Henry V

Victor of the Battle of Agincourt; the English king who nearly won the French crown.

Life

Boy shogun

Henry V was the son of Henry IV of the House of Lancaster. As a youth he fought in campaigns to suppress rebellions and was once struck in the face by an arrow. He took the throne in 1413.

Agincourt

In 1415 he reopened the Hundred Years' War. After taking Harfleur, he relied mainly on longbowmen at Agincourt to crush a numerically superior French army. He then conquered Normandy, and in 1420 signed the Treaty of Troyes, marrying the French king's daughter Catherine and being named heir to the French throne.

Treaty of Troyes

In 1422 he died of illness in France at only 35; his son Henry VI, not yet a year old, inherited the thrones of both England and France.

Legacy

Henry V is a hero king in the eyes of the English, and William Shakespeare's history play Henry V made his image deeply familiar to the public.

Did you know? His early death ultimately led to England losing the Hundred Years' War.

Key dates

• 1413Accession
• 1415Battle of Agincourt
• 1419Takes Rouen; conquers Normandy
• 1420Treaty of Troyes
• 1422Dies of illness in France