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Henry VI, Part 1
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<p><i>Henry VI, Part 1</i>, often referred to as <i>1 Henry VI</i>, is a <a href="/facts/Shakespearean_history/dIbDmzQD">history play</a> by <a href="/facts/William_Shakespeare/ohI96JTv">William Shakespeare</a>—possibly in collaboration with <a href="/facts/Thomas_Nashe/lBJaRaab">Thomas Nashe</a> and others—believed to have been written in 1591. It is set during the lifetime of King <a href="/facts/Henry_VI_of_England/vyoRnFke">Henry VI of England</a>. </p><p><i>Henry VI, Part 1</i> deals with the <a href="/facts/Hundred_Years%2527_War/Q6myk5Hu">loss of England's French territories</a> and the political machinations leading up to the <a href="/facts/Wars_of_the_Roses/zLnjSuNK">Wars of the Roses</a>, as the English <a href="/facts/Political_system/FNQSMLxn">political system</a> is torn apart by personal squabbles and petty <a href="/facts/Jealousy/SpGzDLWC">jealousy</a>. <i><a href="/facts/Henry_VI%2c_Part_2/5TptdIoF">Henry VI, Part 2</a></i> deals with the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles and the inevitability of armed conflict and <i><a href="/facts/Henry_VI%2c_Part_3/KzCSSfxD">Henry VI, Part 3</a></i> deals with the horrors of that conflict. </p><p>Although the <i>Henry VI</i> <a href="/facts/Trilogy/0DFWzG2j">trilogy</a> may not have been written in chronological order, the three plays are often grouped together with <a href="/facts/Richard_III_(play)/NECHqtHk"><i>Richard III</i></a> to form a <a href="/facts/Tetralogy/TPnQy86r">tetralogy</a> covering the entire Wars of the Roses saga, from the death of <a href="/facts/Henry_V_of_England/62A15n6K">Henry V</a> in 1422 to the rise to power of <a href="/facts/Henry_VII_of_England/dhSlzq5b">Henry VII</a> in 1485. It was the success of this sequence of plays that firmly established Shakespeare's reputation as a playwright. </p><p>Some regard <i>Henry VI, Part 1</i> as the weakest of <a href="/facts/Shakespeare%2527s_plays/RfkdaCVL">Shakespeare's plays</a>. Along with <i><a href="/facts/Titus_Andronicus/JF7v4Ivx">Titus Andronicus</a></i>, it is generally considered one of the strongest candidates for evidence that Shakespeare collaborated with other dramatists early in his career. </p>