How bad do you think Henry's scar might have been? Let me know below and check out my PATREON site for extra perks at www.patreon.com/historycalling Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE too.
I’m sure that’s the reason for the profile. Though Henry v doesn’t seem vain as some of his Descendants, I do think this is a nice way to accurately portray him without including such a disfigurement
I had no idea Henry's surgeon kept such complete notes - fascinating how the royal wound was treated - he certainly had a very nasty scar of course - as did many if not from the 100 years war probably from the wars of the roses - no shortage of ways to be maimed severely in those days - very interesting stuff - ty
this has to be a miracle he didn’t succumb to some kind of infection let alone the injury itself! i bet he was terrified of arrows after that on his other battles. it’s incredible they were able to save him. amazing vid!!
Re: "I'll bet he was terrified of arrows"...seems unlikely, this guy fought throughout his entire life. I'm not sure how he managed to sire his single child he was that busy.
After an experience like that, no wonder Henry was fearless in battle! He must have figured that "if I can survive that, I can survive anything - I'm not scared of you!"
The doctor's use of honey on the prince's wound was one of the best things he could have done. Honey has potent anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Modern Western medicine uses honey on wounds. It's been purified and is called med honey. I've used it twice on minor infections and seen healing after one day. The most amazing thing I saw, however, concerned an elderly friend in a nursing home who got an infection in her foot. It wasn't treated properly by staff, and a large area became gangrenous, which was horrifying to look at. Antibiotics were prescribed but didn't improve her wound. Her baby toe got so bad it had to be amputated, but there was still a huge, deep hole in the area next to the amputated toe, literally devouring her flesh, and they feared she could lose the entire foot. Her doctor prescribed med honey dressings to be applied twice daily. Within two weeks, the wound was visibly improved, and within a couple of months the gangrene was completely gone, the wound up was totally healed, and her foot was saved. It is truly amazing that honey healed what all other forms of medicine couldn't heal.
That's incredible. I read about modern uses of honey while I was researching this and to be honest, I was surprised that it is still used, but I guess if something works there's no reason not to continue taking advantage of it. This has to be one of the few medieval treatments that has genuine healing powers though. Most of what they did would be considered attempted murder nowadays.
@@HistoryCalling Honey is apparently used quite a lot in modern medicine. My daughter is a nurse and certified in wound care. When I got an infected finger, with a lot of swelling, I applied antibiotic ointment on it, but it didn't help. I asked my daughter if I should go to the doctor. She looked at my finger, then gave me a small container of med honey. I applied the honey that day, and applied more before going to bed. The next morning, my finger was 90% better! One more day of med honey and my finger was completely healed! It's better than topical antibiotic ointment.
Fascinating! I kept imagining Kenneth Branagh with a facial scar as I watched this ( I rewatched "Henry V" recently). The use of honey as an antiseptic rang true for me. Ten years ago our schnauzer Bette had a massive lipoma removed and the post-surgery wound was so gruesome I felt faint when the dressing was first removed. Our vet didn't bat an eye and informed me they would use bandages soaked in honey to aid the healing process. She pulled through beautifully. I really enjoyed the medical details you included. Well done (again)! Until next week, be well.
@@dianetheisen8664 Much appreciated. I wasn't at all anxious to own a dog and will always be grateful for my lady love who talked me into bringing Bette home. Our lives were forever changed for the better.
I never knew any of this about Henry, other than he had such a short life. I can’t even imagine the pain he must have gone through or that he survived. That doctor was definitely inventive and I think a whole lot lucky. Another great video. Thank you.
I was unaware of Henry's unfortunate wound; thank you for posting about it. It seems a miracle that the wound did not become infected, and that Henry did not suffer brain damage as a result of it. He was fortunate to have had such a good physician.
I've subscribed and am so happy to have quite a few new videos to watch from your channel. It is so good! I binge-watched a lot of your videos the first time I found the channel. I was a Medieval and American History major in college (USA), so have a deep love and passion for all things medieval.
That scar had to be huge. Look at the battle scars left on the faces of soldiers from the earlier wars - especially those around WW!. Even today, I think modern plastic surgery would've had a hard time with something like that. Of all the videos I've seen about Henry V, short of one I saw on medical science through the ages, yours is the only one that brings up his scar. I think this is one of the most interesting thing about Henry V, being a medical miracle, yet it's hardly ever discussed. Thank you.
Rae a lot of things aren't discussed this is why this channel is so valuable. The mainstream media has a "narrative" and if it falls outside it's left to the specialists. If one thinks of Henry one thinks about Agincourt and the campaign, maybe even the "tennis balls gift" or maybe the "Agincourt Song" which William Walton used in the film score. It's like there's not enough room on the stage left for anything else. William Shakespeare's portrayal drowns out nearly everything else. 🤐 Popular tv dramas major on a handful of monarchs probably only three, Henry VIII, Elizabeth and Victoria. Interesting though they are it's at a price with the other monarchs being "glossed over". Henry's wounding has been researched but mainly by medical students , re-enactors and armourers. You would be hard-pressed to see it on mainstream media. Medievalists know about it but casual observers would probably not be aware of it.
Yes, I tend to think it had to be very noticeable as well. It's odd that more movies and documentaries don't discuss this, but I think most people just think of Agincourt when they think of H5 and if his great big scar was shown in movies like The King, they'd have to stop and explain why it was there (also the actor would have to sit in the makeup chair much longer every day).
@@HistoryCalling It's funny how the main stream media seem to have an agenda. They'd be stuck for something to write about if it wasn't for Henry 8 and his kith and kin. How many outside Ulster have heard of Grace O'Malley the pirate queen or the flight of the Earls? It will just have to be our secret. 🙂 That's why your channel is so important, shedding light on dark places. Sir Francis Walsingham was just telling me the same thing over lunch. 😉
@@HistoryCalling One has to be realistic. I think if you saw someone who wasn't scarred or marked with a pox it would be unusual. Scarring would have been an "occupational hazard" for most people. The Health & Safety Executive were in embryonic format. 😷
I’m a big fan and the only thing I want to put in the comments is my gratitude for your consistently well done/researched/defended content that is also highly entertaining! Thank you for all you do!!!
Incredible story. Amazing he not only survived but flourished. The doctor was intuitive. Possible that the scar was close to the nostril and bridge line thereby camouflaging it. Excellent work! Thanks my friend. Lvya
Thanks David. Yes, the doctor was incredible for the time period. Honestly, he'd probably have been better than some people who were working as doctors as late as the 19th or even early 20th centuries.
I forgot it was Friday, this video was a great surprise! The way Henry’s doctor put “wads” into the wound to “cleanse” it probably helped it close faster. This is similar to the modern practice of packing a wound. I’m not sure 100% on the science behind it, but if I remember correctly it does help remove dead tissues when the packing is changed. And from personal experience, 2-3 days between changes is still standard. My wound was on my abdomen and getting the packing removed was very painful (it sticks some when being pulled out), so I can’t even imagine how awful it must have been for Henry on his face! Great video, I love the historic medicine so much!!
I totally agree with you that having had a large abdominal incision packed and having the dressings changed was unpleasant. I think with the honey moistening the packing it may have helped the material from sticking and pulling possibly.
@@HistoryCalling This happened a couple years ago, so I’m much better now thank you. I think the experience giving however small of a connection to Henry made the video more enjoyable! (Yay for silver linings lol)
Packing a wound cavity is also important so it heals from the bottom up... Otherwise, you run the risk of the skin closing up before the tissues underneath have knit back together/scarred. That frequently leads to abscesses, and those seem to be a 0/5 star experience.
I look forward to your videos every week! It’s absolutely amazing that he didn’t die from the injury or from the aftermath of the removal and the wound... Sometimes you hear about stories of people who walked away from a horrific incident without a any damage to them and I think it’s insane luck that this seemed to have happened with a would-be king of all people
I know. Life is just fluky like that sometimes I suppose. Most people would have died right where they stood on the battlefield when that arrow hit them.
I'm learning something new every day. I had no idea about this injury that was sustained by Henry V. It's a miracle he did not lose his sight or sustain a brain injury or sepsis.
That was excellent. Well done. I was sorry to hear (at least twice you mentioned) that if you get any thing wrong including a miss-pronunciation, that you get hate mail. That is simply horrific. Don't you wish people would find the off switch on their devices at those moments! I enjoyed it and it was very well presented indeed.
Thank you. Yes, I occasionally mispronounce a place name and get some complaints (Kimbolton Castle was a recent one). I do actually look up a lot of things in pronunciation guides, or find other videos about particular places or people in which they say the relevant word, but every so often, something incorrect slips through and in those cases I do indeed wish that the complainers would look at the 99.9% of things that are correct and not whine about the odd little error. Some people just like to moan though. I suppose it makes them feel superior for 5 seconds. Thank you for your very kind comment though :-)
With hearing the good doctors notes on the removal and treatment I believe that any scarring that occurred was not disfiguring. Thank you for that topic I never heard it in depth before.
Between everything that could’ve gone wrong, infection, brain injury and God knows what else, it is an absolute miracle that he survived that in that day and age. And to battle like that at 16 years old, is amazing!
I appreciate how you explained the intent and actual medical use of the treatments that didn't work as the doctor meant them to. I'm an avid fantasy writer, and this video is great entertainment, a marvelous source of research and reference for making plausible fiction, and a great historical reference I can share with my British history loving family. Thank you!
Im sure it would of left a some sort of scare on his face, but what a remarkable feat to remove the arrow head and treat the wound after, thank you HC another gem from you. 👍😊
That is an incredible story. The surgeon was a genius; an injury like this today would require several surgeries and then the patient might not survive.
@@aliencat11 If I had to go through that ordeal without some kind of anesthetic, I would be beside myself in pain. I would not be able to handle it. And, imagine, Henry still fought after getting shot. Then he suffered 'treatment' before Dr Bradmore came along.
Omg I didn’t even know Henry V endured such an injury! I wonder if the scarring was purposely left out of his portraits to flatter his appearance or if the doctor knew his stuff! It’s a miracle he even survived this, but the arrow more than likely just missed anything vital as you implied! As always, great video! I look forward to every Friday!
I work in oral/maxillofacial surgery as an OR nurse and his early instrument is not far off from some of the instruments we use today, although ours are sterile. What's amazing to me is that this physician clearly understood at least the rudiments of antiseptic technique many years before we knew of the existence of microorganisms and understood their role in infection.
That's so interesting. I was hoping there would be people watching and commenting with modern medical knowledge who could add their insights on the procedure. Yes, I think Bradmore was a bit of a medical marvel for his era.
Can’t imagine the pain. And he eventually healed. When I was a kid in the 1960’s. While visiting my great aunt and uncle’s farm, got a really nasty gouged wound on my foot. My great aunt put to bed later, place a warm poultice on my foot, milk, bread cooked up to a paste. My foot felt fine the next day, and quickly healed
The key words, thank God. Which means they were praying over the procedure. Thank God, indeed. Can you imagine what our life/world would be like if we prayed? 🇬🇷✝️🙏🌹 Very good video. I'm sorry that there are such knit pickers. God bless you and yours ♥️
Marvellous. The House of Lancaster had been extremely pious. Sir John Oldcastle (possibly "Falstaff") a friend of Henry had sadly been sent to the stake for heresy. During the Harfleur Campaign leading to Agincourt Henry had Ordinances in place where robbing a Church was severely punished.
This was a great story, they do say miracles happen and with all the doctor did was so interesting then him surviving this. Thanks I find your work very interesting
CANNOT BELIEVE you uploaded this DAYS after I watched about 5 other vids about this event!! 😯 (In one, a blacksmith recreated the tool!) I thought you explained it really well, especially cos you included Bradmore's writing- & yes, that drawing IS a tiny scribble! It's one of my fave historical medical stories, everything about it is amazing. Not all medical treatment was a nightmarish disaster that made the patient worse, & it's even more impressive when you realise their intellectual approach was pretty much the opposite of science. Bradmore & Henry were both total legends in this story!
I actually watched that one with the blacksmith as part of my research. The recreation was really good. Yes, the drawing is titchy. It's a shame he didn't make it bigger so we could better understand how the screw worked. Still, we're lucky to have what we have.
