Books like 1415: Henry V's Year Of Glory

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;Or close the wall up with our English dead!In peace there's nothing so becomes a manAs modest stillness and humility:But when the blast of war blows in our ears,Then imitate the action of the tiger;Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage;Then lend the eye a terrible aspect. "Once more into the breach I go with tickets to see a new production of Shakespeare's Henry V. But before that event, I have started to wonder how much of the real Henry is the character that the Bard of Avon portrays. “At his court, there was a sense that everything good, noble, virtuous, and worth loving hung by a slender thread, and might vanish in an instant.”For those who have come to know me through my reviews on Goodreads, you may have detected an interest in historical biography and/or a tendency to drill down on the tumultuous period of English history from about 1300 to 1600. Ian Mortimer, that illustrious historian whose many works I have already sampled, tackles the King and event that Shakespeare found so worthy. This is real history with the historian acting as detective. There are few contemporary diaries or memoires. English historians of that period and later may have “cherry-picked” the facts to suit their themes of nobility and heroism. Mortimer, like a forensic accountant, burrows into the ledgers and other records to develop a quite different and more robust portrait of this man who burst on the European scene when his father, Henry IV, died. This is history, not a novel like Wolf Hall or a miniseries like The Tudors. Yet, we are treated to all the elements that a good historical novel usually mixes: secret pacts; plots to overthrow the king(s); religious battles; propaganda (spinning the truth); sieges; battles; unpredictable twists of fate. All the elements are present except love/romance. Henry didn’t have much interest in women; he seemed to substitute for them with religious fervor. There is a lot going on in the year 1415 in Western Civilization. With respect to events leading up to the Battle of Agincourt in late October: Most relevant was the gathering in Constance for several months of prelates and temporal rulers that was held to reform the Roman Catholic Church and to reconcile the fact that three separate popes existed at this time; also relevant, because Henry V was a very orthodox Christian, were the various reformers such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus that were viewed as serious threats by many; and, Henry V’s claims (some from the broken lineage of royalty in France and England) of dominion over substantial portions of France ranging from Normandy and Flanders in the north through Burgundy and to Gascony and Aquitaine in South. Mortimer’s work is replete with secret missions, covert treaties and showcase negotiations as Henry moves to contest with the French the claims that he has made. Mortimer spends time setting the stage with the brutal acts of John the Fearless, a duke who wanted to be King of France and would do or say anything to achieve that goal. We follow all the threads as the year unfolds through Mortimer’s skillful examination of original source material. For instance, as he examines one of the most complete sources, the Issue Rolls, he comes across a cornucopia of payments. He is able to divide them into categories: administration; reimbursement of messengers’ (not just your FedEx type) and ambassadors’ expenses; rewards for good service; measures for the defense of the Welsh and Scottish borders and Calais; money handed over to the king’s chamber, and, to some extent, gathering supplies for his coming venture in France. This is merely a jumping off for Mortimer. He tracks down who was with whom, and when. He fits it into the larger context of what was happening in parts of Britain and in Europe. Then he speculates as to the purpose of a particular line item. Very entertaining … and enlightening. One of the nice touches that Mortimer brings to this day by day narrative is the saga of a debt that Henry's father never repaid. Two guys arrive from Poland and are passed from one bureaucrat to another. Weeks then months roll by and they journey to London, Westminster, Winchester, etc. with dwindling hope of any success. Henry wanted to invade France in May to give his troops time to conquer and live off the land. Negotiations (pro forma) with the French King just kept on pushing the date back (The French knew what could occur.) Now it is almost August of 1415 and the English ships are still in port! And, Henry finds that there may be a treasonous plot at home. All his plans are up for grabs.He presses on. (No spoiler alert because you know your history, or at least your Shakespeare.) He picks Harfleur as his landing point. He will bring the city to its knees; they will recognize him as the rightful King of France; he will use Harfleur as his new port (The river, Seine, leads right to Paris!); he will march against the French at Rouen; and, after victory, get the Kingdom, get the Princess, and return home by Christmas!What could go wrong? Tick tock; tick tock. Henry departs months after he had planned. Harfleur isn’t an easy victory. His supplies have dwindled. He is bogged down in a siege in September and his troops are so closely packed that dysentery runs through them like “sh*t through a goose.” He loses about 20% of his force to disease before leaving Harfleur. It is getting colder, rainier, and the crops that he hoped his troops could live off of are long harvested. This campaign was to demonstrate that God supported the English cause. Has God forsaken Henry? Should he pack up, with his small victory and go home until spring? Can he defend the broken town of Harfleur? If he does, can he survive an encounter with the French with his remaining troops?His advisors say (almost to a man): “Go home and call it off until next Spring.” Rejecting that advice, Henry seemingly has to prove that God has not forsaken him. He will challenge the Dauphin to a hand-to-hand combat to settle the crown of France. And, he will march his remaining troops through Normandy to Calais to prove his faith and purpose. You probably know how that turned out, but Mortimer’s account is riveting. Mortimer’s methodology of viewing activities day-by-day is a wonderful tool for providing, not only new information, but a different way to evaluate existing information. He also does a creditable job of wading through the dross of many centuries full of praise to give us as good a picture of what actually took place at Agincourt. There is a lot to sift through, and he makes use of both English and French sources. He praises Henry for his courage and determination. He notes Henry’s flaws and his willingness (against chivalric codes, and due process) to cut corners when he deems it expedient. Thus, we have his rush to judgment on Lord Scrope, whom he hangs when Scrope was only doing his best to discover the extent of a plot to depose Henry. And, we have Henry’s decision to kill all his prisoners after the first battle at Agincourt because he fears that the French will re-engage. There is no shortage of subterfuge and underhanded dealing among the great lords and prelates of Europe. Henry may have not been the most ruthless or the most adept. I lingered over the details in this book, because Mortimer is very open to considering these facets from more than one perspective. There seems to be no hidden agenda or preconception on his part, only a desire to examine what is now available. Conclusion: Henry’s luck and organizational skills were sufficient to bring him the thing he desired most: A sign of God’s favor for him and his goals both spiritual and temporal. He got his victory and almost changed the direction of French history by establishing his line for the French throne. Yet, we see a man who is prideful and enamored with his own power. This shaped how he dealt brutally with the Lollards, and how he handled the plot against him (including giving Lord Scope the ultimate punishment of death and destruction of his estate though he was likely innocent) and his decision to put to death the Agincourt prisoners, and his revision of the terms of surrender he gave to the French at Harfleur. England lost what Henry conquered during the next several decades. And, the country was again plunged into disorder, both by Henry’s inability to assure his line of succession and by the immense debt that he ran up while adventuring…mistakes that neither his father, nor Edward III can be faulted for. Thus, it is difficult to side with historians such as Curry and McFarlane that Henry V was England’s greatest ruler, even if he provided, arguably, England’s greatest victory.