Henry V of England Henry V ( 16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422 ) was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422 . He was the second English monarch who came from the House of Lancaster . After military experience fighting various lords who rebelled against his father , Henry IV , Henry came into political conflict with the increasingly ill king . After his father ' s death , Henry rapidly assumed control of the country and embarked on war with France in the ongoing Hundred Years ' War ( 1337 to 1453 ) between the two nations . His military successes culminated in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt and saw him come close to conquering France . After months of negotiation with Charles VI of France , the Treaty of Troyes recognized Henry V as regent and heir - apparent to the French throne , and he was subsequently married to Charles ' s daughter , Catherine of Valois . Following Henry V ' s sudden and unexpected death in France , he was succeeded by his infant son , who reigned as Henry VI . Henry features in three plays by William Shakespeare . He is shown as a young scapegrace who redeems himself in battle in the two Henry IV plays and as a decisive leader in " Henry V " . Early life . Henry was born in the tower above the gatehouse of Monmouth Castle ( and for that reason was sometimes called Henry of Monmouth ) . He was the son of Henry of Bolingbroke , later Henry IV , and sixteen - year - old Mary de Bohun . He was also the grandson of the influential John of Gaunt and great - grandson of Edward III of England . At the time of his birth , Richard II , his cousin once removed , was king . As he was not close to the line of succession to the throne , Henry ' s date of birth was not officially documented . His grandfather , John of Gaunt , was the guardian of the king at that time . Two birth dates are suggested : 9 August or 16 September , in either 1386 or 1387 . Upon the exile of Henry ' s father in 1398 , Richard II took the boy into his own charge and treated him kindly . The young Henry accompanied King Richard to Ireland , and while in the royal service , he visited Trim Castle in County Meath , the ancient meeting place of the Irish Parliament . In 1399 , Henry ' s grandfather died . The same year King Richard II was overthrown by the Lancastrian usurpation that brought Henry ' s father to the throne , and Henry was recalled from Ireland into prominence as heir apparent to the Kingdom of England . He was created Prince of Wales at his father ' s coronation , and Duke of Lancaster on 10 November 1399 , the third person to hold the title that year . His other titles were Duke of Cornwall , Earl of Chester , and Duke of Aquitaine . A contemporary record notes that during that year Henry spent time at The Queen ' s College , Oxford , under the care of his uncle Henry Beaufort , the Chancellor of the university . From 1400 to 1404 , he carried out the duties of High Sheriff of Cornwall . Less than three years later , Henry was in command of part of the English forces — he led his own army into Wales against Owain Glyndŵr and joined forces with his father to fight Harry Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury in 1403 . It was there that the sixteen - year - old prince was almost killed by an arrow that became stuck in his face . An ordinary soldier might have died from such a wound , but Henry had the benefit of the best possible care . Over a period of several days , John Bradmore , the royal physician , treated the wound with honey to act as an antiseptic , crafted a tool to screw into the broken arrow shaft and thus extract the arrow without doing further damage , and then flushed the wound with alcohol . The operation was successful , but it left Henry with permanent scars , evidence of his experience in battle . For eighteen months , in 1410 – 11 , Henry was in control of the country during his father ' s ill health , and he took full advantage of the opportunity to impose his own policies , but when the king recovered , he reversed most of these and dismissed the prince from his council . Role in government and conflict with Henry IV . The Welsh revolt of Owain Glyndŵr absorbed Henry ' s energies until 1408 . Then , as a result of the king ' s ill health , Henry began to take a wider share in politics . From January 1410 , helped by his uncles Henry and Thomas Beaufort – legitimated sons of John of Gaunt – he had practical control of the government . Both in foreign and domestic policy he differed from the king , who in November 1411 discharged the prince from the council . The quarrel of father and son was political only , though it is probable that the Beauforts had discussed the abdication of Henry IV , and their opponents certainly endeavoured to defame the prince . Supposed riotous youth . It may be that the tradition of Henry ' s riotous youth , immortalised by Shakespeare , is partly due to political enmity . Henry ' s record of involvement in war and politics , even in his youth , disproves this tradition . The most famous incident , his quarrel with the chief justice , has no contemporary authority and