King Henry VI (1422-1461) was the third and last Lancastrian king of England. There is no systematic, chronological analysis of the sources for Henry’s reign. Four of the principal sources, the Proceedings of the Privy Council, the Foedera, the chronicles covering Henry’s reign, and Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Wars of the English in France, are brought together here with references to other authorities, primary and secondary. King Henry’s regnal year dates from 1 September to 31 August.

See Introduction.

Money

A mark was the most common money of account in England. It was worth 13s 4d or two thirds of a pound sterling. A pound sterling (£) was worth twenty shillings.  A shilling (s) was worth 12 pence (d). The livre tournois was the most common money of account in France. Nine livres tournois equalled approximately £1.

Contents

King Henry VI: birth, baptism, and accession  

Henry VI was born at Windsor on 6 December 1421; he was only nine months old when he inherited the throne. He became King of England on 1 September 1422 after the death of his father King Henry V. The last four months of 1422 were the first four months of King Henry VI’s reign.

Henry VI’s Guardians

Just before he died Henry V named his son’s guardians: The Dukes of Bedford, Gloucester and Exeter. Sir Walter Hungerford and William, Lord Fitzhugh.

King Henry V

King Henry V invaded France and won his great victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He conquered the Duchy of Normandy in 1419 and in 1420 he claimed the crown of France. 

The Kingdom of France

King Charles VI of France suffered periodic bouts of insanity. The Kingdom of France was divided by the civil wars between the Armagnacs, supporters of King Charles’s son the Dauphin Charles and John the Fearless Duke of Burgundy, for control of the government.

Henry V’s Death and Burial

Henry V died at Bois de Vincennes near Paris on 31 August 1422 at the age of thirty-six. His body was brought back to England for burial.

The Great Seal

Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, Chancellor of England surrendered the Great Seal to the Duke of Gloucester at Windsor in the presence of the baby king.

The Temporary Council

A temporary council assembled at Windsor in September 1422. They reappointed the king’s officers and the judiciary, and summoned Parliament.

Parliament

The first Parliament of Henry VI’s reign met on 9 November and was dissolved on 18 December 1422.  It tackled the question of how England would be governed and by whom until the baby king came of age.

Taxation

The Commons renewed the traditional grant of the subsidy (tax) on wool, which had lapsed automatically on Henry V’s death, back dated to 1 September 1422, the first day of Henry VI’s reign.

The Minority Council

The Lords in Parliament created the Minority Council to govern England until King Henry came of age. The Officers of State. The Bishops. The Magnates. Lords and Knights. Royal Grants.

John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France

The Duke of Bedford.  Henry V’s eldest surviving brother was in France with Henry V when Henry died. He became Regent of France and defender of the dual monarchy. He was named Protector of England when he was in England, but there would be no Regent of England.

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

The Duke of Gloucester was Henry V’s younger brother. He was in England as Custodian of the Realm when Henry V died. He was named Protector of England when the Duke of Bedford was absent.

 The Death of King Charles VI

Henry VI’s grandfather, King Charles VI of France, died in October 1422 two months after Henry V.

The Dual Monarchy

Henry VI became King of France on the death of King Charles VI. The Duchy of Normandy. The Grand Conseil.

Henry V’s Prisoners

French magnates captured at the Battle of Agincourt and other prisoners captured in Henry V’s wars in France were being held in England.    

 

King Henry VI, birth, baptism, accession

King Henry VI was the only child of King Henry V and Katherine of Valois the daughter of King Charles VI of France. He was born at Windsor on 6 December, Saint Nicholas Day, and named for his father.

“In þat tyme vppone saynt Nicholas evyn, come tythynges from Wyndyssore to þe Maire, þat oure Quene Dame Kateryne, had borne a prince, a fayre sone. And a-none all þe belles in London were re[n]gon; ‘Te Deum’ was songone at Paules; And þer was the Chauncelere and many bysshoppys, And þe Maire and hys Aldermen, And all þe craftes of the Cite.”    Brut Continuation E, p. 448

Henry was baptised by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were his uncle John, Duke of Bedford, his great uncle Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and a high-ranking visitor to England, Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault (1, 2).

“And sone aftur, Kynge Henry the vi was born in the castell of Wyndesore, the day of seynt Nicholas the Bisshop the yere of oure Lord Ihesu Criste M cccc xxj, whos godfaderis and godmoderis at the fontstone weren these: sir Henry Beauford, Bisshop of Wynchestir, and John, Duke of Bedford; and the Duchesse of Holand was his godmodir; and  at his confirmaciion the Erchebisshop of Caunterbury was his god ffadir.” Brut Continuation D, p. 427

“Also in the forseid monthe of Decembre on seynt Nicholl day, the yere of oure lord a m¹ ccccxxj, Herry the kynges sone was born at Wyndysore, whos goodfadres at the font were Herry bysshop of Wynchestre, sithe Cardynall, and John, duke of Bedford, and Jacomyn duchesse of Holand was hys goodmodyr; and his goodfadir at his confirmacion was Henry Chicheley erchebysshop of Caunterbury.”   A Chronicle of London (Harley 565), p. 110.

