Henry VI came to the throne in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The untimely death of his warlike father, Henry V, placed the crown upon his head aged just 9 months. While England was in the ascendant in the Hundred Years' War in 1422, by the time he came of age his father's French conquests were disintegrating and the English nobility were locked in a dangerous struggle for power. In 1453, Henry suffered a complete mental collapse from which he never fully recovered, and then was used as a chess piece in the bloody Wars of the Roses which swept the country for the next 30 years. Lauren Johnson talks to Dan about the fascinating reign of Henry VI.  For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, signup to History Hit TV. Use code 'pod3' at checkout.  All of the books discussed in the History Hit podcast are available at History Hit books. If you're interested in buying the book, we'd love it if you supported what we do by using our affiliate links at: https://books.historyhit.com/ Producer: Peter Curry