Lecture Access

This lecture will be available to view until 1 June 2026

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OVERVIEW

Watch on Demand | One-Hour Lecture

King Henry V is arguably one of the most famous English monarchs. A wayward youth who made a dramatic transformation from bad-boy-prince to-poster boy king, Henry embodied the qualities of the ideal medieval ruler. 

He was also a skilled warrior, whose military successes in the Hundred Years’ War against France at the Battle of Agincourt established England as one of the strongest powers throughout Europe.

So inscribed was Henry in English consciousness that Shakespeare memorialised him in his play “Henry V”, a powerful rendering of Henry as the hero of the nation, one which has shaped popular perceptions. But beyond the mythos of the medieval King, Henry was a man of contradictions. Described as callous, ambitious, implacable, lascivious, and cruel, yet also pious, virtuous, courageous, and dedicated, Henry’s legacy is a challenge for historians.

In this lecture, Dr Lauren Mackay separates the man from the myth and re-appraises his place in the annals of the Great Kings of England.

LECTURER

Biography

Dr Lauren Mackay is an historian, author, lecturer and consultant, with a B.Mus from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music/University of Sydney, Australia, a Masters of History from the University of New England, and a PhD from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research explores the interconnected worlds of the Early Modern period, from the courts of Tudor England and the famed Habsburgs, to the Ottoman Empire, and the global reach of European expansion into the New World. Lauren is also the author of three books, and her fourth, Thunder Through the Realms: Five Kingdoms and the Shaping of Early Modern Europe, is due out in 2025 with Bloomsbury Publishing. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she has lectured throughout the UK, at venues including Hampton Court, the Tower of London, Sudeley Castle, Hever Castle, Windsor Castle, Leeds Castle, The National Archives, Kew, The Portrait Gallery, London, and the BBC History weekends.

Dr Lauren Mackay

Historian