HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-11-21T11:58:57.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
items: The bloody rise of Henry V: how his brutal upbringing propelled him to greatness
items: Why Henry VI’s reign was such a disaster
items: 1415: The battle of Agincourt
items: Henry V’s greatest victory (and it wasn't at the battle of Agincourt)
items: Medieval(ish) matters #5: chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century
items: What was it like to be a Prisoner of War during the Hundred Years’ War?
items: Medieval prisoners of war
items: 10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt
items: The King: Henry V on film

Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
type: item
date: 2025-11-19T13:00:01.000Z
creator: Dr Rob Blackmore
subject: General History
subject: Magazine
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical events
description: From 1066 to 1918, our obsession with battles, elections and even voyages of discovery risks distorting a true understanding of the past
encoded: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the witty 1930 book 1066 and All That. “History is not what you thought,” its preface suggested. “It is what you can remember.” Accordingly, as per its subtitle, it offered a “Memorable History of England, Comprising All the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates.” Conspicuously, though, “two out of the four dates originally included were eliminated at the last moment” because “they are not memorable.” Though evidently both humorists, the book’s authors – Punch writers WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman – were making a serious point. History has long been thought to be concerned with preserving the past. The 12th-century historian and Byzantine princess Anna Komnene observed how “time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity”. Her solution was the study of history, which “forms a very strong bulwark against the stream of time”. This is a powerful idea – one that perhaps moved King Charles I, moments before his execution in January 1649, to utter a last single word to William Juxon, the former bishop of London, instructing him: “Remember.” <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/1066-and-all-that-later-edition-CMYKWeb-Ready-dfb5326.jpg" width="2295" height="1530" alt="The cover of a book, with the title 1066 And All That across the top, and two men standing side by side in green and pink clothing" title="The 1930 book 1066 and All That wittily parodied the conventional approach to teaching history in schools at that time (Image by Amazon)" /> But do our efforts to remember really require us to do something so trivial as memorising dates? More radically, do the historical events these dates mark even matter? The Oxford Eng…

2RBM7T7cmykWeb-Ready-3cc8350.jpg
width: 1799
height: 1199

The bloody rise of Henry V: how his brutal upbringing propelled him to greatness
type: item
date: 2024-10-15T17:26:41.000Z
creator: Dan Jones
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Plantagenet
subject: Hundred Years War
subject: Medieval kings and queens
description: Held hostage at 12. Deciding the fate of captives at 14. Maimed in battle at 16. The future King Henry V learned a series of violent but valuable leadership lessons during his youth. Dan Jones traces the evolution of ‘Prince Hal’ into one of medieval England's most revered warrior monarchs and the victor of Agincourt
encoded: Summer 1403 saw surgeon John Bradmore rush to Kenilworth Castle to attend to a famous patient. Henry, the 16-year-old Prince of Wales and heir to the English throne, was in a critical condition. On 21 July, he had fought alongside his father, King Henry IV, at the battle of Shrewsbury against rebels led by Henry ‘Hotspur’ Percy. The royal army had won – but the cost of victory had been high. During the battle, an arrow had pierced Prince Henry’s cheek and lodged deep in his head. He’d been lucky to survive; without urgent medical attention, he would surely soon die. The procedure Bradmore performed at Kenilworth was a marvel of surgical ingenuity. Over the course of several weeks, the medic widened the entry wound, all the while keeping it clean and free from infection. When the hole in Henry’s face was wide enough, Bradmore used a tool of his own devising to grip and slowly remove the metal arrowhead. Miraculously, during this entire process, the prince hadn’t gone into toxic shock. Bradmore then closed and sewed up the wound. He’d saved Henry’s life. Read more | Why is Henry V's portrait in profile? The operation had been complex and daring. It was also profoundly important for the dynastic history of England, the political history of Britain, and the military history of western Europe. What kind of king was Henry V? In 1413, a decade after Bradmore extracted that arrowhead, his patient succeeded to the English throne as King Henry V. Two years later, he was victorious at the battle of Agincourt. He was the king who realised the Plantagenet claim to the crown of France. He dragged England out of the dire condition into which it had sunk during the tyrannical reign of Richard II and the fractious one of his own father. He dispensed justice and defended traditional religion. He used the English language as a tool to bind his subjects as a nation. And he projected a stern, unyielding, ultra-pious public image; indeed, one observer thought him more like a priest than …

