HENRY I
86a
HENRY VI
and named the falls of St. Anthony. He next sailed for France, where he published his Description of Louisiana. His last work, New Journey in a Country Greater than Europe, went through 24 editions in various languages. The date of Hennepin's death, which occurred in the Netherlands, is about 1703. See Spark's Life of La Salle in the Library of American Biography.
Henry I, king of England (surnamed Beauclerc or fine scholar), was the youngest son of William the Conqueror and the only one born in England. Tradition says he was born at Selby, Yorkshire, in 1068. After aiding his brother, Robert, to defend his domains in Normandy, he captured the royal treasury in England and, on the death of his brother, William Rufus, was elected king. He married Eadgyth (afterward called Matilda), the daughter of Malcolm of Scotland and Queen Margaret. His reign was successful, but often marked by cold-blooded cruelties. He was called the Lion of Justice. He died in 1135, and was succeeded by Stephen. See Norman Conquest by Freeman, and Constitutional History of England by Stubbs.
Henry II of England was the son of Matilda by her second husband, Geoffrey Plantagenet. Born at Le Mans, France, March 5, 1133 and succeeding Stephen by-treaty, he was crowned on Dec. 19,1154. His principal object in government was to make the church subservient to the state, but after a long struggle with Becket, once his prime minister and afterward a churchman, he was only partially successful. In 1173 his two sons, Henry and Richard, counseled by their mother, led a rebellion against him, and after partial defeat, he died at Chinon July 6, 1189. He ranks among the greatest of English kings.
Henry III of England was the son of King John, and was born on Oct. i, 1207, succeeded his father in 1216, and died in 1272. He was a weak man, unfit to be king, but English freedom owes much to his unfitness and weakness, for the first real house of commons originated in 1265, when the boroughs first sent deputies to parliament, as the shires or counties had already sent knights. Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, was the champion of Magna Charta and the people against the king. Henry's reign was exceeded in length only by those of George III (58 years) and Victoria (63 years). He was succeeded by his great son, Edward I.
Henry IV of England, the first king of the house of Lancaster, was born on April 3, 1366, and surnamed Bolingbroke from his birthplace. In 1385 he was made earl of Derby, and married Mary de Bohun. He led a roving life for some years, was present at the taking of Tunis in 1390, fought against the heathen on the shores of the Baltic and attempted to reach Jerusalem. In 1397
he supported Richard II against Gloucester. and in the following year was banished, Upon the death of his father his estates were forfeited. In July, 1399, he landed in York with three small vessels, and on September 29 he obtained from Richard, then a prisoner in the Tower, an abandonment of his claims to the throne. On the next day Henry arose in parliament and claimed kingdom and crown. His reign proved one of trouble, disorder and rebellion. Poverty and heavy taxes oppressed the people, and Henry's dependency on the wealth of the church caused him to allow severe laws against heretics to be made. In 1412 he sent two expeditions into France, but his closing years were a miserable succession of epileptic fits, in one of which he died at Westminster on March 20, 1413. See Gairdner's The Houses of Lancaster and York and Wylie's History of England under Henry the Fourth. See also Shakespeare's King Richard II and King Henry IV.
Henry V of England, the oldest son of Henry IV, was born on Aug. 19, 1387. He inherited his mother's good qualities and a soldierly disposition from his father. He was engaged against Glendower, the Welsh patriot, in 1401, and in 1403 he was wounded by an arrow at Shrewsbury. He was king's lieutenant in Wales until 1408, in 1409 constable of Dover and in 1410 captain of Calais. He was crowned on April 9, 1413. The great effort of his reign was the attempted conquest of France. On Aug. n, 1415, he sailed for France with 10,000 men, captured Harfleur after a five weeks' siege, and proceeded toward Calais. On his way, at Agincourt, he was blocked by the French army, over which, on Oct. 25, he gained a victory against such odds as to make it one of the most notable in history. Two years later he again invaded France, and at the end of 1418 Normandy was in possession of the English crown. On May 21, 1420, the perpetual peace of Troyes was concluded, and Henry was made regent and heir of France, receiving in marriage Catherine, the youngest daughter of the king. He returned to England, but the news of the defeat of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, at Beauj6 recalled him to France for the third time. He was meeting with his usual success at arms, when he was seized by sickness and died at Vin-cennes, Aug. 31, 1422, at the age of 35. He was religious, just and pure of life; a brave soldier and a brilliant general. In wisdom and solid policy he was inferior to many of his ancestors. See Gairdner's Houses of Lancaster and York; Nicolas's History of the Battle of Agincourt; A. J. Church's Henry the Fifth; Shakespeare's Henry V.
Henry VI of England, only son of Henry V, was born on Dec. 6, 1421, became king when eight months old, though h§ was not
