1055 The House of Lancaster

http://www.projectbritain.com/monarchy/lancaster.html

The House of Lancaster
1399 - 1461, 1470 - 1471

• Henry IV 1399 - 1413
• Henry V 1413 - 1422
• Henry VI 1422 - 1461, 1470 - 1471

Henry IV 1399 - 1413

• Age 33-46
• Grandson of Edward III
• Born: April 4, 1366 at Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire 
  Parents: John of Gaunt (fourth son of Edward III) and Blanche of Lancaster
• Ascended to the throne: 30 September 1399
• Crowned: 13 October 1399 at Westminster Abbey
• Married: (1) Mary de Bohun, (2) Joan, Daughter of Charles II of Nararre
• Children: Five sons including Henry V, and two daughters
• Died: 20 March 1413 at Westminster
• Buried at: Canterbury
• Succeeded by: his son Henry V

King of England from 1399.

Henry came to the English throne by force. He made his cousin Richard ll, abdicate, and then seized the crown himself. This started a dispute between the House of Lancaster and the House of York. 

Henry's coronation on 13 October 1399 was the first occasion after the Norman Conquest when the monarch made an address in English.

1400 - Death of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer leaving The Canterbury Talesunfinished. 

Henry died of leprosy in 1413.

Henry V 1413 - 1422

• Age 26-35
• Born: 9 August or 16 September, in either 1386 or 1387 at Monmouth Castle, Wales 
• Parents: Henry IV and Mary de Bohun
• Ascended to the throne: 20 March 1413
• Crowned: 9 April 1413 at Westminster Abbey
• Married: Catherine de Valois (French)
• Children: One son Henry VI
• Died: 31 August 1422 at Vincennes, France, aged 35 years
• Buried at: Westminster
• Succeeded by: his son Henry VI

King of England

Henry was and is still, thanks to Shakespeare, the best known and most popular of all English Kings.

He was the first English king who could read and write easily in English.

Henry was 14 years old when he fought his first battle.

Perhaps he is best remembered for his victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt

Died at the age of 35 from dysentery

Henry’s son Henry 6th becomes King of England and France but he is only 9 months old. 

Henry VI 1422 - 1461, 1470 - 1471

• Age 1-40 (approx)
• Born: 6 December 1421 at Windsor Castle 
• Parents: Henry V amd Catherine of Valois
• Ascended to the throne: 1 September 1 1422
• Crowned: 6 November 1429 at Westminster Abbey. Also crowned Henri II of France, December 1431, Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris.
  Married: Margaret, Daughter of Count of Anjou
  Children: One son
  Died: 21 May 1471 at Tower of London (murdered), aged 49 years
  Buried at: Chertsey, reburied in 1485 when his body was moved to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
  Reigned for: 39 years. Deposed 4 March 1461, Restored 3 Oct 1470
  Succeeded by: his distant cousin Edward IV

Coming to the throne at the age of just 9 months old, Henry VI set a record (which still stands today) as the youngest ever king of England.

For the first twenty years of Henry's reign, it was his uncle's and other who governed for him in England and also France, which he had inherited under the treaty which his victorious father had made in 1420.

In 1422 Henry became King of France on the death of his maternal grandfather Charles 6th King of France.

The French disliked being ruled by England. In 1429, Joan of Arc, a French peasant girl, led the French armies to many victories against the English, before she was captured and charged for being a witch and burnt alive. Later she was made a saint and there is a statue of her in Winchester Cathedral.

By 1453, Henry had lost the English claim to all French soil except for Calais.

Henry was often very ill during his reign. In 1453, the king had a mental breakdown and Richard, Duke of York, was made protector. The king recovered in 1455, but civil war broke out between the Yorkist and Lancastrian factions. The ensuing struggle came to be known as the War of the Roses.

Edward IV is crowned King - Yorkist
The Duke of York was the main figure on the Yorkist side and Margaret, Henry's queen, took charge of the Lancastrian cause. In 1460, York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield but his son took up the fight, defeating the Lancastrians at Towton in 1461 and crowning himself Edward IV.

Henry VI is restored King - Lancastrian
Henry fled into exile, but returned and was captured by Edward in 1465. In 1470 Henry was restored to the throne.

Edward IV takes the crown again - Yorkist
Only a year later, Edward returned from exile and destroyed the Lancastrian forces at Tewkesbury in May 1471.

Shortly after the battle of Tewkesbury, Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London, by Edward (Edward IV).

Henry VI founded Eton College in 1440.