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Hello, dear listeners, I hope you're enjoying the season so far. If you want to do some extracurricular reading to enhance this season, give my book, the Hollow Crown a read. It's all about the wars of the Roses, England's big civil war that I'll be covering on seasons 9 and 10 of A Dynasty to die for. Now there's a brand new special edition of the Hollow Crown available via Millennia Books. It has sprayed edges, a unique cover, it comes with an exclusive poster a and every copy is signed by me. And if you're one of this is history's royal favourites, use the code Jones15 to get an extra 15% off. That's Jones15 at checkout. Stocks are limited, so grab that discount via patreon.com thisishistory now on with the show after this short break. Hello, I'm Dan Jones, a medievalist and I'm thankful I'm not actually in the Middle Ages. I why? Because a restless boss didn't bode well for employees? Well, I'm glad to say that finding the right hire now is safe and super convenient with Indeed. But don't take my word for it. There are more than 3.3 million workplaces worldwide who've used Indeed to find the best people for the best jobs. So spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a 100 pound sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com dynasty. Just go to Indeed.com dynasty right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com dynasty terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the right way with Indeed. Well, the holidays have come and gone once again, but if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift, well, Mint Mobile is extending their holiday off offer of half off unlimited wireless. So here's the idea. You get it now, you call it an early present for next year. What do you have to lose? Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch limited time 50% off regular price for new customers. Upfront payment required. $45 for three months, $90 for six month or $180 for 12 month. Plan taxes and fees. Extra speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy. See Terms. The 15 year old girl holds onto the rail of the ship called the Cock John, her face going a very o shade of green. Margaret of Anjou wasn't feeling her best when she got on this ship. Now, as the vessel lurches on the stormy waters of the English Channel, she's feeling actively horrendous. She's not the only one. As squalls of rain blow in half, the ship's passengers are either whimpering below deck or losing their breakfasts over the side. If this is an omen for what lies ahead of her in England, Margaret isn't sure she fancies it. Not that she really has a choice. Almost a year ago, in May 1444, she was betrothed to be married to England's King Henry vi. It was a pretty sweet deal for her dad. Margaret Senior, AKA Rene, Count of Anjou, brother in law of King Charles VII of France, only had to pay a tiny dowry in exchange for having a queen in the family. The English big shots who did the matchmaking seem to think it's just the ticket too. In return for Margaret marrying into the Plantagenet dynasty, they've got a two year truce in their increasingly disastrous war against King Charles. So here Margaret is in April 1445, on board the Vomit Comet to Albion's shore, getting ready to take one for the team. But you never know, thinks Margaret as she wipes salt water from her eyes and a chunk of Bunda from the front of her frock. This King of England might be alright. After all, his dad was the mighty warrior Henry V. His granddad was the jousting champ, crusader and throne snatcher Henry Bolingbroke. The guy's got to have a bit of spunk about him, hasn't he? Hasn't he? Foreign Jones? And from Sony Music Entertainment, this is History, Season nine of A Dynasty to Die For. Episode 5 enter the she wolf. When I was a child, one of my favourite books was a compendium of stories called the Complete Molesworth by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle. The title character and narrator, Nigel Molesworth, is a cynical student at a pretty dismal prep school called St. Paul Custards, which he describes in amusingly misspelt chronicle form. One of the recurring characters at St. Custards is a boy called Basil Fotherington Thomas. He's a delicate, fey child with curly blond locks who skips gormlessly around the school uttering his catchphrase, hello clouds, hello sky. I still occasionally re read bits of Molesworth, and whenever I encounter Fotherington Thomas, the bit of my brain that does history conjures up Henry vi. As you just heard, a teenage Margaret of Anjou is heading to England to marry this eligible young king who's 23 and a fully grown man. We're going to hear a lot about Margaret in the rest of this season, and it's no spoiler to say that she's a gal who packs a real punch. Not for nothing will she end up being nicknamed the she Wolf of France. But the man Margaret meets when she arrives in England is not cut from the same cloth. He is, as Molesworth would have said, utterly wet and a weed. Henry has been king since he was sucking titty and watching cocomelon. Not that there's anything wrong with either of those pastimes, by the way, but somehow he hasn't grown up to be very kingly. He's a fairly big lad. He goes around 59 or 510 with a pleasant face, although you couldn't really call it rugged. He has soft plump cheeks, little pursed lips like his mother, Catherine de Valois, and large round eyes under a high brow which makes him look permanently surprised. Henry likes nice clothes and jewels, and when called upon, he can definitely look the part as king. Except. Well, that's where the problems start, because while Henry