Act 4, Scene 1

Paris. A hall of state.

[Enter the King, Gloucester, Bishop of Winchester, York, Suffolk, Somerset, Warwick, Talbot, Exeter, the Governor of Paris, and others.]
Duke of Gloucester
1586 Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.
Bishop of Winchester
1587 God save King Henry, of that name the sixth!
Duke of Gloucester
1588 Now, Governor of Paris, take your oath,
1589 That you elect no other king but him;
1590 Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,
1591 And none your foes but such as shall pretend
1592 Malicious practices against his state:
1593 This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!
[Enter Sir John Fastolfe.]
Sir John Fastolfe
1594 My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais,
1595 To haste unto your coronation,
1596 A letter was deliver'd to my hands,
1597 Writ to your Grace from the Duke of Burgundy.
Lord Talbot
1598 Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!
1599 I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
1600 To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,
[Plucking it off.]
Lord Talbot
1601 Which I have done, because unworthily
1602 Thou wast installed in that high degree.
1603 Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest:
1604 This dastard, at the battle of Patay,
1605 When but in all I was six thousand strong
1606 And that the French were almost ten to one,
1607 Before we met or that a stroke was given,
1608 Like to a trusty squire did run away:
1609 In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
1610 Myself and divers gentlemen beside
1611 Were there surprised and taken prisoners.
1612 Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;
1613 Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
1614 This ornament of knighthood, yea or no.
Duke of Gloucester
1615 To say the truth, this fact was infamous
1616 And ill beseeming any common man,
1617 Much more a knight, a captain, and a leader.
Lord Talbot
1618 When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,
1619 Knights of the garter were of noble birth,
1620 Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
1621 Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
1622 Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,
1623 But always resolute in most extremes.
1624 He then that is not furnish'd in this sort
1625 Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
1626 Profaning this most honorable order,
1627 And should, if I were worthy to be judge,
1628 Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
1629 That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.
King Henry VI
1630 Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom!
1631 Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight;
1632 Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.
[Exit Fastolfe.]
King Henry VI
1633 And now, my lord protector, view the letter
1634 Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.
Duke of Gloucester
1635 What means his grace,
1636 that he hath changed his style?
1637 No more but, plain and bluntly, 'To the King!'
1638 Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
1639 Or doth this churlish superscription
1640 Pretend some alteration in good will?
1641 What's here?
[Reads]
Duke of Gloucester
1642 'I have, upon especial cause,
1643 Moved with compassion of my country's wreck,
1644 Together with the pitiful complaints
1645 Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
1646 Forsaken your pernicious faction,
1647 And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of France.'
1648 O monstrous treachery! can this be so,
1649 That in alliance, amity and oaths,
1650 There should be found such false dissembling guile?
King Henry VI
1651 What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
Duke of Gloucester
1652 He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.
King Henry VI
1653 Is that the worst this letter doth contain?
Duke of Gloucester
1654 It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
King Henry VI
1655 Why, then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him,
1656 And give him chastisement for this abuse.
1657 How say you, my lord? are you not content?
Lord Talbot
1658 Content, my liege! yes; but that I am prevented,
1659 I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.
King Henry VI
1660 Then gather strength, and march unto him straight:
1661 Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason.
1662 And what offence it is to flout his friends.
Lord Talbot
1663 I go, my lord, in heart desiring still
1664 You may behold confusion of your foes.
[Exit.]
[Enter Vernon and Basset.]
Vernon
1665 Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign.
Basset
1666 And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1667 This is my servant: hear him, noble prince.
Duke of Somerset
1668 And this is mine: sweet Henry, favor him.
King Henry VI
1669 Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak.
1670 Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim?
