#however strohm is extremely cynical of henry v and takes it a bit into 'ok now you're being weird about it' areas | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

une-sanz-pluis · 6 months ago

Text

I think a lot about Isabelle of Valois and Henry of Monmouth during Richard II's deposition. Two children whose lives were picked up and turned around, changed irrevocably by the deposition. There were other children caught up in, of course. The children of those executed in the Epiphany Rising. The children of those executed and murdered as part of Richard's revenge against the Lords Appellant. The teenaged Humphrey of Gloucester dying around the same time as Richard was deposed.

But none are quite so central to the story as Isabelle and Henry. How personally traumatic it was for them is unknowable and perhaps, in Henry's case, debatable. At the very least, it seems reasonable to assume that the deposition constituted a loss of childhood innocence for both of them. If Richard II's court was defined by a "culture of childhood", as Deanne Williams and James Simpson suggest, perhaps its destruction with Richard's deposition and Henry IV's assertion that the ideal king was one who had matured into manhood finds its ultimate symbol in the lives of Isabelle and Henry, uprooted by the events of 1399.

#there is obviously a lot of debate about what medieval childhood looked like and i'm not saying here #that they were obviously treated as adults from 1399 - the evidence suggests they were still treated as minors for several years after 1399 #but that it marked a metaphorical 'end' to their childhood marked by a loss of innocence and being forcing them to grow up fast #re: henry of monmouth's debatable trauma.#paul strohm argues that the story of henry v's fondness for richard was a propagandistic narrative openly promoted by henry v himself #and since those narratives are our main source for their relationship then the truth of this fondness can be debated #which would mean henry might not have cared about richard's deposition and been like 'oh boy now i'm going to be king :D :D :D :D'#however strohm is extremely cynical of henry v and takes it a bit into 'ok now you're being weird about it' areas #(cf. his oft-cited claim that the oldcastle rebellion and southampton plot were 'faked' by henry)#even if it was the case that henry was personally untroubled by the deposition the deposition still marks the end of childhood innocence #given he will shortly become the target of an assassination plot and start having to fight for his father's throne and his own life #isabelle of valois #isabelle de valois #henry v #blog

16 notes · View notes