can do a royal dress up, his preferred garb is rather less striking. One of the most vivid descriptions of Henry is written by a guy called John Blackman, who's Henry's personal confessor. It's worth quoting verbatim. It's well known Blackman writes of Henry that from his youth he always wore round toed shoes and boots like a farmer's. He also customarily wore a long gown with a rolled hood like a townsman and a full coat reaching below his knees, with shoes, boots and footwear wholly black, rejecting expressly all curious fashion of clothing. It's not exactly giving majesty. In fact, if you ask me, it's giving depressed goth standing alone at the back of a My Bloody Valentine concert. It's a look, but maybe not the right one. And just in case you think I'm judging a book by its cover, listen on. You'll remember from season eight that Henry V tended to dress pretty austerely too. But Henry V was also direct, decisive and powerfully charismatic. His son is none of those things. Henry VI always seems distracted in conversation. He's placid, indecisive, easily pushed around. He hates making decisions. He prefers reading his Bible to his state papers. His favorite hobby is designing churches and chapels. He hates swearing. The worst curse he'll utter is forsooth and forsooth, and he's horrified by anything to do with human flesh. That last one is A particular problem because two of the most important jobs of a king are the fleshly arts of fighting and, well, the other F word. It was once said of Henry V that he seemed more like a monk than a king. That was a big mistake. His son, however, is very much monk coded. A noted 20th century medievalist described Henry VI as a saintly muffler that gets him just about bang on. So when Margaret of Anjou finally lands on England's south coast on April 9, 1445, this is the fiance who's waiting for her. Wolf, meet Moth. The royal couple have their first formal meeting, appropriately enough, in a monastery in the southern county of Hampshire. They're married on the spot by the Bishop of Salisbury. Henry gives Margaret a present, a ruby ring, remolded from the sacred ring he wore when he was anointed King of France. At the end of May, they go up to London and Margaret is crowned Queen of England. Poems are read aloud celebrating the marriage as the start of a permanent peace between England and France. From this point on, so far as we can tell, Henry is a devoted husband who goes out of his way to treat Margaret nicely. Not so nicely, it must be said, that she gets pregnant anytime soon. And Margaret does her duty, which is to look pretty in public and in private, to try to lobby her new husband to do whatever it takes to make peace happen. Because let's say it again, Margaret hasn't come to England just to be a companion to a king who'd rather be flicking through a stained glass catalogue. She's been made queen to help smooth the path to a peace deal with the French. But as peace negotiations approach, the question is, who exactly is Margaret working for? For kings in the Middle Ages, indecision is likely to equal death. King Henry vi, a prime case in point. Today he'd be hiding behind his keyboard and if I were him, I'd be using all the tools at my disposal to turn overwhelm into action. Like Shopify, it's an e commerce platform that gives you all the tools you need to get your product into the hands of those who need it most. From custom design templates to easy to run marketing campaigns, Shopify is here to help you help your business grow. And if you get stuck, Shopify has an award winning 24 hour customer support team. So don't be like Henry. End that analysis paralysis. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify, and start hearing. Sign up for your £1 per month trial today at shopify.co.uk dynasty go to shopify.co.uk dynasty. That's shopify.co.uk dynasty. Time is valuable. That's why Lowe's blueprint takeoffs turn blueprints into quotes faster. Bring us your plans and we'll generate itemized material lists to make quoting easier so you can get back to Building Plus. At the Lowe's Pro desk, you get access to thousands of building materials not sold in store. And when your order's ready, we'll deliver everything to the job site. Improving is easy at Lowe's. Westminster hall is thronging with diplomats, clerks, servants, flunkies and all manner of other hangers on all waiting for the French peace delegation to arrive. It's July 1445, and the great Embassy, as the French like to call their peace negotiating team, have already been given a lavish welcome into the city of London. There's been much marching and pageantry to greet them on London Bridge. Now they're going to get down to brass tacks. Margaret of Anjou has been safely crowned Queen of England, and the next official step is for the two sides to sit down and figure out how to use that marriage as the springboard for a lasting peace. And let's be honest, peace is long overdue. The Hundred Years War has been going on for 108 years. After the sugar rush of Henry V's conquests, the English have now ground themselves almost to a standstill. They can barely afford to keep their armies in the field, and the days of glorious victories are now more than two decades in the past. The trouble is, public opinion is very hostile to giving up any more land to the French. Hard heads like Henry's uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, won't hear a word of surrendering territory, even if it promises to stop the bloodshed. So the task for the English is somehow to get out of the forever war without giving up any significant concessions. What's more, they have to do it against a ticking clock. The truce