Henry VI
Biography
Henry VI became King of England at just nine months old, succeeding his warrior father Henry V. Unlike his father, Henry VI was deeply pious, peaceful, and unsuited for medieval kingship. His reign was marked by spectacular military failures in the final phase of the Hundred Years' War, losing almost all English possessions in France.
His periodic bouts of severe mental illness, which occasionally left him completely unresponsive for months, created a dangerous power vacuum in England. This weakness encouraged ambitious nobles, most notably Richard, Duke of York, to challenge his authority, ultimately igniting the devastating civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses.
Throughout the wars, Henry was repeatedly captured, deposed, briefly restored, and imprisoned again. He spent his final years as a prisoner in the Tower of London, where he was eventually murdered in 1471 following the decisive Yorkist victory at the Battle of Tewkesbury.