13 quotes
As is often the case in politics, the truth was less important than public perception.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
In less than three hours of battle, York had achieved more than he had managed in five years of politics.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
But despite the political folly of these actions, on the rare occasions that Henry chose to assert himself, it was impossible to naysay him. He was a weak king, but he was still king.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
A rival prince returning to claim the inheritance of which he had been dispossessed, and thereby ousting the present king, was fast becoming a cliché of English politics.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
With Henry imprisoned and his family indefinitely exiled, it appeared that the kingship of Edward IV was finally assured. But Fortune’s Wheel had not finished its revolutions.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Folly and the negligence were becoming the recognized characteristics of Henry’s regime. Even in areas of his policy where he applied himself fully to the task, his interference could be a malign force.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
It made his message abundantly clear: these peace talks should be different. They should be respectful and affectionate, not coolly diplomatic and suspicious. Such intentions were admirable but they were unfortunately counterproductive.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Rumors of Margaret’s infidelity are not corroborated by any contemporary source, but through repetition they took on something of the veneer of truth, dangerously undermining the image that Margaret had carefully cultivated for the past four years.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Stafford advised Henry that ‘prudence should be placed at the front of the crown… adorned with three jewels, to wit, recollection of the past, circumspection of the present, and foresight of the future.’
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Although Henry’s treaty at Troyes formally declared perpetual peace, in reality all it did was guarantee further war, since it committed Henry to fighting for his French crown until Dauphin Charles was brought to heel.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Henry’s fall from grace was, then, far from inevitable and it resulted not from the benign – or malevolent – revolutions of a power beyond his control, but from a complex array of competing forces in which Henry’s choices and character were crucial.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Henry was capable of ruthlessness, as his treatment of the mad woman who railed at him about Eleanor Cobham demonstrated, but he was not consistent. ‘Justice without mercy is cruelty,’ as a contemporary proverb went, but ‘mercy without justice, folly.’
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)
Unlike Bedford, Gloucester had chosen a bride who suited his own desires, not those of his family. In autumn 1422 he had married Henry’s godmother, Jacqueline of Hainault, a young woman of renowned intelligence, beauty and spirit. The only trouble was, she was already married.
The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI (2019)