The House of Lancaster

Book categories: Lancastrians, John of Gaunt, Henry IV, Henry V, Catherine of Valois, Agincourt, Henry VI, Hundred Years' War, Wars of the Roses, DVDs, Yorkists, Plantagenets

House of Lancaster

Lancastrian Kings & Lollard Knights by K. B. McFarlane. A collection of lectures.

Kingship and Masculinity in Late Medieval England by Katherine Lewis. Considers the extent to which judgements of a king's performance were informed by his manly qualities, with a particular focus on Henry V and Henry VI.

The Queen's Dumbshows: John Lydgate and the Making of Early Theater by Claire Sponsler. Explores drama in 15th century England, including the relationship between private entertainment, such as household banquets, and public forms of political theater such as royal entries and processions.

England's Empty Throne: Usurpation and the Language of Legitimation, 1399-1422 by Paul Strohm. Discusses the Lancastrian revolution and its aftermath.

John of Gaunt & Katherine Swynford

John of Gaunt: Son of One King, Father of Another by Kathryn Warner. Son of King Edward III, John was the wealthiest, most powerful, and most hated man in medieval England.

The Red Prince: The Life of John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster by Helen Carr. Biography of a man who held the levers of power and passionately upheld chivalric values.

The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era by Norman F. Cantor. Biography of John of Gaunt, the richest man in Europe, patron of Chaucer, founder of the Lancastrian Dynasty.

John of Gaunt: The Exercise of Princely Power in Fourteenth-Century Europe by Anthony Goodman. A key actor on the international stage, John was deeply involved in the Peasant's revolt and the Hundred Years War.

Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster by Alison Weir. At age 21, Katherine Swynford became the mistress of King Edward III's son John of Gaunt, one of medieval England's greatest love stories.

Katherine Swynford: The History of a Medieval Mistress by Jeannette Lucraft. This biography presents Swynford as a powerful figure who manipulated the social mores of the time for her own interests.

The Rise and Fall of the Beauforts: Lineage, Ambition and Obligation, 1373-1510 by John Brunton. For three generations, descendants of John of Gaunt and his mistress Katherine Swynford served as a stabilzing influence for the Lancastrian monarchy.

Katherine by Anya Seton. One of the most beloved historical novels of all time, this book tells the story of John of Gaunt's long romance with Katherine Swynford. Seton was also the author of the Tudor romance/reincarnation novel Green Darkness.

King Henry IV

Henry IV by Bryan Bevan. Biography of the king who usurped Richard II's throne.

Henry IV by Chris Given-Wilson. This biography reveals Henry as a cultured and skeptical monarch who crushed opposition ruthlessly. From the Yale English Monarchs series.

Henry IV by Catherine Nall. This short biography from the Penguin Monarchs series reappraises a monarch who held on to the throne through sheer force of will.

Henry IV: The Establishment of the Regime, 1399-1406 edited by Gwilym Dodd and Douglas Biggs. Collection of essays on the first years of Henry IV's reign.

The Fears of Henry IV by Ian Mortimer. The life of England's self-made king.

Joan of Navarre: Infanta, Duchess, Queen, Witch? by Elena Woodacre. Biography of Henry IV's second wife, who was charged with treason during his son's reign.

Royal Witches: Witchcraft and the Nobility in Fifteenth-Century England by Gemma Hollman. About four royal women, including Henry IV's wife Joan of Navarre, who were accused of witchcraft.

Royal and Historical Letters During the Reign of Henry the Fourth, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, 1399-1404 edited by Francis Charles Hingeston. Correspondence dating from the first five years of the king's reign, from 1399 to 1404.

Fiction

A Bloody Field by Shrewsbury by Edith Pargeter. Novel about King Henry IV.

The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory. Novel about Jacquetta of Luxembourg, mother of English queen Elizabeth Woodville. From Gregory's series The Cousins Wars.

Henry IV, Part I by William Shakespeare. Text of the play.

Henry IV, Part II by William Shakespeare. Shakespeare's second play about the king.

King Henry V

Henry V by Christopher Allmand. The first full scholarly biography of Henry V, based on the primary English and French sources.

Henry V by John Matusiak. This biography takes a fresh look at the English king's entire life and nine-year reign.

Henry V, Holy Warrior: The Reign of a Medieval King in Context by Timothy M. Thibodeau. Henry V saw his reign as a holy crusade to reclaim the French throne.

Henry V: From Playboy Prince to Warrior King by Anne Curry. How Henry's efforts to expunge his past failures defined his kingship.

Henry V: The Life of the Warrior King & the Battle of Agincourt by Teresa Cole. Unimportant at birth, Henry became king and united a previously divided country.

Henry V: The Conscience of a King by Malcolm Vale. More than just a warrior-king, Henry V was a gifted ruler.

Henry V: The Rebirth of Chivalry by Malcolm Mercer. Features a mix of significant letters and official documents from the National Archives.

Henry V by A. J. Pollard. A brief biography of one of England's most renowned military heroes.