GettyImages-804438488-CMYK-3510ff3.jpg
width: 2482
height: 3543

Why Henry VI’s reign was such a disaster
type: item
date: 2022-11-08T06:21:51.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Plantagenet
subject: Hundred Years War
description: King Henry VI fell foul of the French, his soldiers, his own advisors, and centuries of historians. Yet, writes Lauren Johnson, perhaps his greatest enemy was the revered warrior-king who is commonly lauded as one of England's greatest monarchs and left him the throne 600 years ago, his own father...
encoded: In Westminster Abbey, the tomb of Henry V is hard to miss. Towering above the mosaic-encrusted tomb of St Edward the Confessor and his royal successors, for centuries Henry’s final resting place was topped by a shield, helm and warhorse’s saddle. All are symbols of the martial glory of a man many still consider to be the best English king of the Middle Ages. Meanwhile, in the Lady Chapel behind, tucked away and noticed by almost no one, is a small wooden pew-end representing Henry V’s successor, and only child, Henry VI. Can anything more aptly demonstrate the reputations of this father and son? Henry V loomed over his offspring from the grave, and in his father’s shadow Henry VI grew up stunted, emotionally and politically. Read more | Henry V's reputation: 5 facts you might not know about the king's softer side On the 600th anniversary of his death, Henry V’s triumphs are still rehearsed in productions of the eponymous Shakespeare play. His appears to be the ultimate underdog success story. Eldest son of a Lancastrian usurper, Henry V united England to claim the French throne, overcame substantial odds to win the battle of Agincourt in 1415, and was rewarded at the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, where he was named heir to the French kingdom and married Princess Catherine of Valois. Revered as “the flower in his time of Christian chivalry”, he died on campaign, aged 35 in 1422, leaving a nine-month-old son who shortly after was proclaimed King Henry VI, of England and France. Henry VI’s life also gained Shakespeare’s attention, but in the three plays bearing his name he is an insubstantial figure with few lines, completely overshadowed by more dynamic characters, chief among them his queen, Margaret of Anjou. Where Henry V’s reign is a litany of triumphs, his son’s reads like a top trumps of failure: he lost the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses, was twice imprisoned by his Yorkist rivals and died, almost certainly murdered, in the Tower of London shortly aft…

Henries-WL-f1d680d.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

1415: The battle of Agincourt
type: item
date: 2021-12-27T07:09:59.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Turning points in British history
description: Part nine in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1400–1449. Ralph Griffiths examines Henry V's successful victory over France which made him a winner in his own country too
encoded: The battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415 was the climax of Henry V’s first invasion of France. The English victory was overwhelming, while Henry’s role in the fighting made his reputation as a military genius blessed by God. It was a turning-point in the king’s life and in his quest to be king of France as well as England. The year was also critical for his kingdom and its relationship with Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as well as for its European reputation, as preparations for the campaign brought to a head issues which influenced developments for long after. Soon after Henry became king in March 1413 at the age of 25, he began preparing for an invasion of France which he had advocated in his father’s reign. Preparations included securing the Welsh and Scottish borders and strengthening England’s military and naval capabilities. The king combined the self-confidence and ambition of youth with single-minded purpose and military experience gained in Wales against Owain Glyn Dwr. In 1414, Henry’s intentions became clearer and after Parliament met in November, MPs could report to their constituencies that he would soon be taxing his subjects and the Church and seeking loans to raise an army larger (at 12,000 combatants) than any since the Crécy campaign (1346) of his great-grandfather, Edward III, who had staked a claim to the French throne in 1340. Henry’s ultimate objective, and his obligation as Edward’s heir, was the French crown. More immediately and realistically, he tried to force territorial concessions from the elderly and insane French monarch, Charles VI, and his quarrelsome nobility: it was the best time to invade France. Henry and Charles exchanged ambassadors over many months, but the French could not agree to ever-increasing English demands. Meanwhile, Henry was planning to shock the French with his power. By mid-March 1415, Charles realised that invasion was coming and negotiations could only delay it. In April and May Henry proclaimed that “we, with …

TP-Images-with-overlay9-a0a7672.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