I was going to comment asking you to do a video on henry v , cause i'm really interested in his life, and you have read my mind, just saw your post on insta and went straight to youtube to watch. thank you
Part 1. Henry of Monmouth had a short but brilliant life. Survived the arrow-wound when he was sixteen. Fell into bad company if you believe Shakespeare. The House of Lancaster was a pious house yet in his youth Henry is supposed to have been in the same gang as Sir John Oldcastle "Falstaff" you know asking for sack in the Boar's Head Tavern with Bardolph, Mistress Quickly, Doll Tearsheet and Poins if you believe William Shakespeare. 😊(Henry IV Pts 1 & 2) Sadly John Oldcastle went to the stake for heresy. Henry and two of his brother's were given military training. The fourth brother Humphrey wasn't. Henry cheated death in Southampton. According to Shakespeare the Dauphin mocked Henry by sending him "tennis-balls". Three rebellious nobles had been bribed to execute him. He found out, they were executed. By all accounts he was a changed man on his accession and continued the Hundred Years War started by Edward III his ancestor via John of Gaunt. On French soil he took Harfleur. Part of taking Harfleur in the custom of the time was to allow the inhabitants to send to the king, Charles VI, for relief. Should relief not be forthcoming they would surrender. Charles couldn't get an army to relieve them and Harfleur surrendered. There had been some infected shellfish that summer and a lot of his army had contracted illness and were sent home. He left a garrison in Harfleur and made for the Somme and Calais. By all accounts he got on well with his men. He issued an Ordinance not to rob Churches on the pain of severe penalties. Approaching one castle he was fired upon by a culverin or cannon. He asked in his own lands why the constable has fired? The constable had bread brought out instead. The French army, much larger, had recovered from their sloth and was shadowing him into the Somme Valley. There was a minor action on a ford at Blanchetaque. The weather wasn't great, lots of rain. Some of his men ambushed some French and discovered a map of their plans. He continued his march. The French were getting nearer. The French plans were sound. Their plan was to use cavalry to attack the English archers on the flanks then attack the men-at-arms. Cogniscent of the French plans Henry had his army cut stakes and wedge themselves in between two woods to protect their flanks between Agincourt and Tramecourt. On the Feast of St. Crispin Crispianus Henry became legendary. Not without controversy. During that battle when the French looked threatening he ordered the execution of French prisoners. His younger brother Humphrey was in grave danger being on the floor and attacked by the Duc d'Alencon the French Marshal. Henry saved him. Humphrey was the brother without military training. Henry was battle-hardened and had been ordered by his father to keep the Welsh Marches free from Glyndwyr and Mortimer. He was now on a brilliant but sadly short career. He made his way back to England where he was met with great rejoicing at Blackheath and then in London. At Agincourt the highest-ranking Englishman killed had been the Duke of York. His body had been found without a mark, in his armour in the mud, possibly suffocated. Being high-ranking his body was boiled to remove the flesh from the bones and his bones brought back to England for burial. The Duke of York had no legimate children. His brother Richard of Conisbrough had been one of the nobles executed for his part in the "Southampton Plot". Richard had a son, another Richard, who would one day start the Wars of the Roses and would threaten (unsuccessfully - eventually) Henry V's House. The French Valois royal house was in turmoil. This was Henry's chance. Louis the Duke of Orleans (the Armagnac Party) was at loggerheads with his relative "John the Fearless" Duke of Burgundy. *Please Note. Burgundy had started as being centred around Dijon but by this time, by marriage and conquest had grown to include what is now Belgium and the Netherlands with another focus - Brussels. Albeit only a Dukedom it was probably the richest court in Europe. It's riches were based on two industries, textiles and wine. The first required English Wool and was a major part of the start of the Hundred Years War. It was all done through the English Staple. Basically a monopoly of wool sales which at this time was in Bruges. The cities were pro-English. The landed aristocracy were pro-French. The Duke of Orleans was visiting a lady relative who had just given birth near the Marais district in Paris. He was on his return to the royal palace at St. Pol when he and a servant were killed. John the Fearless had organised it. It was practically open warfare. The new Dauphin was Charles, his brother who had sent the "tennis-balls" was dead. The Dauphin asked for a peace treaty to be held on the bridge at Montereau near Paris. The Dauphin entered from one end and the Duke of Burgundy from the other. After an initial meeting things turned to the bad and one of the Dauphin's attendants slew John the Fearless. Look at this as a triangular political arrangement, England, France and Burgundy. 2 against 1. Henry needed the mathematics. The new Duke of Burgundy "Phillip the Good" immediately changed sides and sided with the English. The then new Duke of Orleans, Charles, had been captured by the English at Agincourt and was prisoner in England.
Part 2. This was Henry's big chance. The mathematics were in his favour. 2:1. The French were on the back foot. Henry's policy meant slowly and methodically taking his possesions, starting with Normandy and Picardie, then Anjou and push further South. He already had rights to territory in Gascony. Henry's plan was for his French provinces to pay for themselves by taxation. He planned to make Rouen his administrative centre. Rouen however held out and forced Henry to lay siege. It was here that another controversial episode happened. The starving citizens started to come out but Henry refused to feed them unless the city surrendered. Eventually it did. Henry then gradually increased his control and at the Treaty of Troyes it was made possible that he would marry Katherine the French king' s daughter and Henry would be recognized as king of France after the death of Charles VI. He returned to England and made a progress to the Shrine of St. John of Beverley. Sadly whilst in England he heard of his brother Thomas Duke of Clarence's death. Thomas had faced a Franco-Scottish force at Baugé. So as not to fight on Easter Sunday Thomas prematurely attacked and sadly was killed. He was the highest-ranking English noble killed in the Hundred Years War. Henry returned to France in the autumn. There was a Dauphinist town Meaux to the East of Paris and Henry laid siege to it. It was summer and hot. It is believed Henry caught dysentery. The Burgundians asked for his help. Henry typically left to help, riding in the hot climate. Sadly he was too ill and went to the castle of Vincennes in the southern district of Paris. Latterly it has been promulgated he suffered from cancer. It became likely he may not have long to live. He hurriedly made his will. He never saw his son. He made his brother John Duke of Bedford Protector in his French domains and his younger brother Humphrey Duke of Gloucester Protector in England. Henry sadly died and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Charles VI died the next year. His brother John was very close to Henry and doted on him. When Henry had needed him John had won a crucial victory over the French in a naval victory in the Seine. John carried on Henry's piecemeal amalgamation of French lands. It was John that organised the Parliament of Bats where his nephew the young king Henry VI was knighted by him. It was also John that had Henry crowned in France, the only English one ever to have been. John did his best to keep the memories of his brother alive and keep the terms of Henry's will. John was a knight of the Order of the Garter and often wore the Order's blue mantle in battle when he would typically use his favourite weapon the two-handed axe. In an odd quirk he fought against the very foes that had killed his brother Thomas. On a hot day the Franco-Scottish army had been threatening Verneuil trying to force the English to battle. John's second- in-command was the Earl of Salisbury who had been at Baugé. This was a remarkable battle (often called the Second Agincourt) and John showed the bravery and tactical ability his brother Henry had in a remarkable astounding victory. The tables were to turn. The Burgundians made a rapprochement with the French at the Treaty of Arras. John died in the castle of Joyous Reposé in Rouen during the Treaty of Arras. St. Joan of Arc had helped revive the Dauphin and had had him crowned earlier at Rheims. The English never really had enough force to hold their territories beyond Orleans. John was buried in Rouen Cathedral. Charles VII was now king and gradually the English were reduced in territories. Louis XI the son of Charles VII, known as the "Universal Spider" would later say when asked, that John's grave should remain untouched because of his tenacity to hold on to territory in his father's reign. The only brother left was Humphrey. Humphrey had the responsibility to bring up Henry V's son and keep the French territories. Seems to have struggled to do both. Humphrey's wife had had some property within the Duke of Burgundy's territory during the time Phillip the Good was an English ally. Humphrey tried to fight to have them restored. Wasn't politically a good thing to do and John Duke of Bedford had to do what he always seems to have done and act as peacemaker giving Humphrey some of his own properties as compensation. England was riven by two parties. The War Party led by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, later by Richard of Conisbrough' s son and the Peace Party led by the Duke of Suffolk and young Henry's wife Queen Margaret of Anjou subsequently joined by the Duke of Somerset and his Beaufort family including Cardinal Beaufort. It was in this background that Henry V's son was brought up. The Treasury had been bled by the Hundred Years War. Humphrey is famous for founding All Souls College in Oxford dedicated to the souls of the English forces lost in the war and donating his books to Duke Humphrey's Library in the city. Henry V's son, Henry VI is famous for founding Eton College and King's College Cambridge. Thank you for your interest in Henry. 👏
@@HistoryCalling (I'm exxagerating here, but you'll get the point.) How are you? (Sorry, RUclips has taken this question down because it does not go with our terms.)
I think Henry’s scar was fairly horrendous. They don’t talk about the wound being stitched in any way so it could have been quite a large scar. He was a very lucky guy to survive such an injury & the doctors good treatment certainly saved his life. Interesting episode but there again yours always are 😁
Thanks Carol. Yes, I think the scar had to have been bad (though of course I hope for his sake that it wasn't, but it's hard to see how it couldn't have been very noticeable).
Amazing 😱plus I wonder what he would have made of his son if he’d known him. No father and son could be more different . And one more thing that”medical instrument”looks like a torture device 😖great video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Yes, it could easily double as a torture device. Yes, I wonder what he would have made of Henry VI too. Probably H6 would have had a different raising if his father had been around.
Could have been an Edward 1 to Edward 2 situation if Henry V had lived longer? Often strong fathers can dominate and completely overwhelm a weaker (more sensitive?) son!
There's is nothing like a father. As Thomas was killed at Baugé there were two uncles left, John and Humphrey. Humphrey, well, was Humphrey. He was the one brother brought up with a non-military background. The Duc d'Alencon had him on the floor at Agincourt but Henry came to his brother's aid and Davy Gamm reputedly slew the Duc d'Alencon, the French Marshal. It appears Humphrey was beligerant without being skilled. John was a different kettle of fish. Won at Verneuil equal some argue to Agincourt. John was a very able administrator and seems to have doted on his late brothers' memories and his nephew Henry VI. It was John that organised the Parliament of Bats in Leicester where the young Henry VI was knighted. It was John who had Henry VI crowned in France. The only English king ever to have been so crowned. However it was during the Hundred Years War and Humphrey was made Protector in England where Henry VI spent most of the time. John was made Protector in French lands trying to hang onto his brother Henry's gains. He did a remarkable job and was an excellent administrator. He died during the Treaty of Arras when the Duke of Burgundy changed sides. If things had been different and he had spent more time in England with his nephew I am pretty sure he would have had an effect on his nephew Henry VI. Henry VI was left under the auspices of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.
@@English_Dawn lord protectors are always suspicious. Is it true that Henry had some form of mental illness and would go blank for days at a time? And if so was it caused be childhood trauma
This! THIS is the biggest reason why I'm so profoundly grateful to be alive today, and not back then. Surgery and dentistry without anaesthesia or pain relief, and with the primitive tools of of the time, is unimaginable torture. The "dentist" being the town's blacksmith, using the pliers of his trade to pull teeth. I am so very, VERY grateful to live at a time when the medical sciences have developed to what it is today.
Me too. I don't enjoy my trips to the dentist, but boy am I grateful that I've been able to get proper fillings when needed (with numbing) and the teeth haven't just rotted out of my head.
Seems so cruel to have survived this injury but couldn't survive to see his son, amazed he survived the arrow though and can't imagine the pain he suffered.
Have you seen that Henry was buried with his friend Richard Courtney? Like he was in Henry's coffin. I wonder why? His friend died before him so someone would have to dig him up? Maybe an idea for another video?
That is very interesting, and I had not heard about it, so I did a bit of digging (as it were). It's unclear from what I've found whether Courtenay and Henry are buried in the same literal grave or whether they're sharing a tomb. The discovery of Courtenay's burial did lead to speculation that the two were lovers, but it's also reported that Henry left extremely specific instructions about his burial and did not mention that he expected anyone else to share his tomb. So your guess is as good as mine as to how and why Courtenay ended up where he did.
@@edithengel2284 I just finished reading Ian Mortimer's book on him and it said Courtenay slept in his room every night which I think is weird but may have been the norm, he also didn't have a lot of woman around him which leads me to believe maybe something was going on but we'll never know for sure.
This was really interesting. I had no idea that Henry was injured like this at the battle of Shrewsbury. It must have left a fair sized hole in his face. Did doctors not use sutures at this point?
I had a deep wound in my shoulder. This was about 6inches deep and irregular in shape. It was packed with dressings which were changed regularly until over months the wound healed from the bottom to the surface of the skin. There was no infection and after a couple of weeks there was little pain on having the packing removed and replaced. There is a now a hollow on the skin’s surface but it healed really well. I recently read that in the late 17th century this was a common thing as the doctors didn’t want a wound to heal over on the surface trapping infection inside the body.
