Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: A Biography

He was the "Good Duke" who built a library that still stands today, the Lord Protector who governed England during a king's childhood, and the prince whose mysterious death in 1447 may have been murder. Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, was the youngest son of Henry IV and brother of Henry V, a man who shaped the political and cultural landscape of 15th-century England before falling victim to the treacherous court he once controlled. Vickers' biography traces Humphrey's journey from royal prince to Duke of Gloucester, from military commander to the nation's de facto ruler during Henry VI's minority. His patronage of Oxford and founding of the Bodleian Library earned him lasting fame as a patron of learning. But his influence waned as his nephew came of age and rivals circled. His sudden death, and the public humiliation of his wife Eleanor Cobham, remain among the era's most tantalizing mysteries. Written in 1907, this scholarly biography remains valuable for its meticulous reconstruction of a figure often overshadowed by his more famous brothers, and for illuminating the brutal arithmetic of Lancastrian politics.