Henry (Lancaster) of England (1421 - abt. 1471)

Born 6 Dec 1421 in Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Anjou) England — married 23 Apr 1445 in Abbey of St. Mary, Titchfield, Hampshire

Died about 21 May 1471 at about age 49 in Tower of London, London, England

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Biography

Henry VI (Lancaster) of England is a member of the House of Lancaster.

Henry VI (Lancaster) of England is Notable.

Titles of Henry VI of England: (Royal Ancestry)

King of England - crowned at Westminster Abbey 6 November 1429

King of France - crowned at Notre Dame, Paris 16 December 1431

b. 06: Dec 1421 Windsor Castle^[1]

d. 21 May 1471 Tower of London^[1][2] age 49

bur. Chertsey.^[1]

reinterred: 1485 St George's Chapel

Capture and Imprisonment

Henry had been given shelter by Sir Richard Tempest, after the Battle of Hexham.[4] In July of 1465, his place of hiding was eventually disclosed by William Cantelowe, an Abingdon monk. Richard's brother, John, who was oblivious to the true identity of his brother's guest, having never met the King, himself, was surprised when the monk informed him that the guest was Henry VI.

Bringing along relatives Thomas, John, Richard, and Edmund Talbot, all from nearby Bashall and Salesbury, as well as the Yorkist knight Sir James Harrington, John confronted his brother's guest. A fight ensued, between John Tempest and Henry's faithful companion, John Tunstall, who defended the king.

Henry's small entourage managed to fight their way out of Waddington Hall, Tunstall possibly breaking John Tempest's arm in the process, but were all chased down, and captured, within hours. Henry was tied to his stirrups and led to London, where he would spend the next 5 years, as a prisoner, in the Tower of London. His captors were all well rewarded, including Henry's host, Richard Tempest. ^[3][4][5]

Death and burial

(Royal Ancestry) Henry VI of England, King of England died in the Tower of London 21 (or 22) May 1471. He was buried initially at Chertsey Abbey in Surrey. Later, when miracles occurred at his tomb, King Richard III had his remains removed to St. George's Chapel at Windsor in Berkshire.

(Royal Tombs of Medieval England) Henry VI died in the Tower of London soon after the battle of Tewksbury (21 May 1471), most likely murdered on the instructions of Edward IV.^[6] The following day his body was displayed at St. Paul's church and Blackfriars abbey in London 'opyn vysagid that he mygth be knowyn' and was observed to bleed on both occasions. On 23 May 1471 Henry was buried in the Lady Chapel of Cherstey Abbey, Surrey, a modest Benedictine house with no tradition of senior burial, close enough to Westminster but far enough away. Like other famous Medieval political casualties, Henry soon became the subject of a cult. Miracles were recorded at his grave, and in 1483 the Company of Mercers barred Chertsey as a place of Pilgrimage. On 12 August 1484 Richard III had Henry's remains translated to St. George's Chapel at Windsor, ironically the burial place of Edward IV.

Apparently the cult formed for Henry VI continued, with Henry VII having a particular interest in encouraging the Windsor cult, as Henry VI was his only blood link to the English crown. Henry's mother, Katherine de Valois, was also Henry VII's grandmother. In 1496 Henry VII began the construction of a new chapel at Windsor on the site of the thirteenth-century chapel of St. Edward to house the shrine of Henry VI and his own tomb. The following year, Henry VII's mother, Margaret Beaufort, proposed the foundation of her own chantry at Windsor. Henry VI's last surviving will, dated 1447, gives no instructions for his place of burial. In 1494 the Westminster abbot petitioned the Curia for the removal of Henry VI's remains to Westminster, describing Westminster as the royal mausoleum and referring to Henry VII's common lineage with Henry VI must have had the king's approval. And in 1498 the Westminster monks directed their petition to Henry VII. In 1498 the Privy Council approved to removal of Henry's VI's body to Westminster. But Henry VII's ambition to move Henry VI's body to Westminster was not approved by pope Julius II, and his body remained at Windsor, although Henry VII did have his own Westminster chapel built and a tomb for he and his wife installed there. But Henry VI continued to be a subject of veneration. In 1789 what may have been his coffin was unearthed at Windsor south of the high altar. And in 1910 what may have been the king's remains were found in a small box in a vault to the south of the Windsor high altar. The remains had been severely disturbed which may have happened when the king's remains were moved in 1484 when bones may have been stripped as cult relics. The remains were placed in a new coffin and reinterred. At present the black marble slab marking the grave of Henry VI at Windsor in the south choir aisle dates from 1790 and was placed in its present position in 1927.

Family

m. Margaret, Dau of Count of Anjou; Issue: 1 son

Titles

01 Sep 1422: Ascended English throne

06 Nov1429: Coronation and Ordination. Westminster Abbey age 7.

Dec 1431: Crowned Henri II of France. Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, age 10.

29 Mar 1461: Deposed - Battle of Towton

03 Oct 1471: Restored

Links

• Wikipedia: Henry VI of England

• BBC

• Britroyals.com

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ashley, Mike (2008). A Brief History of British Kings & Queens. Philadelphia: Running Press Book Publishers. Print.
2. ↑ Ashley: murdered.
3. ↑ A chronicle of the first thirteen years of the reign of King Edward the Fourth, p 5 [1]
4. ↑ "Townships: Salesbury," in A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 6, ed. William Farrer and J Brownbill (London: Victoria County History, 1911), 252-257. British History Online, accessed March 18, 2016, [2]
5. ↑ Henry VI, By Bertram Percy Wolffe, p 337 [3]
6. ↑ R. A. Griffiths. 'Henry VI (1421–1471)'. Published 28 May 2015, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. ODNB, oxforddnb.com. Accessed 10 December 2021

• Royal Ancestry D. Richardson 2013 Vol. III p. 516, and 530-533
• Royal Tombs of Medieval England M. Duffy 2003 p. 242-247

Stuart Roderick, W. Royalty for Commoners, 3rd Ed. Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc. Baltomore, MD. 1998,

Alison Weir, Britains Royal Family A Complete Genealogy 1999, ppg 41-44

See Also:

• Time Team, Season 11, Episode 1, "In Search of the Brigittine Abbey" Syon House, London