Characters

The cast of Henry VI, Part 1

The people who make Henry VI, Part 1 move — what they want, who they love, who they hate, and how each one fits the story. Tap any name to read more.

French nobilitys

Duke of Alençon

French nobleman and military commander allied with the Dauphin

Countess of Auvergne

French noblewoman who attempts to capture Talbot through deception

Servant to Somersets

Basset

Young Somerset's attendant and champion; defender of the red rose in the Temple Garden quarrel

House of Orleans (illegitimate)s

Bastard of Orleans

French military commander and ally of Charles

Uncle to King Henry VI; brother to Gloucester (by relation to the regency)s

John, Duke of Bedford

Regent of France; aging war hero and moral anchor of the English cause · Elderly; dying

Nobility of Burgundys

Duke of Burgundy

Powerful regional ally, caught between English and French loyalty

Son of the King of France; later claims the throne as Charles VIIs

Charles, the Dauphin

French prince and military leader; Dauphin of France · Young man, early twenties (implied)

Earl of Warwick (title/position)s

Exeter

Earl of Warwick; loyal counselor to the King and guardian of young Henry VI

Son of John of Gaunt (through his father); uncle to King Henry VIs

Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Lord Protector of the young King; voice of martial duty and institutional loyalty, opposed by ecclesiastical ambition · Middle-aged

Shepherd (biological father, denied); claims descent from kings

Joan la Pucelle

Cross-dressed warrior and enchantress; claimed saint and revealed fraud · Young woman, unmarried

fathers

John Talbot

Young son of the legendary warrior Talbot; a boy caught between duty and survival

Son of Henry V; nephew of Gloucester and Winchesters

King Henry VI

Boy-king caught between warring councillors; passive inheritor of his father's legendary realm · Child to young man

Daughter of Reignier, King of Naples

Margaret of Anjou

French princess bride, catalyst for England's political collapse · Young woman

House of Mortimer; great-uncle to Richard Plantagenet (Duke of York)s

Edmund Mortimer

Dying nobleman and Plantagenet heir, imprisoned for his bloodline claim · elderly, near death

House of York; son of the Earl of Cambridge (executed for treason); heir to Edmund Mortimer's claims

Richard Plantagenet

Dispossessed nobleman and rising political player whose dignity is restored through royal favor · Young man

illegitimate son of John of Gaunts

Bishop of Winchester (later Cardinal)

Ambitious ecclesiastical power-broker and rival to Gloucester

Father of Margaret of Anjou; King of Naples

Reignier, Duke of Anjou

French nobleman and military commander; father to Margaret · Middle-aged

English nobilitys

Duke of Somerset

Ambitious nobleman and rival to York; instrument of England's military collapse

House of de la Poles

Suffolk

Ambitious English nobleman and diplomatic architect of the king's marriage; agent of internal political dissolution

Father to John Talbots

Talbot

Legendary English warrior, aging commander of forces in France, defender of England's honor · Elderly

Warwick lines

The Earl of Warwick

Diplomatic mediator and loyal counselor; arbiter of noble disputes · Middle-aged (inferred)

House of York; son of Richard, Earl of Cambridge (executed for treason); heir to Lionel, Duke of Clarences

Richard, Duke of York

Ambitious nobleman and future claimant to the throne; catalyst of the Wars of the Roses · Adult