by Teresa Cole
A second account, the Liber Metricus, appeared a few years later. The author of this, Thomas Elmham, was a monk who became prior of the Cluniac monastery in Lenton, Nottinghamshire. Since he claims this is a shorter version of his earlier prose history of Henry, some have thought he might be the author of the Gesta but this is now discredited. Much information is the same as in the Gesta, though Elmham claimed he wrote only what he had witnessed himself or got from other eyewitnesses. He is the first to mention the tennis balls story, and to claim that St George was seen fighting for the English at Agincourt.
John Strecche, a canon at Kenilworth (one of Henry’s favourite residences), seems to give us the news and gossip as it was current there. His short account of Henry V is rich in anecdotes. In one he gives us an account of Henry’s response to the gift of tennis balls in words that must have inspired Shakespeare: ‘Within a few months I will play with such balls in the Frenchmen’s own streets that they will stop their joking, and for their mocking game win nothing but grief.’
Other contemporary English sources include the archives of the Exchequer, giving us details of the financing of campaigns; the archives of Parliament, which particularly detail the ‘keynote speeches’ of the chancellor at the beginning of a session; and some of Henry’s own letters, showing his championing of the use of the English language for his own correspondence. Poems and ballads are also useful, such as the Agincourt Carol and the verse account of the siege of Rouen by John Page.
A little later but still drawing on the memories of those who were there, further accounts of the life of Henry were written. One, the Vita Henrici Quinti (Life of Henry V) was commissioned specifically by Humphrey of Gloucester in the late 1430s. Humphrey, a noted patron of the arts, had a number of scholars in his household, and an Italian, Tito Livio, was directed to produce this work. Its aim is clear. Directed to the young Henry VI, it tells him, ‘You should resolve to imitate that divine king your father in all things … by using the same methods and martial valour as he used to subdue your common enemies.’ Needless to say, the work emphasises the military achievements of Henry and also the part played by Humphrey in these.
Around ten years later, another life history was commissioned, this time by Sir Walter Hungerford, who had played a major part in Henry’s campaigns and been steward of his household. This, the Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti, was written anonymously though a mistaken attribution to Thomas Elmham causes it to be known as Pseudo-Elmham. It contains stories of Henry’s wild youth and his visit to the recluse on the night of his accession. Although the early years seem derived from other accounts, from 1420 it appears to draw on original sources, probably Hungerford himself and also possibly the French chronicles.
The French equivalent of the St Albans chronicle is that of the monastery of St Denis near Paris. This was a semi-official work that had been carried on anonymously by the monks there for some centuries. They clearly took their job seriously. Writing on Agincourt, the chronicler declares, ‘I will acquit myself of my duties as an historian however painful it is to me.’ They also took trouble to provide a detailed, well-informed and above all balanced account of events. While other writers in Paris and Normandy spoke of Henry as tyrannical, cruel and feared by all, the St Denis chronicler tells us that, having questioned prisoners of the English king, he found that though he seemed cold and proud this was not so and that he treated such prisoners with kindness and respect. Similarly he found from envoys to the king that he made it a point of honour to treat everyone courteously and affably whatever their rank. This, he says, would of course be different during a siege, when Henry’s ruthlessness was well known.
In general, while French writers saw Henry’s claims to the throne as utterly spurious, they were more concerned to apportion the blame for the conquest among the French factions. Jean-Juvenal des Ursines, present in Paris in 1415 and giving much detail on Agincourt, was strongly Armagnac, blaming Burgundians for the Treaty of Troyes, while Robert Blondel on the Burgundian side put the blame squarely on the Armagnacs.
The best-known French accounts, however, were written for the Burgundian court some time after the events they recorded. Enguerrand de Monstrelet, writing in the 1440s, had campaigned with Philippe of Burgundy and served in his court, and though claiming to be neutral his Burgundian sympathies do show through. He also claimed to be painstaking in collecting and sifting his evidence. His account is long and detailed, showing some admiration for the English king but condemning his treatment of Charles VI after the Treaty of Troyes. He also claimed that Henry ruled by fear and tyranny and that no one dared to look him in the face.