1671 And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?
Vernon
1672 With him, my lord; for he hath done me wrong.
Basset
1673 And I with him; for he hath done me wrong.
King Henry VI
1674 What is that wrong whereof you both complain?
1675 First let me know, and then I'll answer you.
Basset
1676 Crossing the sea from England into France,
1677 This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,
1678 Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
1679 Saying, the sanguine colour of the leaves
1680 Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
1681 When stubbornly he did repugn the truth
1682 About a certain question in the law
1683 Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him;
1684 With other vile and ignominious terms:
1685 In confutation of which rude reproach,
1686 And in defence of my lord's worthiness,
1687 I crave the benefit of law of arms.
Vernon
1688 And that is my petition, noble lord:
1689 For though he seem with forged quaint conceit
1690 To set a gloss upon his bold intent,
1691 Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him;
1692 And he first took exceptions at this badge,
1693 Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower
1694 Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1695 Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?
Duke of Somerset
1696 Your private grudge, my Lord of York, will out,
1697 Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.
King Henry VI
1698 Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men,
1699 When for so slight and frivolous a cause
1700 Such factious emulations shall arise!
1701 Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,
1702 Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1703 Let this dissension first be tried by fight,
1704 And then your highness shall command a peace.
Duke of Somerset
1705 The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;
1706 Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1707 There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.
Vernon
1708 Nay, let it rest where it began at first.
Basset
1709 Confirm it so, mine honorable lord.
Duke of Gloucester
1710 Confirm it so! Confounded be your strife!
1711 And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
1712 Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed
1713 With this immodest clamorous outrage
1714 To trouble and disturb the king and us?
1715 And you, my lords, methinks you do not well
1716 To bear with their perverse objections;
1717 Much less to take occasion from their mouths
1718 To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves:
1719 Let me persuade you take a better course.
Duke of Exeter
1720 It grieves his highness: good my lords, be friends.
King Henry VI
1721 Come hither, you that would be combatants:
1722 Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favor,
1723 Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.
1724 And you, my lords, remember where we are:
1725 In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation;
1726 If they perceive dissension in our looks
1727 And that within ourselves we disagree,
1728 How will their grudging stomachs be provoked
1729 To willful disobedience, and rebel!
1730 Beside, what infamy will there arise
1731 When foreign princes shall be certified
1732 That for a toy, a thing of no regard,
1733 King Henry's peers and chief nobility
1734 Destroy'd themselves and lost the realm of France
1735 O, think upon the conquest of my father,
1736 My tender years; and let us not forgo
1737 That for a trifle that was bought with blood!
1738 Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.
1739 I see no reason, if I wear this rose,
[Putting on a red rose.]
King Henry VI
1740 That any one should therefore be suspicious
1741 I more incline to Somerset than York:
1742 Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:
1743 As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
1744 Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd.
1745 But your discretions better can persuade
1746 Than I am able to instruct or teach;
1747 And, therefore, as we hither came in peace,
1748 So let us still continue peace and love.
1749 Cousin of York, we institute your grace
1750 To be our Regent in these parts of France:
1751 And, good my Lord of Somerset, unite
1752 Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot;
1753 And, like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,
1754 Go cheerfully together and digest
1755 Your angry choler on your enemies.
1756 Ourself, my lord protector and the rest
1757 After some respite will return to Calais;
1758 From thence to England; where I hope ere long
1759 To be presented, by your victories,
1760 With Charles, Alencon, and that traitorous rout.
[Flourish. Exeunt all but York, Warwick, Exeter and Vernon.]
Earl of Warwick
1761 My Lord of York, I promise you, the king
1762 Prettily, methought, did play the orator.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1763 And so he did; but yet I like it not,
1764 In that he wears the badge of Somerset.
Earl of Warwick
1765 Tush, that was but his fancy, blame him not;
1766 I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm.
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
1767 An if I wist he did,—but let it rest;
1768 Other affairs must now be managed.
[Exeunt all but Exeter.]