set when Henry married Margaret expires in spring 1446. That's not awfully far away. So for the English, these will have to be some incredibly canny negotiations. The French have an easier task. They can afford to run the clock down and see how desperate the English get and what concessions they're really prepared to make. And if they need it, they have a sleeper agent, quite literally next to the king. Queen Margaret. When the French ambassadors are shown into Westminster Hall, Henry VI rises to greet them from his throne. He certainly looks the part. He's been persuaded to ditch his emo threads and Doc Martens for a few days and throw on some impressive royal red and gold silks. Behind his throne is a tapestry showing the fleur de lis of France being presented to the dad. Henry never knew Henry V standing around his throne. Henry has the most influential noble in England. It's a real power posse. There's the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Royal Chancellor, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and the man who's become the power behind the throne in recent years, William Delapole, Marquess of Suffolk. Della Pole is a wealthy landowner and war veteran who controls pretty much the whole of East Anglia. That's the low lying region of England that bulges out eastwards into the North Sea. He's increasingly the main gatekeeper to Henry himself. He's widely considered to be the architect of the French marriage. Put all this together, smartly dressed king, a list advisors, reminders of Henry V and the vibe is supposed to be majestic, intimidating even. The trouble is Henry VI isn't really up to pulling it off. The English need Genghis Khan in the room. What they've got is Mr. Bean. When the French have found their spots in the hall, a welcome is read out in Latin. But Henry jumps to his feet and interrupts, saying it's not friendly enough. Then he doffs his cap, gets down from his throne and and pats all the ambassadors on the back once the proper talk starts. Anytime there's a question for Henry, he just plasters on this dozy grin and looks blankly at Suffolk, Gloucester and the rest of his advisors for an answer. It doesn't take long for the French to read the room. This guy probably can't wipe his own backside without asking if he he's doing it right. They can have a bit of fun here. And that's exactly what they do. When the English suggest that they'd like to have an end to the war but keep all the lands Henry V won, the French choke down their laughter and say, yeah, that's not happening. They promised Gascony and a few other bits that England held under Edward iii, but only held for as long as Charles VII feels like it. They say they'll be having the whole of Normandy back then. They demand, as the price of any continued negotiations, the immediate surrender of the strategically sensitive county of Maine. It can be handed over to Margaret's dad, Rene, Count of Anjou, but it needs to be handed over. This is a bombshell. Holding Maine is vital to the defence of Normandy. If the English give it up, even to Henry's father in law, they can kiss goodbye to any military leverage they have left in Normandy, and everyone knows it. When the English balk at the mention of Maine, the French just pull a Gallic shrug and suggest that this is too bad. But maybe there's a way to figure this out. What if Henry VI comes over to France with his wife and hangs out with Charles VII so they can settle it with a little tete a tete? The thought of letting Henry VI anywhere near Charles VII strikes cold fear into English hearts. He'll be eaten alive. They say they'll think about it, which in diplomatic language means, how about you take your face for a shit? So the French do the easiest thing in the world. They thank the English for their time and walk away from the negotiating table, whistling as they go and pointing out that the truce runs out in just over eight months. If they want to keep talking, they'll need to tie a bow around the county of Maine and send it over to Margaret's dad pronto. Just let us know what you decide. As diplomatic Bayton's switch moves go, this one's a doozy. The English are in a real hole, and they know it. Behind the scenes, there are panic discussions between the king's councillors. Some think Maine is a price worth paying. Others won't have a bar of it it. But all the while, Margaret of Anjou is doing her job, which is persuading Henry VI that this is, get ready for it, his main character moment. Her dad will look after the county, and this really isn't too big a price to pay for peace. So a few months later, after negotiations in October, Henry has a diplomatic message sent to Charles vii. He's okay with giving up Maine and it'll be handed over in the spring. Only a handful of people are told about the plan, and when Parliament meets at the end of the year, it's kept secret. That's a sign that everyone knows this is an absolutely terrible move, and it's the start of a chain of events that's going to end in nothing short of disaster. But who's going to say no to England's anointed ruler? We heard you. Nine years of bring back the snack wrap and you've won. But maybe you should have asked for more. Say hello to the hot honey snack wrap. Now you've really won. Go to McDonald's and get it while you can. In the spring of 1446, builders, masons, carpenters, and glass fitters mill around a building site just across the River Thames from Windsor Castle. It's one of the most picturesque spots in Southern England, a lush, green rolling expanse of the fertile Thames Valley. For the last five years, it's been the site of one of the most splendid building projects of the century. In 