Malcolm Vale - Henry V: The Conscience of a King

HENRY V

Copyright 2016 Malcolm Vale

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Vale, M. G. A. (Malcolm Graham Allan), author.

Title: Henry V : the conscience of a king / Malcolm Vale.

Description: New Haven : Yale University Press, 2016.

LCCN 2016006349 | ISBN 9780300148732 (cloth : alk. paper)

LCSH: Henry V, King of England, 13871422. | Great BritainKings and rulersBiography. | Great BritainHistoryHenry V, 14131422.

Classification: LCC DA256 .V35 2016 | DDC 942.04/2092dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016006349

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To avoid the peril to conscience that might result from our giving, and he receiving, the said hospital unless the title was clear in law and conscience.

(Henry V, on the grant of the hospital of St Anthony, London, to William Kynwolmersh, at Mantes, 20 June 1419)

He is now at the final point and conclusion of his labours and, through Gods grace and the help of his allies and friends, shall soon bring his war to an end [and] what good and profit might arise if there were peace and rest among Christian princes

(Henry V, diplomatic instructions, at Saint-Faron-les-Meaux, 18 December 1421)

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

W hen first approached by a publisher and asked whether writing a book on Henry V would be an attractive proposition, my initial reaction was distinctly negative. Given the nature and extent of the existing literature, it seemed that yet another Life of would be surplus to requirements. Had everything not already been said about the king and his reign? And was a biography of a medieval ruler actually achievable in any case? But, on reflection, it occurred to me that a rather different approach to the subject might yield fruit. One problem of medieval biography lies in the difficulty of penetrating the layers of, on the one hand, eulogy and near-hagiography and, on the other, of criticism and denigration, produced by contemporary writers. While the accounts, views and opinions of chroniclers, annalists, moralists and others can never be completely ignored, their testimony can often tell us as much about them as about their subject.

I decided to look elsewhere in a search for reliable evidence that might give us access to Henry Vs thoughts, attitudes, aims and motivations. In many ways he embodied, as well as exercised, what might be called the conscience of kingship hence my subtitle. It has recently been argued If so, then a prince actively engaged in the decision-making process, as Henry V clearly was, might provide us with a good test case. To discover how and why that conscience operated, or failed to operate, and what may have lain behind the decisions he took, there is no alternative but to return to the original sources. No historical source can ever be entirely objective, but the surviving archival and documentary material, partial and incomplete as it often is, does at least possess a certain neutrality, or absence of evident prejudice, bias or distortion. So my initial lack of enthusiasm has been overcome by the decision to attempt a study of Henry V drawing largely upon the archival evidence (which is reasonably extensive) for his own personal involvement and intervention in matters both public and private. How successful I have been must be left to the reader to judge.

My first acknowledgement must therefore be to Heather McCallum, of Yale University Press, for commissioning the book, and accepting that it would take a form that did not correspond to what was at first envisaged. I am also very grateful for the support of many colleagues, and for their expressions of interest, sometimes leading to invitations to talk about Henry V to groups of scholars, students and members of the general public. In this latter respect I am especially indebted to Rowena Archer, Brigitte Bedos-Rezak, Hugh Doherty, Nicholas Vincent, John Pitcher, Mark Whittow and Hannes Kleineke. For very useful references and generous giving of their time, I am indebted to Hannah Skoda, Michael Tait, Julian Gardner, Patrick Lantschner and Adrian Ailes. Institutional support has come from my College, St Johns, Oxford, whose Governing Body elected me, in retirement, to an Emeritus Research Fellowship. The staffs of The National Archives, Kew; the British Library; the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the Guildhall Library; Eton College Library and Archives; and the Westminster Abbey Muniments, have been unfailingly helpful. Moral support, as well as constructive comment, has been provided by Anne Wheeler and Timothy Vale. Kind friends and colleagues have saved me from making slips and mistakes, but for any errors that remain, I am entirely responsible.

J. Catto, The Burden and Conscience of Government in the Fifteenth Century, TRHS, 17 (2007), p. 84.

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