Henry, Prince of Wales is killed at Shrewsbury

I just finished Bernard Cornwells new book Agincourt and he has Henry V wounded by a spent arrow at Shrewsbury prior to becoming king. I have no idea if he was actually wounded at all or if this is a literary device (Cornwll has this wounding make Henry believe himself to be indestructable and take risks like Agincourt) but it made me thing of a POD.

What would the effects have been of Prince Henry being struck and killed by an arrow at Shrewsbury? Lets say the rest of the battle is like OTL and the rebels are defeated.
What changes happen when Thomas or John take the throne after Henry IV rather then Henry V?
 
I just finished Bernard Cornwells new book Agincourt and he has Henry V wounded by a spent arrow at Shrewsbury prior to becoming king. I have no idea if he was actually wounded at all or if this is a literary device (Cornwll has this wounding make Henry believe himself to be indestructable and take risks like Agincourt) but it made me thing of a POD.

What would the effects have been of Prince Henry being struck and killed by an arrow at Shrewsbury? Lets say the rest of the battle is like OTL and the rebels are defeated.
What changes happen when Thomas or John take the throne after Henry IV rather then Henry V?

BigWillyG

I don't know about the impact if he dies but the incident is accurate. Vaguely remember a documentary a few years ago about this and it was a very serious injury, in the head, and Henry was extremely lucky to survive and fully recover.

Steve
 
BigWillyG

I don't know about the impact if he dies but the incident is accurate. Vaguely remember a documentary a few years ago about this and it was a very serious injury, in the head, and Henry was extremely lucky to survive and fully recover.

Steve

Very interesting. Any idea why Shakespeare leaves this incident out of 1 Henry IV? It would seem to make as good a story as the duel with Hotspur.
 
Rebel archers nearly killed Prince Hal...

Yes, Henry was shot through the cheek by a longbow arrow from the bow of a rebel archer who was part of the Cheshire Levies, then following o rebel overlord. Henry the Fifth was scarred by the wound for the rest of his life. I had this from a history of archery written in the 1970s.

If Henry had moved only a few inches in another direction, the arrow would probably have gone through his nose or an eye and he would have been killed.
 
So if Henry V dies at Shrewsbury, his younger brother Thomas becomes heir. The French get a propganda victory, and the War of the Roses might end earlier.
 
So when Henry IV dies in 1413 Thomas of Lancaster becomes king of England. In OTL he married Margaret Beaufort, widow of John Beaufort, Ist Earl of Somerset, in 1411. They had no children. But Margaret had six children from her previous marriage and Thomas had an illegitimate son. Thomas was killed at the Battle of Bauge in France on 22 March 1421.

Presumably Thomas I would invade France like Henry V did in OTL. Because he was already married he could not marry Catherine of Valois.

What happens when Thomas I dies would depend on when he dies, which would not be as in OTL, and if he has any surviving legitimate male heirs.
 
So when Henry IV dies in 1413 Thomas of Lancaster becomes king of England. In OTL he married Margaret Beaufort, widow of John Beaufort, Ist Earl of Somerset, in 1411. They had no children. But Margaret had six children from her previous marriage and Thomas had an illegitimate son. Thomas was killed at the Battle of Bauge in France on 22 March 1421.

Presumably Thomas I would invade France like Henry V did in OTL. Because he was already married he could not marry Catherine of Valois.

What happens when Thomas I dies would depend on when he dies, which would not be as in OTL, and if he has any surviving legitimate male heirs.

If THomas is Prince of Wales, he won't marry Margaret. Butterflies cause major differences between 1405 and 1413
 
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