“This same yere vpon seint Nicholas day in decembre was henry, the kyng’s ffirst begotyn son, born at Wyndsore, whos godfaderes beth att the font stand herry bysshop of Wynchester, and John duke of Bedford.  And the duches of holand whas godmoder.  And att the confirmacion the Erchebysshop of Caunterbury, henry Chichele, whas godfader.”  Chronicles of London (Cleopatra C IV) p. 128 and (Julius B II) p. 74

Accession

He became king on 1 September 1422 when he was less than a year old. His regnal years date from 1 September to 31 August.

Henry would not remember a time when he had not been king. The situation was unprecedented. No king of England had succeeded to the throne at so young an age. Henry III was nine when his father died in 1216, and Richard II was ten when his grandfather, Edward III, died in 1377. Henry VI was the only English king to be crowned twice and buried twice. Uniquely at a time when military prowess was required of a king, Henry never took part in a battle, although England was at war, first with France and then with herself, throughout his reign.

Henry VI’s Guardians

As he lay dying Henry V named his brothers, John, Duke of Bedford as Regent of France and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester as guardian and defender (tutelam et defensionem principales) of Henry VI, but he entrusted the personal care and education of his infant son to his uncle Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in association with Sir Walter Hungerford, steward of the royal household and Henry, Lord Fitzhugh, chamberlain of the royal household, one of whom was to stay with Henry VI at all times (1).

Several chronicles record that Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester was named as a guardian. The chroniclers were misled because Beaufort was Henry VI’s godfather and he played a leading role in government during Henry VI’s minority. The error was repeated by the Tudor chronicler John Stow (2). Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick is also mistakenly named, but he did not become Henry’s guardian until 1428.

“Kynge H. beinge sicke made his testament, apoynted his treasure and jewells to be solde, his dettes to be payde, as well to the pleasaunce of his souldiours as to othar that he owght good vnto in Englond, and in Fraunce, and ordeyned John, his brother, duke of Bedforde to be theyr regent and governor of Fraunce and Normandy; and he comitted the kepinge of H. his yonge sonne and prynce to sir Henry Beaufort, byshope of Winchester, and to sir Thomas Beaufort, duke of Excestar.”  English Historical Literature, London Chronicle for 1421 to 1430                            

“And for his tendir and yonge age, Henry his ffadir comyttid hym to the kepynge of Sir Henry Beauford, Bisshop of Wynchestre, and to Sir Thomas Beauford, Duke of Exetre bothe his bele vnclys; and the kepynge of Fraunce and Normandie to Iohn the Duke of Bedford, to ben regent and gouernoure of bothe there, tille that Henry, his yonge sone, by his good counseile wold set it in bettur gouernaunce.  And the kepinge of Engelond to sir Vmfray, the Duke of Gloucestre, to ben Proptectour and deffendour of the Rewme tille that Henry his yonge sone, by alle the good counseile of Engelond, wold set and put it into bettur gouervaunce, and to moste profite of the Kynge and of the Rewme.”  Brut Continuation D,  pp. 429-430, repeated p. 431

On orders from his father the young king was placed under the protection of Henry, Bishop of Winchester and Richard Earl of Warwick. Giles, Chronicon, p. 3  

And to Richard, Erle of Warrewik, was commyttit þe kepyng of hym, for-as-much he was countet and hold þe best-nurturet man of Englond.  Brut Continuation H, p. 564

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(1) P. & F. Strong, ‘The last will and codicils of Henry V,’ English Historical Review XCVI (1981).

(2) Stow, Annales, p. 361.

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King Henry V

King Henry V invaded France and won his great victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Over the next four years he conquered the Duchy of Normandy, claiming it as his inheritance by direct descendent from William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.

Henry continued his conquest of northern France and in 1420 by the Treaty of Troyes, King Charles VI and Queen Isabelle faced with almost certain defeat, disinherited their heir, the Dauphin Charles, They ‘adopted’ Henry V as their son and heir and agreed to his marriage with their daughter Katherine. Henry became Regent of France for his father-in-law. He would become King of France on Charles VI’s death. He undertook to continue the war until he had conquered all the provinces still owing obedience to the Dauphin (1).

(1) Sumption, Cursed Kings, Chapter 18, ‘The Death of Princes,’ pp. 735–771.

The Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France was riven by civil war in a power struggle over who should govern the country in the name of the hapless King Charles VI. Charles’s periodic bouts of insanity or ‘absences’ as they were called made him unfit to rule, often for long periods.

Charles’s only surviving son the Dauphin Charles was only fifteen when he was driven out of Paris and out of government in 1418 by John, Duke of Burgundy, the most powerful man in France, known as ‘the Fearless.’ Burgundy was determined to ‘rule’ France for his own profit.

The Dauphin declared himself Regent of France. He and his advisors set up a rival government centred on the town of Bourges in the Loire valley (1). The English would refer to him as the ‘Dauphin’ or ‘the little King of Bourges’ for many years after his father’s death and his own coronation.  In the conflict that followed the Dauphin’s supporters became known known as the Armagnacs, in opposition to John the Fearless and his ‘Burgundians.’ The civil war materially aided Henry V’s conquests in northern France.