Duke of Exeter
1769 Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice;
1770 For, had the passions of thy heart burst out,
1771 I fear we should have seen decipher'd there
1772 More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,
1773 Than yet can be imagined or supposed.
1774 But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
1775 This jarring discord of nobility,
1776 This shouldering of each other in the court,
1777 This factious bandying of their favorites,
1778 But that it doth presage some ill event.
1779 Tis much when scepters are in children's hands;
1780 But more when envy breeds unkind division;
1781 There comes the ruin, there begins confusion.
[Exit.]

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Notes

TLN 1586historical topical
“set the crown upon his head”
Henry VI is being crowned King of France in Paris. This ceremony took place on 16 December 1431, when Henry was only ten years old; it was a belated English attempt to assert the dual monarchy Henry V had won by the Treaty of Troyes (1420). Because the French had already crowned Charles VII at Reims two years earlier (1429), the Paris coronation carried little practical weight.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 1600historical topical
“tear the garter from thy craven's leg”
The 'garter' is the blue silk garter that marks membership in the Order of the Garter, England's highest order of chivalry founded by Edward III around 1348. Wearing it on the leg was part of the ceremonial dress. Talbot physically rips it off Fastolfe's leg — a ritual act of 'degradation,' stripping a disgraced knight of his badge of honor. 'Craven' means a coward who surrenders rather than fights.
historical The Order of the Garter
TLN 1604historical topical
“battle of Patay”
The battle of Patay (18 June 1429) was a decisive French victory in the Hundred Years' War, coming on the heels of Joan la Pucelle's relief of Orleans. The outnumbered English longbowmen were caught before they could set their stakes, and the French cavalry swept through them. Talbot himself was captured and held prisoner until ransomed. Fastolfe's flight with a substantial force before the battle was joined was reported in the chronicles as shameful.
historical John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsburyhistorical The Siege of Orleans
TLN 1618historical topical
“When first this order was ordain'd, my lords”
Talbot gives a short speech about the founding ideals of the Order of the Garter: that its original knights were of noble birth, courageous, proven in war, and fearless of death. The comparison with Fastolfe's flight is implicit. The speech invokes the chivalric ideal as a living standard that cowards violate by wearing the badge.
historical The Order of the Garter
TLN 1628archaic vocab
“like a hedge-born swain”
'Hedge-born' means born in a ditch or on the roadside — that is, of the lowest, most obscure parentage, like a foundling left under a hedge. A 'swain' is a young country laborer or rustic. Talbot says Fastolfe should be stripped of knighthood as a man of lowly birth who dares to claim 'gentle blood' — noble descent — he has not earned.
TLN 1631archaic vocab
“Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight”
'Be packing' means 'get out' or 'be gone immediately' — a contemptuous dismissal. Henry uses it as a royal command of banishment. The phrase 'thou that wast a knight' makes clear that Fastolfe has just this moment ceased to be one: he is expelled from the order on the spot.
TLN 1636archaic vocab
“that he hath changed his style”
'Style' here means the formal mode of address used in a letter — a king was addressed with elaborate titles ('To His Most Gracious Sovereign'), whereas 'To the King!' is dismissively plain. Gloucester is alarmed that Burgundy no longer observes the protocol that acknowledges Henry as his overlord.
TLN 1646historical topical
“Forsaken your pernicious faction, And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of France”
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, was England's most important French ally; his grandfather John the Fearless had been murdered by the Dauphin's supporters in 1419, which drove Philip into alliance with England and enabled the Treaty of Troyes (1420). Burgundy's defection to the French side, negotiated in the Congress of Arras (1435), was the single greatest blow to English ambitions in France. Shakespeare dramatizes it here as a treacherous letter, but the historical Congress was a prolonged negotiation in which the English refused to make peace.
