On this date in 1422, Henry V, one of the studliest of English Kings and a dead ringer for Kenneth Branagh (at least in my mind's eye) pooped his last in the Château de Vincennes, dying of a case of dysentery he'd picked up in an earlier siege. His sudden death left his son as king of England, demonstrating a great flaw in the whole scheme of monarchy: Namely that not only can it leave a crazy simpleton in charge, but that crazy simpleton might, in fact, be just nine months old at the time.
Incidentally, the Château de Vincennes served later as a prison (whose guests included the Marquis de Sade) an arsenal and a fort, and it was the walls of the Château against which Mata Hari was stood up and shot in 1917 after being convicted of espionage.
Boy, there are just places on this earth where you can get bulk discounts on your history.
A lesson from History that shows that maybe allowing the Presidential Winner to pick his own Vice-President was not such a good idea after all. I mean, if Air Force One takes a Dive on a Multi-State Trip to promote "Energy Conservation", well, "President Joe Biden?"
ReplyDeleteSo after he died, you could say that it was his son, Henry VI, who had the runs of the place.
ReplyDeleteTam, Les is scaring people...
ReplyDeleteAnd the worst part is the french reneged on their post Agincourt agreement, that on the Death of the French King, Henry would inherit the French crown. Henry died first.
ReplyDeleteNow, somehow, his son didn't inherit. The French weaseled out of it.
Probably for the the best, England would still be speaking French.
I still think a Western Empire would have been cool. And would have saved a lot of bloodshed.
Funny, I think that Henry V is the spittin' image of Larry Olivier....
ReplyDeleteBoy, there are just places on this earth where you can get bulk discounts on your history.
ReplyDeleteCase in point.
Damn. Tam Crapblogging
ReplyDelete"bulk discounts on your history." Yup, annoying Virginians keep harping on that subject, to this very day.
ReplyDeleteWV: ythmaroa. Revolting painful always-fatal Polynesian chronic wasting disease?
Bubblehead, the Framers got it right the first time on picking the Veep.
ReplyDeleteWV: melatibi. A disease of White people, in which all of the melanin in their bodies migrates into a narrow stripe along their shins, leaving the rest of their bodies even paler than Tam's.
"Yup, annoying Virginians keep harping on that subject, to this very day."
ReplyDeleteBy comparison to the sheer amount of bulk-packaged history at Château de Vincennes, Virginia history (important as it is) comes in bubble-packaged 2-packs at the checkout line.
Oh, yeah. I am reminded of Kate Valois, who married Henry the Fifth.
ReplyDeleteApparently she was so good-lookin and virtuous that her body was preserved from corruption for several hundred years, to the extent that she was still cute enough after all those years for Samual Pepys to kiss her extremely dead body on the lips, and not mind. (too much)