was first related by Sir Thomas Elyot in 1531 . The story of Falstaff originated in Henry ' s early friendship with Sir John Oldcastle , a supporter of the Lollards . Shakespeare ' s Falstaff was originally named " Oldcastle " , following his main source , " The Famous Victories of Henry V " . However , his descendants objected , and the name was changed ( the character became a composite of several real persons , including Sir John Fastolf ) . That friendship , and the prince ' s political opposition to Thomas Arundel , Archbishop of Canterbury , perhaps encouraged Lollard hopes . If so , their disappointment may account for the statements of ecclesiastical writers like Thomas Walsingham that Henry , on becoming king , was suddenly changed into a new man . Accession to the throne . After Henry IV died on 20 March 1413 , Henry V succeeded him and was crowned on 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey . The ceremony was marked by a terrible snowstorm , but the common people were undecided as to whether it was a good or bad omen . Henry was described as having been " very tall ( 6ft 3 in ) , slim , with dark hair cropped in a ring above the ears , and clean - shaven " . His complexion was ruddy , the face lean with a prominent and pointed nose . Depending on his mood , his eyes " flashed from the mildness of a dove ' s to the brilliance of a lion ' s " . Domestic policy . Henry tackled all of the domestic policies together and gradually built on them a wider policy . From the first , he made it clear that he would rule England as the head of a united nation . On the one hand , he let past differences be forgotten – the late Richard II was honourably re - interred ; the young Mortimer was taken into favour ; the heirs of those who had suffered in the last reign were restored gradually to their titles and estates . On the other hand , where Henry saw a grave domestic danger , he acted firmly and ruthlessly – such as the Lollard discontent in January 1414 , including the execution by burning of Henry ' s old friend Sir John Oldcastle , so as to " nip the movement in the bud " and make his own position as ruler secure . His reign was generally free from serious trouble at home . The exception was the Southampton Plot in favour of Mortimer , involving Henry Scrope , 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham and Richard , Earl of Cambridge ( grandfather of the future King Edward IV ) , in July 1415 . Starting in August 1417 , Henry V promoted the use of the English language in government , and his reign marks the appearance of Chancery Standard English as well as the adoption of English as the language of record within Government . He was the first king to use English in his personal correspondence since the Norman conquest , which had occurred 350 years earlier . Foreign affairs . Diplomacy . Henry could now turn his attention to foreign affairs . A writer of the next generation was the first to allege that Henry was encouraged by ecclesiastical statesmen to enter into the French war as a means of diverting attention from home troubles . This story seems to have no foundation . Old commercial disputes and the support the French had lent to Owain Glyndŵr were used as an excuse for war , while the disordered state of France afforded no security for peace . The French king , Charles VI , was prone to mental illness , at times he thought he was made of glass , and his eldest son was an unpromising prospect . However , it was the old dynastic claim to the throne of France , first pursued by Edward III , that justified war with France in English opinion . Following Agincourt , Hungarian King ( later Holy Roman Emperor 1433 – 37 ) Sigismund made a visit to Henry in hopes of making peace between England and France . His goal was to persuade Henry to modify his demands against the French . Henry lavishly entertained the emperor and even had him enrolled in the Order of the Garter . Sigismund , in turn , inducted Henry into the Order of the Dragon . Henry had intended to crusade for the order after uniting the English and French thrones , but he died before fulfilling his plans . Sigismund left England several months later , having signed the Treaty of Canterbury , acknowledging English claims to France . Campaigns in France . Henry may have regarded the assertion of his own claims as part of his royal duty , but in any case , a permanent settlement of the national debate was essential to the success of his foreign policy . 