Henry VI of England

Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of eight months, upon his father's death, and to the French throne on the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, shortly afterwards.

Henry was born during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). He is the only English monarch to have been crowned King of France, following his coronation at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1431 as Henry II. His early reign, when England was ruled by a regency government, saw the pinnacle of English power in France. However, setbacks followed once he assumed full control in 1437. The young king faced military reversals in France, as well as political and financial crises in England, where divisions among the nobility in his government began to widen. His reign saw the near total loss of English lands in France.

In contrast to his father, Henry VI was described as timid, passive, benevolent and averse to warfare and violence. In 1445, Henry married Charles VII's niece Margaret of Anjou in the hope of achieving peace. However, the peace policy failed and war recommenced. By 1453, Calais was the only English-governed territory on the continent. Henry's domestic popularity declined in the 1440s, and political unrest in England grew as a result. Because of military defeats and political crises, Henry suffered a mental breakdown in 1453, triggering a power struggle between the royal family: Richard, 3rd Duke of York, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, and Queen Margaret. Civil war broke out in 1455, leading to a long period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487).

Henry was deposed in March 1461 by York's eldest son, who took the throne as Edward IV. Henry was captured by Edward's forces in 1465 and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Henry was restored to the throne by Richard Neville ("Warwick the Kingmaker") in 1470. However in 1471, Edward retook power, killing Henry's only son, Edward of Westminster, and imprisoning Henry once again. Henry died in the Tower in May 1471, possibly killed on the orders of King Edward. Henry may have been bludgeoned to death: his corpse was found much later to have light brown hair matted with what appeared to be blood. He was buried at Chertsey Abbey and moved to Windsor Castle in 1484. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, King's College, Cambridge, and All Souls College, Oxford. William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as weak-willed and easily influenced by his wife.

Henry was born on 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle, the only child and heir-apparent of King Henry V. He succeeded to the throne as King of England at the age of eight months on 1 September 1422, the day after his father's death; he remains the youngest person ever to succeed to the English throne. On 21 October 1422, in accordance with the Treaty of Troyes of 1420, he became titular King of France upon his grandfather Charles VI's death. His mother, the 20-year-old Catherine of Valois, was viewed with considerable suspicion by English nobles as Charles VI's daughter. She was prevented from playing a full role in her son's upbringing.

On 28 September 1423, the nobles swore loyalty to Henry VI, who was not yet two years old. They summoned Parliament in the King's name and established a regency council to govern until the King should come of age. One of Henry V's surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed senior regent of the realm and was in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedford's absence, the government of England was headed by Henry V's other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who was appointed Lord Protector and Defender of the Realm. His duties were limited to keeping the peace and summoning Parliament. Henry V's uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester (after 1426 also Cardinal), had an important place on the Council. After the Duke of Bedford died in 1435, the Duke of Gloucester claimed the Regency himself but was contested by the other members of the Council.

From 1428, Henry's tutor was Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, whose father had been instrumental in the opposition to Richard II's reign. For the period 1430–1432, Henry was also tutored by the physician John Somerset. Somerset's duties were to "tutor the young king as well as preserv[e] his health". Somerset remained within the royal household until early 1451 after the English House of Commons petitioned for his removal because of his "dangerous and subversive influence over Henry VI".

Henry's mother Catherine remarried to Owen Tudor and had two sons by him, Edmund and Jasper. Henry later gave his half-brothers earldoms. Edmund then fathered the future King Henry VII of England.