to it Henry turned
sharply round northwards to besiege Meaux, the garrison of which was
plundering the country round Paris in the name of the Dauphin, and
seemed likely to shake the fidelity to Henry even of Paris itself.
Meaux held out for many months. When at last it fell, in =1422=, Henry
was already suffering from a disease which carried him off before the
end of the year at the age of thirty-five. Henry V. had given his life
to the restoration of the authority of the Church in England, and to
the establishment of his dynasty at home by means of the glory of
foreign conquest. What man could do he did, but he could not achieve
the impossible.

CHAPTER XX.

HENRY VI. AND THE LOSS OF FRANCE. =1422--1451=.

LEADING DATES

Reign of Henry VI., 1422-1461

The accession of Henry VI. 1422
The relief of Orleans 1429
End of the alliance with the Duke of Burgundy 1435
Marriage of Henry VI. with Margaret of Anjou 1445
Murder of the Duke of Suffolk and Jack Cade's rebellion 1450
Loss of the last French possessions except Calais 1451

1. =Bedford and Gloucester. 1422.=--In England Henry V. was succeeded
in =1422= by his son, Henry VI., a child of nine months. In the same
year, in consequence of the death of Charles VI., the infant was
acknowledged as king of France in the north and east of that country.
The Dauphin, holding the lands south of the Loire, and some territory
even to the north of it, claimed to reign over the whole of France by
hereditary right as Charles VII. Henry V. had appointed his eldest
surviving brother, John, Duke of Bedford, regent in France, and his
youngest brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, regent in England. In
England there were no longer any parties banded against the Crown, and
the title of the Earl of March had not a single supporter; but both
the Privy Council and the Parliament agreed that the late king could
not dispose of the regency by will. Holding that Bedford as the elder
brother had the better claim, they nevertheless, in consequence of his
absence in France, appointed Gloucester Protector, with the proviso
that he should give up his authority to Bedford if the latter were to
return to England. They also imposed limitations upon the authority of
the Protector, requiring him to act by the advice of the Council.

2. =Bedfor