Thus it is possible that Henry can be judged as hero and monster on the basis of the same evidence. To the… — Dan Jones
Thus it is possible that Henry can be judged as hero and monster on the basis of the same evidence. To the influential and generally level-headed medievalist K. B. McFarlane, Henry V was the “greatest man that ever ruled England.” Yet in the view of a more recent historian, Henry was “a deeply flawed individual,” a misogynist, a religious fundamentalist, a reckless spender of other people’s money, and a second-rate military commander. In this view, Henry was “one of the cruelest and most cold hearted kings that England has had,” breathtakingly arrogant, autocratic, heedless of the needs of those who served in his armies. His golden reputation is based on nothing more than the inconvenient fact that people at the time seemed to like that sort of thing.
p. 358Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
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It is the view of Henry’s chaplain, perhaps echoing the king’s own, that no besieged people could have prepared themselves “more prudently or with greater security to themselves.” All the same, Henry may reason, in a contest between prudence and cannonballs, the advantage is typically held by the side with the biggest guns.
p. 228
Henry has known John the Fearless long enough to realize that the Duke, while resourceful and on occasion useful, is not a man to be trusted.
p. 294
As he grows up, he will shed any inclination to treat his enemies leniently. Toughness and a near-total lack of sentimentality will become hallmarks of his political character.
p. 121
