Henry VI of England
Legacy
Legacy
------

Overall, Henry VI is largely seen as a weak, inept king, who did nothing to ease the [Wars of the Roses](/wiki/Wars_of_the_Roses "Wars of the Roses"). He is widely believed to have favoured diplomacy, rather than all\-out war in the [Hundred Years' War](/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_War "Hundred Years' War"), in stark contrast to his father, [Henry V](/wiki/Henry_V_of_England "Henry V of England"), who led the victory at [Agincourt](/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt "Battle of Agincourt"). This allowed Henry to be heavily influenced by many nobles, such as [William de la Pole](/wiki/William_de_la_Pole%2C_1st_Duke_of_Suffolk "William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk"), who oversaw significant English losses in France, such as the [Siege of Orléans](/wiki/Siege_of_Orl%C3%A9ans "Siege of Orléans"). On the other hand, many historians see Henry as a pious, generous king, who was victim of an unstable crown, caused by the deposition of [Richard II](/wiki/Richard_II_of_England "Richard II of England"). John Blacman, personal chaplain of Henry, described the king as a man without "any crook or uncouth."[right\|thumb\|16th\-century portrait of Henry ([National Portrait Gallery, London](/wiki/National_Portrait_Gallery%2C_London "National Portrait Gallery, London"))](/wiki/File:King_Henry_VI_from_NPG_%282%29.jpg "King Henry VI from NPG (2).jpg")

### Architecture and education

[thumb\|upright 1\.2\|[King's College Chapel, Cambridge](/wiki/King%27s_College_Chapel%2C_Cambridge "King's College Chapel, Cambridge")](/wiki/File:20130808_Kings_College_Chapel_01.jpg "20130808 Kings College Chapel 01.jpg")

Henry's one lasting achievement was his fostering of education: he founded [Eton College](/wiki/Eton_College "Eton College"); [King's College, Cambridge](/wiki/King%27s_College%2C_Cambridge "King's College, Cambridge"); and [All Souls College, Oxford](/wiki/All_Souls_College%2C_Oxford "All Souls College, Oxford"). He continued a career of architectural patronage started by his father: King's College Chapel and [Eton College Chapel](/wiki/Eton_College_Chapel "Eton College Chapel") and most of his other architectural commissions (such as his completion of his father's foundation of [Syon Abbey](/wiki/Syon_Abbey "Syon Abbey")) consisted of a late [Gothic](/wiki/Gothic_architecture "Gothic architecture") or [Perpendicular](/wiki/Perpendicular_Gothic "Perpendicular Gothic")\-style church with a monastic or educational foundation attached. Each year on the anniversary of Henry VI's death, the Provosts of Eton and King's lay white lilies and roses, the respective floral emblems of those colleges, on the spot in the Wakefield Tower at the Tower of London where the imprisoned Henry VI was, according to tradition, murdered as he knelt at prayer. There is a similar ceremony at his resting place, St George's Chapel.

### Posthumous cult

[Miracles](/wiki/Miracle "Miracle") were attributed to Henry, and he was informally regarded as a [saint](/wiki/Saint "Saint") and [martyr](/wiki/Martyr "Martyr"), addressed particularly in cases of adversity. The anti\-Yorkist cult was encouraged by [Henry VII of England](/wiki/Henry_VII_of_England "Henry VII of England") as dynastic propaganda. A volume was compiled of the miracles attributed to him at St George's Chapel, Windsor, where Richard III had reinterred him, and Henry VII began building a chapel at Westminster Abbey to house Henry VI's relics. A number of Henry VI's miracles possessed a political dimension, such as [his cure](/wiki/Royal_touch "Royal touch") of a young girl afflicted with the [King's evil](/wiki/King%27s_evil "King's evil"), whose parents refused to bring her to the usurper, Richard III. By the time of [Henry VIII](/wiki/Henry_VIII "Henry VIII")'s [break with Rome](/wiki/English_Reformation "English Reformation"), [canonisation](/wiki/Canonisation "Canonisation") proceedings were under way. Hymns to him still exist, and until the [Reformation](/wiki/Reformation "Reformation") his hat was kept by his tomb at [Windsor](/wiki/Windsor%2C_Berkshire "Windsor, Berkshire"), where pilgrims would put it on to enlist Henry's aid against migraines.

Numerous miracles were credited to the dead king, including his raising the plague victim Alice Newnett from the dead and appearing to her as she was being stitched in her shroud. He also intervened in the attempted hanging of a man who had been unjustly condemned to death, accused of stealing some sheep. Henry placed his hand between the rope and the man's windpipe, thus keeping him alive, after which he was revived in the cart as it was taking him away for burial. He was also capable of inflicting harm, such as when he struck John Robyns blind after Robyns cursed "Saint Henry". Robyns was healed only after he went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of King Henry. A particular devotional act that was closely associated with the cult of Henry VI was the bending of a silver coin as an offering to the "saint" so that he might perform a miracle. One story had a woman, Katherine Bailey, who was blind in one eye. As she was kneeling at mass, a stranger told her to bend a coin to King Henry. She promised to do so, and as the priest was raising the communion host, her partial blindness was cured.

Although Henry VI's shrine was enormously popular as a pilgrimage destination during the early decades of the 16th century, over time, with the lessened need to legitimise Tudor rule, his cult faded.

### In culture

[thumb\|First page of *The first Part of Henry the Sixth* from the *[First Folio](/wiki/First_Folio "First Folio")* (1623\)](/wiki/File:First-page-first-folio-1henry6.jpg "First-page-first-folio-1henry6.jpg")

William Shakespeare and possibly others completed the Henry VI trilogy around 1593, roughly 121 years after the real monarch's death. The period of history covered in the plays was between the funeral of Henry V (1422\) to the [Battle of Tewkesbury](/wiki/Battle_of_Tewkesbury "Battle of Tewkesbury") (1471\).

