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Henry Beaufort, the bishop of Winchester, is power-hungry man whose main role in this play is as a rival to Gloucester. Winchester envies the influence he perceives Gloucester to have over the young King Henry. As the Lord Protector of the Realm, Gloucester has been charged with executing affairs of state until Henry comes of age. Winchester longs to wield a similar degree of power, a fact that repeatedly leads Gloucester to critique his impiety. As a bishop and therefore the head of the local Church, Winchester should comport himself with greater humility. But throughout the play, Shakespeare depicts this man as a hypocrite whose lust for individual wealth and status is clearly at odds with his position in the clergy. Ultimately, his desire for power leads him to bribe his way into a promotion. Thus, by the play’s end he has ascended to the position of cardinal, which puts him in direct relation to the pope. Although his motives won’t become clear until later plays in the Henry VI sequence, Winchester’s own words suggest his intention to wield the power of the Church against Gloucester, and perhaps even against the Crown: “I’ll either make [Gloucester] stoop and bend [his] knee, / Or sack this country with a mutiny” (5.1.61–62).
