King Henry VI Was England’s Most Disastrous King FD
from his tragic childhood to his tumultuous Reign and violent end the feeble and weak-minded Henry VI 6 managed to send England into a complete Tail Spin starting the brutal War of the Roses Henry VII lived out his final days as a captive in the Tower of London it was officially said that he died of melancholy in May of 1471 however centuries later the Mad King’s corpse was dug up and it told a much darker tale but we’ll come to that later Henry V 6 was born with extremely large shoes to fill his father was King Henry V one of the most legendary Warrior Kings in history Henry V was brutal cunning and ruthless and his Reign saw England become more powerful than it had ever been Henry V was so Unstoppable he got the king of France to
name him heir to the throne just to stop his war path while on campaign he also caught a glimpse of the French King’s stunning daughter Katherine of Vala he married her soon after and she gave birth to Henry V 6 Henry V was all set to become the king of France all he had to do was outlive the feeble King Charles II only he didn’t make it Henry V was only 35 years old when he suddenly fell ill and died England’s fortunes died with him instead the infant Henry V 6 became king and no one realized it at the time but that was probably the worst thing that could have possibly happened for England Henry V’s death devastated his widowed Katherine of Vala and she took solace in her beloved child however the English Nobles didn’t trust the
French princess to begin with afraid she’d influen the Future King against them they kept her away from her child as much as possible Henry the Fifth’s death changed everything technically Henry VI 6 should have become king of France but the French weren’t about to let a squalling infant claim the crown especially not an English one the French were quick to ignore the promise and named Charles iith King of France scrambling the English named their own Henry VI 6 King of France in opposition Henry VI 6 holds two important distinctions in history he’s the youngest king of England ever and he’s the only King of England to become the king of France also in Henry’s defense he took the throne at a pretty rough time in England his father’s military campaigns had taken a toll on the English economy leading to a
Depression known as the great slump Henry’s mother Catherine saw her Star Fall extremely quickly one day she was the Queen of England and set to become the queen of France as well she found solace in the arms of a man named Owen tutor though Catherine and tutor were no buies in their day their Union would form the basis of one of the most powerful dynasties in English history with Henry V gone the French set about reclaiming the lands he’d conquered having Jon ofar at the helm English Holdings in France had been steadily shrinking for years when Henry VI 6 took over he did nothing to help matters fighting scared him and he listened to anyone who suggested that he seek peace with France many in England were Furious that their new king would so readily give up the lands they fought tooth and nail for and Henry soon found himself
with some powerful enemies one of the loudest voices who spoke for fighting in France was Richard Duke of York Henry’s Pursuit Of Peace did lead to his marriage to the gorgeous and cunning French Princess Margaret of anju Henry’s supporters suggested that he marry Margaret and he was all too desperate to agree he just needed the approval of King Charles iith of France who was no fool Charles was a far more effective ruler than Henry and he made sure to take the English king to the cleaners he actually got the English king to to give him the extremely valuable French province of Maine Henry and his advisers were well aware that giving up Maine would be extremely unpopular and when the public found out they were absolutely Furious in just a few years they went from having a king who conquered much of France to one who gave up that land for practically
nothing if you thought that losing Maine was Rock Bottom for Henry VI 6 you’d be mistaken the following years saw England completely go to the dogs the economy didn’t improve corruption became rampant at every level of government and the countryside fell to Anarchy as Law and Order completely broke down one of Henry’s favorite advisers was the Duke of suffk notably suffk was the driving force behind seeking peace in France he’d been the one to suggest marriage to Margaret aanu and he’d been quick to agree that Maine was a fair price to pay a more effective King might have been able to protect suffk but Henry was pretty much useless he powerlessly watched as Parliament impeached suffk in front of an angry mob calling for the man’s blood realizing that his friend’s life was in danger Henry bent to the mob’s will and exiled
suffk but that wasn’t good enough for his enemies though Henry VI 6 was a catastrophic failure of a king it’s not like he didn’t accomplish anything he hated fighting but he was very interested in other matters such as religion and education he actually founded Eaton college and King’s College Cambridge two legendary institutions that stand to this day eventually Henry decided to fight for his territories in France but he still managed to screw it up he made the hapless Duke of Somerset the leader of the English forces Somerset made a complete mess of things across the water within a year of taking up the fight the Duke had lost all of Normandy pushed out of France many baguer Englishmen limped back to English Shores only to find that there was no money to pay them many of these men took