Similarly George Chastellain had both military and political experience when he became official chronicler to Philippe of Burgundy in 1455. His account covers the later years of Henry’s reign and its aftermath. Again strongly critical of Henry, he nonetheless called him a valiant prince and a prince of justice, and it is a feature of all the French writers, however anti-English they may be, that they all refer to the king’s personal courage and to his strong sense of justice and order.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Printed Sources
Book of London English 1384–1425, ed. R. W. Chambers and M. Daunt (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967)
Brut, or The Chronicles of England, ed. F. W. D. Brie, ii (London: Early English Text Society, 1908)
Chartier Alain, Le Quadrilogue Invectif, ed. and trans. F. Bouchet (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2002)
Chartier, Alain, The Poetical Works of Alain Chartier, ed. J. C. Laidlaw (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974)
Chastellain, Georges de, Oeuvres. I. Chronique, 1419–1422, ed. K. de Lettenhove (Brussels: 1863)
Chronicle of Adam of Usk 1377–1421, ed. and trans. C. Given-Wilson (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997)
‘Chronicle of John Streeche for the Reign of Henry V (1414–1422)’, ed. F. Taylor (Bulletin of the John Rylands Library xvi, 1932)
Chronicles of London, ed. C. L. Kingsford (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905)
Chronique d’Enguerran de Monstrelet, ed. L. Douët d’Arcq, ii, iii (Paris: Societé d’Histoire de France, 1876)
Chronique du Religieux de Saint-Denys, ed. L. Bellaguet, ii (Paris: 1840)
Elmham, Thomae de, Vita et Gesta Henrici Quinti Anglorum Regis, ed. T. Hearn (Oxford: 1727)
Elmham, Thomas, ‘Liber Metricus de Henrico Quinto’, Memorials of Henry the Fifth, King of England, ed. C. A. Cole (London: Longman & Co., 1858)
English Historical Documents IV 1327–1485, ed. A. R. Myers (London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1969)
Froissart, Jean, Chronicles, ed. and trans. G. Brereton (London: Penguin, 1968)
Gesta Henrici Quinti, The Deeds of Henry the fifth, ed. and trans. F. Taylor and J. S. Roskell (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975)
Historical Collections of a Citizen of London in the Fifteenth Century, ed. J. Gairdner (Westminster: Camden Society, 1876)
Parisian Journal 1405–1449, trans. J. Shirley (Oxford, 1968)
St Alban Chronicle 1406–1420, ed. V. H. Galbraith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937)
Titi Livii Foro-Juliensis, Vita Henrici Quinti regis Angliae, ed. T. Hearne (Oxford: 1716)
Ursins, Jean-Juvénal des, Histoire de Charles VI, ed. J. A. C. Buchon (Paris: Choix de Chroniques et Mémoires sur l’Histoire de France, iv, 1836)
Walsingham, Thomas, Historia Anglicana, ii, 1381–1422, ed. H. T. Riley (London: Rolls Series, 1864)
Waurin, Jean de, Recueil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istoires de la Grant Bretaigne, A present Nomme Engleterre, ed. W. Hardy (London: Rolls Series, 1868)
Secondary Sources
Allmand, C., Henry V (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1997)
Barker, J., Agincourt: The King, the Campaign, the Battle (London: Little Brown, 2005)
Bennett, M., Bradbury, J., DeVries, K., Dickie, I., Jestice, P. G., Fighting Techniques of the Medieval World AD 500–AD 1500: Equipment, Combat Skills and Tactics (Staplehurst: Spellmount, 2
005)
Carter, M. E., The Groundwork of English History (London: University Tutorial Press, 1908)
Curry, A., Agincourt: A New History (Stroud: Tempus, 2005)
Dockray, K., Warrior King: The Life of Henry V (Stroud: The History Press, 2006)
Earle, P., The Life and Times of Henry V (London: Book Club Associates, 1972)
Hibbert, C., Agincourt (London: Batsford, 1964)
Jacob, E. F., The Fifteenth Century 1399–1485 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1961)
Maurois, A., A History of France (London: Jonathan Cape, 1949)
McKisack, M., The Fourteenth Century 1307–1399 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1959)
Oman, C., The History of England: From the Accession of Richard II to the Death of Richard III 1377–1485 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1906)
Ramsay, J. H., Lancaster and York: A Century of English History AD1399–1485 Volume 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1892)
Rodger, N. A. M., The Safeguard of the Sea: A Naval History of Britain 660–1649 (London: Penguin, 2004)
Soar, H. D. H., The Crooked Stick: A History of the Longbow (Yardley: Westholme, 2004)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
I gratefully acknowledge the help of Heathcliff Heroics with the illustrations.
1. Monmouth Castle. The Tower where Henry V was born. (Teresa Cole)
2. Monmouth castle ruins. (Teresa Cole)
3. Coronation of Queen Joan, second wife of Henry IV. (Jonathan Reeve JR1724b90fp8 14001500)
4. Battle of Shrewsbury 1403. (JR1817b90fp5c 14001500)
5. Battlefield of Shrewsbury today. (Teresa Cole)
6. Kenilworth Castle. (Teresa Cole)
7. English forces fighting Owen Glendower. (JR1819b90fp13c 14001500)
8. Westminster Abbey. (Teresa Cole)
9. Later extensions to Westminster Abbey. (Teresa Cole)
10. The Earl of Warwick being appointed as Captain of Calais. (JR1837fb90fp49c 14001500)
11. Henry V appoints ambassadors for the Council of Constance. (JR1844fb90fp64c 14001500)
12. English longbowmen. (JR1851b90fp80Lc 14001500)
13. Henry V sending letters to the French king. (JR1727b90fp81 14001500)
14. King Charles of France receives Henry’s letters. (JR1840fb90fp56 14001500)
15. Emperor Sigismund. (JR1847fb90fp69c 14001500)
16. A battle at sea, circa 1415. (JR1848fb90fp72c 14001500)
17. Thomas, Duke of Clarence. (JR783b57fp348 14001450)
18. John, Duke of Bedford. (JR780b57fp396 14001450)
19. An English ship of the times. (JR1821b90fp17c 14001500)
20. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. (JR767b13p652 14001450
21. Brass of John Peryent and his wife. (JR796R648p269)
22. An archer’s canvas bag of arrows. (Teresa Cole)
23. Arrow fletching. (Teresa Cole)
24. Arrow types. (Teresa Cole)
25. Adjusting plate armour. (JR1836fb90fp48c 14001500)
26. A modern representation of a knight in armour. (Teresa Cole)
27. Calais. (JR1855b90fp96c 14001500)
28. Return to England. (JR1857fb90fp100c 14001500)
29. Siege of Caen. (JR1849fb90fp73c 14001500)
30. Fifteenth century manuscript illustration of a siege with cannon. (JR1871b46fpvc 14001450)
31. Siege of Rouen. (JR1850fb90fp76c 14001500)
32. A joust, circa 1415. (JR1842fb90fp60c 14001500)
33. The head of a lance. (Teresa Cole)
34. The marriage of Henry V and Katherine of France. (JR1729b90fp85 14001500)
35. The White Tower at the Tower of London. (Teresa Cole)
36. A prisoner’s view from the Beauchamp Tower at the Tower of London. (Teresa Cole)
37. The infant Henry VI. (JR1852fb90fp89c 14001500)
38. Effigy of Richard, Earl of Warwick, from his tomb. (Teresa Cole)