1415 campaign . On 11 August 1415 , Henry sailed for France , where his forces besieged the fortress at Harfleur , capturing it on 22 September . Afterwards , Henry decided to march with his army across the French countryside towards Calais , despite the warnings of his council . On 25 October 1415 , on the plains near the village of Agincourt , a French army intercepted his route . Despite his men - at - arms being exhausted , outnumbered and malnourished , Henry led his men into battle , decisively defeating the French , who suffered severe losses . It is often argued that the French men - at - arms were bogged down in the muddy battlefield , soaked from the previous night of heavy rain , and that this hindered the French advance , allowing them to be sitting targets for the flanking English and Welsh archers . Most were simply hacked to death while completely stuck in the deep mud . Nevertheless , the victory is seen as Henry ' s greatest , ranking alongside the battle of Poitiers . During the battle , Henry ordered that the French prisoners taken during the battle be put to death , including some of the most illustrious who could be used for ransom . Cambridge Historian Brett Tingley posits that Henry was concerned that the prisoners might turn on their captors when the English were busy repelling a third wave of enemy troops , thus jeopardising a hard - fought victory . The victorious conclusion of Agincourt , from the English viewpoint , was only the first step in the campaign to recover the French possessions that he felt belonged to the English crown . Agincourt also held out the promise that Henry ' s pretensions to the French throne might be realised . Diplomacy and command of the sea . Command of the sea was secured by driving the Genoese allies of the French out of the English Channel . While Henry was occupied with peace negotiations in 1416 , a French and Genoese fleet surrounded the harbour at the English - garrisoned Harfleur . A French land force also besieged the town . To relieve Harfleur , Henry sent his brother , John of Lancaster , the Duke of Bedford , who raised a fleet and set sail from Beachy Head on 14 August . The Franco - Genoese fleet was defeated the following day after a gruelling seven - hour battle , and Harfleur was relieved . Diplomacy successfully detached Emperor Sigismund from France , and the Treaty of Canterbury ( 1416 ) paved the way to end the schism in the Church . 1417 – 20 campaign . So , with those two potential enemies gone , and after two years of patient preparation following the Battle of Agincourt , Henry renewed the war on a larger scale in 1417 . Lower Normandy was quickly conquered , and Rouen was cut off from Paris and besieged . This siege cast an even darker shadow on the reputation of the king than his order to slay the French prisoners at Agincourt . Rouen , starving and unable to support the women and children of the town , forced them out through the gates believing that Henry would allow them to pass through his army unmolested . However , Henry refused to allow this , and the expelled women and children died of starvation in the ditches surrounding the town . The French were paralysed by the disputes between Burgundians and Armagnacs . Henry skilfully played them off one against the other , without relaxing his warlike approach . In January 1419 , Rouen fell . Those Norman French who had resisted were severely punished : Alain Blanchard , who had hanged English prisoners from the walls of Rouen , was summarily executed ; Robert de Livet , Canon of Rouen , who had excommunicated the English king , was packed off to England and imprisoned for five years . By August , the English were outside the walls of Paris . The intrigues of the French parties culminated in the assassination of John the Fearless by the Dauphin ' s partisans at Montereau ( 10 September 1419 ) . Philip the Good , the new Duke , and the French court threw themselves into Henry ' s arms . After six months of negotiation , the Treaty of Troyes recognised Henry as the heir and regent of France ( see English Kings of France ) , and on 2 June 1420 , he married Catherine of Valois , the French king ' s daughter . From June to July 1420 , Henry ' s army besieged and took the castle at Montereau . He besieged and captured Melun in November , returning to England shortly thereafter . 1421 campaign and death . On 10 June 1421 , Henry sailed back to France for what would be his last military campaign . From July to August , Henry ' s forces besieged and captured Dreux , thus relieving allied forces at Chartres . That October , his forces lay siege to Meaux , capturing it on 2 May 1422 . Henry V died suddenly on 31 August 1422 at the Château de Vincennes near Paris , apparently from dysentery , perhaps toxic megacolon , which he had contracted during the siege of Meaux . He was almost 36 years old . Shortly before his death , Henry V named his brother John , Duke of Bedford , regent of France in the name of his son Henry VI , then only a few months old . Henry V did not live to be crowned King of France himself , as he might confidently have expected after the Treaty of Troyes , because ironically , the sickly Charles VI , to whom he had been named heir , survived him by two months . Henry ' s comrade - in - arms and Lord Steward John Sutton , 1st Baron Dudley brought the body of King Henry home to England and bore the royal standard at his funeral . Henry V was buried in Westminster Abbey on 7 November 1422 . Arms . As Prince of Wales , Henry ' s arms were those of the kingdom , differenced by a label argent of three points . Upon his accession , he inherited use of the arms of the kingdom undifferenced . Marriage and ancestry . He married Catherine of Valois in 1420 , and their only child was Henry , who became Henry VI of England .