Become a Shakespeare expert in five minutes! Get to know what happened in the Bard's history plays leading up to the events on Henry 6. 

Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays are part of a larger cycle of history plays: Richard II; Henry IV, Parts I and  II; Henry V; Henry VI, Parts I, II, and III; and Richard III. While the plays do stand on their own, it can be  helpful to know what occurred in the previous plays.

King Richard II

King Richard II is a weak and ineffectual  ruler who is more interested in  accumulating personal wealth than caring  for his people. Richard makes a series of  selfish decisions that enrage the nobility  and people of England. After Richard exiles  his cousin Bolingbroke and takes his land,  Bolingbroke joins forces with the other  unhappy nobles to wage war against the  monarch. With his superior forces and  the good will of the people on his side,  Bolingbroke deposes the living reigning  monarch of England. Richard II gives up his  crown under duress and makes Bolingbroke  the next ruler, King Henry IV.

King Henry IV

Since King Henry IV takes the crown  by force, he spends much of his reign  defending his throne. His eldest son and  heir, Prince Hal, refuses to live up to his  title as the future of King of England.  Instead, he spends all of his time at a  tavern with Sir John Falstaff and his crew,  pulling pranks and getting drunk. It isn’t  until his father’s crown is in danger that  Prince Hal finally abandons his partying  ways. He joins his father on the battlefield  and defeats a series of rebellions led by the  heirs to Richard II, securing a victory for  his side. Before his death, Henry IV advises  his son to start a war overseas to protect  his interests at home. 

Prince Hal inherits the crown after the  death of his father and becomes King Henry V, leaving behind his old friends  and embracing his new role. With the  support of the clergy and his court, Henry  wages war against France. He cements his  reputation as a great leader and fighter as  he joins his soldiers on the battlefields of  France. After a brutal campaign, Henry is  victorious, and the French king surrenders.  Henry is crowned King of France—leaving  him the official ruler of both countries— and marries the French princess. The play  finishes with a warning: when Henry V dies  young, his court will fracture and his young  son, King Henry VI, will be faced with  conflict and strife.