An attempted reconciliation between John the Fearless and the Dauphin in 1419 ended in disaster. Duke John was assassinated in the Dauphin’s presence and John’s son Philip, now Duke of Burgundy vowed never to forgive his father’s murder. He allied himself with Henry V and recognised Henry’s claim to the throne of France.

(1) Beaucourt, Charles VII vol I, p. 120 and pp. 473–474. (Dauphin as Regent of France).

Henry V’s Death and Burial

Henry V died at Bois de Vincennes near Paris on 31 August 1422 at the age of thirty-six after a spectacular reign of nine and a half years, the first king of England to die abroad since Richard I in 1199.

“Memorandum stating that King Henry V died at the castle of Bois de Vincennes, near Paris, on the last day of August 1422 in the tenth year of his reign and was succeeded by his son King Henry VI on the first day of September, in the first year of age and of his reign” (1).

Queen Katherine was in Paris when Henry V died. She and her entourage escorted Henry’s body home. His funeral cortege took two months to reach England passing through Paris to Rouen and on to Calais, crossing to Dover and proceeding Westminster in slow stages. At each place his coffin rested the clergy sang the mass and performed funereal services for the dead king (2, 3).

The Mayor of London, William Waldern and the aldermen all dressed in black, received Henry’s coffin into the City at Blackheath on 6 November. The annual processions through the City to Westminster for the installation of the sheriffs at the end of September, and of the mayor at the end of October, were cancelled because the City was in mourning; breaking with tradition they travelled quietly to Westminster by barge (4).

“And in ϸat yere ϸe Shryves of London went by barche to Westmynstre, And dyvers craftes of London with ϸaim; And in ϸis year ϸai come home agayne, all in blak. And ϸis was done because of our Kynges deth: on whos soule God haue mercy! Amen!

In þat yere þe Maire and þe Aldermen and all þe craftes went to Westmynstre by barge, all in blak, þe v. day of Nouember ; And þer he toke hys oth in þe eschekere, as þe maner is.  And whene he had done, he toke hys barge with all þe craftis, And come home agayne.” Brut Continuation E, p. 449

Henry V was buried in Westminster Abbey on 7 November. The funerary arrangements were extensive, elaborate, and expensive, as befitted England’s warrior king. Robert Rolleston, Keeper of the King’s Great Wardrobe, supplied ‘cloths of gold’ and other items from the Great Wardrobe, valued at £83 7s 6d, to be offered at Westminster Abbey (5, 6).

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(1) PPC III, p. 3 (Henry V’s death).

(2) Foedera X, pp. 255–257 (for ships, carriages, hearses, and funerary equipment).

(3) PPC III, p. 5 (lodging for those escorting and meeting the cortege). 

(4) Sharpe, London, Letter Book K, pp. 2–3, (Henry’s reception).

(5) L&P I, p. 385 and 388 (cloths of gold).

(6) Lisa Monnas,‘Textiles from the Funerary Achievements of Henry V,’ in J. Stratford, Lancastrian Court, pp. 125–146.

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The Great Seal

On the death of a monarch the king’s Great Seal of gold, held by the Chancellor, had to be surrendered to the new king. The lords who were not in France came in all haste to Windsor to carry out the customary procedure, handicapped by the age of the baby king.

On 28 September 1422 in the ‘presence’ of King Henry VI, the Chancellor Thomas Langley, who had rushed south from his bishopric of Durham, put the Great Seal into the hands of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and Gloucester entrusted it to Simon Gaunstede Keeper of the Chancery Rolls, who traditionally took charge of it when the chancellor was out of England. Gaunstede retained possession of the Great Seal until it was returned to the Duke of Gloucester in November while Parliament was in session (3).

See Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester below.

The transfer was witnessed by Henry Chichele Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, Philip Morgan Bishop of Worcester, a former Chancellor of Normandy, Edmund Lacy Bishop of Exeter, and Richard Fleming Bishop of Lincoln. James Butler Earl of Ormond, the king’s lieutenant in Ireland, John, Lord Talbot, John Stafford, Keeper of the Privy Seal, William, Lord Clinton and Robert, Lord Poynings, who were presumably near at hand (1, 2).

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(1) PPC VI, pp. 343–344 (surrender of the Great Seal).

(2) Foedera X, p. 253 (surrender of the Great Seal).

(3) Foedera X, p. 262. (Gaunstede was paid for keeping the seal from 28 September to 17 November 1422).

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The Temporary Council

A temporary council of the lords assembled in the Star Chamber at Westminster on the following day, 29 September, and handled the unexpected transition of government smoothly and competently. On their authority, the king’s officers and the judiciary were reappointed to ensure continuity of administration. Writs to summon Parliament were also issued on 29 September (1).

                (1) Report on the Dignity of a Peer IV, pp. 855–857 (summons to Parliament).

The primary concern of the Temporary Council was to ensure the smooth transition of power and the maintenance of law and order in the wake of Henry V’s death. Wales was always turbulent, and one of the Council’s first acts was to proclaim the king’s peace along the Marches of Wales.

See Year 1423: Wales 

On 1 October the sheriffs of Worcester, Gloucester, Hereford, Staffordshire, and Shropshire, were ordered to make public proclamations of the king’s peace. Two days later John, Lord Talbot and his brother William Talbot, who held lands in Hereford and Shropshire, and Sir Edmund Ferrers of Chartley, whose lands were in Staffordshire, received instructions to suppress lawlessness along the Welsh border (1).

