First published together in 1858, these three memoirs of Henry V provided Victorian historians and politicians with a valuable account of the 'actions, motives, and career' of the second monarch of the House of Lancaster. The work is compiled and edited by Charles Augustus Cole (fl.1850-60) as part of the Rolls Series. Prefaced by an introduction to the contributing biographers, Robert Redmayne, Thomas of Eltham, and an anonymous member of the royal household, the collection contributes much to our understanding of early fifteenth-century court life. Presenting the King variously as a philosopher, a pious but mildly eccentric benefactor of the Church, and finally, as a zealous and aggressive political strategist, the biographies reveal the many public and private faces of this medieval monarch, though, interestingly, none of them places much stress on the victory at Agincourt in 1415 for which (thanks to Shakespeare) he is principally remembered today.
