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  • Henry V arrowhead removal...

    AAAAaaarghhh!




    Henry, or Prince Hal as he was often called before he became king, was a warrior at heart. At the age of 16 he commanded an entire wing of his father's army when it brought battle to the Percy's at Shrewsbury in 1403. The teenage prince was an agressive commander and performed well on the field of battle. As the fight raged in close quarters, an enemy arrow struck the young prince in the face next to his nose and lodged six inches deep into bone and muscle. The wooden shaft was wrenched free, either by Henry himself or one of his retainers.


    
    
    An exhibit from the Shrewsbury Museum
    Courtesy Nicky Hughes
    Remarkably, Prince Hal fought on until the victory was secured, with a one ounce iron arrowhead lodged deep in his head!

    The victory did not end the threat to Henry's life. As his wound began to fester, the heir to the throne and the fate of the English Crown was in jeopardy. The prince was taken to Kenilworth Castle as his condition worsened. Eventually, London doctor John Bradmore arrived to care for the heir to the throne. Although Bradmore may have been stranded in an era of medical ignorance and superstition regarding the treatment of illnesses, he understood the intricacies of treating wounds. Bradmore's account of treating this wound survives in his medical tract Philomena.

    ". . . struck by an arrow next to his nose on the left side during the battle of Shrewsbury. The which arrow entered at an angle (ex traverso), and after the arrow shaft was extracted, the head of the aforesaid arrow remained in the furthermost part of the bone of the skull for the depth of six inches."

    Bradmore devised a instrument for extracting the arrow head.

    "First, I made small probes from the pith of an elder, well dried and well stitched in purified linen [made to] the length of the wound. These probes were infused with rose honey. And after that, I made larger and longer probes, and so I continued to always enlarge these probes until I had the width and depth of the wound as I wished it. And after the wound was as enlarged and deep enough so that, by my reckoning, the probes reached the bottom of the wound, I prepared anew some little tongs, small and hollow, and with the width of an arrow. A screw ran through the middle of the tongs, whose ends were well rounded both on the inside and outside, and even the end of the screw, which was entered into the middle, was well rounded overall in the way of a screw, so that it should grip better and more strongly."

    The design of medieval arrowheads made extraction more difficult. They have an open "socket" where the wooden shaft is inserted. Bradmore's device couldn't just grab the arrow head, it had to be inserted into the socket and expanded to properly grip it.
    A recreation of Bradmore's device
    It is believed that the iron arrow head came to rest to one side of the spine just under the base of the skull. There was no anesthesia as we know it. The pain that the teenage prince experience during the extraction process must have been horrendous. After preparing the wound channel over the course of a day, Bradmore successfully removed the arrow head. The prince survived to become King Henry V.






    Here is an excellent video recreation of how John Bradmore extracted the arrow head and saved the prince's life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Nef1siUus






    This would not have been possible, even with Bradmore's treatment, had the arrow head in question have been a broadhead instead of a bodkin. What is the difference? A bodkin is a narrow point designed to pierce armor. It has no barbs. A broadhead is wide with a large cutting surface designed to inflict maximum damage to the flesh of men and horses. Broadheads are barbed and difficult to remove through the wound channel that they inflict
    A recreated Bodkin arrowhead
    A broadhead.
    The barbs make extraction almost impossible

    There is some controversy as to which side of Henry's face was hit by the arrow. Bradmore says the left side next to the nose. It was most certainly the left side as one is looking at the face. Not the left side from Henry's point of view. Later in life almost all of Henry's portraits are in profile, showing only his left side. Could he have been hiding a ghastly scar on his right cheek? It is also interesting that none of the film versions of Henry V, have portrayed him with a scarred cheek, a scar that he most certainly bore for the rest of his short life.
    Last edited by tomclark; 04-21-2019, 07:39 AM.
    Professor Shellman
    Tampa Bay

  • #2
    Cool bit of history Tom, thanks for sharing this.
    Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

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    • #3
      Interesting that more wasn't made of this heroic wound in literature and film.

      It would certainly enhance his rep as one of England's most dashing war-Kings.



      "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;

      Or close the wall up with our English dead.....

      .....The game's afoot:

      Follow your spirit, and upon this charge

      Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'




      Great history, thanks for sharing.









      California

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      • #4
        This is way off subject, but it reminded me of a lion i took a long time ago. The lion came to a coyote call and when i looked at it up close i noticed that there was a round hole between its eyes. I pulled out my leatherman and removed 4 1/4 inchs of arrow with a field point on the end. When i boiled out the skull i found that the arrow was just off center and penetrated the entire sinus cavity and lodged the base of the spine. The hole in the bone had healed into a perfect circle around the shaft. I put the word out that i had this lion with an arrow in its head and not long after the person that had shot him got ahold of me. The story was he was under a tree cow calling for elk a year and a half prior. Something felt off and he turned to see a lion about to pounce. He reached, without looking and pulled an arrow out and shot it point blank in the face. It flipped over backwards and so did he. He got up and ran.. when he gathered his wits he returned to find the lion gone... every other arrow he had had a broadhead on it. He happened to grab his arrow he kept for shooting junk critters.

        Tom, I can post a couple couple of the skull and arrow if you like but i dont want to hijack this very cool thread...?
        Judith Basin, Montana

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        • tomclark
          tomclark commented
          Editing a comment
          We'd like to see that!

      • #5
        Thanks Tom
        South Dakota

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        • #6
          Originally posted by tomclark View Post
          We'd like to see that!
          Judith Basin, Montana

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          • tomclark
            tomclark commented
            Editing a comment
            Incredible! No doubt it suffered very much.

          • Lindenmeier-Man
            Lindenmeier-Man commented
            Editing a comment
            Ya can’t make stuff like that up !

        • #7
          Originally posted by tomclark View Post
          Incredible! No doubt it suffered very much.
          Yes. I think it would have been unfathomable pain, much like Henry must have went through, but after a year and a half there was no sign of any infection. which really surprised me.
          Judith Basin, Montana

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