to roaming the countryside raiding villages to keep food on the table England became a truly scary place to live and Henry V 6 was in capable of doing anything about it the French weren’t stopping either they kept going until England possessed nothing but the city of Cal in the north just a few decades earlier it seemed like France was set to become just another English Province but Henry VII lost it all in a matter of years the news that he’d lost the city of Bordeaux quite literally drove Henry insane he had a total mental breakdown down and became completely unresponsive for over a year after spending the better part of a decade waiting for a child with his wife even the birth of his son Edward of Westminster couldn’t snap him out of it modern historians believe that Henry’s Madness might have been caused by
schizophrenia while Henry was incapacitated his enemies began to gather Richard the Duke of York who’d been such a vocal critic of Henry used his power an influence to get himself named as protector of the realm while Henry couldn’t rule York also had allied with another of England’s most powerful men Richard Neville the Earl of War better known as the king maker York and War were smart so they realized that their greatest threat wasn’t Henry it was the ruthless Queen Margaret of onju so when York became protector he quickly marginalized Margaret allowing her absolutely Ely no say in matters of state to plant the seed of doubt in the English people York and War spread rumors that Margaret was having an affair with the Duke of Somerset and that her son Edward of Westminster wasn’t actually Henry’s not only did
this make people distrust their French Queen even more but it also opened the door for someone else to become Henry’s Heir namely York himself Henry finally came to his senses around Christmas of 1454 and he woke up to a world that was completely different than the one he left he had a son Richard of York was protector of the realm nobles were saying that York should usurp him and take the throne yet again Henry found himself in a tense situation that required firm leadership and what did he do he made everyone hold hands Henry VI 6’s great plan to ease intentions and save his Reign was to hold a holiday called love day in 1458 Henry forced all of England’s most important Nobles to hold hands and walk from Westminster
palace to St Paul’s cedral he specifically tried to make sure that the people who hated each other the most walked handin hand he coupled Richard of York himself with Queen Margaret of vanu if there was anyone Richard of York hated more than Margaret avanu it was probably the Duke of Somerset York was a cunning and capable leader while Somerset was pretty much useless so imagine how Furious York was when Henry exiled him away in Ireland and set the psychop fantic somerset off to France as if sitting in Ireland as his incompetent rival lost all of England land’s territory in France wasn’t bad enough Richard still had Margaret of vju to deal with the vicious Queen allegedly made several attempts on York’s life while he was staying in
Ireland but to no avail while he was protector Richard had Somerset thrown Behind Bars to the Delight of many somerset’s failures in France were a national embarrassment and few were sad to see him go but as soon as Henry came back to the world of the living He he released Somerset and gave him all of his power back finally fed up with his embarrassment of a king Richard of York decided to take matters into his own hands well aware that the newly restored Duke of Somerset would probably bring charges against him he gathered an army and set off to face Somerset directly the first battle of St Albin might not seem like that big a deal on paper 5,000 men took part and fewer than 60 were lost however on a political scale it couldn’t have been more important Richard of York achieved his main goal with the Duke of Somerset dying in
battle but he accomplished so much more than that he managed to capture Henry the 6 and forced the king to name him as Lord protector of England soon the King’s lancastrians and Richards yorkist were battling once again just two years later the two sides met on the field at at the Battle of Northampton though feeble Henry himself showed up on the battlefield with his Fierce wife Margaret and young son Edward at his side Henry’s armies faced the combined forces of Richard of York and the King maker at the Battle of North ampton the rebels routed Henry’s men and once again they managed to take the feeble King prisoner with the King his prisoner Richard of York forced Henry VII to disinherit his own son and make him air to the throne up to this point Richard of York seemed like he couldn’t lose but he underestimated his greatest enemy
Margaret of vju while York had held her husband captive and made a mockery of the crown Margaret went out and raised an army to fight for what was hers Beggars can’t be choosers so Margaret had to take anyone she could get and that meant the roving bands of Outlaws in the English Countryside were fair game with her son by her side she convinced these men that York was a deceiver and that her boy was the true heir to the throne the Battle of Wakefield could not have been a bigger disaster for the yorkist cause Margaret of anju’s forces completely decimated the York Army but the real victory was that Richard of York himself lay dead though Margaret had defeated Richard the yorkists weren’t about to roll over and concede defeat even with their figure had gone that didn’t change the fact that the Mad