TLN 1679historical topical
“sanguine colour of the leaves”
Basset is recounting the quarrel from the Temple Garden scene (2.4), where the nobles plucked red and white roses to declare their factional sides. Somerset's followers wear a red rose; York's a white one. Basset charges that Vernon mocked his red rose by saying its blood-red color ('sanguine' = blood-red, from Latin sanguis, 'blood') reflected his master Somerset's shame when he was worsted in a legal argument. The rose colors are the visual shorthand for the two sides of the dynastic dispute that will become the Wars of the Roses.
historical The Wars of the Roses
TLN 1681archaic vocab
“stubbornly he did repugn the truth”
'Repugn' means to resist, oppose, or contradict — a word now almost entirely obsolete. Basset says York 'stubbornly repugned the truth' about a disputed legal question, meaning York dug in against the correct answer out of stubbornness rather than logic. The 'question in the law' is the argument in the Temple Garden scene (2.4) that the whole rose quarrel grew out of.
TLN 1687historical topical
“the benefit of law of arms”
'The benefit of law of arms' is a formal request to settle a personal quarrel by combat — a judicial duel. Under medieval laws of chivalry, a gentleman could seek satisfaction for an insult or injury through a 'trial by combat,' requesting royal permission to fight. Both Basset and Vernon are asking the king to let them settle their dispute with swords on a proper dueling field rather than having it judged by words alone.
historical Trial by combat and the gage
TLN 1689archaic vocab
“forged quaint conceit”
'Quaint conceit' means a clever or artfully contrived idea — 'quaint' in early modern English meant ingeniously elaborate or crafty, not old-fashioned as it does now. Vernon accuses Basset of dressing up his real aggression ('bold intent') with a slick ('forged') rhetorical spin. To 'set a gloss upon' something means to put a flattering interpretation on it.
TLN 1698rhetorical device
“what madness rules in brainsick men”
Henry's brief outburst contains a cluster of politically loaded words: 'factious emulations' means partisan rivalries, where 'factious' means divided into factions or parties, and 'emulation' means competitive envy or ambition. The word 'brainsick' means mentally unhinged or irrational. Henry is attempting to defuse the quarrel by pathologizing it — treating it as a madness rather than a legitimate grievance — but his authority to impose that judgment is undermined by his immediately putting on the red rose.
TLN 1739historical topical
“I see no reason, if I wear this rose”
Henry puts on a red rose — Somerset's badge — while insisting the gesture is neutral. But it is not neutral: the red rose is the badge of the Lancaster faction and of Somerset specifically. York and Warwick, watching, immediately understand that the king has, however naively, signaled a preference for Somerset. This moment is a turning point: Henry's well-meaning gesture deepens the factional wound rather than healing it.
historical The Wars of the Roses
TLN 1749historical topical
“we institute your grace To be our Regent in these parts of France”
Henry appoints York as Regent of France — his military governor — and orders Somerset to combine his cavalry with York's infantry. This is the decision that will doom Talbot. York and Somerset hate each other bitterly; their refusal to cooperate (dramatized in Act 4, Scenes 3-4) means that Talbot will be surrounded and killed at Bordeaux without relief. The appointment of York looks like a resolution but plants the seed of the coming disaster.
historical John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
TLN 1776rhetorical device
“This shouldering of each other in the court”
Exeter's closing soliloquy catalogues the signs of coming civil war in a series of parallel noun phrases: 'jarring discord of nobility,' 'shouldering of each other in the court,' 'factious bandying of their favorites.' 'Shouldering' is a vivid physical metaphor: the lords literally shoving each other aside to gain closeness to the king. 'Bandying' means rallying round or forming a faction, like teams 'banding' together. The trio of charges amounts to a diagnosis of England's political disease.
TLN 1779historical topical
“Tis much when scepters are in children's hands”
Exeter closes the scene and the act with a three-line choric warning. Henry VI was less than a year old when he became king in 1422; he is still a boy in this scene. Exeter's line reflects a well-known Elizabethan political anxiety: a child-king could not command obedience from powerful nobles, and factions filled the vacuum left by weak royal authority. 'Confusion' in the final line means political ruin or collapse — the state dissolving into chaos.
historical The fall of princes (de casibus tragedy)