heir presumptive to Richard II and Henry used multiple rationales stressing his Plantagenet descent, divine grace, powerful friends, and Richard's misgovernment. In fact Mortimer never showed interest in the throne. The later marriage of his sister Anne to Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge consolidated this claim to the throne with that of the more junior House of York. Henry planned to resume war with France, but was plagued with financial problems, declining health and frequent rebellions. He defeated a Scottish invasion, a serious rebellion by Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland in the North and Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion in Wales. Many saw it as a punishment from God when Henry was later struck down with unknown but chronic illnesses. Henry V Henry IV died in 1413. His son and successor, Henry V of England, aware that Charles VI of France's mental illness had caused instability in France, invaded to assert the Plantagenet claims and won a near total victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. In subsequent years Henry recaptured much of Normandy and secured marriage to Catherine of Valois. The resulting Treaty of Troyes stated that Henry's heirs would inherit the throne of France, but conflict continued with the Dauphin. Henry VI When Henry V died in 1422, his nine-month-old son succeeded him as Henry VI of England. During the minority of Henry VI the war caused political division among his Plantagenet uncles, Bedford, Humphrey of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Gloucester, and Cardinal Beaufort. Humphrey's wife was accused of treasonable necromancy after two astrologers in her employ unwisely, if honestly, predicted a serious illness would endanger Henry VI's life, and Humphrey was later arrested and died in prison. Depopulation stemming from the Black Death led to increased wages, static food costs and a resulting improvement in the standard of living for the peasantry. However, under Henry misgovernment and harvest failures depressed the English economy to a pitiful state known as the Great Slump. The economy was in ruins by 1450, a consequence of the loss of France, piracy in the channel and poor trading relations with the Hanseatic League. The economic slowdown began in the 1430s in the north of the country, spreading south in the 1440s, with the economy not recovering until the 1480s. It was also driven by multiple harvest failures in the 1430s and disease amongst livestock, which drove up the price