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Henry VI ( December 6, 1421 - May 21/ 22 May, 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 (though with a Regent until 1437) and then from 1470 to 1471.
Henry was the only child and heir of King Henry V of England, therefore great things were expected of him from birth. He was born on December 6, 1421 at WindsorWindsor Castle is (along with Buckingham Palace in London and Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh) one of the principal official residences of the British monarch, who always stays there at Easter and during "Royal Ascot" week (in June) at the nearby Ascot Racec, but his father died when he was only a few months old. His mother, Catherine of ValoisCatherine of Valois ( 27 October 1401 3 January 1437) was the Queen consort of England from 1420 till 1422. Catherine (or Katherine) of Valois was the daughter of King Charles VI of France. She was born on October 27, 1401, in Paris. In 1420, she was give, was French and only twenty years old. Because of general suspicion of her nationality, she was prevented from having much to do with her son's upbringing, and regents ruled the kingdom on his behalf.
Henry's half-brothers, Edmund and JasperJasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford (ca 1431- December 1495) was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and the architect of his successful conquest of England and Wales in 1485. Jasper was the third son of Owen Tudor and the former queen Katherine of Valoi, the sons of his mother's second marriage, were later given earldoms, Edmund being the father of Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII of EnglandHenry VII ( January 28, 1457 April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland ( August 22, 1485 April 21, 1509), was the founder of the Tudor dynasty and is generally acknowledged as one of England's most successful kings. King of England, Lord of Irelan.
Henry was eventually crowned King of England in Westminster Abbeyexoskeleton formed by flying buttresses. The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster Westminster Abbey , a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral, is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English monarchs. It is located in on November 6, 1429 at the age of eight, and King of France at Notre Dame in Paris on December 16, 1431. However he did not assume the reins of government until he was declared of age in 1437 — the year in which his mother died.
Early in the child king's reign, the most powerful of the regents were his uncles, John, Duke of Bedford and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. The former died in 1435; the latter was disgraced, accused of treason and probably murdered in 1447.
As a result of his successes in the Hundred Years' War, Henry V had left England in possession of considerable territories in France, but the momentum was lost on his death. While Henry VI was still a child, much of the ground his father gained was lost. A revival of French fortunes, beginning with the military victories of Joan of Arc, led to the repudiation of Henry's title to rule France, and the crowning of the French dauphin at Reims. Diplomatic errors as well as military failures resulted in the loss of most of the English territories in France. On gaining his majority, Henry VI proved to be a deeply spiritual man, lacking the worldly wisdom necessary to allow him to rule effectively. His wife, Margaret of Anjou, whom he married in 1445, was far more capable. By the time of the birth of their first and only child, Edward Prince of Wales, in 1453, the king had suffered a mental breakdown, and it was rumoured by enemies that the child was not his.
Disaffected nobles who had grown in power during Henry's reign took matters into their own hands by backing the claims of the rival House of York, first to the Regency, and then to the throne itself. After a violent struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York, (see Wars of the Roses), Henry was deposed on March 4, 1461 by his cousin, who became King Edward IV of England.
Queen Margaret was determined to win back the throne on behalf of her husband and son, and eventually formed an alliance with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, who had fallen out with the new king. After marrying off his daughter to the Prince of Wales, Warwick returned to England, defeated the Yorkists in battle, and restored Henry VI to the throne on October 30, 1470. His return to power lasted a very short time. Warwick overreached himself by declaring war on Burgundy, whose ruler responded by giving Edward IV the assistance he needed to win back his throne by force. The Prince of Wales was killed at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471.
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