Henry V’s appointees, William Troutbeck the Chamberlain of Chester, William Botiller the Chamberlain of South Wales, and Thomas Walton the Chamberlain of North Wales were confirmed in their offices (2, 3).

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(1) Foedera X, p. 254 (Talbot and Ferrers).

(2) CPR 1422-29, pp. 3–4 and p. 60 (appointments in Wales).

(3) Griffiths, ‘William Botiller: A Fifteenth Century Civil Servant,’ in King and Country, pp. 179–186.

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Parliament

The first Parliament of Henry VI’s reign met on 9 November and was dissolved on 18 December 1422.    

A summary of the acts of parliament in the Proceedings of the Council for 1422 is misdated by the editor to 9 November (1). It must have been drawn after December 18 as it is a recapitulation, partly in Latin and partly in English, of the acts of Parliament to 18 December, the day Parliament was dissolved (1). 

                        (1) PPC III, pp. 13-18 (summary of acts of Parliament).

Taxation

The Commons were not overly generous in 1422. They renewed the traditional grant of the subsidy (tax) on wool, which had lapsed automatically on Henry V’s death, and backed dated it to 1 September 1422, the first day of Henry VI’s reign (1).

Customs duties on wool was the crown’s principal source of income, used partly to pay off outstanding debts but mainly as security to raise loans. The Commons granted a tax of five nobles [33s 4d or £1 13s 4d] on every sack of export wool and every 240 wool fells (tanned skins) shipped by English merchants for the next two years.

Foreign merchants (aliens) were to pay [53s 4d (£2 13s 4d] on every sack of wool; tonnage (duty on imported wines) was set at 3 shilling per tun; and poundage (duty on imports) at 12 pence in the pound, for the next two years (1).

Gregory’s Chronicle says, ‘during the term of the yere.’ The Great Chronicle says three years. 

“Also in that Parlyment was grauntyd unto the kyng v. noblys of every sacke wolle duryng the terme of the [so in MS.] yere.”  Gregory’s Chronicle, p 149

“Also it was graunted to the kyng v nobles of every sak wolle to custome during iij yere.”  Great Chronicle, p. 123

(1) PROME X, pp. 21–22 (tax grant).

 The Minority Council

By the time Parliament met on 9 November the lords had decided on conciliar government. They were determined that until Henry VI came of age England would be ruled by a Council acting in his name and on his authority and not solely by a Regent (1). They settled the make-up of a Minority Council among themselves. It was made up of men who had served Henry V (2, 3).

“In whiche parlement was ordeyned the governaunce of the kyng, how and in what manere he schude be governed in his tender age.” Great Chronicle, p. 123; A Chronicle of London (Harley 565), p. 110; Gregory’s Chronicle, p 149.

The chroniclers’ statement is misleading. The question of who would rule England was settled by the authority of Parliament but the Lords, not the Commons, made this decision. As Professor Griffiths puts it: ‘such matters were considered inappropriate for discussion by the Commons, who simply received the lords’ decision’ (4).

Henry V’s two surviving brothers, John Duke of Bedford and Humphrey Duke of Gloucester became Regent of France and Protector of England respectively.

See below.

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(1) Watts, Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship, pp. 113-114 (comciliar government).

(2) Harriss, Beaufort, pp. 118–119. (Minority Council)

(3) PROME  X, p. 26 (Minority Councillors). 

(4) Griffiths, Henry VI, p. 24 (decision by the Lords).

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  The Three Officers of State

The Duke of Gloucester informed the Commons at their request of the names of the three Great Officers of State. The Commons ratified the decision on 16 November (1).  

Thomas Langley, Bishop of Durham, Chancellor. He became Bishop of Durham in 1406 under Henry IV. He was Chancellor under Henry IV, Henry V and Henry VI. He resigned as chancellor 1424 but remained a part time councillor until his death in 1437 (2).

William Kinwolmersh. Treasurer. He died in December 1422 and was replaced by John Stafford, Keeper of the Privy Seal.

 William Alnwick replaced Stafford as Keeper of the Privy. He became Bishop of Norwich 1426.

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(1) PROME X, pp. 16-18 (Officers of State).

(2) Foedera X, p. 259 (Langley’s appointment as Chancellor). 

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The Bishops

Henry Chichele. Archbishop of Canterbury from 1414. Present at the surrender of the Great Seal.

Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester. Great uncle of Henry VI. Beaufort was the richest man in England.  He was the most influential member of the Minority Council except for the Duke of Gloucester. He became Chancellor in 1424.

Philip Morgan, Bishop of Worcester. First Chancellor of Normandy in 1418.

 John Wakering. Bishop of Norwich. Keeper of the Privy Seal under Henry V. He was in Normandy when Henry V died.

John Kemp, Bishop of London.

As Chancellor of Normandy Kemp held two seals, one for Normandy, and another, similar to the Great Seal of England, that Henry V had with him in France. Kemp surrendered the seal for Normandy to the Duke of Bedford in Rouen before he returned to England. He brought the second seal with him and surrendered it to the baby king at Windsor in the presence of the Duke of Exeter and the Earls of Warwick and March, all of whom had returned from France (1).

