It was Henry I who reputedly died from eating a surfeit of lampreys.  Shakespeare never wrote about him, but that would have been some play, wouldn’t it?

I may be suffering from something like a surfeit of Henrys myself.  In my marathon viewing of Shakespeare’s plays in performance, I have had a sudden glut of Henrys.  Henry VIII.  Then Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V as part of the Henriad.  And, most recently, Henry VI Parts I, II and III, to kick off the First Tetralogy.

Did Shakespeare not write any history plays that weren’t about a Henry?  (King John, Richard II, Richard III and Edward III – Ed.)  To be fair, at the time that Shakespeare was writing, Henrys did make up a greater proportion of English king’s names than they do now.

Whinge aside, I have actually really enjoyed my own personal Henriad.

Rank them, did I hear someone ask?  Well, I will:

Henry VI Part II
Henry VI Part III
Henry IV Part II
Henry V
Henry IV Part I
Henry VI Part I
Henry VIII

And, now that they have all been watched, reflected upon, and fully digested, I find myself hungry for more.

© Fergus Longfellow

Fergus Longfellow limbers up for Richard III.