Henry V: A History of His Most Important Places and Events by Deborah Fisher. How the king's character was shaped by his environment.

The Funeral Achievements of Henry V at Westminster Abbey: The Arms and Armour of Death edited by Anne Curry and Susan Jenkins. Sheds new light on the king's funeral service and his ornate chantry chapel and tomb.

Henry V as Military Leader

Henry V: Leadership, Strategy, Conflict by Marcus Cowper. Examines the king's key battles and sieges, and private reasons for controversial military decisions. Includes detailed maps, photographs and artwork.

Conquest: The English Kingdom of France, 1417-1450 by Juliet Barker. Henry V launched a campaign that would put the crown of France on an English head. Only a peasant girl, Joan of Arc, would halt the English advance.

1415: Henry V's Year of Glory by Ian Mortimer. Records the dramatic events of 1415 on a day-by-day basis, revealing why Henry tried to unify the kingdoms of England and France - and why he was prepared to burn men alive as heretics.

Henry V as Warlord by Desmond Seward. Biography that portrays the king as cruel and ruthless.

Henry V and the Conquest of France 1416-53 by Paul Knight and Mike Chappell. A military history of English king Henry V's three-year campaign against France's Charles VI.

Henry V in Fiction

Good King Harry by Denise Giardina. Novel about King Henry V. Torn between the sensitivities of his soul and the uncompromising king he must become, he embarks on an odyssey rife with political agendas, sexual intrigue, and military combat.

My Lord John: A Tale of Intrigue, Honor and the Rise of a King by Georgette Heyer. First published in 1975, this novel tells the story of John of Lancaster, son of English king Henry V. The author died without finishing the book.

King Henry V by William Shakespeare. Play.

Catherine of Valois

The Sister Queens: Isabella & Catherine de Valois by Mary McGrigor. Catherine de Valois, bride of Henry V, conducted a passionate love affair that founded the Tudor dynasty. Her sister Isabella was married aged seven to Richard II and fled England following his murder.

Books About the Tudor Dynasty

Catherine of Valois in Fiction

The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy. Fictional account of the life of Catherine of Valois, wife of England's King Henry V. First published in 1989.

The Agincourt Bride by Joanna Hickson. The story of Catherine de Valois, told through the eyes of her former wet-nurse.

The Queen's Lover: A Novel by Vanora Bennett. Married off to England's King Heny V as part of a treaty, Catherine de Valois is soon widowed and mother of the future king of England and France. To save her son and herself, she must turn away from love and all that is familiar. (Previously published under the title "Blood Royal.")

The Forbidden Queen by Anne O'Brien. The story of Katherine Valois, the innocent wife and captive widow who became a Tudor mistress.

The Battle of Agincourt

Agincourt: A New History by Anne Curry. Recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of the English and the French, and makes clear the genius of Henry V as a military leader.

The Battle of Agincourt: Sources and Interpretations by Anne Curry. Brings together, in translation and with commentary, English and French narrative accounts and literary works of the 15th century, and examines how later historians interpreted the battle. Includes the first full assessment of surviving army administrative records.

Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England by Juliet Barker. Casts aside the legends of Agincourt and shows that the truth is just as exciting, just as fascinating, and far more significant.

The Warrior King and the Invasion of France by Desmond Seward. About English king Henry V, the Battle of Agincourt, and the campaign that shaped medieval England.

King Henry VI: Parts I, II and II by William Shakespeare. Trilogy of plays.

King Henry VI

Henry VI by David Grummitt. Although obviously ill-suited to be king, England's Henry VI reigned for nearly 40 years and commanded great loyalty. This biography explains his reign in the context of the times in which he lived.

The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson. The tragic story of the king who inherited the crowns of England and France, and lost both.

Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou: A Marriage of Unequals by Amy License. A dual biography. He became king before his first birthday, inheriting a vast empire; she was the daughter of a king without power. Opposite in character, they formed an unlikely partnership.

Henry VI by Bertram Wolffe and John L. Watts. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs Series.

Henry VI: A Good, Simple and Innocent Man by James Ross. Succeeding to the throne at the age of only nine months, Henry VI inherited a war with France and, in time, found himself at war with his own nobles.

Henry VI and the Politics of Kingship by John Watts. Examines the political system that allowed the king to remain in power.

The Reign of King Henry VI by Ralph A. Griffiths. Biography of the tragic, insane king.

Margaret of Anjou

Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England by Helen E. Maurer. A look at the life of the most notorious of English medieval queens.

The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham. Fiction. Margaret of Anjou, wife of England's King Henry VI, cannot give up on her husband -- even when he goes insane.

The Red Queen: Margaret of Anjou and the Wars of the Roses by Ruth S. Perot. A novel about Margaret of Anjou.

More Books About the Wars of the Roses
Books About the Hundred Years' War
More Books About English Royal History

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Movies

These DVDs are formatted for North American audiences.

Henry V. Movie adaption of Shakespearean play starring Laurence Oliver.

Henry V. 1989 movie directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh.

More DVDs About Royalty