Sutures for a deep wound like that would probably have made it even worse. Given the lackluster antiseptic knowledge at the time, it’s likely the doctors would have trapped infection inside causing an abscess. I’m not a doctor or a medical historian, but I think I remember reading that sutures of some sort did exist far back in history.
Holes heal from the inside out. I was wondering what the Doctor was going to fill the hole with as you were telling the store. My thought was honey. All that extra stuff, I would not use, but I am glad the Doctor cleaned out the wound very good, and used some honey. I think that the hole healed small. He had a great Doctor for the time. Great video!
There were different arrowheads used. First of all, most arrows were thrust arrowhead down in the soil within easy reach of the archer. The arrows were deadly biological projectiles before they left the bow. Although it was poor Henry was pierced with an arrow it could have been worse. First it was summer and had been a hot day. This meant the soil may have been too hard to place the arrow in. English battles rarely had cavalry charges. This effected the choice of arrowheads. If it had been intended to bring a horse down a very different sort, heavily barbed arrow was used. It looks though no evidence exists as I'm aware of, that a "bodkin" was used. Deadly enough but designed to be armour-piercing, less barbed and more easily though not a synch, too extract. Did Henry have his visor raised? Did it have a visor. His great helm used 12 years later at Agincourt hasn't got a visor, it is available to see. What it does show is part of a crown was missing as if it was struck off. If the arrow was "deflected" this may ironically have helped Henry. My understanding is it took a week to extract it fully. The wooden shaft being discarded pretty soon, leaving the arrowhead to be disinfected whilst Doctor Bradmore drew up his scissor-action special tool and had it manufactured. It worked and Henry lived. History was changed. 😁
A modern steel needle must be hard to manufacture. Practically impossible in 1403. Sewing was done and elaborate clothes with gold thread testify it. Not an expert but I presume they were bone or wood. So suturing should have been possible. 🙂
Thank you. It took 5 goes to watch this all the way through because I kept nodding off, but enjoyed it. I think that Henry was very lucky. Can't help but think of Harold at Hastings. There must have been a scar on his face.
The battle of Agincourt, particularly as portrayed in the Kenneth Branagh's Henry V is what originally fostered my admiration for King Henry V. After listening to this account of the man's courage, I'd have to say he now is near the top of my list of histories most admirable men.
Yeah, I just looked at it after I'd copied it from the original document and thought 'Well I'd better address this in the video, or people are definitely going to point it out in the comments' :-)
Bradmore sounds like a very determined, intelligent, and talented doctor. It makes you wonder what treatments he could have potentially pioneered with current medical knowledge.
I can't see how such a deep incision could have led to anything but an horrific scar. It's very fortunate that Henry survived because his father's second son Thomas Duke of Clarence who was killed in an impulsive charge at the Battle of Bauge sounds a bit of an idiot? On the other hand without Henry V maybe there wouldn't have been this extension of the hundred years war? One thing is for sure, if the future Henry V hadn't survived this injury history would have been very different!
Thomas was impulsive not wanting to fight on Easter Sunday and before the Earl of Salisbury brought the archers up. On the other hand John won Vernueil often ignored but generally considered a Second Agincourt. The grand was baked hard under the sun when they couldn't get their stakes in correctly and were ridden down by the Milanese heavy cavalry. Yet Bedford against all the odds rallied his men and won a tremendous if ignored victory. He was a superb administrator and despite inadequate manpower to control effectively South of Orleàns managed to hold on to his brother's territories until politics and the Treaty of Arras made it untenable.
Honey is sterile if bacteria comes into contact with the honey it is immediately destroyed. I was hospitalized for 5 days on IV antibiotics for and infected cyst on my lower jaw which extended up to my ear. I was discharged with infection still present. The next day I put honey on plastic spoon and held it up to the cyst for 15 minutes and in the shower splashed water on to it. The cyst drained pus on to the shower floor and I had to keep swishing it down the drain. When I brushed my teeth it drained into the wash basin. I am an RN and have never seen so much pus. For the rest of the day I held paper towels up to the jaw as the pus continued to drain. When I saw the Dr the next day there was no more pus in the jaw, it took a few days for the swelling to subside. The art of using honey to treat infections must have been lost down through the years. It was a brilliant idea the old Dr had. The honey I used was taken from an opened bottle of Raw Honey.
This was fascinating! Poor Henry must have been in terrible pain. But he continued to fight. Then more pain while being 'treated'. Dr Bradmore must have been a godsend to Henry. I'm sure he had sone sort of scar.
Thanks Diane. Yes, the pain must have been unbelievable. I can only hope they had some sort of rudimentary pain relief. I don't know how he was able to sleep or eat though.
Would you consider speaking about king Harold and sir Walter Tyrrell who it is rumoured shot an arrow into Harolds eye while out hunting...I heard Tyrrell was exiled to Ireland after the incident....great investigation and research .I enjoy your videos every Friday...thank you for all the effort you put into producing these history lessons
Think you have two stories combined there and two different kings. Tyrrell was accused of killing William II known as "Rufus" in the New Forest. Ironically still called the "New" Forest but was an area cleared by his father William I (the Conqueror) who enjoyed hunting. The tree apparently that the arrow deflected off is still there. Whether it was by accident or design I think hasn't be satisfactorily explained. Harold Godwinson at Hastings has I think an un-named assailant. This brings us to another Tyrrell. The bloke who confessed to organising the murder of Edward V and his brother Richard Duke of York in the Tower and sentenced as a traitor and involvement in the Perkin Warbeck plot.
Thank you for this. I have read about this treatment previously and seen several similar videos - all enlightening. My hunch is that the scar was not particularly visible for several reasons: The argument from the well known portrait does not allow for the not infrequent production of profile portraits down to the sixteenth century. Manuscript depictions of Henry show him three quarter face from the other side and with no suggestion of a scar. No description of him written either in his life or soon after mentions a scar. It is only in recent years that the story of Bradmore has reappeared - folk as well as historical memory forgot about the injury other than recalling it had happened at Shrewsbury. One used to assume it had been a superficial glancing blow, not a life threatening injury. A French ambassador from early in 1415 describes Henry as looking more like a priest than a soldier, whereas his brother Thomas was definitely soldierly in appearance. So far as I know no hostile French source refers to a scar, which they might well have done. Medieval and early modern writers ( and people in general ) were not squeamish about alluding to physical injuries or disabilities. Think from the sixteenth century of both Francis and Henri Dukes of Guise, were recipients of facial wounds that led to them being known as “Le Belafré” and display their moderate cheek scars in portraits - which again points to the surgical skills available to them. All in all it points to Bradmore’s skill, Henry’s youth as a sixteen year old and his resilience. Henry’s later sense of being a man on a mission may well of course have derived from the realisation of how close ha had come to death, but had survived.
You make some excellent points. Though overall I think there must have been some sort of mark, you do make me reconsider how bad (or not) it might have been.
@@HistoryCalling I am glad to help to carry the discussion forward about this remarkable treatment of Prince Hal - and its consequences for his life and reign.
I just trimmed my fringe and the shards of hair and getting EVERYWHERE so I can relate to how getting shot in the face feels rn. I think I have hair in my eyeball
in all of the history courses i've taken, in all of the documentaries i have seen, never have i heard this particular story about henry v. absolutely fascinating!
There is quite a following for this. From historians and armourers. The type of bow, the type of arrowheads used. It's been quite forensic. His Great Helm used at Agincourt 12 years later is practically impenetrable by an arrow. It is available to see. No visor. Plate armour, being contoured and strengthened at particular weak-points would normally be proof against all types of arrowheads. Various trials and extensive practice have shown it is almost impossible unless by chance for an arrow to get through, even the "bodkin" designed for armour piercing really only are good where chain mail is concerned. Crossbow bolts might be more effective but crossbows were a rare item in England and their rate-of-fire was too slow to be of much use in a battle situation and more useful for sieges. The most remarkable fact about this episode for poor Hal was the ingenuity of Doctor Bradmore. He actually designed a scissor-action screw-threaded medical implement and had it engineered. For that date how do you even begin to manufacture it with the materials available! If you have used dies to form a screw thread male and female how would it be done at Kenilworth? You can't just go to a hardware store. To get the scissor-action working too, not even mentioning the disinfectants. That the doctor kept marvellous records is a bonus and tantamount to a great man, a real hero. The Earl of Douglas who had already lost an eye at Homildon Hill to Hotspur, changed sides and fought for Hotspur in that action against Hal. Both Hal and Douglas were injured but lived. Harry got an arrow and Douglas lost a "testicle". The Doctor would have been busy. "Form a queue gentlemen".
It’s absolutely amazing he survived this wound at all. The ingenuity of this surgeon to create this instrument is absolutely amazing and I’m surprised that no other surgeon copied his design. The use of alcohol to disinfect was very smart and I think in some ways I think it may have been just luck. Honey has been used on wounds as far back as the Egyptians to successfully heal wounds. Also the daily inspection of and care for the wound was an enlightened technique for the times. I do think that there was a scar but not a large one because of lack of infection. The scar most likely would only have been the size of the arrow that entered the face as there is no mentioning of cutting any skin to enlarge the wound. The surgeon only gently stretched tissue using the instrument he created. This surgeon was obviously aware that cleansing of the wound and his overall fastidiousness was the key to healing in my opinion.
You are quite right the size of the arrowhead is important and been left out by most contributors. Archers had a choice of a number of arrowheads. If you were trying to hinder a horse you would use a wide-bladed arrowhead. I think a "bodkin" arrowhead was used. Less barbed and made to pierce armour.
Yes, Bradmore was way ahead of his time in terms of cleaning wounds and designing the implement to remove the arrowhead. Henry was so lucky he (Bradmore) was there.
I think that the wound was on the left side from the doctors standpoint. That’s why the portraits are showing Henry’s left side. I can’t imagine the the King would want his “bad side” painted. The doctor did an amazing job given the time period.
Yes, I think so too. The doctor was incredible. Usually so-called doctors only made things worse in this era and you'd be safer staying away from them, but this one is a rare example of someone who was genuinely useful.
Really good images in this one. Thumb ☝... Once the bleeding stopped or slowed down the surgeon used his Braille talent. Serendipity all around for sure. The scar would bring bragging rights to some men. 🍎
It would indeed. I do wonder if it caused nerve damage though. I'm not aware of any sources that say he struggled to eat or talk though, so perhaps not.
I had general knowledge about his scar from an arrow, doubtless it’s why we see him in profile. Never had any idea of these specifics though, pretty interesting.
Thank you. Yes, I didn't know there was a detailed description of his injury and treatment either until I started researching it, but it's fascinating.
Once again, great minds think alike! I released an episode about this event on my channel late last year. I'm glad to know that my own research matches up with the facts presented here, as I know how thorough you are in your research, not to mention that fact that you are far more professionally qualified than myself! I wonder how many other subjects we both have on our future-video-topic lists. Thank you for your consistently wonderful content!
Thanks Datacombs. As long as you're not about to release a video on the green children of Woolpit (that's what I have coming out tomorrow), we'll be ok. :-)
I suffered an injury when I was ten years old, I'm 71 now. My right leg went through a window, severing all 3 muscles in the upper thigh of the back of the leg. The surgery took 4 hours but they did not know if I had cut the Sciatic nerve or just sliced it. So I was kept in bed. They didn't have MRIs back then and x-rays didn't show the Sciatic nerve. Needless to say if I had cut the nerve I would have lost my leg. If I had just sliced it I would have a useless leg. Neither happened, Praise the Lord. My leg healed and two years later I was picked to be Drum Majorette for my school band in the May day parade. After a few years though you could barely see the scar (which I called my permeant smile). And now at 71 years old there is no scar at all. All I'm trying to say, as long as no infection had set in, Prince Henry's scar would have been smile and vanished in a few years. Or might have looked like a pox mark size.
It is difficult for an arrow to enter the face and go as deep as described, and not enter the brain, unless on an oblique angle and entered a sinus. So as dangerous as it may seem, especially with the medical treatment available at the time, it still was an amazing feat.
Thank you so much I think you are close to the truth. Quite a bit of ballistics have been used to prove your point. It is contemporarliy reported as entering 'crossthwaite" as you rightly guess, at an angle. Why? What type of arrowhead was being used? A number were available. Why was it an angle? It was the evening of a hot day. Was his helmet visored? His great helm at Agincourt 12 years later isn't. My guess is it was a "bodkin" arrowhead that had deflected hence the angle. Armourers have re-enacted and at different ranges.