(1) PROME X, p. 15 (Kemp returned the king’s seals).

 The Magnates

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, Protector.

Thomas, Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, the young king’s guardian. Younger brother of Henry Beaufort and great uncle of Henry VI. 

 John Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, Earl Marshal of England.

 Edmund Mortimer Earl of March. Named as the king’s lieutenant in Ireland in 1423. 

Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. He became Henry VI’s guardian in 1428.

Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland. Warden of the East March towards Scotland.

Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland. Warden of the West March with his son Sir Richard Neville. 

‘It was agreed in full parliament’ on 12 December that 1,000 marks should be paid to the Earl of Northumberland as Warden of the East March and custodian of Berwick.

Sir Richard Neville, the Earl of Westmorland’s son, would receive 500 marks as Captain of Carlisle and Warden of the West March (1).

See Year 1423: The Wardens of the March.

(1) PPC III, pp. 7-8 (Wardens of the March). 

The Lords and Knights

Sir Walter Hungerford. Steward of the household. Executor of Henry V’s will.

Henry, Lord Fitzhugh. Chamberlain of the household. Executor of Henry V’s will. 

Ralph, Lord Cromwell. Not a member of Henry V’s household.

John, Lord Tiptoft, household official.

Sir Walter Beauchamp, household official.

Grants

Parliament confirmed Queen Katherine’s dower and added Leeds Castle in Kent, the castle and town of Rochester, and the castle and town of Hawardin to her estates (1).

 Humphrey, Earl of Stafford was granted livery of his father’s lands in accordance with a promise made to him by Henry V just before he died, even though Humphrey would not come of age for another year (2, 3).

The Council allocated £250 to Lord Greystoke as Captain of Roxburgh Castle (4).

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(1) PROME X, pp. 43–55 (list of Katherine’s dower lands). 

(2) PROME X, Item 18 Appendix, pp. 62–63 (Livery of lands to Stafford).

(3) Foedera X, 259 (Grant to Katherine and livery of his lands to Stafford).

(4) PPC III, p. 11 (Greystoke for Roxburgh).

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 Thomas Payne

Thomas Payne petitioned Parliament to have his case heard speedily as he had been in prison for a long time (1, 2). A native of Wales, he was being held in Newgate on suspicion of treason. He had been Sir John Oldcastle’s lieutenant during the Lollard uprising of 1414 against Henry V (3). 

William Hankford, Chief Justice in King’s Bench, had been instructed to order the sheriffs of London to keep Thomas Payne in safe custody or risk severe penalties if they allowed him to escape (4). 

According to testimony given to King Henry and the Council many years later in 1438 by one Thomas Haseley, a chancery clerk, who was seeking an annuity, he had captured Payne in 1422 before Henry V died, and the Duke of Bedford had committed Payne to the Tower of London (5). Payne escaped but was recaptured and returned to the Tower. He was then moved to Newgate prison (6).

See Year 1438: Thomas Haseley.

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(1) Rotuli Parliamentorum IV, p. 196 (Payne’s petition in full). 

(2) PROME X, Appendix Item 20, p. 63 (Payne’s petition noted).

(3) Wylie & Waugh, Henry V,  III, p. 395, n. 1.

(4) PPC III, p. 3 (order to sheriffs).

(5) PPC V, pp. 104–107 (Haseley’s testimony).

(6) Issues of the Exchequer, pp. 373 and 375 (Payne recaptured).

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John Duke of Bedford, Regent of France

John, Duke of Bedford was thirty-three when Henry V died and he became Regent of France. He was a brilliant administrator and an able soldier, but he was relatively unknown in France, and he faced a monumental task. He had to defend Henry V’s conquests and attempt to extend them throughout France but without the X-factor, Henry V’s charisma and reputation for invincibility.

Bedford responsibilities made it impossible for him to return to England and attend Parliament in 1422. Nevertheless, as heir presumptive to the throne he expected to become Regent of England. He wrote from Rouen to the Mayor and Common Council of London on 26 October (and probably to the Council although his letter has not survived).

“the gouvernance of the Reaume of England after [by] the lawes and ancient usage and custume of the same Reaume as we be enformed belongeth un to us as to ϸe elder brother of our saide souverain lord that was. And as next unto ϸe croune of England and having the chief interesse after the king [that now is] . . . .”  (1) 

Bedford may have envisaged an arrangement similar to that made by Henry V, with the Duke of Gloucester as Custodian of the Realm in his absence.

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(1) Sharpe, London and the Kingdom III, pp. 367–68.

Reprinted in Chrimes & Brown, Select Documents, p. 245

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Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

The Duke of Gloucester, King Henry’s youngest brother also expected to become Regent of England. The lords thought differently.

Twenty-one lords were present at a council meeting on 5 November 1422, including those who had been in France with Henry V died. They had returned to London and added their weight to the temporary council.

As a first step towards limiting his ambition, the Council nominated Gloucester to open Parliament in the king’s name in the absence of the Duke of Bedford, but only with the assent of the Council.  

