Henry VI

Bertram Wolffe challenges the traditional view of Henry VI as an unworldly, innocent and saintly monarch and offers instead a finely-drawn but critical portrait of an ineffectual ruler. Drawing on widespread contemporary evidence, Wolffe describes the failures of Henry's long reign from 1422 to 1471, which included the collapse of justice, the loss of the French territories and the final disintegration of his government. He argues that the posthumous cult of Henry was promoted by Henry VII as a way of excusing his uncle's political failures while enhancing the image of the dynasty.

The late Bertram Wolffe was reader in medieval history at Exeter University.