I think it must have been right up against the brain, just on the other side of the bone. He was certainly very lucky (well, I suppose it depends how you define luck - admittedly he did still get shot in the face).
Considering the era, I think that treatment sounds fairly solid. (not a doc, tho) Still. the poor lad must've been in agony for a long while. It must've been an impressive scar, too.
I'm amazed he survived at all! even with modern medicine that would be a hell of a wound- but back then, with a dirty arrow followed by various botched attempts to remove it (and nothing sterilised) Bradmore really was a medical marvel- and while none of it is what we'd hope for today he was using treatments that would have had a positive effect and it sounds like he avoided doing anything that really would have harmed Henry. Some of the madder medical practices from history are actually terrifying
I imagine the scar from an injury like that and the process used to get the arrow out would leave quite a nasty scar, especially as it was specified that the wound was enlarged by the doctor in order to remove the arrow head. Without stitches it probably left a very jagged and large scar. Maybe you were right about the portrait in that he was purposefully chosing to show the side that didn't have the scar because it was large and quite ugly.
Yes, I can't help but think that the scar must have been very bad as well. Perhaps had he been younger it might have stretched out a bit, but he would have been nearly done growing by this point.
I had major surgery on my lung (for spontaneous pneumothorax) and was not given any pain relief due to a clerical error for 6 hours. I still clinched my toes at several points during this video!
Sadly Thomas his brother fell at Baugé. He did not want to fight on Easter Sunday so he went without full archer support. He was the highest-ranking English noble lost in the Hundred Years War.
Many a true word spoke in jest! So have you heard of what happened to the Earl of Douglas in the same fight! 😉 Douglas had been the enemy of Hotspur previously and lost an eye at Homildon Hill. However they joined together to fight the royal army. Douglas was injured again, captured but released by the royal army. Part of him was left on the field and he probably spoke in a high-pitched voice.
I did a quick check on the Battle of Shrewsbury and discovered that, according to one source, Henry Percy (Hotspur) was struck in the eye when he lifted his visor and killed. Seems just a bit much with Prince Henry also being struck in the face by an arrow? Did the prince lift his visor as well? I could understand that at times you would need to lift your visor to get a better sense of what's going on around you. It was said that Hotspur's Cheshire bowmen were superior to the king's. But it evidently left a deep impression (no pun intended) on the Prince, whose archers supposedly won him the day at Agincourt.
I don't know if he lifted his visor, but it's hard to believe the arrow pierced metal this effectively which makes me think that part of his face mustn't have been shielded at that moment for some reason.
My guess and it is only a guess was that Hal had been hit with a "bodkin". Arrows were normally placed arrow-tip down in the ground near the archer's feet normally. The already biologically infected weapon was already a danger before it left the bow. Had Hal got his visor open? The depth of the wound would suggest this. The angle is odd though. There has been conjecture about this. If it was "deflected" this could have saved his life. Bradmore was brilliant, not only as a surgeon but has an inventor. He was not alone. A body examined by the University of Bradford shows an individual a victim of a battle in the WotR that showed a particularly horrendous facial wound, as if he had been hit with a cutting weapon across the front of his face, possibly an axe or sword in a battle at an earlier date. It practically had cut his face and skull in two. The upper and lower parts of the face had become unaligned yet the bone structure had fused together successfully. The surgeon must have had some sort of "cast" to hold the two portions together until healing. We underestimate medieval surgeons and their knowledge of antisceptics. We are often looking at an Hogarthian lens of surgery were people were bled by leeches etc, yet many, like Bradmore, were far better than that.
Firstly. Youth always heal faster and better. Secondly. Don’t underestimate the power of natural remedies. My niece was bitten in the face at 9 months. She had surgery from a plastic surgeon. Leaving lots of bad scars. I used calendula salve with Labender, Frankinsence,Helichrysum, and Geranium. I made the whole salve. It reduced the appearance so well that its barely noticable. The dog(a sheppard) ripped her nose wide open, gashed her cheek, punctured her top lip, and punctured her eyelid. Just so nobody says it probably wasn’t that bad.
Thank you. 👏 You are one of few who seems to have considered that.🙂 Re-enactors and armourers have trialled it and from different ranges. I think you are probably right it was an armour-piercing bodkin that was used. Not much use against plate armour both you might get a chance shot in an non-protected area where there is articulation for example. An arrow to hinder a horse, wide-bladed and barbed would probably have left more of a mess but on the other hand probably would not have deflected. It had been a hot day and parleys had gone to and fro. Henry IV gave the order in the evening. So it was not in the heat of the day. The ground had probably been baked and too hard for archers to have their arrows placed head-first in the soil which probably helped the lack of disinfection. The consensus is that it had been "deflected". He led the left wing. He would have been a target. The Earl of Stratford led the right wing and sadly was killed.
Avoided this video on account of the gory subject ….silly me ! You have the ability to make even “such a subject” fascinating ! Concerning Henry’s scar I am going with the idea that the left of his nose being from the vantage of the doctor…as improbable as his survival, even more would be a small scar !
Haha, that's ok. I know the gory stuff can be a bit off putting sometimes. If it makes you feel any better, YT doesn't like creators to show anything really icky, so you're unlikely to ever actually see anything horrible in a video whose creator wants to make money off it.
Considering this happened 600 years ago, I think there must have been a scar. Even these days with modern surgery scarring still occurs. Mine, even nearly 5 years later is still 7-8 inches long and still quite prominent. How Henry didn't die is down to sheer good luck, and a forward thinking doctor. Poultices, have been used since ancient times with amazing healing properties, and I think Henry was extremely lucky to have had a doctor like John Bradmore.
Yes, I can't imagine there wasn't a very prominent scar too. Still, as others here have said, it was probably a badge of honour for a King in that era.
Things the surgeon did right based on what I saw: 1. Clean the tongs with rose-honey (antibacterial) 2. Use clean linens that were soaked/purified with white wine (alcohol is antibacterial and the water at the time would have certainly caused an infection) 3. Healing ointment was made with honey AND heated over fire which must have killed some more bacteria 4. Hot plaster - probably killed bacteria as well 5. Didn't do sutures that would introduce bacteria
Do you know what happened to Douglas in the same fight! Douglas had fought Hotspur where he lost an eye previously at Homildon Hill but had joined him against the royal army. He was captured and released by the royal army but he had been wounded. Not going to tell you how. 😉 Suffice it to say it could have made Prince Henry feel better.
@@English_Dawn if memory serves, Douglas was the one that lost a... Natty Bojangle.. wasn't he? Yes. I imagine Henry would have definitely smiled at that.
Yup, this isn't a story for the faint heated. Imagine how gruesome it must have been to actually see the real injury though, never mind extract the arrowhead. Bradmore must have had a stomach of steel. I'd have been throwing my guts up.
Yes, it was a bit of a miracle really. Most people wouldn't have survived that I think. Even today you'd be incredibly lucky that it didn't hit your brain.
We’ve used Manuka honey for many years on both our animals and ourselves. It has remarkable healing properties and it’s the first thing we turn to for infected wounds and other problems.
Raw, filtered honey is still in use. We used it in eye infections. Allegedly, it is currently in use for eye cataracts too, but this was word of mouth. Stings, but covered with hot compresses, it really clears the eyes. DON'T do this without training!!! I haven't put the entire protocol here, so PLEASE, just use honey for wound healing. It's excellent.
@@HistoryCalling The high sugar concentration in honey prevents bacteria from multiplying. Also honey contains small amounts of phytochemicals, derived from nectar, whose presence helps to deter micro-organisms and other pathogens. This is my research specialism at Kew Gardens.
![COLOMBIA vs. CHILE [4-0] | RESUMEN | ELIMINATORIAS SUDAMERICANAS | FECHA 10](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/TDjN4W3yy1k/mqdefault.jpg)
How bad do you think Henry's scar might have been? Let me know below and check out my PATREON site for extra perks at www.patreon.com/historycalling Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE too.
I guess there's a reason for Henry being portraited only in profile....
@@Lassisvulgaris Yes, I think there might be too 🙂
I’m sure that’s the reason for the profile. Though Henry v doesn’t seem vain as some of his Descendants, I do think this is a nice way to accurately portray him without including such a disfigurement
Eh, its just a flesh wound 🤪
Just found a video on the topic: thehistorysquad Henry V arrohead removal....
I had no idea Henry's surgeon kept such complete notes - fascinating how the royal wound was treated - he certainly had a very nasty scar of course - as did many if not from the 100 years war probably from the wars of the roses - no shortage of ways to be maimed severely in those days - very interesting stuff - ty
Most royal docs to lots of notes. Look up Henry the 8ths poos lol
Very true. I tend to think there must have been a serious mark too.
If he fought a war for 100 years, yes, it would have been some scar, I reckon! 😊
this has to be a miracle he didn’t succumb to some kind of infection let alone the injury itself! i bet he was terrified of arrows after that on his other battles. it’s incredible they were able to save him. amazing vid!!
It is wild that he didn't die. I can't understand either how an infection didn't set in. His doctor was obviously way ahead of his time.
@@HistoryCalling seriously because how!?!?😂
@@HistoryCalling He reported that he used rose honey; honey is known to have antibacterial properties. Perhaps this was its greatest test.
Re: "I'll bet he was terrified of arrows"...seems unlikely, this guy fought throughout his entire life. I'm not sure how he managed to sire his single child he was that busy.
@@leanie5234 haha very true!!
After an experience like that, no wonder Henry was fearless in battle! He must have figured that "if I can survive that, I can survive anything - I'm not scared of you!"
I think it made him more religious too. I suppose he thought God must have been on his side.
@@HistoryCalling I would certainly think that too if it were me!
“I’m not scared of you- but I am scarred by you” I couldn’t help it😭
The doctor's use of honey on the prince's wound was one of the best things he could have done. Honey has potent anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Modern Western medicine uses honey on wounds. It's been purified and is called med honey. I've used it twice on minor infections and seen healing after one day. The most amazing thing I saw, however, concerned an elderly friend in a nursing home who got an infection in her foot. It wasn't treated properly by staff, and a large area became gangrenous, which was horrifying to look at. Antibiotics were prescribed but didn't improve her wound. Her baby toe got so bad it had to be amputated, but there was still a huge, deep hole in the area next to the amputated toe, literally devouring her flesh, and they feared she could lose the entire foot. Her doctor prescribed med honey dressings to be applied twice daily. Within two weeks, the wound was visibly improved, and within a couple of months the gangrene was completely gone, the wound up was totally healed, and her foot was saved. It is truly amazing that honey healed what all other forms of medicine couldn't heal.
That's incredible. I read about modern uses of honey while I was researching this and to be honest, I was surprised that it is still used, but I guess if something works there's no reason not to continue taking advantage of it. This has to be one of the few medieval treatments that has genuine healing powers though. Most of what they did would be considered attempted murder nowadays.
Yep, honey is what good doctors use when modern antibiotics fail.
@@HistoryCalling Honey is apparently used quite a lot in modern medicine. My daughter is a nurse and certified in wound care. When I got an infected finger, with a lot of swelling, I applied antibiotic ointment on it, but it didn't help. I asked my daughter if I should go to the doctor. She looked at my finger, then gave me a small container of med honey. I applied the honey that day, and applied more before going to bed. The next morning, my finger was 90% better! One more day of med honey and my finger was completely healed! It's better than topical antibiotic ointment.
Fascinating! I kept imagining Kenneth Branagh with a facial scar as I watched this ( I rewatched "Henry V" recently). The use of honey as an antiseptic rang true for me. Ten years ago our schnauzer Bette had a massive lipoma removed and the post-surgery wound was so gruesome I felt faint when the dressing was first removed. Our vet didn't bat an eye and informed me they would use bandages soaked in honey to aid the healing process. She pulled through beautifully. I really enjoyed the medical details you included. Well done (again)! Until next week, be well.
Thank you. I'm glad Bette was OK. 🙂
@@HistoryCalling Thanks so much. She's almost sixteen now and very slow but still queen of the house.
Wwwww
I'm a dog 🐕 lover so I am happy your Bette is ok. Sounds like her doctor knew what he was doing with the honey.
@@dianetheisen8664 Much appreciated. I wasn't at all anxious to own a dog and will always be grateful for my lady love who talked me into bringing Bette home. Our lives were forever changed for the better.
