowns had been; Henry presented severe depression and had spent three years in an intense state of stress over the previous three years dealing with losses from the war in France and at least one attempted rebellion in England. The news of the utter defeat of the English army at Bordeaux might simply have been the last straw on an increasingly heavy stack.

Margaret was not allowed to act in Henry’s name, she was his Queen Consort, but not Queen. Instead, Richard, Duke of York, his cousin, and a fellow descendant of Edward III, was named Lord Protector. Margaret gave birth to a son, Edward, in October, thereby assuring the succession no matter what happened to Henry. York may have been willing to act as regent for the young prince as well, but the longer Henry’s illness lasted, the more people argued that Richard should be made king, on the grounds that he was a more direct successor to Edward III than was Henry. The King returned to his senses on Christmas Day 1454 and York willingly stepped down from his position. However, questions about Henry’s health remained and once the point of York’s better claim to the throne was raised, it could not be set aside. Many argued that Henry should step down in favor of Richard.

Henry and Margaret called Richard to court in the spring of 1455. He feared that he was to be accused of treason, and so came prepared with a small army, while also sending a message to Henry that he did not wish to fight. Still, his forces and the King’s came to blows at St. Albans on 22 May 1455; York won. Richard made clear that the fight was not for the throne, but to assure that he would not lose his position (or his life) due to a perception that he was trying to overthrow Henry. The king forgave him, though the queen consort saw him as a threat, if not to Henry than to their son. However, when Henry suffered another breakdown later in the year, Richard was again made Lord Protector; a position he willingly gave up when Henry came back to himself in February 1456.

Over the next few years, the conflict continued, mainly in the political realm but there were some battles. Margaret gathered forces around herself, to protect both Henry and Prince Edward. In 1460, Richard appeared before Parliament to argue his claim, which led to the Act of Accord, which removed Edward from the succession in favor of Richard by virtue of his superior claim through descent from Edward III’s second son, where Henry was descended from the third son.

Margaret and others of the Lancastrian branch of the family refused to recognize the Act of Accord. Henry had tried to soften the blow by giving their son additional titles and land, but this was not enough. The two sides armies met on 30 December 1460 in a battle in which Richard, Duke of York, was killed, but the Yorkists won. Henry was captured in this battle and held until February of the next year, when he was rescued by Lancastrian forces. Richard’s son Edward became the Duke of York upon his father’s death, and the position as heir to the throne also fell to him.

On 3 March 1461, Edward presented himself to Parliament to argue not only for his superior claim but also, and perhaps more importantly, that the civil upheaval of the recent years had been a direct result of Henry’s inability to rule. Parliament agreed. Henry was deposed and the Duke of York became King Edward IV.

            Henry and Margaret fled first to Scotland, then to France. Margaret spent her time collecting support to retake England, not only for her husband but for their son. Henry was, at this point, unlikely to have had the capacity to rule. He is reported to have withdrawn much into himself, not in the catatonic state of his previous episodes but more that he was actively ignoring the world around him. In 1470, Margaret’s opportunity arrived in the form of Edward IV’s brother, George and his friend and councilor, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. The two had disagreements with the king and eventually came to the conclusion that Henry should be reinstated. Warwick met with Margaret and Henry in Paris, made plans to force Edward IV from the throne, and made an arrangement for a marriage between his own daughter and Prince Edward. A short series of battles forced the king and his court to flee to Flanders, allowing Henry VI to retake his throne. His return lasted less than six months; he was unable to govern, leaving Warwick and George, now Duke of York, to rule in his name.

            Edward IV returned to England in the spring of 1471. His and the Lancastrian forces met at the Battle of Barnet, during which Warwick was killed. A subsequent battle at Tewksbury solidified the Yorkist position through the capture of Henry and Margaret and the death of their son the prince. Margaret was eventually ransomed by her cousin, King Louis XI of France; she lived the rest of her life on the outskirts of that court. Henry was imprisoned in the Tower of London. He died there on 21 May 1471. It is likely Edward ordered him killed; while the man himself no longer posed a threat, he could be used as a figurehead to overthrow Edward.

            Henry VI was the last of the direct Lancastrian line to hold the throne, but his later successor, Henry Tudor, would return the family to the throne under a new name.