Henry VI

noun

son of Henry V who as an infant succeeded his father and was King of England from 1422 to 1461; he was taken prisoner in 1460 and Edward IV was proclaimed king; he was rescued and regained the throne in 1470 but was recaptured and murdered in the Tower of London (1421-1471)

• Instance Hypernyms: ↑King of England, ↑King of Great Britain

• Member Holonyms: ↑Lancaster, ↑House of Lancaster, ↑Lancastrian line

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1. 1165-97, king of Germany 1190-97; king of Sicily 1194-97; emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1191-97 (son of Frederick I).

2. 1421-71, king of England 1422-61, 1470-71 (son of Henry V).

3. (italics) a three-part drama (Part 1, 1591-92; Part 2, 1590?; Part 3, 1590?) by Shakespeare.

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Henry VI [Henry VI]

(1421–71) king of England (1422–61 and 1470–1) and son of ↑Henry V. He was not popular, mainly because England finally lost the ↑Hundred Years War while he was king. Opposition to him led to the ↑Wars of the Roses, in which the House of ↑Lancaster was defeated by the House of ↑York and Henry was put in prison. As a result of this, Edward became king, but in 1470, with the help of the powerful Earl of Warwick, known as Warwick the Kingmaker, Henry became king again, but he was defeated once more in 1471. He was put in the ↑Tower of London, where he was murdered, and Edward became king again. Henry VI established ↑Eton College and King's College, Cambridge.