Gloucester protested vigorously that this phrase curtailed his rightful powers. He argued that he had opened and closed Parliament as Custodian of the Realm while Henry V was in France and that to deny him this right would undermine his status. The lords replied that the circumstances were entirely different, Henry V had given him the authority, but Henry VI could not, and that authority now rested with the Council (1). 

Stung by the lords’ decision, Gloucester prepared a memorandum in which he vehemently defended his right to become Regent or Governor of England, to rule with the advice but not with the consent of the lords (2, 3, 4). According to Gloucester the lords had initially assented to Henry V’s codicil making him tutela et defensionem principales but they then reneged on their promise to assist him.

Gloucester drew their attention to the title bestowed on William Marshal during the minority of King Henry III as ‘Ruler of the King and of the Kingdom’ Rector regis et regni Angliae. He requested to be named Ruler or Governor of the Kingdom but said he would not go so far as to claim to be ruler of the King (the sole legal source of authority). If the style and status of Governor of the Kingdom was accorded to him, he would govern with the advice of the Council, but if they were split, his decision should prevail.

Gloucester claimed that the Commons had asked the Lords to name a governor (although this request is not on the Parliament Roll) but that the title proposed for him of Defender and Chief Councillor was insufficient, it did not meet the Commons’ expectations. He made the point that his claim was for himself alone and should not prejudice his brother’s rights.

Perhaps to postpone a final decision and give himself time to get Bedford on side, Gloucester suggested hopefully that the Lords should wait until Bedford returned to England to settle the question. Both brothers would then accept whatever was decided. The Lords would have none of it.

On 5 December 1422 the Lords in Parliament named the Duke of Bedford as Protector and Defender of the realm, and principal councillor of the King whenever he was in England.  The Duke of Gloucester would be Bedford’s deputy as Protector during his absence. Bedford commanded far more respect than Gloucester. Had he been in England the outcome might have been different, but as it was neither Bedford nor Gloucester was recognised as Regent of England (7, 8, 9, 10).

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(1) PPC III, pp. 6–7 (council meeting in November).

(2) English Historical Documents, ed. Myers, pp. 232–33.

(3) PROME X, Appendix p. 61. Printed in modern English.

(4) Chrimes, ‘The Pretentions of the duke of Gloucester in 1422,’ English Historical Review XLV (1930). Reprinted in Chrimes & Brown, Select Documents, pp. 248–249.

(7) PROME X, pp. 23–24 (Concerning the appointment of the protector and defender of the realm of England).

(8) Foedera X, p. 261 (appointment of Bedford). 

(9) CPR 1422-29, p. 65 (appointment of Bedford).

(10) Roskell, ‘The Office and Dignity of Protector of England with special reference to its origins,’ in Parliament and Politics I, pp. 193–234.

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Gloucester as Protector

To enhance his dignity and perhaps to soothe his pride, Parliament created Gloucester Great Chamberlain of England and granted him the constableship of Gloucester castle, with all its profits (1). In December the Council awarded him £300 as Protector (2).

Gloucester chose to use his title Great Chamberlain of England over that of Protector and Defender. Peter de Alcobasse one of the king’s physicians, petitioned Gloucester for a prebend in St George’s Chapel Windsor. The grant is headed Le Roy la Grante and signed H. Chambellan d’Angleterre. (3, 4).  Alcobasse was Portuguese, naturalised in 1420. He was physician to all three Lancastrian kings (5).

Henry V gave Gloucester two purses of gold garnished with jewels each worth £2,000 as surety for payment for the men-at-arms and archers he had contributed to Henry’s campaigns (6). Henry had ordered Gloucester to return them to the Exchequer; he wanted the purses as gifts for the Dukes of Burgundy and Bavaria (possibly to pay them for the troops they supplied).  The Council authorised the Exchequer to reimburse Gloucester for their value.  Gloucester was parsimonious, he never missed an opportunity to enrich himself with lands or money at the crown’s expense.

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(1) PROME X, pp. 22–23 (Great Chamberlain).

(2) PPC III, p. 11 (£300 wages).

(3) Foedera X, p. 263 (petition for prebend).

(4) CPR 1422-29, p. 13 (petition for prebend). 

(5) Talbot and Hammond, Medical Practitioners, pp. 246–47 (Alcobasse).

(6) PPC III, pp. 8-10 (gold purses).

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Philip, Duke of Burgundy

Philip, Duke of Burgundy was arguably the most powerful man in France after Henry V died. The Treaty of Troyes, making Henry heir to the throne of France also sealed the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. On his deathbed Henry ordered the Duke of Bedford defend the Duchy of Normandy at all costs but also to preserve the alliance with Burgundy (1).

The Burgundian chroniclers Enguerrand de Monstrelet and Georges Chastellain claim that King Henry instructed Bedford to offer the Regency of France to Burgundy to retain the Anglo-Burgundian alliance, but that Burgundy refused it (2).

“By the authority of the kings of France and of England and their grand council, the Duke of Bedford was appointed Regent of France in consequence of the Duke of Burgundy not wishing to undertake that office”  (3).

The only English source to confirm this is Walsingham’s Historica Anglicana. But as Griffiths points out Walsingham’s chronicle ends on 31 August 1422. “Walsingham could not record Bedford’s eventual nomination as regent because his chronicle had already ended” (4, 5).

