Charting Power and Danger in ‘The Crowned King

The Crowned King is intended not simply as a propaganda piece in support of Henry V’s claims in France, but as a caution to the king as to the danger inherent in the manipulation of power, which depends on a multivalent and unstable network comprising the king, his lords, and the commons. The parallel constructed between the king of heaven, the martyred Christ, and the earthly crowned king, Henry V, attempts to persuade the king to first pursue peaceful means for circulating his power before resorting to war.