I never knew any of this about Henry, other than he had such a short life. I can’t even imagine the pain he must have gone through or that he survived. That doctor was definitely inventive and I think a whole lot lucky. Another great video. Thank you.
Thanks Anna. Yes, I think it's one of the lesser known stories about Henry, probably because everyone just thinks of Agincourt when they think of him.
I was unaware of Henry's unfortunate wound; thank you for posting about it. It seems a miracle that the wound did not become infected, and that Henry did not suffer brain damage as a result of it. He was fortunate to have had such a good physician.
“This is more painful than when Henry V took an arrow to the face and the 20-day recovery combined,” will now be my next retort. 😂
Your work is SO wonderful, so unique, just wanted to say thank you for the incredible research that must go into every video!!
I've subscribed and am so happy to have quite a few new videos to watch from your channel. It is so good! I binge-watched a lot of your videos the first time I found the channel. I was a Medieval and American History major in college (USA), so have a deep love and passion for all things medieval.
Hi Jessie. Thanks for subbing and welcome :-) There's more medieval stuff to come.
That scar had to be huge. Look at the battle scars left on the faces of soldiers from the earlier wars - especially those around WW!. Even today, I think modern plastic surgery would've had a hard time with something like that. Of all the videos I've seen about Henry V, short of one I saw on medical science through the ages, yours is the only one that brings up his scar. I think this is one of the most interesting thing about Henry V, being a medical miracle, yet it's hardly ever discussed. Thank you.
Rae a lot of things aren't discussed this is why this channel is so valuable. The mainstream media has a "narrative" and if it falls outside it's left to the specialists.
If one thinks of Henry one thinks about Agincourt and the campaign, maybe even the "tennis balls gift" or maybe the "Agincourt Song" which William Walton used in the film score. It's like there's not enough room on the stage left for anything else. William Shakespeare's portrayal drowns out nearly everything else. 🤐
Popular tv dramas major on a handful of monarchs probably only three, Henry VIII, Elizabeth and Victoria. Interesting though they are it's at a price with the other monarchs being "glossed over".
Henry's wounding has been researched but mainly by medical students , re-enactors and armourers. You would be hard-pressed to see it on mainstream media. Medievalists know about it but casual observers would probably not be aware of it.
Yes, I tend to think it had to be very noticeable as well. It's odd that more movies and documentaries don't discuss this, but I think most people just think of Agincourt when they think of H5 and if his great big scar was shown in movies like The King, they'd have to stop and explain why it was there (also the actor would have to sit in the makeup chair much longer every day).
@@HistoryCalling It's funny how the main stream media seem to have an agenda. They'd be stuck for something to write about if it wasn't for Henry 8 and his kith and kin.
How many outside Ulster have heard of Grace O'Malley the pirate queen or the flight of the Earls?
It will just have to be our secret. 🙂
That's why your channel is so important, shedding light on dark places. Sir Francis Walsingham was just telling me the same thing over lunch. 😉
@@HistoryCalling One has to be realistic. I think if you saw someone who wasn't scarred or marked with a pox it would be unusual. Scarring would have been an "occupational hazard" for most people. The Health & Safety Executive were in embryonic format. 😷
im so intrigued to see what Henrys portrait would have looked like if he showed his full face afterwards, I can only imagine its cold and menacing
That was most informative and well narrated!
Thanks Pamela :-)
THANK YOU For the incredible time spent to do the research & present such little thought of moments in medieval history!!!
I’m a big fan and the only thing I want to put in the comments is my gratitude for your consistently well done/researched/defended content that is also highly entertaining! Thank you for all you do!!!
Incredible story. Amazing he not only survived but flourished. The doctor was intuitive. Possible that the scar was close to the nostril and bridge line thereby camouflaging it. Excellent work! Thanks my friend. Lvya
Thanks David. Yes, the doctor was incredible for the time period. Honestly, he'd probably have been better than some people who were working as doctors as late as the 19th or even early 20th centuries.
I forgot it was Friday, this video was a great surprise! The way Henry’s doctor put “wads” into the wound to “cleanse” it probably helped it close faster. This is similar to the modern practice of packing a wound. I’m not sure 100% on the science behind it, but if I remember correctly it does help remove dead tissues when the packing is changed. And from personal experience, 2-3 days between changes is still standard. My wound was on my abdomen and getting the packing removed was very painful (it sticks some when being pulled out), so I can’t even imagine how awful it must have been for Henry on his face! Great video, I love the historic medicine so much!!
I totally agree with you that having had a large abdominal incision packed and having the dressings changed was unpleasant. I think with the honey moistening the packing it may have helped the material from sticking and pulling possibly.
Oh that sounds so painful. I hope you're all better now. I'm glad you were still able to enjoy the video, unpleasant memories notwithstanding.
@@HistoryCalling This happened a couple years ago, so I’m much better now thank you. I think the experience giving however small of a connection to Henry made the video more enjoyable! (Yay for silver linings lol)
Packing a wound cavity is also important so it heals from the bottom up... Otherwise, you run the risk of the skin closing up before the tissues underneath have knit back together/scarred. That frequently leads to abscesses, and those seem to be a 0/5 star experience.
I look forward to your videos every week! It’s absolutely amazing that he didn’t die from the injury or from the aftermath of the removal and the wound... Sometimes you hear about stories of people who walked away from a horrific incident without a any damage to them and I think it’s insane luck that this seemed to have happened with a would-be king of all people
I know. Life is just fluky like that sometimes I suppose. Most people would have died right where they stood on the battlefield when that arrow hit them.
I cannot imagine the pain he must have endured…😲😬🤕 Thank you for another fantastically detailed and interesting video! 💕
I'm learning something new every day. I had no idea about this injury that was sustained by Henry V. It's a miracle he did not lose his sight or sustain a brain injury or sepsis.
Yes, it is incredible. I think it's not more widely known about because everything just thinks of Agincourt when they think of H5.
Your information is so well organized, researched, and presented...and your voice is a pleasure to listen to.
Great content, extremely well narrated. Thank you for the more detail insight to the horrific events.
You're very welcome :-)
That was excellent. Well done. I was sorry to hear (at least twice you mentioned) that if you get any thing wrong including a miss-pronunciation, that you get hate mail. That is simply horrific. Don't you wish people would find the off switch on their devices at those moments! I enjoyed it and it was very well presented indeed.
Thank you. Yes, I occasionally mispronounce a place name and get some complaints (Kimbolton Castle was a recent one). I do actually look up a lot of things in pronunciation guides, or find other videos about particular places or people in which they say the relevant word, but every so often, something incorrect slips through and in those cases I do indeed wish that the complainers would look at the 99.9% of things that are correct and not whine about the odd little error. Some people just like to moan though. I suppose it makes them feel superior for 5 seconds. Thank you for your very kind comment though :-)
With hearing the good doctors notes on the removal and treatment I believe that any scarring that occurred was not disfiguring. Thank you for that topic I never heard it in depth before.
For Henry's sake, I hope so. I think it's not more widely known about because everything just thinks of Agincourt when they think of H5.
Lots of great content, as always. My thought on the “surgical” part…would he not pass out from the pain? Instant anesthesia. I love Fridays!
Good question. For his sake I hope so, but he must have been awake for much of it.
Between everything that could’ve gone wrong, infection, brain injury and God knows what else, it is an absolute miracle that he survived that in that day and age. And to battle like that at 16 years old, is amazing!
I appreciate how you explained the intent and actual medical use of the treatments that didn't work as the doctor meant them to. I'm an avid fantasy writer, and this video is great entertainment, a marvelous source of research and reference for making plausible fiction, and a great historical reference I can share with my British history loving family. Thank you!
No problem at all. Best of luck with your writing :-)
Im sure it would of left a some sort of scare on his face, but what a remarkable feat to remove the arrow head and treat the wound after, thank you HC another gem from you. 👍😊
Yes, I think there must have been a mark too, but the doctor was incredible for the time period.
@@HistoryCalling yes Indeed he was a remarkable doctor given the century he operated in HC. 😊
That is an incredible story. The surgeon was a genius; an injury like this today would require several surgeries and then the patient might not survive.
But at least today's patient would have anesthetic.
@@dianetheisen8664 i know. Can you imagine going through tgemis conscious?
@@aliencat11 If I had to go through that ordeal without some kind of anesthetic, I would be beside myself in pain. I would not be able to handle it. And, imagine, Henry still fought after getting shot. Then he suffered 'treatment' before Dr Bradmore came along.
Yes, I think Bradmore was a genius of his day. I wonder what kind of doctor he would have been if he'd been born in the 20th/21st centuries?
Omg I didn’t even know Henry V endured such an injury! I wonder if the scarring was purposely left out of his portraits to flatter his appearance or if the doctor knew his stuff! It’s a miracle he even survived this, but the arrow more than likely just missed anything vital as you implied! As always, great video! I look forward to every Friday!
Thanks Kimberly :-) I wonder too if there was a little bit of medieval filtering of the King's image to remove the scar.
I work in oral/maxillofacial surgery as an OR nurse and his early instrument is not far off from some of the instruments we use today, although ours are sterile. What's amazing to me is that this physician clearly understood at least the rudiments of antiseptic technique many years before we knew of the existence of microorganisms and understood their role in infection.
That's so interesting. I was hoping there would be people watching and commenting with modern medical knowledge who could add their insights on the procedure. Yes, I think Bradmore was a bit of a medical marvel for his era.
Can’t imagine the pain.
And he eventually healed.
When I was a kid in the 1960’s. While visiting my great aunt and uncle’s farm, got a really nasty gouged wound on my foot. My great aunt put to bed later, place a warm poultice on my foot, milk, bread cooked up to a paste. My foot felt fine the next day, and quickly healed
That's fascinating. I wonder what it was about the poultice that worked so well?
i’ve never heard this before. so excited!
It'll make you sooo grateful for modern medicine 🩺
@@HistoryCalling i’m halfway through and grabbing my nose!!!🤣🤣🤣
The key words, thank God. Which means they were praying over the procedure. Thank God, indeed. Can you imagine what our life/world would be like if we prayed? 🇬🇷✝️🙏🌹 Very good video. I'm sorry that there are such knit pickers. God bless you and yours ♥️
Marvellous.
The House of Lancaster had been extremely pious. Sir John Oldcastle (possibly "Falstaff") a friend of Henry had sadly been sent to the stake for heresy.
During the Harfleur Campaign leading to Agincourt Henry had Ordinances in place where robbing a Church was severely punished.
Really enjoyed this. Thanks
This was a great story, they do say miracles happen and with all the doctor did was so interesting then him surviving this. Thanks I find your work very interesting
Thanks Vernon. Yes, I can certainly imagine Henry seeing it as a miracle. There aren't too many tales of people surviving injuries like this.
CANNOT BELIEVE you uploaded this DAYS after I watched about 5 other vids about this event!! 😯 (In one, a blacksmith recreated the tool!) I thought you explained it really well, especially cos you included Bradmore's writing- & yes, that drawing IS a tiny scribble! It's one of my fave historical medical stories, everything about it is amazing. Not all medical treatment was a nightmarish disaster that made the patient worse, & it's even more impressive when you realise their intellectual approach was pretty much the opposite of science. Bradmore & Henry were both total legends in this story!
I actually watched that one with the blacksmith as part of my research. The recreation was really good. Yes, the drawing is titchy. It's a shame he didn't make it bigger so we could better understand how the screw worked. Still, we're lucky to have what we have.
Fantastic video, thank you. One of the most manly and interesting Kings of England. A stand out even as Prince of Wales.
That was fascinating! Thank you for posting. Henry must've been in agony - and the doctor not much less in case his treatment killed him.
Yes, the pain must have been unbelievable and not helped by the fact that I imagine he could barely eat or sleep because of it.
Love your work,
Excellent 🇨🇦
Thank you :-)
I was going to comment asking you to do a video on henry v , cause i'm really interested in his life, and you have read my mind, just saw your post on insta and went straight to youtube to watch. thank you
Part 1.
Henry of Monmouth had a short but brilliant life. Survived the arrow-wound when he was sixteen. Fell into bad company if you believe Shakespeare.
The House of Lancaster was a pious house yet in his youth Henry is supposed to have been in the same gang as Sir John Oldcastle "Falstaff" you know asking for sack in the Boar's Head Tavern with Bardolph, Mistress Quickly, Doll Tearsheet and Poins if you believe William Shakespeare. 😊(Henry IV Pts 1 & 2)
Sadly John Oldcastle went to the stake for heresy.
