ABSTRACT
Henry VI was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey on 6 November 1429, exactly a month before his eighth birthday. Just over two years later, on 16 December 1431, shortly after he turned ten, he was crowned king of France at Notre Dame de Paris. His dual kingship goes back further: He had inherited his English kingdom at the death of his father, Henry V, on 31 August 1422. At this point he was just under nine months old, the youngest monarch ever to accede to the English throne. Six weeks later, on 22 October 1422, at the death of his maternal grandfather, Charles VI, he became king of France. He was not the youngest king of France, since John I was king from the day he was born (13 November 1316) until his death five days later. But was Henry VI king of France at all? He does not feature in French regnal lists or tables of succession. They have it that at the death of Charles VI, the Dauphin Charles (b. 1403) succeeded to his father’s throne at the ripe old age of 19, being known subsequently as Charles VII and being crowned at Reims on 17 July 1429. His succession is based on his blood right as the direct male heir of his father – the standard form of inheritance in both French and English succession practice.
