After the Earl of Westmorland reports on the achievements of his son Henry Percy (nicknamed “Hotspur”) in a recent battle against the Scottish troops led by Douglas, King Henry IV alludes to a well-known figure from European folklore: the changeling. Lamenting his own son’s poor behavior and bad reputation, the King states:
Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,
See riot and dishonor stain the brow
Of my young Harry. O, that it could be proved
That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged
In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,
And called mine “Percy,” his “Plantagenet”!
Then would I have his Harry, and he mine.
But let him from my thoughts.
The King is deeply bitter in his condemnation of his son, Prince Hal. He compares the “praise” heaped upon Hotspur to the “dishonor” and shame that Hal's actions have brought to his own family. Further, he claims that he wishes for evidence “that some night-tripping fairy had exchanged” Percy for Hal, as this would make it possible for him to claim Percy for a son instead. Here, he alludes to the changeling, a figure described in many fables and legends in Shakespeare’s day. Changelings were fairies that were left in place of human children who had been kidnapped by other fairies. The King’s allusion, then, shows how desperate he is to dissociate himself from his son’s shameful actions.
In the opening scene of Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare alludes to the Crusades, a series of European military campaigns that, from the 11th to 15th century, aimed to gain control of the “Holy Land”—that is, the area around Jerusalem. Giving a speech to the nobles at court, King Henry IV states:
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,
Whose arms were molded in their mothers’ womb
To chase these pagans in those holy fields
Over whose acres walked those blessèd feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter cross
In this patriotic speech, the recently-crowned King vows to focus his attention on the Crusades now that the civil war in England has concluded. He promises to “chase these pagans in those holy fields,” referring to the Muslims living in the area of the Holy Land. Further, he describes the Holy Land as the area “over whose acres walked those blessèd feet,” alluding to Jesus Christ, whom he notes was crucified “fourteen hundred years ago.” In describing the crucifixion as having been carried out “[f]or our advantage,” the King alludes to an important idea in Christian thought: that Christ sacrificed himself in order to absolve humanity’s sins. The King’s allusions to the Crusades and to Christian belief help to establish the medieval setting of the play.
In Act 1, Scene 2, Poins—a companion and confidante of Prince Hal—alludes to the common medieval practice of religious pilgrimage as well as a number of real locations in and around the city of London. He meets up with the wayward Prince and his mentor Falstaff in a disreputable tavern and presents his plan to rob religious pilgrims of their money:
But, my lads, my lads, tomorrow morning, by
four o’clock early at Gad’s Hill, there are pilgrims
going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders
riding to London with fat purses. I have vizards for
you all. You have horses for yourselves. Gadshill lies
tonight in Rochester. I have bespoke supper tomorrow
night in Eastcheap. We may do it as secure as
sleep. If you will go, I will stuff your purses full of
crowns. If you will not, tarry at home and be
Hanged
Poins has received word of a group of travelers coming through London, the primary setting of the play. His scheme is geographically specific, referencing a number of specific neighborhoods and locations in London including Eastcheap and Rochester. Poins notes that a group of “pilgrims going to Canterbury” are carrying “rich offerings” with them, which Poins intends for the group to steal.
In medieval England, Canterbury was a common destination for religious pilgrims who visited the shrine of martyr and theologian Thomas Becket, as portrayed (for example) in Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous The Canterbury Tales. By Shakespeare’s day, the shrine dedicated to Beckett as well as the attending monastery had been dissolved as a result of the Protestant reformation. Shakespeare’s allusions, then, help establish the geographic and historical setting of the play.
Henry IV Part 1 concludes with the bloody Battle of Shrewsbury, during which the forces led by Hotspur and the King finally draw swords on the battlefield. Sir Richard Vernon, an ally of Hotspur and the other rebels, notes that King Henry’s troops have arrived for battle in full armor and military regalia and, impressed, he describes Prince Hal as a “feathered Mercury” in an allusion to the Roman god. Hotspur, however, insists that he is not intimidated by their display, comparing them in a simile to live human sacrifices:
Let them come.
They come like sacrifices in their trim,
And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war
All hot and bleeding will we offer them.
The mailèd Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire
To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh
And yet not ours. Come, let me taste my horse,
Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt
Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales.
While Vernon is undeniably impressed by “gallantly armed” troops, Hotspur argues that their gaudy and expensive uniforms make them more fitting sacrifices to “mailèd Mars,” the Roman god of war, who will sit “[u]p to the ears in blood” by the end of the battle. The King’s troops have arrived, Hotspur claims, “[l]ike sacrifices in their trim.” At this point in the play, there are many clear signs that Hotspur’s forces are not ready for battle, but he pushes forward with characteristic foolhardiness.
