Paper #4

                                                                     KING
                                                                                        My learned lord, we pray you to proceed,
                                                                                        And justly and religiously unfold                                        10
                                                                                        Why the law Salic that they have in France
                                                                                        Or should or should not bar us in our claim.
                                                                                        And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord,
                                                                                        That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading,
                                                                                        Or nicely charge your understanding soul                          15
                                                                                        With opening titles miscreate, whose right
                                                                                        Suits not in native colours with the truth.
                                                                                        For God doth know how many now in health
                                                                                        Shall drop their blood in approbation
                                                                                        Of what your reverence shall incite us to.                          20
                                                                                        Therefore take heed how you impawn our person,
                                                                                        How you awake our sleeping sword of war.
                                                                                        We charge you in the name of God take heed,
                                                                                        For never two such kingdoms did contend
                                                                                        Without much fall of blood, whose guiltless drops             25
                                                                                        Are every one a woe, a sore complaint
                                                                                        'Gainst him whose wrongs gives edge unto the swords
                                                                                        That makes such waste in brief mortality.
                                                                                        Under this conjuration speak, my lord,
                                                                                        For we will hear, note, and believe in heart                       30
                                                                                        That what you speak is in your conscience washed
                                                                                        As pure as sin with baptism.

           In the second scene of Shakespeare's play King Henry V, these lines prove significant to the events that occur later in the play. Henry V sparks this conversation with the Bishop of Canterbury and poses an important question to him. The king's words have tremendous meaning, and lead to the eventual decision to fight the French troops for the throne of France. King Henry V calls upon the Bishop of Canterbury in this scene to clarify the Salic law and interpret it as a representative of the Church. Henry cautions the bishop that the bishop's response could trigger the start of a war between England and France. He desperately wants to know whether or not he has a moral and divine claim to the crown of France, and has come to the bishop for the answer.

           Henry V consults the Bishop of Canterbury on how the church sees this situation. He leads off by saying, "My learned Lord, we pray you to proceed. And justly and religiously unfold"( 9-10 ). Here Henry begins to ask the bishop for his expertise in interpreting the Salic law through the eyes of the church. He shows respect to the bishop by calling him "learned Lord" because the bishop is well versed in the church's views. Henry V wants a clear understanding of the Salic law, which states who is entitled to rightful ownership of the French throne. According to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Salic law comes from around 1599 and means, "a rule held to derive from the legal code of the Salic Franks excluding females from the line of succession to a throne" ( Merriam-Webster 21 Oct. 2001). This law is interpreted to mean that the crown of France cannot be passed down in succession through a woman's family, only the man's. This French law becomes the basis for Henry V's decision to go to war against France. Henry then asks the bishop, "Why the law Salic…should or should not bar us in our claim," to emphasize how crucial the understanding of this law is ( 11-12 ).

           King Henry V continues telling the bishop that if the law gives him the right to go to battle for the crown, only God will know how many people will give their life in battle.

                                                                     He says:
                                                                                        For God doth know how many now in health
                                                                                        Shall drop their blood in approbation
                                                                                        Of what your reverence shall incite us to. ( 18-20 )

Henry V puts the bishop in a tough but powerful position, because his response will determine the fate of thousands. According to the footnotes at the bottom of the text, "in approbation" means to support or prove (Shakespeare 77). These lines point out that men on both sides will lose their lives fighting for the cause they believe in and support.

           Going on, Henry V points out how important the bishop's answer is. He notifies the bishop of his role in the entire scheme of things by saying, "how you impawn our person," which means that what the bishop says will pledge thousands of English people to carry out specific orders that involve killing people ( 21 ). Henry states, "you awake our sleeping sword of war," because his words will decide whether or not the English troops will be headed off to battle the French for the crown ( 22 ). Henry V asks the bishop in lines 23 through 28, that in God's name two great kingdoms will go into battle against one another and many people will lose their life. Henry wants to make certain his cause is just because loss of life is a horrible and wasteful thing if there isn't a valid reason for the actions taken.

           King Henry V concludes his questioning of the bishop, and asks him to speak under the "conjuration" ( 29 ) that the English people will whole-heartedly believe his word. In lines 30 to 32, he says that the words the bishop speaks will carry heavy consequences, but his conscience should be clear just as sin is taken away with the cleansing of holy water in baptism. Just as God forgives those who have sinned, Henry wants the bishop's conscience to be cleansed.

           This passage is essential to the events that take place later on in the play, and are a deciding factor in who has a rightful claim to the crown of France. King Henry V is asking the well-respected Arch Bishop of Canterbury for the church's (God's) view on who has rightful ownership of the throne, anxiously waiting for the answer that will affect two powerful kingdoms.