Henry and two of his brother's were given military training. The fourth brother Humphrey wasn't.
Henry cheated death in Southampton. According to Shakespeare the Dauphin mocked Henry by sending him "tennis-balls".
Three rebellious nobles had been bribed to execute him. He found out, they were executed.
By all accounts he was a changed man on his accession and continued the Hundred Years War started by Edward III his ancestor via John of Gaunt.
On French soil he took Harfleur. Part of taking Harfleur in the custom of the time was to allow the inhabitants to send to the king, Charles VI, for relief.
Should relief not be forthcoming they would surrender.
Charles couldn't get an army to relieve them and Harfleur surrendered.
There had been some infected shellfish that summer and a lot of his army had contracted illness and were sent home.
He left a garrison in Harfleur and made for the Somme and Calais.
By all accounts he got on well with his men. He issued an Ordinance not to rob Churches on the pain of severe penalties.
Approaching one castle he was fired upon by a culverin or cannon. He asked in his own lands why the constable has fired? The constable had bread brought out instead.
The French army, much larger, had recovered from their sloth and was shadowing him into the Somme Valley. There was a minor action on a ford at Blanchetaque. The weather wasn't great, lots of rain.
Some of his men ambushed some French and discovered a map of their plans.
He continued his march. The French were getting nearer. The French plans were sound. Their plan was to use cavalry to attack the English archers on the flanks then attack the men-at-arms.
Cogniscent of the French plans Henry had his army cut stakes and wedge themselves in between two woods to protect their flanks between Agincourt and Tramecourt.
On the Feast of St. Crispin Crispianus Henry became legendary.
Not without controversy. During that battle when the French looked threatening he ordered the execution of French prisoners.
His younger brother Humphrey was in grave danger being on the floor and attacked by the Duc d'Alencon the French Marshal. Henry saved him. Humphrey was the brother without military training.
Henry was battle-hardened and had been ordered by his father to keep the Welsh Marches free from Glyndwyr and Mortimer.
He was now on a brilliant but sadly short career.
He made his way back to England where he was met with great rejoicing at Blackheath and then in London.
At Agincourt the highest-ranking Englishman killed had been the Duke of York. His body had been found without a mark, in his armour in the mud, possibly suffocated.
Being high-ranking his body was boiled to remove the flesh from the bones and his bones brought back to England for burial.
The Duke of York had no legimate children. His brother Richard of Conisbrough had been one of the nobles executed for his part in the "Southampton Plot". Richard had a son, another Richard, who would one day start the Wars of the Roses and would threaten (unsuccessfully - eventually) Henry V's House.
The French Valois royal house was in turmoil. This was Henry's chance.
Louis the Duke of Orleans (the Armagnac Party) was at loggerheads with his relative "John the Fearless" Duke of Burgundy.
*Please Note. Burgundy had started as being centred around Dijon but by this time, by marriage and conquest had grown to include what is now Belgium and the Netherlands with another focus - Brussels.
Albeit only a Dukedom it was probably the richest court in Europe. It's riches were based on two industries, textiles and wine.
The first required English Wool and was a major part of the start of the Hundred Years War. It was all done through the English Staple. Basically a monopoly of wool sales which at this time was in Bruges.
The cities were pro-English. The landed aristocracy were pro-French.
The Duke of Orleans was visiting a lady relative who had just given birth near the Marais district in Paris.
He was on his return to the royal palace at St. Pol when he and a servant were killed. John the Fearless had organised it.
It was practically open warfare. The new Dauphin was Charles, his brother who had sent the "tennis-balls" was dead.
The Dauphin asked for a peace treaty to be held on the bridge at Montereau near Paris. The Dauphin entered from one end and the Duke of Burgundy from the other. After an initial meeting things turned to the bad and one of the Dauphin's attendants slew John the Fearless.
Look at this as a triangular political arrangement, England, France and Burgundy. 2 against 1. Henry needed the mathematics.
The new Duke of Burgundy "Phillip the Good" immediately changed sides and sided with the English.
The then new Duke of Orleans, Charles, had been captured by the English at Agincourt and was prisoner in England.
Part 2.
This was Henry's big chance. The mathematics were in his favour. 2:1. The French were on the back foot. Henry's policy meant slowly and methodically taking his possesions, starting with Normandy and Picardie, then Anjou and push further South. He already had rights to territory in Gascony.
Henry's plan was for his French provinces to pay for themselves by taxation. He planned to make Rouen his administrative centre.
Rouen however held out and forced Henry to lay siege. It was here that another controversial episode happened. The starving citizens started to come out but Henry refused to feed them unless the city surrendered. Eventually it did.
Henry then gradually increased his control and at the Treaty of Troyes it was made possible that he would marry Katherine the French king' s daughter and Henry would be recognized as king of France after the death of Charles VI.
He returned to England and made a progress to the Shrine of St. John of Beverley.
Sadly whilst in England he heard of his brother Thomas Duke of Clarence's death.
Thomas had faced a Franco-Scottish force at Baugé. So as not to fight on Easter Sunday Thomas prematurely attacked and sadly was killed. He was the highest-ranking English noble killed in the Hundred Years War.
Henry returned to France in the autumn. There was a Dauphinist town Meaux to the East of Paris and Henry laid siege to it. It was summer and hot. It is believed Henry caught dysentery. The Burgundians asked for his help. Henry typically left to help, riding in the hot climate. Sadly he was too ill and went to the castle of Vincennes in the southern district of Paris.
Latterly it has been promulgated he suffered from cancer.
It became likely he may not have long to live. He hurriedly made his will. He never saw his son.
He made his brother John Duke of Bedford Protector in his French domains and his younger brother Humphrey Duke of Gloucester Protector in England.
Henry sadly died and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Charles VI died the next year.
His brother John was very close to Henry and doted on him. When Henry had needed him John had won a crucial victory over the French in a naval victory in the Seine.
John carried on Henry's piecemeal amalgamation of French lands.
It was John that organised the Parliament of Bats where his nephew the young king Henry VI was knighted by him.
It was also John that had Henry crowned in France, the only English one ever to have been. John did his best to keep the memories of his brother alive and keep the terms of Henry's will.
John was a knight of the Order of the Garter and often wore the Order's blue mantle in battle when he would typically use his favourite weapon the two-handed axe.
In an odd quirk he fought against the very foes that had killed his brother Thomas. On a hot day the Franco-Scottish army had been threatening Verneuil trying to force the English to battle. John's second- in-command was the Earl of Salisbury who had been at Baugé.
This was a remarkable battle (often called the Second Agincourt) and John showed the bravery and tactical ability his brother Henry had in a remarkable astounding victory.
The tables were to turn. The Burgundians made a rapprochement with the French at the Treaty of Arras. John died in the castle of Joyous Reposé in Rouen during the Treaty of Arras. St. Joan of Arc had helped revive the Dauphin and had had him crowned earlier at Rheims.
The English never really had enough force to hold their territories beyond Orleans.
John was buried in Rouen Cathedral.
Charles VII was now king and gradually the English were reduced in territories. Louis XI the son of Charles VII, known as the "Universal Spider" would later say when asked, that John's grave should remain untouched because of his tenacity to hold on to territory in his father's reign.
The only brother left was Humphrey. Humphrey had the responsibility to bring up Henry V's son and keep the French territories.
Seems to have struggled to do both.
Humphrey's wife had had some property within the Duke of Burgundy's territory during the time Phillip the Good was an English ally.
Humphrey tried to fight to have them restored. Wasn't politically a good thing to do and John Duke of Bedford had to do what he always seems to have done and act as peacemaker giving Humphrey some of his own properties as compensation.
England was riven by two parties. The War Party led by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, later by Richard of Conisbrough' s son and the Peace Party led by the Duke of Suffolk and young Henry's wife Queen Margaret of Anjou subsequently joined by the Duke of Somerset and his Beaufort family including Cardinal Beaufort.
It was in this background that Henry V's son was brought up. The Treasury had been bled by the Hundred Years War.
Humphrey is famous for founding All Souls College in Oxford dedicated to the souls of the English forces lost in the war and donating his books to Duke Humphrey's Library in the city.
Henry V's son, Henry VI is famous for founding Eton College and King's College Cambridge.
Thank you for your interest in Henry.
👏
Great minds think alike :-)
Big ouch. Made me squirm in thy chair & I don't squirm lightly Great video once again & great artistry too. The 15th century tongs were great.
Thank you. The tongs were tricky to copy, but it got me around a potential copyright issue so I think it was worth it.
@@HistoryCalling (I'm exxagerating here, but you'll get the point.) How are you? (Sorry, RUclips has taken this question down because it does not go with our terms.)
I think Henry’s scar was fairly horrendous. They don’t talk about the wound being stitched in any way so it could have been quite a large scar. He was a very lucky guy to survive such an injury & the doctors good treatment certainly saved his life. Interesting episode but there again yours always are 😁
Thanks Carol. Yes, I think the scar had to have been bad (though of course I hope for his sake that it wasn't, but it's hard to see how it couldn't have been very noticeable).
Great job thanks
Amazing 😱plus I wonder what he would have made of his son if he’d known him. No father and son could be more different . And one more thing that”medical instrument”looks like a torture device 😖great video 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Yes, it could easily double as a torture device. Yes, I wonder what he would have made of Henry VI too. Probably H6 would have had a different raising if his father had been around.
@@HistoryCalling yes maybe he would have been a bit tougher
Could have been an Edward 1 to Edward 2 situation if Henry V had lived longer? Often strong fathers can dominate and completely overwhelm a weaker (more sensitive?) son!
There's is nothing like a father. As Thomas was killed at Baugé there were two uncles left, John and Humphrey.
Humphrey, well, was Humphrey. He was the one brother brought up with a non-military background. The Duc d'Alencon had him on the floor at Agincourt but Henry came to his brother's aid and Davy Gamm reputedly slew the Duc d'Alencon, the French Marshal.
It appears Humphrey was beligerant without being skilled.
John was a different kettle of fish. Won at Verneuil equal some argue to Agincourt. John was a very able administrator and seems to have doted on his late brothers' memories and his nephew Henry VI.
It was John that organised the Parliament of Bats in Leicester where the young Henry VI was knighted.
It was John who had Henry VI crowned in France. The only English king ever to have been so crowned.
However it was during the Hundred Years War and Humphrey was made Protector in England where Henry VI spent most of the time.
John was made Protector in French lands trying to hang onto his brother Henry's gains. He did a remarkable job and was an excellent administrator.
He died during the Treaty of Arras when the Duke of Burgundy changed sides.
If things had been different and he had spent more time in England with his nephew I am pretty sure he would have had an effect on his nephew Henry VI.
Henry VI was left under the auspices of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.
@@English_Dawn lord protectors are always suspicious. Is it true that Henry had some form of mental illness and would go blank for days at a time? And if so was it caused be childhood trauma
as always a very effective and informational video. thank you
My pleasure :-)
This! THIS is the biggest reason why I'm so profoundly grateful to be alive today, and not back then. Surgery and dentistry without anaesthesia or pain relief, and with the primitive tools of of the time, is unimaginable torture. The "dentist" being the town's blacksmith, using the pliers of his trade to pull teeth. I am so very, VERY grateful to live at a time when the medical sciences have developed to what it is today.
Me too. I don't enjoy my trips to the dentist, but boy am I grateful that I've been able to get proper fillings when needed (with numbing) and the teeth haven't just rotted out of my head.
Seems so cruel to have survived this injury but couldn't survive to see his son, amazed he survived the arrow though and can't imagine the pain he suffered.
all this to go die of dysentery. what a tragedy
Yes, he ultimately had a very sad ending at just 35 (and let's not even get started on his son's ending) :-(
Have you seen that Henry was buried with his friend Richard Courtney? Like he was in Henry's coffin. I wonder why? His friend died before him so someone would have to dig him up? Maybe an idea for another video?
That is very interesting, and I had not heard about it, so I did a bit of digging (as it were). It's unclear from what I've found whether Courtenay and Henry are buried in the same literal grave or whether they're sharing a tomb. The discovery of Courtenay's burial did lead to speculation that the two were lovers, but it's also reported that Henry left extremely specific instructions about his burial and did not mention that he expected anyone else to share his tomb. So your guess is as good as mine as to how and why Courtenay ended up where he did.
@@edithengel2284 I just finished reading Ian Mortimer's book on him and it said Courtenay slept in his room every night which I think is weird but may have been the norm, he also didn't have a lot of woman around him which leads me to believe maybe something was going on but we'll never know for sure.