Bedford may have offered the Regency to Burgundy, and this is doubtful. Duke Philip did not want it. He had no ambition to ‘rule’ France, his interest lay further east, to expand Burgundian domination over the Low Countries (6).

He had allied with Henry V in an emotional moment to punish the Dauphin for the murder of his father, John the Fearless and while an alliance with England was important to hm, politically and emotionally, Duke Philp was still first and foremost a prince of France. He would not serve as Regent, or rule France in the name of the King of England. He carefully avoided any occasion that would require him to swear fealty to Henry VI, and he did not come to Paris when King Charles VI died in October 1422.

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(1) Williams, My Lord of Bedford  (Henry’s instructions to Bedford).

(2) Monstrelet I, trans. Johnes, p. 486

(3) Oeuvres, Chastellain I, pp. 328­–331 (Burgundy declined the Regency).

(4) Walsingham, Historica Anglicana II, p. 345.

(5) Griffiths, The Reign of King Henry VI, p. 19

(6) Vaughan, Philip the Good, p. 16 (Burgundy’s ambitions).

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Death of King Charles VI of France

King Charles VI died at his residence, the Hotel St. Pol in Paris on 21/22 October 1422 after an unspectacular reign of forty-four years. It was a sad ending to a sad life. 

“This same yere vpon a wednesday the xxj day of October, the owre betwene vj and vij in the mornyng, dyed kyng Charles of ffraunce in his hous of seint poule with in the cite of Parys, and ys buryed at seynt Denys.”  Chronicles of London (Cleopatra C IV) p. 128

Chronicles: Chronicle of London (Harley 565), p. 179; Chronicles of London (J.B. II) p. 74; Great Chronicle, p. 123; Gregory’s Chronicle p. 149; Brut Continuation D, p. 440 (misdated to 1420-21); Brut Continuation G, p. 497; Brut Continuation H, p. 563(confuses Charles VI’s place of death with that of Henry V).

The Duke of Bedford came from Rouen to arrange and preside over the royal funeral as chief mourner. No French magnate was present. The Bourgeois of Paris noted that ‘not one [member] of the house of France was there that day . . . . nor any lord at all except one English duke, called the Duke of Bedford.’ (1)

On 9 November, two days after King Henry was buried in Westminster, and three weeks after he died, King Charles’s coffin, escorted by the clergy, by representatives of the university of Paris, and by the city’s civic dignitaries was carried in procession to Notre Dame and then to St Denis for burial.

After the ceremony Bedford left the church with the sword of state of the French kings carried upright before him. This caused great offence to the citizens of Paris. Bedford might be Regent, but he was not king of France (2).

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(1) Bourgeois of Paris, pp. 179–183.

(2) Monstrelet, Chronicles I, trans. Johnes, pp. 486–487.

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 The Dual Monarchy

King Henry VI of England was now King Henri II of France. The Treaty of Troyes had united the crowns of England and France, creating the dual monarchy, one king, but two kingdoms. It was Henry V’s legacy to the son he had never seen. The concept would prove impossible to maintain after Henry V’s death. He might have managed it, but no one else could.

Henry V’s second legacy to his son was the crippling cost of the war in France to establish the dual monarchy.  Henry V was massively in debt when he died, and Henry VI inherited a burden he would never be free of.

The crown’s income, from Parliamentary taxation, customs duties, and the royal demesne, including the Duchy of Lancaster, came nowhere near meeting the expenditure on a war not just of conquest but also of occupation.

The Duke of Bedford summoned the parlement of Paris in November 1422 and required its members to swear an oath to keep the peace and to acknowledge Henry VI as King of France. He reminded the assembly that the Dauphin Charles had no right to the throne: he had been disinherited because he was responsible for the murder of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1).

Bedford decreed that anyone who opposed the dual monarchy and supported the Dauphin Charles was to be referred to as an ‘Armagnac’ and not as French. Good Frenchmen were now Henry VI’s subjects.  The term ‘Armagnacs’ is used frequently in the English chronicles to denote the enemy (2).

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(1) L&P I, pp. lxxvii–lxxx. (parlement of Paris).

(2) BL. Birch MS 4101 ff 65–69 printed in B. J. H. Rowe, ‘Discipline in Norman Garrisons,’ English Historical Review XLVIX, (1931), pp. 201–06; p. 205 for the Armagnacs.

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The Duchy of Normandy

Normandy was to have been reunited with the crown of France when Henry V became king, but his premature death changed the political situation and made Normandy a special case. The duchy was Henry V’s personal possession, and on his deathbed Henry had insisted that Bedford must hold Normandy at all costs.  It was a fatal bequest.

The Grand Conseil

Bedford as Regent of France ruled Lancastrian France outside the Duchy of Normandy through the Grand Conseil in Paris made up of French and Burgundian officials inherited from the regime of King Charles VI and Henry V as Regent. Bedford’s own officials gradually filled places on the Grand Conseil. Decisions were made by the councillors but dictated by Bedford (1). Louis of Luxembourg, Bishop of Thérouanne became Bedford’s chancellor in 1425.  

