Background to Henry V

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ClassicNote on Henry V




About the Play



Henry V was probably the greatest military leader that England ever had. He laid claim to the French throne in 1414 by invoking an English royal claim, and managed to win the Battle of Agincourt the following year against seemingly impossible odds. Having won the battle, he then forced the King of France to make him his heir and marry him to his daughter. The story of Henry V soon became a favorite English story, and was chronicled by Raphael Bolinshed and Edward Hall. It it likely that it was also dramatized before Shakespeare wrote his version of the story in 1599.

Henry V is the last of the eight great history plays dealing with medieval English history. The first four plays dealt with the Wars of the Roses from 1422 to 1485. The next set of four plays were set prior to this period, and covered the years 1398 to 1420. The first of the four details the defeat of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke, who was sub...