This was really interesting. I had no idea that Henry was injured like this at the battle of Shrewsbury. It must have left a fair sized hole in his face. Did doctors not use sutures at this point?
I had a deep wound in my shoulder. This was about 6inches deep and irregular in shape. It was packed with dressings which were changed regularly until over months the wound healed from the bottom to the surface of the skin. There was no infection and after a couple of weeks there was little pain on having the packing removed and replaced. There is a now a hollow on the skin’s surface but it healed really well.
I recently read that in the late 17th century this was a common thing as the doctors didn’t want a wound to heal over on the surface trapping infection inside the body.
Sutures for a deep wound like that would probably have made it even worse. Given the lackluster antiseptic knowledge at the time, it’s likely the doctors would have trapped infection inside causing an abscess. I’m not a doctor or a medical historian, but I think I remember reading that sutures of some sort did exist far back in history.
Holes heal from the inside out. I was wondering what the Doctor was going to fill the hole with as you were telling the store. My thought was honey. All that extra stuff, I would not use, but I am glad the Doctor cleaned out the wound very good, and used some honey.
I think that the hole healed small.
He had a great Doctor for the time.
Great video!
There were different arrowheads used. First of all, most arrows were thrust arrowhead down in the soil within easy reach of the archer. The arrows were deadly biological projectiles before they left the bow.
Although it was poor Henry was pierced with an arrow it could have been worse.
First it was summer and had been a hot day. This meant the soil may have been too hard to place the arrow in.
English battles rarely had cavalry charges. This effected the choice of arrowheads. If it had been intended to bring a horse down a very different sort, heavily barbed arrow was used. It looks though no evidence exists as I'm aware of, that a "bodkin" was used. Deadly enough but designed to be armour-piercing, less barbed and more easily though not a synch, too extract.
Did Henry have his visor raised? Did it have a visor. His great helm used 12 years later at Agincourt hasn't got a visor, it is available to see. What it does show is part of a crown was missing as if it was struck off.
If the arrow was "deflected" this may ironically have helped Henry.
My understanding is it took a week to extract it fully. The wooden shaft being discarded pretty soon, leaving the arrowhead to be disinfected whilst Doctor Bradmore drew up his scissor-action special tool and had it manufactured. It worked and Henry lived. History was changed. 😁
A modern steel needle must be hard to manufacture. Practically impossible in 1403. Sewing was done and elaborate clothes with gold thread testify it. Not an expert but I presume they were bone or wood. So suturing should have been possible. 🙂
Thank you. It took 5 goes to watch this all the way through because I kept nodding off, but enjoyed it. I think that Henry was very lucky. Can't help but think of Harold at Hastings. There must have been a scar on his face.
Haha, I'll take that as a compliment on my reading voice :-) Yes, the similarities to Harold are striking.
The battle of Agincourt, particularly as portrayed in the Kenneth Branagh's Henry V is what originally fostered my admiration for King Henry V. After listening to this account of the man's courage, I'd have to say he now is near the top of my list of histories most admirable men.
The rude doodle part cracked me up 😂
Yeah, I just looked at it after I'd copied it from the original document and thought 'Well I'd better address this in the video, or people are definitely going to point it out in the comments' :-)
Good morning to history calling
Bradmore sounds like a very determined, intelligent, and talented doctor. It makes you wonder what treatments he could have potentially pioneered with current medical knowledge.
I'm cracking up at the name disclaimer 🤣
I aim to please 😁
I can't see how such a deep incision could have led to anything but an horrific scar. It's very fortunate that Henry survived because his father's second son Thomas Duke of Clarence who was killed in an impulsive charge at the Battle of Bauge sounds a bit of an idiot? On the other hand without Henry V maybe there wouldn't have been this extension of the hundred years war? One thing is for sure, if the future Henry V hadn't survived this injury history would have been very different!
Thomas was impulsive not wanting to fight on Easter Sunday and before the Earl of Salisbury brought the archers up.
On the other hand John won Vernueil often ignored but generally considered a Second Agincourt. The grand was baked hard under the sun when they couldn't get their stakes in correctly and were ridden down by the Milanese heavy cavalry. Yet Bedford against all the odds rallied his men and won a tremendous if ignored victory. He was a superb administrator and despite inadequate manpower to control effectively South of Orleàns managed to hold on to his brother's territories until politics and the Treaty of Arras made it untenable.
Yes, I think it had to have left a serious scar as well. I just cringe thinking about the pain of it all.
Honey is sterile if bacteria comes into contact with the honey it is immediately destroyed. I was hospitalized for 5 days on IV antibiotics for and infected cyst on my lower jaw which extended up to my ear. I was discharged with infection still present. The next day I put honey on plastic spoon and held it up to the cyst for 15 minutes and in the shower splashed water on to it. The cyst drained pus on to the shower floor and I had to keep swishing it down the drain. When I brushed my teeth it drained into the wash basin. I am an RN and have never seen so much pus. For the rest of the day I held paper towels up to the jaw as the pus continued to drain. When I saw the Dr the next day there was no more pus in the jaw, it took a few days for the swelling to subside.
The art of using honey to treat infections must have been lost down through the years. It was a brilliant idea the old Dr had. The honey I used was taken from an opened bottle of Raw Honey.
Ok, that cyst you had sounds just awful! I'm glad to hear it all healed up, but I can only imagine how much pain you were in.
This was fascinating! Poor Henry must have been in terrible pain. But he continued to fight. Then more pain while being 'treated'. Dr Bradmore must have been a godsend to Henry. I'm sure he had sone sort of scar.
Thanks Diane. Yes, the pain must have been unbelievable. I can only hope they had some sort of rudimentary pain relief. I don't know how he was able to sleep or eat though.
Would you consider speaking about king Harold and sir Walter Tyrrell who it is rumoured shot an arrow into Harolds eye while out hunting...I heard Tyrrell was exiled to Ireland after the incident....great investigation and research .I enjoy your videos every Friday...thank you for all the effort you put into producing these history lessons
Think you have two stories combined there and two different kings.
Tyrrell was accused of killing William II known as "Rufus" in the New Forest. Ironically still called the "New" Forest but was an area cleared by his father William I (the Conqueror) who enjoyed hunting.
The tree apparently that the arrow deflected off is still there.
Whether it was by accident or design I think hasn't be satisfactorily explained. Harold Godwinson at Hastings has I think an un-named assailant.
This brings us to another Tyrrell. The bloke who confessed to organising the murder of Edward V and his brother Richard Duke of York in the Tower and sentenced as a traitor and involvement in the Perkin Warbeck plot.
You'll be happy to hear that Harold and Hastings are already on my list :-)
Thank you for this. I have read about this treatment previously and seen several similar videos - all enlightening.
My hunch is that the scar was not particularly visible for several reasons:
The argument from the well known portrait does not allow for the not infrequent production of profile portraits down to the sixteenth century.
Manuscript depictions of Henry show him three quarter face from the other side and with no suggestion of a scar.
No description of him written either in his life or soon after mentions a scar.
It is only in recent years that the story of Bradmore has reappeared - folk as well as historical memory forgot about the injury other than recalling it had happened at Shrewsbury. One used to assume it had been a superficial glancing blow, not a life threatening injury.
A French ambassador from early in 1415 describes Henry as looking more like a priest than a soldier, whereas his brother Thomas was definitely soldierly in appearance. So far as I know no hostile French source refers to a scar, which they might well have done. Medieval and early modern writers ( and people in general ) were not squeamish about alluding to physical injuries or disabilities. Think from the sixteenth century of both Francis and Henri Dukes of Guise, were recipients of facial wounds that led to them being known as “Le Belafré” and display their moderate cheek scars in portraits - which again points to the surgical skills available to them.
All in all it points to Bradmore’s skill, Henry’s youth as a sixteen year old and his resilience. Henry’s later sense of being a man on a mission may well of course have derived from the realisation of how close ha had come to death, but had survived.
You make some excellent points. Though overall I think there must have been some sort of mark, you do make me reconsider how bad (or not) it might have been.
@@HistoryCalling I am glad to help to carry the discussion forward about this remarkable treatment of Prince Hal - and its consequences for his life and reign.
I just trimmed my fringe and the shards of hair and getting EVERYWHERE so I can relate to how getting shot in the face feels rn. I think I have hair in my eyeball
Oh dear. I hope your fringe is cut nicely at least, so it isn't all for nothing.
@@HistoryCalling I think I did a pretty good job, aside from getting stabbed a thousand times by my own hair lol
@@chrisbanks6659 half of my left eye is furiously red rn. Everything itches. Send help
in all of the history courses i've taken, in all of the documentaries i have seen, never have i heard this particular story about henry v. absolutely fascinating!
There is quite a following for this. From historians and armourers.
The type of bow, the type of arrowheads used. It's been quite forensic. His Great Helm used at Agincourt 12 years later is practically impenetrable by an arrow. It is available to see. No visor.
Plate armour, being contoured and strengthened at particular weak-points would normally be proof against all types of arrowheads.
Various trials and extensive practice have shown it is almost impossible unless by chance for an arrow to get through, even the "bodkin" designed for armour piercing really only are good where chain mail is concerned.
Crossbow bolts might be more effective but crossbows were a rare item in England and their rate-of-fire was too slow to be of much use in a battle situation and more useful for sieges.
The most remarkable fact about this episode for poor Hal was the ingenuity of Doctor Bradmore.
He actually designed a scissor-action screw-threaded medical implement and had it engineered.
For that date how do you even begin to manufacture it with the materials available! If you have used dies to form a screw thread male and female how would it be done at Kenilworth? You can't just go to a hardware store. To get the scissor-action working too, not even mentioning the disinfectants.
That the doctor kept marvellous records is a bonus and tantamount to a great man, a real hero.
The Earl of Douglas who had already lost an eye at Homildon Hill to Hotspur, changed sides and fought for Hotspur in that action against Hal. Both Hal and Douglas were injured but lived. Harry got an arrow and Douglas lost a "testicle". The Doctor would have been busy. "Form a queue gentlemen".
Yes, I think it gets overshadowed by Agincourt.
It’s absolutely amazing he survived this wound at all. The ingenuity of this surgeon to create this instrument is absolutely amazing and I’m surprised that no other surgeon copied his design. The use of alcohol to disinfect was very smart and I think in some ways I think it may have been just luck. Honey has been used on wounds as far back as the Egyptians to successfully heal wounds. Also the daily inspection of and care for the wound was an enlightened technique for the times. I do think that there was a scar but not a large one because of lack of infection. The scar most likely would only have been the size of the arrow that entered the face as there is no mentioning of cutting any skin to enlarge the wound. The surgeon only gently stretched tissue using the instrument he created. This surgeon was obviously aware that cleansing of the wound and his overall fastidiousness was the key to healing in my opinion.
You are quite right the size of the arrowhead is important and been left out by most contributors. Archers had a choice of a number of arrowheads. If you were trying to hinder a horse you would use a wide-bladed arrowhead. I think a "bodkin" arrowhead was used. Less barbed and made to pierce armour.
Yes, Bradmore was way ahead of his time in terms of cleaning wounds and designing the implement to remove the arrowhead. Henry was so lucky he (Bradmore) was there.
Wow what a tale !
I know. H5 certainly didn't do things by halves.
Ouch! 😲 I'm amazed he didn't die from an infection from the probing of the wound.
I imagine it did leave him with a scar of some kind.
Yes, the pain must have been horrendous. 😬
I think that the wound was on the left side from the doctors standpoint. That’s why the portraits are showing Henry’s left side. I can’t imagine the the King would want his “bad side” painted. The doctor did an amazing job given the time period.
Yes, I think so too. The doctor was incredible. Usually so-called doctors only made things worse in this era and you'd be safer staying away from them, but this one is a rare example of someone who was genuinely useful.
Really good images in this one. Thumb ☝...
Once the bleeding stopped or slowed down the surgeon used his Braille talent. Serendipity all around for sure.
The scar would bring bragging rights to some men.
🍎
It would indeed. I do wonder if it caused nerve damage though. I'm not aware of any sources that say he struggled to eat or talk though, so perhaps not.
Great Video. I have A question; What would Elizabeth 1 think of Catherine of Aragon ?
Hmm, not sure. She never knew her, but as Arthur's wife Catherine was technically her aunt.
@@HistoryCalling I would love to hear A conservation between those two women. And she was Elizabeth's step-mother as well.
I had general knowledge about his scar from an arrow, doubtless it’s why we see him in profile. Never had any idea of these specifics though, pretty interesting.
