Henry VI of England

Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and claimant to the French throne from 1422 to 1453 under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes. He became king of England at the age of nine months, following the death of his father, Henry V, and inherited the French claim upon the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI of France.

Henry VI's claim to the French throne was increasingly challenged during the later stages of the Hundred Years' War, and by 1453 English authority there had collapsed entirely. His reign in England was marked by weak royal authority, factional conflict among the nobility, and a prolonged period of mental incapacity beginning in 1453, which contributed significantly to political instability and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry was born during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). He is the only English monarch to have been crowned King of France, following his coronation at Notre-Dame de Paris in 1431 as Henry II. His early reign, when England was ruled by a regency government, saw the pinnacle of English power in France. However, setbacks followed once he assumed full control in 1437. The young king faced military reversals in France, as well as political and financial crises in England, where divisions among the nobility in his government began to widen. His reign saw the near total loss of English lands in France.

In contrast to his father, Henry VI was described as timid, passive, benevolent and averse to warfare and violence. In 1445, Henry married Charles VII's niece Margaret of Anjou in the hope of achieving peace. However, the peace policy failed and war recommenced. By 1453, Calais was the only English-governed territory on the continent. Henry's domestic popularity declined in the 1440s, and political unrest in England grew as a result. Because of military defeats and political crises, Henry suffered a mental breakdown in 1453, triggering a power struggle between the royal family; Richard, 3rd Duke of York; Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset; and Queen Margaret. Civil war broke out in 1455, leading to a long period of dynastic conflict known as the Wars of the Roses (1455–1487).