The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI

Johnson (So Great a Prince) seeks to reclaim the unhappy Lancastrian king from the “simple saint” myth with a thorough examination of his difficult circumstances and his pious, peace-oriented personality. The early death of warrior-king Henry V left an infant with a claim to both the English and French thrones and substantial French holdings, but the gentle, insecure Henry VI ultimately lost everything. Surrounded by such strong-willed figures as Richard, Duke of York, who dominated his life, and the queen, Margaret of Anjou, who tried to save him, Henry’s cowed reaction to family infighting, significant personal losses, and his own inadequacies doomed him to failure, forcing him to eventually renounce his son’s claim with the Act of Accord in favor of Yorkist Edward IV. Johnson allows for a bit of fun with the multiple English monarchs (including Richard III and Henry VII), showing how closely intertwined these warring factions actually were. This dense exploration of Henry’s boyhood shows how his passive personality and bouts of psychosis (during which his wife, a stronger ruler, stepped in) led to his making disastrous decisions. Johnson’s intense look at the earthly failures that defined Henry VI’s unpopular reign—and the transformation of a medieval king’s fatal flaws into the basis for a devoted posthumous following—is a treat for committed Anglophiles. (May)