Henry V’s greatest victory (and it wasn't at the battle of Agincourt)
type: item
date: 2021-06-14T11:25:44.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: The King
description: Henry V is best known as the brilliant warrior who won the day at Agincourt. But he was also a master diplomat, says Anne Curry, and he proved as much in the city of Troyes 600 years ago, when he was declared heir to the French throne
encoded: In Troyes on 21 May 1420, Charles VI, king of France, did something truly remarkable: he recognised the English claim to his throne. Acknowledging King Henry V as his rightful heir was nothing short of a humiliation for Charles’s nation. The ‘Hundred Years’ War’ appeared to be over. The English – personified by their young, vigorous king, Henry V – stood triumphant. At least for now. To appreciate the significance of this moment, it pays to take a closer look at what happened at Troyes six centuries ago. For more than 80 years, the rulers of England had waged war with the Valois kings of France, claiming that they had a stronger right to the French crown. Over the intervening decades, both sides’ fortunes had ebbed and flowed. Now, five years after Henry had led his first English invasion of France, there appeared to be an outright winner. By sealing the Treaty of Troyes, King Charles was not only acknowledging Henry as his rightful successor but also Henry’s heirs. In other words, the two crowns were to be, for all time to come, ruled by the same king – the king of England. The treaty had swept aside the claim to the French throne of not only the Dauphin (or heir apparent) Charles, the son of Charles VI, but also of all the other male members of the Valois royal house. Worse still for the French, Henry V was to be regent while awaiting his accession to the French throne because, since 1392, Charles VI had suffered repeated mental crises. To cement this remarkable settlement Henry married Charles’s daughter, Catherine, in Troyes on 2 June. She was crowned at Westminster Abbey on 23 February 1421, and in the following banquet, table decorations proudly proclaimed: “Through this fine marriage, war will cease.” Read more: A wayward prince? King Henry V’s misspent youth So how had Henry pulled off the coup of persuading, or forcing, the French to accept the English as rightful kings of France? For William Shakespeare, there was a simple explanation: Agincourt. In his 15…

Henry opener-81ce86b-scaled.jpg
width: 2560
height: 1695

Medieval(ish) matters #5: chivalry, medieval killer rabbits and prisoners of war in the 15th century
type: item
date: 2020-05-27T15:52:09.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Medieval matters blog
subject: Slavery
description: HistoryExtra content director David Musgrove rounds up the latest medieval stories on the website this week – considering chivalry, medieval prisoners of war, and rabbits in medieval marginalia
encoded: I’ve been contemplating chivalry, violence and slavery this week. Oh, and vengeful rabbits. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in lockdown too long, though it’s more to do with the fact that I was writing up a little web piece about the practice of taking prisoners in the Hundred Years’ War off the back of my podcast interview with Southampton University’s Dr Rémy Ambühl, an expert in such matters. Last week it was, as you might have noticed, the anniversary of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, which followed Henry V’s famous Agincourt victory, so it’s a timely thing to be thinking about. (On that, Dr Paul Dryburgh and Dr Euan Roger at the National Archives ran an informative twitter thread on the documents associated with the Treaty.) View oEmbed on the source website So, Dr Ambühl and I talked a fair bit about how combatants could actually be taken prisoner during the course of a melee (which reminded me of an interesting conversation I had last year for our podcast with Dr Lauren Johnson about the depiction of the heart of the fighting in the battle of Agincourt in the film The King). Listen | Lauren Johnson discusses the history behind The King, considering how closely it follows the real events of Henry V’s life and reign Another part of the discussion was about the legal and moral justification for taking prisoners of war, which is bound up with concepts of chivalry and the medieval law of arms. What is chivalry – and where does it come from? Chivalry, as far as I can see, is a difficult concept to define, with various ideas as to what it boils down to. What it wasn’t, according to another expert in the field, the University of York’s Dr Craig Taylor, was the romantic idea that some hold today of “knights going round treating war as if it was some kind of game”. Where chivalry comes from is complicated. One line of thought is that chivalry as a concept evolves from the aftermath of the implosion of Charlemagne’s empire. Charlemagne (c747–814) of course famously created a h…

