Henry IV, also called (1377–97) earl of Derby or (1397–99) duke of Hereford, byname Henry Bolingbroke or Henry of Lancaster, (born April? 1366, Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire, England—died March 20, 1413, London), king of England from 1399 to 1413, the first of three 15th-century monarchs from the house of Lancaster. He gained the crown by usurpation and successfully consolidated his power in the face of repeated uprisings of powerful nobles. However, he was unable to overcome the fiscal and administrative weaknesses that contributed to the eventual downfall of the Lancastrian dynasty.
Henry V, (born September 16?, 1387, Monmouth, Monmouthshire, Wales—died August 31, 1422, Bois de Vincennes, France), king of England (1413–22) of the house of Lancaster, son of Henry IV. As victor of the Battle of Agincourt (1415, in the Hundred Years’ War with France), he made England one of the strongest kingdoms in Europe.
King Henry VI, (born December 6, 1421, Windsor, Berkshire, England—died May 21/22, 1471, London), king of England from 1422 to 1461 and from 1470 to 1471, a pious and studious recluse whose incapacity for government was one of the causes of the Wars of the Roses.