King had to go fortunately for them Richard had a son Edward who was everything Henry V 6 wasn’t rejuvenated under Edward of York’s leadership the yorkists went back on the war path during a raging March snowstorm the two armies faced off at the Battle of Totten and this time York ended up on top after the brutal Victory Edward finally did what his father never had the guts to do he deposed Henry V 6 and crowned himself King Edward ivth the deposed king and queen fled North to Scotland where they bited their time and planned their next move many of their supporters abandoned London and traveled North to join the exiled monarchs Edward charged North after Henry and Margaret and quickly defeated Henry’s forces but the king managed to escape while Henry HIIT out in Lancashire a
treacherous monk tipped off his location to some local yorkists they captured him and dragged him back to London where Edward had him thrown in the Tower of London Margaret aanu fled to France while her husband was captive and eventually one of her greatest enemies came to her begging for help Richard Neville the king maker it turns out back in England things were not going as smoothly as it seemed Edward ivth had Richard Neville to thank for the crown on his head but once he was King Edward didn’t want to listen to anyone the final straw came when he went and married the beautiful yet lowborn Elizabeth Woodville Neville had worked tirelessly to find a political match for Edward who would solidify his rule the king Mary Woodville was basically a slap in the face after fighting tooth and nail to see Henry V 6 removed from the
throne Neville came to a sobering realization an idiot King was better than a king who wouldn’t listen so he ended up making an alliance with his greatest enemy The King maker had made one king already so why not make another joining forces with Margaret in France Neville sailed back across the English Channel attacked London forced Edward to flee and freed Henry from the tower Henry was so far gone by the time Neville freed him from the Tower of London he allegedly had to be led through the city of London by the hand like a child for his part the king maker couldn’t be happier with Henry’s near catatonic state it left him completely free to run the country as he saw a Fit until he made a fatal Mistake by declaring war on burgundy before Neville attacked
burgundy Edward IV had been pretty much out of luck he had no great Army to speak of and he had to sit and watch as the Mad King daydreamed on the throne where he once SAT but Neville’s plan changed everything the Duke of burgundy gave Edward an army to put the kingmaker down for good mere months after Margaret and Neville deposed him Edward sailed back to England with that very Army he met met Neville on the field at the Battle of Barnett and this time he came out on top Neville lost his life in the fighting but Edward was far from Satisfied by this point Henry and Margaret’s son Edward of Westminster had grown into a young man he was the kind of figurehead that the lancastrian armies could rally around and King Edward ivth couldn’t have that he met Henry’s Heir at the Battle of tesb and they again came out the Victor Edward of
Westminster lay dead at just the age of 17 Henry VI 6’s final stint in the Tower of London didn’t last long the official records said the deposed King died of melancholy about a month after he arrived however as soon as Henry passed Dark Rumors spread through the English Court most people assumed that a broken heart wasn’t the likeliest cause of death more more like a broken skull however since no one ever saw the Mad King’s body nobody could say for sure whether Edward was behind his demise but years later archaeologists uncovered Henry’s remains and they discovered the truth when looking at Henry’s remains in 1910 what they found didn’t look too melancholic his skull was badly damaged and his remaining toughs of blonde hair were covered with blood it sure seems
like Edward had a hand in Henry’s Final End by every single metric Henry VI 6 was a terrible King but his ancestors actually worshiped him Henry viith the first tutor King and Henry vi6 nephew encouraged a postumus cult around his uncle as part of anti- yorkist propaganda as a result many years after Henry VI 6’s life priest attributed several miracles to him such as the ability to cure illness with the mere touch and the ability to bring people back from the dead it’s understandable why some people eventually appreciated Henry V 6 he may have been pretty much incapable of governance but aside from that he was a remarkably Humane King he was against horrific punishments such as drawing and quartering and he was almost always extremely merciful with with
enemies he wasn’t necessarily a bad person just a bad King who lived during an era where his poor decisions had devastating consequences if you enjoyed this video please give it a thumbs up we’d really appreciate it we also invite you to check out the companion article in the description below if you want to see even more videos on historical figures please subscribe subscribe to the channel