Medieval-bunnies-2-bbae5bd.jpg
width: 600
height: 413

What was it like to be a Prisoner of War during the Hundred Years’ War?
type: item
date: 2020-05-27T11:54:36.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Medieval kings and queens
subject: Medieval life
subject: Medieval matters blog
description: What was it like to be taken captive during a medieval battle, and what happened to you afterwards? Historian Rémy Ambühl explains to David Musgrove…
encoded: One of the most infamous incidents from the Hundred Years’ War occurred at the battle of Agincourt in 1415, when some captured French prisoners were massacred by the English on the orders of King Henry V, as the French rear guard were preparing to make a last assault. Medieval historian Rémy Ambühl, from the University of Southampton, has been studying this subject – and was recently interviewed for the HistoryExtra podcast on how the capturing (and ransoming) of prisoners of war was a feature of the 116-year-long conflict. During the episode, he explains how a ransom culture developed with laws and practices that were designed to protect the economic interests of the captor, rather than the wellbeing of the captive. There were also some rules around how you would take, or allow yourself to be taken, captive during a battle. Listen | Rémy Ambühl discusses his new research into the fate of captives in the Hundred Years’ War “Touching the right hand and asking for ransom was a sign that would be understood in the heat of the action as the soldier giving up and handing himself over to the to his enemy,” explains Ambühl. “But that’s not the end of the story, because the prisoner would then effectively be in the possession of the person he has surrendered to. “You have his life in your hands and you are supposed to protect the prisoner at that point. So, you need to take him out of the battle. This is problematic if you are in the melee right in the combat. How does that happen? We can read that valets are there to help the knights; they take the prisoners and keep them outside the heat of the action. 9 medieval battles more significant than Agincourt The King: Henry V on film (podcast) “There were also other rules, too; these were made to avoid the neutralisation of the knights on the battlefield. Once you have taken your prisoner, you take their word and a token which proved that you had captured these prisoners, like a gauntlet or their sword,” continues Ambühl. “This…

Medieval-prisoners-2-e38cdfe.jpg
width: 600
height: 413

Medieval prisoners of war
type: item
date: 2020-05-27T11:20:54.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
subject: Medieval life
description: Rémy Ambühl discusses his new research into the fate of captives in the Hundred Years’ War
encoded: Historian Rémy Ambühl discusses his new research into the fate of captives during the era of the Hundred Years’ War.

Podcast-Remy-Ambühl-Web-large-ac1db78.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt
type: item
date: 2020-03-20T11:13:00.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Medieval battles
subject: The King
subject: TV interest
description: Henry V ruled England from 1413 until his death in 1422 and is one of England's most popular kings. Famed for his victory over the French at the 1415 battle of Agincourt, during the Hundred Years’ War with France, the king is remembered for his military abilities. Historian Teresa Cole shares 10 facts about the king, from his childhood as a hostage of Richard II to his battles as the young Prince of Wales…
encoded: Henry V (born c1386/7) ruled England from 1413 until his death in 1422. He is one of England's most popular kings, famed for his victory over the French at the 1415 battle of Agincourt, during the Hundred Years’ War with France. Henry V is remembered for his military abilities, and is the subject of a late 16th-century play written by William Shakespeare. Yet surprisingly little is known about Henry V. Was the king a good leader? And how did Henry V die? Teresa Cole explores the life and legacy of the medieval warrior king in her book, Henry V: The Life of the Warrior King & the Battle of Agincourt 1415. Here, writing for History Extra, she reveals 10 lesser-known facts about Henry V… Nobody knows when Henry V was born Henry V was born at Monmouth castle, perched high above the River Monnow, but there is no record of his birth, and even the year is uncertain. Some say his birthday was 9 August 1387, but an alternative date is 16 September 1386. The latter comes from a horoscope drawn up for the king and apparently commissioned by him just before the Agincourt campaign. However, the French astrologer who drew the horoscope was later accused in Paris of being an English spy, and it is possible the work was just an excuse for the man to come to England and meet with Henry. The king apparently showed no interest in the horoscope afterwards. “It’s hard to square Prince Hal’s pacifism with what we know about Henry V”: a historian’s review of The King A wayward prince? King Henry V’s misspent youth He was in Ireland with Richard II when his father seized the throne When his father, Henry Bolingbroke, seized the throne, the young Henry was in the custody of King Richard II as a hostage for his father’s good behaviour. Had it been a few centuries earlier he could have expected, at the least, to be blinded if not put to death. Richard, however, was made of different stuff. He had treated the boy well, spent time with him, took him with him on the expedition to Ireland, and ev…

Henry-V-2-522fbe4.jpg
width: 800
height: 539

The King: Henry V on film
type: item
date: 2019-11-12T15:30:59.000Z
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: The King
description: Lauren Johnson discusses the history behind the new Netflix film The King, considering how closely it follows the real events of Henry V’s life and reign
encoded: Historian and author Lauren Johnson discusses the history behind the new Netflix film The King, considering how closely it follows Shakespeare’s plays and the real events of Henry V’s life and reign.

Podcast-Website-Large-Lauren-Johnson-a640af8.jpg
width: 2953
height: 1980