Thank you. Yes, I didn't know there was a detailed description of his injury and treatment either until I started researching it, but it's fascinating.
Once again, great minds think alike! I released an episode about this event on my channel late last year. I'm glad to know that my own research matches up with the facts presented here, as I know how thorough you are in your research, not to mention that fact that you are far more professionally qualified than myself! I wonder how many other subjects we both have on our future-video-topic lists. Thank you for your consistently wonderful content!
Thanks Datacombs. As long as you're not about to release a video on the green children of Woolpit (that's what I have coming out tomorrow), we'll be ok. :-)
I suffered an injury when I was ten years old, I'm 71 now. My right leg went through a window, severing all 3 muscles in the upper thigh of the back of the leg. The surgery took 4 hours but they did not know if I had cut the Sciatic nerve or just sliced it. So I was kept in bed. They didn't have MRIs back then and x-rays didn't show the Sciatic nerve. Needless to say if I had cut the nerve I would have lost my leg. If I had just sliced it I would have a useless leg. Neither happened, Praise the Lord. My leg healed and two years later I was picked to be Drum Majorette for my school band in the May day parade. After a few years though you could barely see the scar (which I called my permeant smile). And now at 71 years old there is no scar at all. All I'm trying to say, as long as no infection had set in, Prince Henry's scar would have been smile and vanished in a few years. Or might have looked like a pox mark size.
Tottenham Hotspur got its name from Henry Percy as his descendants used to own the land of the clubs first ground. Might make an interesting video!
Thank you. 🙂
I wondered why?
Maybe a series, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham's Boleyn Ground [Upton Park]. 😉
@@English_Dawn Yes, supposedly Henry VIII used to court Anne Boleyn at the Boleyn Castle that used to be close to West Ham’s Upton Park ground.
I didn't know that, but it's a great little piece of historical trivia. Thank you :-)
The entire epic story is not to believed, just living thru the ordeal was a miracle.
It is difficult for an arrow to enter the face and go as deep as described, and not enter the brain, unless on an oblique angle and entered a sinus. So as dangerous as it may seem, especially with the medical treatment available at the time, it still was an amazing feat.
Thank you so much I think you are close to the truth. Quite a bit of ballistics have been used to prove your point. It is contemporarliy reported as entering 'crossthwaite" as you rightly guess, at an angle.
Why? What type of arrowhead was being used? A number were available. Why was it an angle? It was the evening of a hot day. Was his helmet visored? His great helm at Agincourt 12 years later isn't. My guess is it was a "bodkin" arrowhead that had deflected hence the angle.
Armourers have re-enacted and at different ranges.
I think it must have been right up against the brain, just on the other side of the bone. He was certainly very lucky (well, I suppose it depends how you define luck - admittedly he did still get shot in the face).
I didn't know about this 😳😳, wow.
Considering the era, I think that treatment sounds fairly solid. (not a doc, tho) Still. the poor lad must've been in agony for a long while. It must've been an impressive scar, too.
I know. It must have been sooo painful. I imagine he could barely eat of sleep, poor boy.
That medical device looks like a safety pin. I didn't see the "rude doodle" until you pointed it out XD
Well that's a much better description of it actually. I kinda wish I'd said that now :-)
I'm amazed he survived at all! even with modern medicine that would be a hell of a wound- but back then, with a dirty arrow followed by various botched attempts to remove it (and nothing sterilised) Bradmore really was a medical marvel- and while none of it is what we'd hope for today he was using treatments that would have had a positive effect and it sounds like he avoided doing anything that really would have harmed Henry. Some of the madder medical practices from history are actually terrifying
I imagine the scar from an injury like that and the process used to get the arrow out would leave quite a nasty scar, especially as it was specified that the wound was enlarged by the doctor in order to remove the arrow head. Without stitches it probably left a very jagged and large scar. Maybe you were right about the portrait in that he was purposefully chosing to show the side that didn't have the scar because it was large and quite ugly.
Yes, I can't help but think that the scar must have been very bad as well. Perhaps had he been younger it might have stretched out a bit, but he would have been nearly done growing by this point.
I had major surgery on my lung (for spontaneous pneumothorax) and was not given any pain relief due to a clerical error for 6 hours. I still clinched my toes at several points during this video!
Oh my word. That sounds utterly horrific. I hope you took legal action.
Great subject and video. Think, if Henry of Monmouth had died, we would’ve had a King Thomas in 1413
Sadly Thomas his brother fell at Baugé. He did not want to fight on Easter Sunday so he went without full archer support. He was the highest-ranking English noble lost in the Hundred Years War.
Balls of steel 💪💯
just like Henry the 7 th 🥳🥳🥳big up the Henrys 🤣
Many a true word spoke in jest!
So have you heard of what happened to the Earl of Douglas in the same fight! 😉
Douglas had been the enemy of Hotspur previously and lost an eye at Homildon Hill. However they joined together to fight the royal army.
Douglas was injured again, captured but released by the royal army.
Part of him was left on the field and he probably spoke in a high-pitched voice.
I did a quick check on the Battle of Shrewsbury and discovered that, according to one source, Henry Percy (Hotspur) was struck in the eye when he lifted his visor and killed. Seems just a bit much with Prince Henry also being struck in the face by an arrow? Did the prince lift his visor as well? I could understand that at times you would need to lift your visor to get a better sense of what's going on around you. It was said that Hotspur's Cheshire bowmen were superior to the king's. But it evidently left a deep impression (no pun intended) on the Prince, whose archers supposedly won him the day at Agincourt.
Please see my posts on helmets and visors and type of arrow if could have been. 🤔
I don't know if he lifted his visor, but it's hard to believe the arrow pierced metal this effectively which makes me think that part of his face mustn't have been shielded at that moment for some reason.
My guess and it is only a guess was that Hal had been hit with a "bodkin".
Arrows were normally placed arrow-tip down in the ground near the archer's feet normally. The already biologically infected weapon was already a danger before it left the bow.
Had Hal got his visor open? The depth of the wound would suggest this. The angle is odd though. There has been conjecture about this. If it was "deflected" this could have saved his life.
Bradmore was brilliant, not only as a surgeon but has an inventor. He was not alone. A body examined by the University of Bradford shows an individual a victim of a battle in the WotR that showed a particularly horrendous facial wound, as if he had been hit with a cutting weapon across the front of his face, possibly an axe or sword in a battle at an earlier date.
It practically had cut his face and skull in two. The upper and lower parts of the face had become unaligned yet the bone structure had fused together successfully.
The surgeon must have had some sort of "cast" to hold the two portions together until healing. We underestimate medieval surgeons and their knowledge of antisceptics.
We are often looking at an Hogarthian lens of surgery were people were bled by leeches etc, yet many, like Bradmore, were far better than that.
Firstly. Youth always heal faster and better. Secondly. Don’t underestimate the power of natural remedies. My niece was bitten in the face at 9 months. She had surgery from a plastic surgeon. Leaving lots of bad scars. I used calendula salve with Labender, Frankinsence,Helichrysum, and Geranium. I made the whole salve. It reduced the appearance so well that its barely noticable.
The dog(a sheppard) ripped her nose wide open, gashed her cheek, punctured her top lip, and punctured her eyelid. Just so nobody says it probably wasn’t that bad.
Oh my word. That's awful. I'm glad she was too young to remember it at least and that it healed so well. I hope the dog was put down.
@@HistoryCalling YES ABSOLUTELTY. It was my parents’ dog. And if my dad would not have gotting the dog put down my husband would have done it himself.
Hard to imagine how one could endure this type of injury or cure. Must have had a lot of poppy!
Maybe actually. I certainly hope there was some sort of pain relief.
Me playing Skyrim Orc named Ganon aaaaah my FACE oh wait *fast healing spell sounds*😂
Did Bradmore leave a description of the shape of the arrowhead? Henry was lucky if it was not barbed but a relatively smooth armour piercing bodkin.
Thank you. 👏 You are one of few who seems to have considered that.🙂
Re-enactors and armourers have trialled it and from different ranges.
I think you are probably right it was an armour-piercing bodkin that was used. Not much use against plate armour both you might get a chance shot in an non-protected area where there is articulation for example.
An arrow to hinder a horse, wide-bladed and barbed would probably have left more of a mess but on the other hand probably would not have deflected.
It had been a hot day and parleys had gone to and fro. Henry IV gave the order in the evening. So it was not in the heat of the day. The ground had probably been baked and too hard for archers to have their arrows placed head-first in the soil which probably helped the lack of disinfection.
The consensus is that it had been "deflected". He led the left wing. He would have been a target. The Earl of Stratford led the right wing and sadly was killed.
I'm not aware of any such description. Let's hope it wasn't barbed!
The painting of Henry v makes him having a alien head🤯
Haha, I've never thought of it like that before. I sense an internet conspiracy theory in the making ...
Avoided this video on account of the gory subject ….silly me ! You have the ability to make even “such a subject” fascinating ! Concerning Henry’s scar I am going with the idea that the left of his nose being from the vantage of the doctor…as improbable as his survival, even more would be a small scar !
Haha, that's ok. I know the gory stuff can be a bit off putting sometimes. If it makes you feel any better, YT doesn't like creators to show anything really icky, so you're unlikely to ever actually see anything horrible in a video whose creator wants to make money off it.
Considering this happened 600 years ago, I think there must have been a scar. Even these days with modern surgery scarring still occurs. Mine, even nearly 5 years later is still 7-8 inches long and still quite prominent. How Henry didn't die is down to sheer good luck, and a forward thinking doctor. Poultices, have been used since ancient times with amazing healing properties, and I think Henry was extremely lucky to have had a doctor like John Bradmore.
Yes, I can't imagine there wasn't a very prominent scar too. Still, as others here have said, it was probably a badge of honour for a King in that era.
Things the surgeon did right based on what I saw:
1. Clean the tongs with rose-honey (antibacterial)
2. Use clean linens that were soaked/purified with white wine (alcohol is antibacterial and the water at the time would have certainly caused an infection)
3. Healing ointment was made with honey AND heated over fire which must have killed some more bacteria
4. Hot plaster - probably killed bacteria as well
5. Didn't do sutures that would introduce bacteria
Yes, Bradmore was way ahead of his time. It's a pity more medieval 'doctors' didn't follow his lead.
Thank you for looking up the pronunciation before making your video!
No worries. I nearly always have to do that for videos actually, but every so often some little error still sneaks through unfortunately.
I read this once and I am surprised this story is not more told by historians !
I know. I think people get a bit side-tracked by Henry at Agincourt and forget about his earlier battles sometimes.
This was amazing but woof did it make my stomach rock like I was on a ship haha
Do you know what happened to Douglas in the same fight!
Douglas had fought Hotspur where he lost an eye previously at Homildon Hill but had joined him against the royal army.
He was captured and released by the royal army but he had been wounded. Not going to tell you how. 😉
Suffice it to say it could have made Prince Henry feel better.
@@English_Dawn if memory serves, Douglas was the one that lost a... Natty Bojangle.. wasn't he? Yes. I imagine Henry would have definitely smiled at that.
Yup, this isn't a story for the faint heated. Imagine how gruesome it must have been to actually see the real injury though, never mind extract the arrowhead. Bradmore must have had a stomach of steel. I'd have been throwing my guts up.
@@HistoryCalling yep. Amen to that one! Good luck your highness 😂
That was great luck in otherwise unlucky situation. That the doctor's cures were helpful. That an infection or shock didn't kill him. Wow.
Yes, it was a bit of a miracle really. Most people wouldn't have survived that I think. Even today you'd be incredibly lucky that it didn't hit your brain.
So that's why we always see him in profile in portrait, I suppose.
I suspect so, yes.
Remarkable that Henry survived! I see he used honey, which is supposed to have wonderful properties of healing.
Yes, I'd never heard of it being used before researching this video, but it seems to be a real thing, even today.
We’ve used Manuka honey for many years on both our animals and ourselves. It has remarkable healing properties and it’s the first thing we turn to for infected wounds and other problems.
Raw, filtered honey is still in use. We used it in eye infections. Allegedly, it is currently in use for eye cataracts too, but this was word of mouth.
Stings, but covered with hot compresses, it really clears the eyes.
DON'T do this without training!!!
I haven't put the entire protocol here, so PLEASE, just use honey for wound healing. It's excellent.
@@HistoryCalling The high sugar concentration in honey prevents bacteria from multiplying. Also honey contains small amounts of phytochemicals, derived from nectar, whose presence helps to deter micro-organisms and other pathogens. This is my research specialism at Kew Gardens.