Table of Contents
Note on names, dates and money xi
Maps xiii
Family trees xvii
Prologue: Woe to thee, o land, whose king is a child' xxiii
Part I Child King
1 'That divine king your father' 3
2 'In infant bands crowned king' 24
3 'The universal joy and comfort of us all' 39
4 'The serpent of division' 60
5 'Virtues and teachings convenient for the royal person' 72
6 'The throne of his kingdom will be established' 85
7 'Earthly goods' 103
8 'Mother of mercy, save both realms' 115
9 'Treason walking' 129
10 'The royal crown is in the hand of God' 137
Part II Adult Rule
11 'A fixed purpose' 151
12 'To the counsellors of peace is joy' 163
13 'Instruments of necromancy' 173
14 'Welcome… Princess, our lady sovereign' 190
15 'Stretch forth the hand' 199
16 'The mutability of worldly changes' 211
17 'Great and grievous reverses and fortunes of war' 222
18 'O king, if king you are, rule yourself' 234
19 'Beware, King Henry, how thou do, let no longer thy traitors go loose' 245
20 'The harvest of heads' 255
21 'The true blood of the realm' 268
22 'My most dread sovereign lord' 282
23 'The most precious, most joyful and most comfortable earthly treasure that might come unto this land' 294
Part II 'A Kingdom Divided Against Itself'
24 'The beginning of sorrows' 305
25 'Misrule doth rise' 316
26 'The sword of vengeance' 334
27 'Of queens that be crowned, so high none know I' 350
28 'Rejoice, England, in concord and unity' 361
29 'Our mortal and extreme enemies' 379
30 'The test of the sword' 393
31 'Enemies on every side' 407
32 'Out of the north an evil shall break' 420
33 'Lost irretrievably' 439
Part IV 'The Great Rebellious Henry'
34 'Perverse and variable fortune' 451
35 'Outwards enemies' 466
36 'False imaginations' 479
37 'I am the rock of the English kingdom' 487
38 'Have not the English always betrayed their kings?' 499
39 'That puppet of a king' 514
40 'The shadow on the wall' 529
Part V Afterlife
41 'Very dolorous and discomforted queen of England' 541
42 'Holy King Henry' 545
Epilogue 555
Appendix I Where did Henry VI die? 561
Appendix II Key characters 567
Acknowledgements 576
Bibliography 579
Abbreviations 602
Notes 610
Image credits 608
Index 679