The Operation that Saved a Future King: Henry V from Shrewsbury to Agincourt

As Prince of Wales, Henry V (1386-1422, r. 1413-1422) was struck in the face by an archer’s arrow during the Battle of Shrewsbury (1403), the decisive clash that secured his father Henry IV’s hold on the English throne. Just sixteen and commanding the rear division, the young prince yanked the shaft from his cheek and fought on, despite a bodkin-point arrowhead lodged six inches deep below his eye. His bravery helped turn the tide of battle and reinforced the legitimacy of the new Lancastrian dynasty. The retained arrowhead, imbedded in bone in the prince’s head, threatened his life from deep infection. A call went out for John Bradmore, royal surgeon, whose skill had earned Henry IV’s trust in 1399 after saving a household official who had disemboweled himself in an attempted suicide. The surgeon met the wounded prince at Kenilworth Castle. A skilled metalsmith, Bradmore devised specialized forceps with serrated tips and a screw mechanism to grip and remove the embedded arrowhead. Henry survived and healed, the only remnant of his injury a facial scar. He would go on to become the hero of Agincourt (1415) and England’s most celebrated warrior-king, his legacy immortalized by Shakespeare and the paragon of kingly valor.