Henry V, king of England: Early Life

Henry was probably brought up under the care of his uncle, Henry Beaufort. He was knighted by Richard II in 1399 and created prince of Wales when his father usurped the throne in the same year. With his father, with Sir Henry Percy, and later by himself, he led armies against Owen Glendower in Wales and there gained valuable military and administrative experience. Although wounded, he figured largely in the royal victory over the Percys at Shrewsbury (1403).

Henry began (c.1409) to work actively in the privy council, which he and his friends dominated in 1410–11. In favoring the Burgundians rather than the Armagnacs in France (see Armagnacs and Burgundians), he disagreed with the king, and a suggestion by his followers that he should succeed immediately to his father's throne led to his dismissal from the council (1411). He became king, however, upon his father's death in 1413.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Character and Legacy
• Reign
• Early Life
• Bibliography

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