ABSTRACT
Henry IV's main problem in government was finance. Parliament was reluctant to grant him taxes, and behind this lay an uncertainty about when a king was entitled to levy taxation. It was recognized that in a national emergency the King could demand money from his subjects, and this was usually taken to mean the costs of a foreign war. Even with the duchy of Lancaster revenues added to those of the Crown, Henry's resources were probably inadequate to meet all the expenses of government. Less than a quarter of a century after the usurpation of 1399, the third King of the House of Lancaster succeeded unchallenged as an infant, when his father died unexpectedly and prematurely aged about thirty-five. The long duration of the succeeding reign was not an achievement of Henry VI, but a tribute to his father and grandfather.
