King Henry V

King Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written around 1599. It tells the story of King Henry V of England, focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415) during the Hundred Years’ War. In the First Quarto text, it was entitled, The Cronicle History of Henry the fift, later becoming The Life of Henry the Fifth in the First Folio text.

     The play is the final part of a tetralogy, preceded by The Life and Death of King Richard II, King Henry IV Part 1, and King Henry IV Part 2. The original audiences would thus have already been familiar with the title character, who was depicted in the King Henry IV plays as a wild, undisciplined lad known as “Prince Harry” and by Falstaff as “Hal.”. In King Henry V the young prince becomes a mature man and embarks on a successful conquest of France.