(1) B. J. H Rowe, ‘The Grand Conseil under the Duke of Bedford 1422-35’ in Oxford Essays in Medieval History presented to H. E. Salter, (1934)  pp. 207-234

King Henry V’s Prisoners

Four French nobles, captured at Agincourt in 1415 were prisoners in England when King Henry V died. The English Exchequer contributed to their keep, and their councillors, retainers, and servants received safe conducts to visit them bringing money, goods and news from France (1).

See Year 1423: Henry V, Prisoners.

                          (1) Wylie & Waugh III, p. 39, n. 1 and the references given there.

Charles Duke of Orleans was the most valuable of Henry V’s captives. He was the Dauphin Charles’s first cousin and heir presumptive.  Henry V left instructions in his will that Orleans was not to be released until Henry VI came of age.

John of Angoulême was Orleans’s younger brother. He was a hostage, not a prisoner of war. He had been a captive in England since the age of twelve. In 1412 Orleans had pledged Angoulême as security for a debt owed to Thomas, Duke of Clarence.

See Year 1434: Sir Thomas Rempston.

Orleans failed, as he did all his life, to keep his promises of payment, and the unfortunate Angoulême remained in England for thirty-three years, until 1445.

In November 1422 William Baroguier, Angoulême’s esquire, received a safe conduct to travel to France on Angoulême’s behalf and in December 1422 safe conducts were issued for five of Angoulême’s servants to come to England (1).

(1) Foedera X, pp 260 (Angoulême’s servants). 

John, Duke of Bourbon, was the second most valuable prisoner after the Duke of Orleans. In December 1422 Sir Nicholas Montgomery was awarded £100 for Bourbon’s maintenance (1). A safe conduct for one month was issued on 23 December for John Fournier and Eustace de Montfornier, Bourbon’s secretary and three servants to come from Rouen with money and ‘horse furnishings’ (bonis et hernesiis) for the duke (2).

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(1) PPC III, p. 10 (payments for Bourbon).

(2) Foedera X, p. 262 (Bourbon’s servants).

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Charles d’Artois, Count of Eu, was the Duchess of Bourbon’s son by a previous marriage, making him the Duke of Bourbon’s stepson. Sir John Grey of Ruthvin captured Artois but was forced to sell him to Henry V as a royal prisoner. Grey received only 1,000 marks, ‘in part satisfaction of a larger sum granted by the king to Sir John Grey for the ransom of the Count of Ewe lately taken at Agincourt’ (1). Artois remained a prisoner until 1438.  

(1) Issues of the Exchequer, pp. 344–345 (payment to Grey). 

Louis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme was also claimed by Henry V as a royal prisoner. He addressed a petition to the Duke of Gloucester and the Council, probably during the second half of 1420 while Gloucester was Custodian of England, complaining of the conditions in which he was being held and asking to be allowed to return to France to raise his ransom or at least to send servants to his wife for money, as he was destitute (1). 

A safe conduct from 23 November 1422 until the following February was issued for Peter Gonzalles, John Leveille, and Peter Gervese with one servant to come to England to bring money, valuables, and ‘horse furnishings’ to Vendôme (2).

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(1) L&P II, ed. Stevenson, pp 377–384 (Vendôme’s petition).

(2) Foedera X, p. 263 (Vendôme’s servants).

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Jean d’Estouteville and Raoul de Gaucourt, had been in command at Harfleur when it fell to Henry V in 1415. They undertook to surrender themselves, which they did at Calais in November after the Battle of Agincourt (1).

Henry had them shipped to England and refused to set terms for their release: ‘their defiance of the king in holding Harfleur for so long against him would be neither forgiven nor forgotten’ (2).

Estouteville’s servants received a safe conduct to bring jewels, gold, and other goods to him between 4 November 1422 and Easter 1423 (3).

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(1) Barker, Agincourt, p. 368 (Estouteville and Gaucourt). 

(2) Barker, Agincourt, pp. 342 for the quote, and 370–372 for negotiations).

(3) Foedera X, p. 260 (Estouteville’s servants).

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Robert Scott, the lieutenant of the Tower, was paid £40 for the maintenance of less important French prisoners (1).

(1) PPC III, p. 11 (custody payment to Scott).

John de Braquemont

John de Braquemont was captured during the Duke of Bedford’s sea battle off Harfleur in 1416 and sent to the Tower (1). John was the son of Robert de Braquemont, Admiral of France who made his fortune in Spain, rising to become Admiral of Castile (2). John may have been born there which would account for his being described as Spanish.

Henry V had promised to hand John Braquemont over to John Robessart so that the latter could collect Braquemont’s ransom as payment for services rendered to the king.  John and Louis Robessart were Hainaulters in Henry V’s service. Henry made them Knights of the Garter and named Louis Robessart as an executor of his will. 

The Council ordered Robert Scott, the lieutenant of the Tower of London to release Louis de Braquemont, but the clerk who recorded the minutes of the 21 December meeting was seriously confused (3). There never was a Louis de Braquemont.

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(1) Wylie & Waugh, Henry V vol. III, p. 366 n. 6 (John de Braquemont captured).

(2) Sumption, Cursed Kings,  p. 554 (Robert de Braquemont).

(3) PPC III, p. 12 (release of Louis).

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Chrimes, S.B. and Brown, A.L., Select Documents of English Constitutional History 1307-1485  (1961)

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