Cradle of Henry V the son of Mary de Bohun and Henry Bolingbroke, and the grandson of John of Gaunt. Monmouth was among Henry of Bolingbroke's possessions and it was where the newly married couple lived for several years. Mary was to die in 1394; Henry Bolingbroke ousted king Richard II and became Henry IV, King of England, in 1399. The young Henry of Monmouth succeeded his father to become King Henry V in 1413. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the cradle was famous locally and its claim to be a genuine relic of Henry V's childhood was generally accepted. It was
Henry IV of England the Tower. Early in his reign, Henry hosted the visit of Manuel II Palaiologos, the only Byzantine emperor ever to visit England, from December 1400 to January 1401 at Eltham Palace, with a joust being given in his honour. Henry also sent monetary support with Manuel II upon his departure to aid him against the Ottoman Empire. In 1406, English pirates captured the future James I of Scotland off the coast of Flamborough Head as he was going to France. James was delivered to the English king and remained a prisoner for the rest of Henry's reign. The later years