Henry was born during the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), at the beginning of its third phase, in which his uncle, Charles VII, contested the Lancastrian claim to the French throne, which had been ratified by the Treaty of Troyes (1420).

The young king faced military setbacks in France, as well as various political and financial crises in England, where divisions among the nobility in his government began to widen.

Henry's domestic popularity declined in the 1440s, partly due to the revelation that a large, strategically important territory (the county of Maine) had been secretly returned to the French.

Political unrest in England grew rapidly as a result; the lynching of Henry's key adviser, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, provoked a major rebellion in 1450.

During Bedford's absence, the government of England was headed by Henry V's other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who was appointed Lord Protector and Defender of the Realm.

[3] Somerset remained within the royal household until early 1451 after the English House of Commons petitioned for his removal because of his "dangerous and subversive influence over Henry VI".

This was confirmed on 13 November 1437,[8] but his growing willingness to involve himself in administration had already become apparent in 1434, when the place named on writs temporarily changed from Westminster (where the Privy Council met) to Cirencester (where the King resided).

Henry, who was by nature shy, pious, and averse to deceit and bloodshed, immediately allowed his court to be dominated by a few noble favourites who clashed on the matter of the French war when he assumed the reins of government in 1437.

[11] Though the English failed to take advantage of the Praguerie itself, the prospect of gaining the allegiance of one of Charles VII's more rebellious nobles was attractive from a military perspective.

[19] Cardinal Beaufort and the Earl of Suffolk persuaded Henry that the best way to pursue peace with France was through a marriage with Margaret of Anjou, the niece of King Charles VII.

Henry agreed, especially when he heard reports of Margaret's stunning beauty, and sent Suffolk to negotiate with Charles, who consented to the marriage on condition that he would not have to provide the customary dowry and instead would receive the province of Maine from the English.

However, he was excluded from the court circle and sent to govern Ireland, while his opponents, the earls of Suffolk and Somerset, were promoted to dukes, a title at that time still normally reserved for immediate relatives of the monarch.

In the later years of Henry's reign, the monarchy became increasingly unpopular, due to a breakdown in law and order, corruption, the distribution of royal land to the king's court favourites, the troubled state of the crown's finances, and the steady loss of territories in France.

He exhibited possible signs of paranoia (the arrest of Duke Humphrey in 1447) and grandiosity (the scale of his plans of expansion for Eton Chapel in 1449 and King's College in 1446).

[26] In 1449, the Duke of Somerset, leading the campaign in France, reopened hostilities in Normandy (although he had previously been one of the main advocates for peace), but by the autumn he had been pushed back to Caen.

[citation needed] In 1452, the Duke of York was persuaded to return from Ireland, claim his rightful place on the council, and put an end to bad government.

[31][page needed] In 1457, Henry created the Council of Wales and the Marches for his son Prince Edward, and in 1458, he attempted to unite the warring factions by staging the Loveday in London.

[citation needed] Following defeat in the Battle of Hexham, 15 May 1464, Henry, as a fugitive in his own land, continued to be afforded safety in various Lancastrian houses across the north of England.

Legend has it that Henry VI left behind a Venetian glass bowl as a token of gratitude, known as the "Luck of Muncaster", ensuring the prosperity of the Pennington family as long as it remained intact.

[39] However, a largely identical verse appears in William Baldwin's 1559 work The Mirror for Magistrates, a collection of poems written from the perspective of historical figures.

[40] Kingdoms are but cares State is devoid of stay, Riches are ready snares, And hasten to decay Pleasure is a privy prick Which vice doth still provoke; Pomps, imprompt; and fame, a flame; Power, a smoldering smoke.

[41][better source needed] Queen Margaret, exiled in Scotland and later in France, was determined to win back the throne on behalf of her husband and her son, Edward of Westminster.

However, eventually, Edward IV fell out with two of his main supporters: Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and his own younger brother George, Duke of Clarence.

Warwick soon overreached himself by declaring war on Burgundy, whose ruler Charles the Bold responded by giving Edward IV the assistance he needed to win back his throne by force.

[46] King Henry VI was originally buried in Chertsey Abbey in Surrey, but in 1484 Richard III had his body moved to St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

[20] When the body was exhumed in 1910, it was found to be 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall with a damaged, abnormally thin skull and the fore-leg bone of a pig substituting his missing right arm.

This allowed Henry to be heavily influenced by many nobles, such as William de la Pole, who oversaw significant English losses in France, such as the Siege of Orléans.

[51] A number of Henry VI's miracles possessed a political dimension, such as his cure of a young girl afflicted with the King's evil, whose parents refused to bring her to the usurper, Richard III.

[58] Although Henry VI's shrine was enormously popular as a pilgrimage destination during the early decades of the 16th century,[59] over time, with the lessened need to legitimise Tudor rule, his cult faded.

[citation needed] Shakespeare's Henry is weak-willed and easily influenced allowing his policies to be led by Margaret and her allies, and being unable to defend himself against York's claim to the throne.