1441, King Henry VI founded a school here, which he's decided to call King's College of Our lady of Eton beside Windsor, or as it becomes known for short, Eton College. When the works are finished, it's going to provide free education for 70 poor boys at a time. They'll come here to learn their ABCs before going on to university at another educational establishment. Henry's founded King's College, Cambridge. And what a pair of institutions these will be. Eaton's Chapel alone is being designed in magnificent late Gothic style. It's being built on the scale of a cathedral. Henry wants it to have the longest nave of any chapel in the whole of Europe. It'll be endowed with the best of the best holy relics, including bits of the true Cross and the Crown of Thorns. Henry's written to the Pope and got him to sign off on an incredible spiritual privilege for the chapel. Once a year, Christians will be able to come here, confess their sins and be granted an indulgence. That means wiping them off the slate so that the confessee will be able to get free fast track access to heaven. That's the sort of thing that was originally reserved for people who went on crusade. And yes, that's just the chapel. The rest of the college buildings are going to be equally magnificent. Once the works here are done, admittedly at huge cost, Henry will be able to look out of the window of Windsor Castle and reflect that he is is responsible for founding one of the greatest schools in Christendom. What's more, everyone who goes there will pray for his soul for the rest of time. And you know what? You have to hand it to Henry vi. The school he founds at Eton really will be one of the most famous and successful in history. As of today, 20 British Prime Ministers were educated there, as well as countless other writers, actors, politicians and world leaders. There's a statue of Henry VI in the school grounds. And every November on Founders Day, the school celebrates Henry VI's legacy to them. But in the 1440s, as Eton is being built, no one is thanking Henry very much at all. His decision to hand Maine back to the French via his father in law has landed the English government in exactly the sort of pickle it was always going to. There's plenty of sympathy for the peace process. Only real headbangers like Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, think the English should dig their heels in and fight on. But giving up Maine, particularly in such a secretive way, has created a whole new set of problems. The political mood in the realm is souring, and although Henry, under his wife Margaret's influence, has made the decision to give Maine back, he isn't doing very much to provide leadership through the crisis. The first hint of the very serious trouble that Henry has unleashed comes in the spring of 1446, when the royal Lieutenant of Normandy returns from his term of office there. His name is Richard, Duke of York. He's a young, capable soldier in his mid-30s who's been doing a difficult job out in Normandy without much backing from back home. Richard's dad was executed by Henry V for getting mixed up in a stupid plot before the Battle of Agincourt. But he's proved more than happy to let bygones be bygones and do loyal service to the crown. Listen back to episode six, season eight of A Dynasty To Die for to hear more about how that plot backfired. But when Richard comes back to England expecting to have his commission renewed for another term of office, he finds that instead of a few handshakes and back slaps, he's hit with a barrage of criticism for the way he's been running Normandy. Bean counters on the council have been going through his accounts and are accusing him of misspending funds, mismanaging troops and lining his own pockets. It's a classic case of ass covering by the men in power and York has every right to take offence. But offence is neither here nor there. The council are looking for a scapegoat to try and deflect from the barrage of criticism that's coming their way when the decision about Maine gets out. So they let Richard, Duke of York, take the heat. The Marquess of Suffolk unceremoniously sacks York in the King's name and appoints another noble in his place. But it takes a year for York's replacement to be ready to do the job. And the upshot is that for a critical year, there's literally no one in charge in Normandy. York is packed off to be Governor of Ireland instead. Meanwhile, the English are stalling and desperately trying to delay giving Maine back. And Charles VII is making very ominous noises about the consequences. And then, towards the end of 1446, the secret plan to hand Maine back leaks and becomes public knowledge. A nightmare scenario is starting to descend and fingers are being pointed at everyone except the real culprit, the meek, mannered farmer, booted school building dimwit of a king, Henry vi. By the time the year is out, someone is going to have to suffer for his lackluster leadership. In fact, they're not going to just suffer. One of the most famous figures in the whole of England is going to have to die. Find out who when we return next time on this IS History. So there he is, Henry VI in all his dithering glory. We can't knock his buildings, though. If you've ever paid a visit to King's College in Cambridge or Eton, do drop us a photo on our medieval travel thread, a chat room open to all our lovely royal favorite subscribers on Patreon. We love seeing where our favourites visit on their travels all throughout the medieval world. And now, speaking of favourites, my question for this week's discussion starter do you think Margaret of Anjou was a spy? Let me know on patreon.com thisishistory.