English Monarch. Son of Mary de Bohun and Henry IV whose claim to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in September 1399 displacing his cousin Richard II and founding the Lancastrian line. Young Henry was knighted by Richard II in 1399 and created Prince of Wales that same year after Richard was dispossessed. At fourteen he fought against the Welsh forces of Owain ap Glyndower; at sixteen he commanded his father's forces at the battle of Shrewsbury. He became king upon his father’s death in 1413. Determined to regain ancestral Plantagenet lands in France Henry attacked France, reigniting the Hundred Years War. He launched his first invasion in 1415 and he laid successful siege to Harfleur before marching on Calais. His most famous act was the defeat of a superior French force at Agincourt in 1415. In 1417 he led another force to France. In 1419 surrender put Normandy in English hands. In 1420, the Treaty of Troyes gave Henry a bride, Catherine of Valois, and the rule of France in the name of her father, Charles VI, who accepted Henry as his successor. Henry continued to consolidate his holdings and late in 1420 entered Paris. In 1421 he returned to England with his wife before embarking on his third invasion of France. After a string of minor victories, a long winter siege at Meaux reputedly broke his health. He died, apparently of dysentery, at Bois de Vincennes. Henry is credited with restoring civil order to his kingdom and infusing England with a spirit of nationalism. He was personally very popular and regarded as a hero, but his unceasing war put the crown deeply in debt and the kingdom rife with both economic and military problems. Almost two hundred years after his death, Henry became the title character in a play by William Shakespeare.
English Monarch. Son of Mary de Bohun and Henry IV whose claim to the throne was confirmed by Parliament in September 1399 displacing his cousin Richard II and founding the Lancastrian line. Young Henry was knighted by Richard II in 1399 and created Prince of Wales that same year after Richard was dispossessed. At fourteen he fought against the Welsh forces of Owain ap Glyndower; at sixteen he commanded his father's forces at the battle of Shrewsbury. He became king upon his father’s death in 1413. Determined to regain ancestral Plantagenet lands in France Henry attacked France, reigniting the Hundred Years War. He launched his first invasion in 1415 and he laid successful siege to Harfleur before marching on Calais. His most famous act was the defeat of a superior French force at Agincourt in 1415. In 1417 he led another force to France. In 1419 surrender put Normandy in English hands. In 1420, the Treaty of Troyes gave Henry a bride, Catherine of Valois, and the rule of France in the name of her father, Charles VI, who accepted Henry as his successor. Henry continued to consolidate his holdings and late in 1420 entered Paris. In 1421 he returned to England with his wife before embarking on his third invasion of France. After a string of minor victories, a long winter siege at Meaux reputedly broke his health. He died, apparently of dysentery, at Bois de Vincennes. Henry is credited with restoring civil order to his kingdom and infusing England with a spirit of nationalism. He was personally very popular and regarded as a hero, but his unceasing war put the crown deeply in debt and the kingdom rife with both economic and military problems. Almost two hundred years after his death, Henry became the title character in a play by William Shakespeare.
Bio by: Iola
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