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In early August 1453, Henry (1421–1471), ineffectual King of England and France, ‘the Founder’ of Eton and King's College, Cambridge, was ‘smitten with a frenzy and his wit and reason withdrawn’, reputedly due to an unexpected fright – news of defeat at Castillon on 17 July 1453, with the loss of nearly all English holdings in France. Aged just 31, Henry did not talk, sat slumped, had to be fed and moved, did not recognise or respond to others and was incapable of government for a year and a half despite all medical attention. About New Year's Day 1454, no response but a glance was elicited from him when Queen Margaret brought ‘her son’ Prince Edward (born October 1453 – and rumoured illegitimate)...