of Henry VI. and Edward IV.;
Henry's own reign was a troubled one; wars were successfully undertaken
against the Welsh under Owen Glendower and against the Scotch; while
rebellion was raised by the Percies in unsuccessful attempts to win the
crown for Mortimer; the only law of importance passed was the statute for
burning heretics, the first passed in England for the suppression of
religious opinion (1366-1413).

HENRY V., king of England from 1413 to 1422, son of preceding, born
at Monmouth; during the wars of his father's reign he gave evidence of
his abilities as a soldier, distinguishing himself specially by his
conquest of Wales; on his accession to the throne he renewed the claims
put forward by Edward III. to the French crown, and with the support of
his people embarked on his great struggle to win the kingdom of France;
in 1415 he gained the glorious victory of Agincourt, strengthened his
position by confirmed military successes, and by marrying Catherine,
daughter of the French king, and by the treaty of Troyes got himself
appointed regent of France and successor to the throne; he was idolised
by his people as the perfect pattern of a warrior king, but he had
neither the gifts of statesmanship nor the foresight of Edward I., to
whom he is compared, and the English dominion which he established in
France was too unsubstantial to endure (1388-1422).

HENRY VI., king of England from 1422 to 1461, son of preceding, born
at Windsor; was a child of nine months when his father died, and in the
same year was acknowledged king over the N. and E. of France; the Dukes
of Bedford and Gloucester became regents respectively over the English
and French kingdoms; war was resumed with France, and for thirty years
the weary struggle continued, by the end of which time England, despite
some early successes, had been stripped of her French possessions, mainly
owing to the enthusiasm awakened by the heroic and ill-fated JEANNE
D'ARC (q. v.); the growing discontent of the people is indicated by
Jack Cade's rebellion (1540), and five years later began the famous Wars
of the Roses; six battles were fought between the rival houses, and four
times victory rested with the Yorkists; after the final victory of the
Yorkists at Towton (1461), Henry fled to Scotland and Edward was
proclaimed king; Henry was a man of weak intellect, gentle, and of
studious nature, and was ill mated in his ambitious and warlike queen,
Margaret of Anjou; a