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Henry V of England Facts

Henry V of England Facts
Henry V was the King of England and Ireland from 1413-1422. Much of Henry's reign was occupied fighting the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) against France over English claims to the French throne. Henry was successful in many of his battles against France and took significant amounts of land, including Normandy, from the French. His success on the battlefield led Charles VI of France to accept Henry as his heir apparent, giving the English king his daughter to wed, but his untimely death dashed any hope of a unified English-French kingdom and restarted the Hundred Years' War. Henry was born on September 16, 1386 in Monmouth Castle, Wales to Henry Bolinbroke/Henry IV of England and Mary de Bohun. Henry's family was from the House of Lancaster, which was a branch of the House of Plantagenet.
Interesting Henry V of England Facts:
In 1399 King Henry II was overthrown by the Lancastrians, who installed Henry IV on the throne.
Henry V defeated Owen Glendower, the prince of Wales, in 1409.
After Henry IV died on March 20, 1413, Henry V was crowned king at Westminster Abby on April 9.
Henry was generally magnanimous toward his father's former enemies, but violently suppressed the Lollard movement. The Lollards were a pre-Protestant religious movement that questioned many of the tenets of the Catholic Church.
Henry renewed the Hundred Years' War due to Charles VI's mental instability.
Henry invaded France and claimed the kingship of France through his great grandfather, Edward III.
The highpoint of Henry V's reign was at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. Although Henry's army was severely outnumbered by the French, the English longbowmen carried the day for the English.
Henry had the French prisoners at Agincourt executed, which gave him a reputation for cruelty across Europe.
During his campaign in France from 1417-1420, Henry often sieged major cities but let differences and rivalries within the French camp to play out.
On May 22, 1420, Henry was recognized as the heir to the French throne in the Treaty of Troyes.
Henry married Catherine of Valois on June 2, 1420.
His height was listed at 6'3.
Catherine gave birth to their only child, Henry VI, the next king of England, on December 6, 1421.
Henry VI died while campaigning in France on August 31, 1422 at the age of thirty-five. The cause of his death is unknown, although most scholars believe it was either from dysentery or heat stroke.
Henry's body was returned to England and he was buried in Westminster Abby.
Henry's legacy is that of one of England's last true warrior kings. He had a aptitude for strategic thinking, was a good judge of character, and was particularly charismatic on the battlefield.
He had a number of scars on his face as the result of a near fatal arrow wound he sustained while campaigning in Wales.


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