Henry VI (Sacred Accord)

Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 6 April 1458), known posthumously as  'the Crazed', was King of England and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne at the age of nine months upon his father's death, and succeeded to the French throne on the death of his grandfather Charles VI shortly afterwards. Henry inherited the long-running Two Hundred Years' War (1337-1505) where Charles VII contested his claim to the French throne, overseeing the Lancastrian Phase up to 1435 as well as the Deep Truce period. Henry married Charles's niece, Margaret of Anjou, partially in the hope of achieving peace in 1445, but the policy failed, leading to the murder of William de la Pole, one of Henry's key advisors. The stalemate continued, with no pitched battles taking place between the English and French armies for 20 years. While this meant no territorial gains were made by England in this period, his diplomatic efforts in Iberia led to the creation of the Sacred Accord with Castile and Portugal, a mutual defensive alliance designed to prevent further losses to France in exchange for aid in Iberian affairs. This would prove critical to the success of England in the Angevin War's opening phases led by his successor Margaret.

The sheer tension generated by the Deep Truce caused Henry to decline in mental health, at first slowly, as demonstrated by his uncharacteristic furious snaps at trusted advisers and commanders, but then at an increasingly rapid rate after 1451. This culminated in the murder of his only son, Edward of Westminster, in a fit of rage during a mental breakdown at Windsor Castle in 1453. When he realised what he had done, the king fell into a pit of depression and fury, never to recover. Parliament, backed by the king's advisers, moved to abdicate on his behalf and crowned his wife Margaret Queen of England and France on 13 December 1453.

Henry died in Windsor Castle during the night of 6 April 1458, before being buried a few days later. A mixture of emotions were felt towards the late monarch after his death. Some despised him and saw him as an impious sinner who had been possessed by Satanic forces that caused him to kill Prince Edward; others mourned and took pity on him, reflecting on the awful political situation he had inherited and how that afflicted his mind. He left a legacy of educational institutions, having founded Eton College, King's College (Cambridge) and All Souls College, Oxford. William Shakespeare wrote a trilogy of plays about his life, depicting him as a floundering and clinically insane monarch.