This month's talk is about the fascinating but often misunderstood King Henry VI. Lauren Johnson goes into detail about life and death of this rather neglected king.
Lauren is joining us in the chatroom on Sunday 27th October (see times below) and members can ask her questions about Henry VI, her talk, the Wars of the Roses, her books and her research. We'll be giving away a copy of her book Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI to one lucky chat participant.
Here are the times for the chat in different time zones:
- London, UK - Sunday 27 October at 11pm
- Madrid, Spain - Monday 28 October at 12am
- New York, USA - Sunday 27 October at 7pm
- Los Angeles, USA - Sunday 27 October at 4pm
- Sydney, Australia - Monday 28 October at 10am
- Adelaide, Australia - Monday 28 October at 9.30am
If your time zone is not listed here, then you can use https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html to convert the London time to your zone.
Oh, wow! Thank you for this fascinating talk about Henry VI. It was interesting to hear about the beginnings of the War of the Roses, and to learn more about this king. I appreciate your effort, and will look for your book. Thanks again! Michelle t
Thanks, Lauren, for this fascinating insight into King Henry vi, his desire for peace and to save Christian lives and the reality of his torments as a man who suffered depression, lack of confidence, from bad counsel and lack of decisions. I believe this led to him being too easily manipulated and as he withdrew from conflicts, he failed to abate the desires for power from Somerset and York. Had he done so the conflicts which we call the Wars of the Roses may have been avoided. A man of peace is a good thing, but a man who sadly cannot rule due to his lack of decisions and confidence is a national tragedy. Thanks again for bringing fresh knowledge and understanding of one of our misunderstood Kings.
This is a good listen,,,,fascinating as noted before….would he have been perhaps a college head master or good at the U.N. or a leader of an intellectual think tank for peace and justice today (especially with a gentler spouse) ? He certainly seems to have a noble bearing in his picture image….how do you think he would have done as king in the time of Henry VII (HIS son)? Could he have been a better king than Henry VIII?…. THAT is thought provoking given this person’s character…..perhaps England would not have had that terrible, terrible, century of faith issues….such foolishness of Henry VIII infatuation with one woman whose head he cut off as she was such a harpi ….haha…..this was a good listen, thank you..
Part Two. I apologize if my comment on Henry VIII or Anne B. was abit harsh…I love what is done on this site….but after reviewing so much of the existing material it seems I come to the part of how the noble, educated woman Katherine of Aragon was….her parents….her country….her beauty and fierce bearing while she helped her husband fight before (the coat of his enemy instead of his body)….she WAS loyal to him and tried all she could to forward his own causes and urge others to respect him….I look at the residual …the taste that Henry VIII left in people’s mouths, the taste Anne B. left in people’s mouths….were they REALLY good, kind….It would have made it much better had Katherine of Aragon and her daughter had been treated better…….of course this is a 21st century look…..perhaps it comes more down to Henry VIII than anyone else….Anne B.WAS brilliant for her time….but oh!, such calamnity!!….such sorrow all around….nothing good seems to have come out of it but Elizabeth I….what a queen SHE was….makes those times SO compelling….I’m good here in life…just sorry so many, many poor things happened…Wolsey, More, Fisher, Cromwell, and even Cramner….good heavens…SUCH death…SUCH sorrow….could have been better Arthur would have lived…maybe Henry might have found than later…now THERE’S a neat idea for a story…Arthur lived after marrying Katheryn of Aragon….HENRY would have found Anne B. later on and would have made a love match…there’s a cool thought….anyway thank you for reading…LOVE your site….Shelley
Henry VI was born in the wrong era. No sensitive soul would have easily survived in such a barbaric time. I see him as a modern Archbishop of Canterbury or an Eton professor.