Shakespeare’s 2 parts of Henry IV and Henry V are revisited in the light of the constitutional
competence inscribed in the plays (with reference to John Fortescue
and Thomas Elyot), as of the recently reconstructed political role of the Earl of
Essex (A. Gajda 2012), Shakespeare’s first patron, reflected in prince Henry. These
aspects are connected with the concept of nation inscribed in the plays and with
the now better reconstruable background of the Elizabethan social debate. Hence
a more complex profile and significance of the ‘self-educating’ young prince and
later king Henry V.