Though modern scholars are more interested in the context that the Henry VI trilogy paved for the more popular play [*Richard III*](/wiki/Richard_III_%28play%29 "Richard III (play)"), it was very popular during Elizabethan times. Rather than being representative of the historical events or the actual life and temperament of Henry VI himself, the Shakespearean plays are more representative of the pivotal political situation in England at that time: international war in the form of the Hundred Years' War, and civil strife in the form of the War of the Roses.

Shakespeare's portrayal of Henry is notable in that it does not mention the King's madness. This is considered to have been a politically advisable move to not risk offending [Elizabeth I](/wiki/Elizabeth_I "Elizabeth I") whose family was descended from Henry's Lancastrian family. Instead, Henry is portrayed as a pious and peaceful man ill\-suited to the crown. He spends most of his time in contemplation of the [Bible](/wiki/Bible "Bible") and expressing his wish to be anyone other than a king. Shakespeare's Henry is weak\-willed and easily influenced allowing his policies to be led by Margaret and her allies, and being unable to defend himself against York's claim to the throne. He takes an act of his own volition only just before his death when he curses Richard of Gloucester just before he is murdered.( Shakespeare, William: Henry VI, Part III Act 5, scene 6\)

There have been [many adaptations of *Richard III* in film](/wiki/Films_based_on_Richard_III_%28play%29 "Films based on Richard III (play)"), which include the bulk of Henry VI's cultural appearances in modern times. In screen adaptations of these plays Henry has been portrayed by: James Berry in the 1911 silent short *Richard III*; [Miles Mander](/wiki/Miles_Mander "Miles Mander") portrayed Henry VI in *[Tower of London](/wiki/Tower_of_London_%281939_film%29 "Tower of London (1939 film)")*, a 1939 historical film loosely dramatising the rise to power of Richard III;Nollen, Scott Allen. *Boris Karloff : a critical account of his screen, stage, radio, television, and recording work*. Jefferson, NC: McFarland \& Co., 2008\.  (p. 181\) [Terry Scully](/wiki/Terry_Scully "Terry Scully") in the 1960 [BBC](/wiki/BBC "BBC") series *[An Age of Kings](/wiki/An_Age_of_Kings "An Age of Kings")* which contained all the history plays from *Richard II* to *Richard III*; [Carl Wery](/wiki/Carl_Wery "Carl Wery") in the 1964 West German TV version *König Richard III*; [David Warner](/wiki/David_Warner_%28actor%29 "David Warner (actor)") in *[The Wars of the Roses](/wiki/The_Wars_of_the_Roses_%28adaptation%29 "The Wars of the Roses (adaptation)")*, a 1965–66 filmed version of the [Royal Shakespeare Company](/wiki/Royal_Shakespeare_Company "Royal Shakespeare Company") performing the three parts of *Henry VI* (condensed and edited into two plays, *Henry VI* and *Edward IV*) and *Richard III*; [Peter Benson](/wiki/Peter_Benson_%28actor%29 "Peter Benson (actor)") in the 1983 [BBC](/wiki/BBC_Television_Shakespeare "BBC Television Shakespeare") versions of *Henry VI* part 1, 2, and 3 as well as *Richard III*; Paul Brennen in the 1989 film version of the full cycle of consecutive history plays performed, for several years, by the [English Shakespeare Company](/wiki/English_Shakespeare_Company "English Shakespeare Company"); [Edward Jewesbury](/wiki/Edward_Jewesbury "Edward Jewesbury") in the 1995 film version of *[Richard III](/wiki/Richard_III_%281995_film%29 "Richard III (1995 film)")* with [Ian McKellen](/wiki/Ian_McKellen "Ian McKellen") as Richard; James Dalesandro as Henry in the 2007 modern\-day film version of *[Richard III](/wiki/Richard_III_%282007_film%29 "Richard III (2007 film)")*; and [Tom Sturridge](/wiki/Tom_Sturridge "Tom Sturridge") as Henry to [Benedict Cumberbatch](/wiki/Benedict_Cumberbatch "Benedict Cumberbatch")'s Richard III in the 2016 second season of the BBC series [*The Hollow Crown*](/wiki/The_Hollow_Crown_%28TV_series%29 "The Hollow Crown (TV series)"), an adaptation of *Henry VI* (condensed into two parts) and *Richard III*.

Henry VI's marriage to Margaret of Anjou is the subject of the historical novel *A Stormy Life* (1867\) by [Lady Georgiana Fullerton](/wiki/Lady_Georgiana_Fullerton "Lady Georgiana Fullerton").McGarry, Daniel D., White, Sarah Harriman, *Historical Fiction Guide: Annotated Chronological, Geographical, and Topical List of Five Thousand Selected Historical Novels.* Scarecrow Press, New York, 1963 (pp. 76, 78, 80\). The novel *The Triple Crown* (1912\) by Rose Schuster focuses on Henry's insanity. The novel *London Bridge Is Falling* (1934\) by [Philip Lindsay](/wiki/Philip_Lindsay "Philip Lindsay") depicts Henry's response to [Jack Cade's Rebellion](/wiki/Jack_Cade%27s_Rebellion "Jack Cade's Rebellion"). Henry VI also features in the short story "The Duchess and the Doll" (1950\) by [Edith Pargeter](/wiki/Edith_Pargeter "Edith Pargeter").Burgess, Michael, and Vassilakos, Jill H. *Murder in Retrospect: A Selective Guide to Historical Mystery Fiction* Westport, Conn; Libraries Unlimited, 2005\.  (p. 7\)


What are some historical novels about Henry VI?