Henry VI (of England)

Henry VI (of England) (1421-1471), king of England (1422-1461, 1470-1471), the last of the house of Lancaster.

The son of King Henry V and Queen Catherine of Valois, Henry was born at Windsor on December 6, 1421. He never showed any aptitude for government, and throughout his reign the English court was dominated by competing aristocratic factions. Like his father, he claimed the crown of France, but France gradually freed itself from English control between 1430 and 1453. In 1445 Henry married a French princess, Margaret of Anjou. During the 1450s a group of nobles sought to replace him with Richard, duke of York, the next in line of succession to the throne. The resulting civil conflict between the houses of Lancaster and York, known as the Wars of the Roses (see Roses, Wars of the), began in 1455. After intermittent fighting Henry was captured by the Yorkists at Northampton and was compelled to acknowledge Richard rather than his own infant son as successor. In 1460 Richard was killed by Henry's forces at Wakefield. Richard's son subsequently became leader of the Yorkists and proclaimed himself king as Edward IV.

Henry and his queen escaped to Scotland, where they remained until 1464. In that year he returned to take part in a rebellion against Edward but was captured (1465) and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He had suffered attacks of insanity all his life and was now completely incapacitated. Nevertheless, he became nominal ruler again in 1470. Dethroned the following year and returned to the tower by Edward, he died there on May 21, 1471, probably murdered on Edward's order.

Henry, who founded Eton College and King's College, University of Cambridge, was venerated by many as a saint because of his piety.