Henry V Was Crowned King of England

On 9 April 1413, Henry V was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. He had succeeded his father, Henry IV, who died on 20 March 1413, ending a reign shadowed by rebellion and ill health. The new king was about 26, already battle-hardened from years of campaigning against Welsh and English rebels.

Chroniclers remembered the coronation for its strange weather. The day fell on Passion Sunday and was described as bitterly cold and stormy, with snow or driving rain sweeping the capital. Observers read the freak conditions as an omen, though they disagreed on whether the chill foretold a hard reign or a king of cold, steely resolve.

A king crowned in a snowstorm, ruling with steel.

Henry quickly proved a formidable ruler. He restored domestic order, reasserted the English claim to the French crown, and within two years won the celebrated victory at Agincourt in 1415. His coronation is commemorated in a carving inside his chantry chapel, which still stands above his tomb in the Abbey.