ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Henry VI Crowned King: The Nine Month Old King of England

Updated on November 6, 2013
Henry VI is the youngest king that England and the United Kingdom have every seen.
Henry VI is the youngest king that England and the United Kingdom have every seen.

Henry of Windsor was the only child of Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois. He was just nine months old when he came to the throne on August 31, 1422, after his father’s death and was named Henry VI of England. However, it would take another seven years for his coronation, which took place on November 6, 1429.

Henry VI: The Youngest King of England

By 1422, there had been a few child kings but no-one as young as Henry VI. It was unprecedented and clearly a dangerous and worrying situation for the people of England. In fact, Henry VI remains to be the youngest king that England, and Great Britain, has ever had. Just a month after his father’s death, Henry soon found himself King of France, too. His grandfather, Charles VI’s died and it was stated in the Treaty of Troyes upon the betrothal of Henry V and Catherine that Henry V would become king. Of course, with Henry V dead, that led to his son’s right.

Henry VI’s reign in France was disputed and if you look at the records for his successor, Charles VII, you will notice the same start date for the reign. England was in the middle of the Hundred Year’s War at this point, which explains the dispute. This is all for another article though!

As a nine month old, Henry wasn’t in any position to be able to make any decisions. He could barely walk, let alone talk and do the best for his country! That power was passed to his Protector, John, Duke of Bedford. John was one of the brothers of Henry V. However, John was in France for much of the time and England needed a protector. That fell into the hands of another brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. All that Humphrey could do was summon parliament and make sure that there remained peace in England.

The English nobles didn't like Charles VII being crowned King of France
The English nobles didn't like Charles VII being crowned King of France

Reaction to Charles VII’s Coronation

Charles VII was crowned King of France on July 17, 1429. Parliament needed to do something against this: it was Henry’s rightful claim according to them. However, the boy king hadn’t even been crowned monarch of his own country! That needed to be done right away and the ceremony took place at Westminster Abbey on November 6, 1429; with his coronation as King of France at Notre Dame on December 16 two years later.

The coronation was just a symbolic sign that Henry VI was now King of England. He was still too young to rule in his own right and he didn’t even get any say in the decisions that were made. It was just before he turned 16, on November 13, 1437, that Henry finally took some control of his own country. But it was clear from early on that he wanted to make the decisions.

Was Henry VI Rightfully King of France?

See results

Henry VI Takes Control of His Own Country

Henry VI finally took full control on his 16th birthday. He made the decision to make his most important nobles those who clashed over their views on the war with France. This was the Hundred Year’s War—although it had continued for more than 100 years. It was started long before Henry VI’s reign and he was picking up the mess that his father had started up again. However, Henry was quite a pious and shy man who didn’t like the bloodshed. He wanted to bring peace between the two warring countries.

Among those who wanted the war to continue was Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York. It wasn’t just this but it partially led to the Wars of the Roses as Richard fought for his son, Edward, to gain the throne. It didn’t help that peace with France meant that Henry VI would marry Margaret of Anjou, which meant that the lands of Anjou and Maine would be handed to Charles VII of France. This was hugely unpopular, especially with the Duke of York, and he did what he thought was the best for the English people.

Learn More About Henry VI's Reign

Edward IV took the throne from Henry VI thanks to his father, Richard, Duke of York.
Edward IV took the throne from Henry VI thanks to his father, Richard, Duke of York.

Henry VI’s coronation took seven years from him being named King of England. It may have taken longer had Charles VII not been crowned King of France in 1429. However, that coronation brought Henry VI to become ruler in his own right, unpopular decisions and the Wars of the Roses. England would never be the same again and would find itself in a variety of wars that would last decades.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)