ABSTRACT
The years 1429-37 had seen events in England driven primarily by the course of the war in France. Bedford had been pressing for a coronation in France to counter the French resurgence under Joan of Arc since at least April, but the English council seems to have been initially reluctant to commit to an expensive expedition overseas. The emergence of Joan of Arc and the coronation of Charles VII had forced the Lancastrian council to bring forward Henry's own coronations as king of England and France. By the end of 1431 Henry had been hastily crowned king both in England and France, and his counsellors had set about in earnest preparing him for the rigours of kingship. Henry's emergence as a ruling, adult king was not, as John Watts. By 1437 Henry and Lancastrian regime had weathered the storm and, so it must have seemed to many, survived the perils of the long minority to approach the future with confidence.
