In 1399, 13-year-old Henry of Monmouth was knighted twice. The first ceremony was a muddy affair at the fringe of an Irish forest, a reward from Richard II after the English army’s successful raids.

The next few days will be the anniversary of one of the most important battles in the English-speaking world. This was the brutal encounter on the field of Agincourt on the Feast of St. Crispin, Oct.

LIKE COWED apparatchiks, the courtiers listen and nod as the specious case for war is made. In “Henry V” it is the Archbishop of Canterbury who outlines the English claim to the throne of France that ...