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Henry
was born in Monmouth Castle, eldest son of Henry IV and Mary
de Bohun. The date of his birth in many biographies is given
as 16th December 1387 but now historians agree that it was on
16th September 1386.
He succeeded his father in 1413. His life and reign,
especially his conquests in France, are well known. A Te Deum
for the victory of Agincourt, fought on St Crispin's Day, 25th
October 1415, was sung before the shrine of St Edward the
Confessor in the Abbey and Henry contributed money yearly
towards the rebuilding of the Abbey nave.
His figure is shown in a modern stained glass window on the
north side of the nave (a memorial to Lord Kelvin).
Marriage
He married Catherine de Valois, daughter of Charles VI of
France, at Troyes on 2nd June 1420.
Coronation
This took place in the Abbey on 9th April 1413. Snow fell on
the day of the ceremony and this was taken by some to mean
there were hard times ahead. A jewel now in the Imperial State
Crown may have been one he wore in his helmet at Agincourt in
1415. Two carvings depicting his coronation appear on his
Chantry Chapel.
Burial and Monument
On 31st August 1422 Henry died at Vincennes in France and his
body was embalmed and rested for a time in Rouen Cathedral. He
was returned to England and a great procession accompanied the
cortege from Dover to St Paul's Cathedral in London. The
coffin, on which lay his funeral effigy (which does not
survive), was then brought to the Abbey on 7th November 1422
for burial.
At his magnificent funeral four horses drew the chariot into
the Nave as far as the choir screen. Henry had directed that a
chantry chapel should be raised over his body at the eastern
end of St Edward the Confessor's chapel. His tomb was
completed in about 1431 and the Chantry was built between 1437
and 1450. This was supervised by John Thirske and encroaches
on the tombs of Eleanor of Castile and Philippa of Hainault in
the Confessor's chapel. Originally there were tall railings
guarding the east end of the tomb (taken down in 1821 and now
in the Abbey's reserve collection). The present grate at the
west end of the tomb dates from the reign of Henry VII (the
original one by Roger Johnson having been sold).
The effigy head, hands, sceptres and other regalia were all of
silver, with silver gilt plates covering the figure of the
king. Some ornaments, such as the angels at the head of the
effigy, the lions at his feet, two sceptres he was holding
(one with a cross and one with a dove, as used at a coronation
ceremony) and part of his crown, disappeared between 1467 and
1479 according to Abbey inventories. All the rest of the
silver was stolen by night in 1546 and the effigy was just a
plain block of oak for many centuries.
In 1971 a new head, hands and a crown for the effigy were
modelled in polyester resin by Louisa Bolt, the features
following a contemporary description of the king and the
earliest portrait of him. These hands hold just the bases of
the sceptres.
The tomb lies beneath the arch of the chantry, which is carved
with figures of kings and saints. Above him is the Altar of
the Annunciation, where prayers were said for the soul of the
king. As well as the two Annunciation images above the altar
are also statues of St George, St Denys, St Edward the
Confessor and St Edmund. The centre niche is now empty but
probably contained a representation of the Trinity.
On the bridges spanning the ambulatories are sculptures
depicting Henry at his coronation and riding into battle on
his horse. Among heraldic devices on the vault above his tomb
and the bridges are a cresset (or beacon), a collared antelope
and a collared swan chained to a beacon.
Tomb dimensions in metres: length 2.24. width 1.07. height
1.60.
Funeral
Achievements
The saddle, helm and shield, which were part of his funeral
'achievements', were for many centuries kept in the chantry or
displayed on the wooden beam above, but were restored and
removed for better preservation to the Abbey Museum in 1972.
This saddle is the earliest surviving example of a new
light-weight type, originally covered with blue velvet. The
lime wood shield has a small section of crimson velvet
remaining on the inner side, showing the arms of Navarre (Joan
of Navarre was his stepmother, so this shield may have
belonged to Henry IV). The front of the shield had been
painted with the arms of France and England and faint traces
of blue paint still remain. The five-section domed helm, about
sixteen inches high, with an applied decorated band of copper
alloy round the bottom edge, is a tilting (jousting) helm so
would not have been worn in battle. This weighs 7.3kg.
A finely balanced 15th century sword with a cross of St George
in the pommel, found in the Abbey triforium in 1869, was
thought for many years to be part of this funeral armour.
Recent research shows this to be a sword later than the time
of Henry V, possibly from Henry VII's time.
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