Scene 2

In scene 2, King Henry enters with the dukes of Gloucester, Clarence, Bedford, Warwick, Westmoreland, and Exeter. Westmoreland asks the king for permission to admit the French ambassador. However, Henry demurs. He wants to talk to the bishops before hearing the ambassador’s suit. 

When Canterbury appears, King Henry loses no time in making a demand. He wants the bishop to present an airtight case for his claim to the French throne. Henry also stresses that he will tolerate no duplicity on the bishop’s part. If English soldiers must die to secure Henry’s right to the French crown, it must be done on the strongest legal and religious grounds. Henry wants to know what the French Salic law says about his claim.

Canterbury answers that Henry’s claim is unassailable. The only thing standing in the way is the Pharamond Rule: “In terram Salicam mulieres ne succedant” (No woman shall succeed in Salic land). The bishop contends that the rule has been wrongly applied to France. In fact, the Salic land actually refers to the region surrounding the Sala and Elbe Rivers in Germany. During his reign, the Frankish monarch Charles the Great established settlements in this region.

The French settlers reportedly despised German women for their predisposition towards marital infidelity. Thus, they made a law prohibiting any woman from inheriting land in the Salic region. 

Canterbury asserts that the Salic law quite clearly refers to the right of inheritance in Germany, not France. He then goes on to offer four more reasons to support Henry’s claim to the French crown. 

First, he says that the French did not come into possession of the Salic (German) land until 421 years after the death of the Frankish King Pharamond. Second, King Pepin based his own claim to the French throne on his descent from Blithild, King Clothair’s daughter. 

Third, Hugh Capet ascended to the French monarchy as an heir of the daughter of Charlemagne. Fourth, King Lewis the Tenth, Capet’s heir, ruled as an heir of his grandmother Queen Isabel. All of these Frankish kings derived their claims from the female line of succession, in direct opposition to the Pharamond Law.

Thus, Canterbury maintains that the French have no right to bar Henry, a descendant of a French princess, from the French throne. By all indications, he has as much right to the French crown as the Frankish monarchs.

When King Henry appears doubtful, Canterbury promises that he will take responsibility for war against France. He tells Henry to take courage from his great-grandfather and his great-uncle, Edward the Black Prince, who both fought—and won—bloody wars against the French.

Ely chimes in to support Canterbury, asserting that Henry is in the prime of his youth, “Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises” on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Westmoreland and Exeter add their voices to support war against France.

But an obstacle still remains: Henry insists on crafting a defense against the Scottish before leaving for France. He maintains that his great-grandfather always suffered an invasion by the Scottish every time he went to war with the French. Both Ely and Exeter maintain that Henry has nothing to fear: the English know how to protect their interests at home while fighting abroad. 

Canterbury uses the analogy of a honeybee kingdom to explain. While some worker bees manage the affairs of the nest, others go forth to collect nectar from flowers. Canterbury proposes that Henry divide his troops into four and take a quarter to France. He maintains that if England cannot defend itself with three quarters of its military power at home, it deserves...