Henry IV – More illness and greater trouble!
‘To be constantly poorly and ill!
It has a terrible effect on a man’s strength of will!’
Whatever satisfaction Henry might have derived from putting down the final Percy rebellion, it was to be short-lived. Less than four months later he was stricken by a serious stroke on June 8th 1408, the third anniversary of Archbishop Scrope’s execution.
An extremely odd coincidence!
What was the cause of this ailment? Some said that it was undoubtedly divine retribution for the execution of Archbishop Scrope. Others pointed to his time on the crusades. Crusaders were known to return from their time as holy warriors in Palestine with the distinctly unholy disease of syphilis. Henry howled aloud that his skin and innards were on fire! The agony was unbearable and there seemed no end to his torment.
‘The king is afflicted with an ailment so very bizarre!
Has it anything to do with the women that he encountered in the eastern bazaar?’
‘Well of course, he approached these ladies and his bidding, they dutifully did!
But the lusty old rascal has been left with a disease of which he cannot get rid!’
Down in the castle guardroom some of the grizzled old knights winked and whispered:
‘We told him about those Turkish girls.’
Another, slyly chuckling into his ale:
The Turkish girls used to say, master crusader, you will always remember me!
One old knight, slapping his thigh, guffawed:
Well, there’s at least one girl who gave him something that he will never forget, haha!
There were occasions that the king was so grievously stricken that he needed to be carried on a litter, when he visited the holy shrines to pray for a cure.
Cash!
‘Money! Money! Money!
Life as a king is not all milk and honey!
Apart from physical illness, Henry suffered from a chronic shortage of money. There was never enough money to pay for the governance of the country. In May of 1406 a council was established to assist Henry with the government of the realm. An additional council was created to oversee royal finances, and this was to be chaired by Prince Henry.
Henry the younger – Prince Hal!
Around 1410, with the king clearly in terminal poor health, many at court were pondering a post-King Henry IV scenario. As the king’s future was expected to be of a short duration, it was hardly surprising that some were casting inquiring glances in the direction of his son, Prince Henry. The young man possessed an impressive curriculum vitae. As a youth of a mere sixteen summers, he had deported himself well at the battle of Shrewsbury in July 1403.
The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403.
Young Hal had also gained valuable experience in campaigning against Owen Glendower in Wales and had proven himself to be a promising military commander. Prince Henry was also establishing himself as a man of government, by heading the council on royal finance. The king, racked by pain, had left the powerhouse of Westminster and was now resident in his grandfather, Edward III’s beloved Windsor castle. This, of course, allowed greater scope for Prince Henry to expand his power.
The king and his disagreed over policy towards France. Prince Hal was keen to revive the ‘Hundred Years War’ back to its previous status of total war but King Henry wanted none of it. On occasions their verbal sparring became quite intense. The old king exclaimed:
‘Over war with France, m’ boy, you are a hawk!
But fighting the French requires more than mere talk!’
By 1411, young Henry, greatly encouraged by members of his household, appeared to have donned the mantle of king-in-waiting and this did not go unnoticed by his ailing father. Indeed, it is rumoured that Prince Henry had quietly mentioned to his father the possibility and benefits of his abdicating in the near future.
The old king then decided that it was time to reassert himself and put a halt to his son’s gallop.