LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 SAN
 
 DC 
 102.8

 
 KING RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS 
 SEVEN QUEENS
 
 THE CEREMONIOUS ENTRY OF THE " LADY OF THE CREST " SAUMUR 
 TOURNAMENT 1446 
 
 From "Le Livre des Tournois " Painted by King Rend
 
 KING RENE D'ANJOU 
 
 AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 BY 
 
 EDGGUMBE STALEY 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 ' LORDS AND LADIES OP THE ITALIAN LAKES," "GUILDS OF FLORENCE." "FAIR WOMEN OF 
 FLORENCE," "TRAGEDIES OF THE MEDICI," "DOGARESSAS OF VENICE," 
 "HEROINES OF GENOA AND THE RIVIERAS," ETC. 
 
 WITH COLOURED FRONTISPIECE AND THIRTY-FIVE 
 OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 "FIDES VITAT SERVATA" 
 
 King Rene's Motto 
 
 LONDON 
 JOHN LONG, LIMITED 
 
 NORRIS STREET, HAYMARKET 
 MCMXII
 
 TO 
 
 MY BROTHER VERNON 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS WIFE ETHEL
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY KING 
 
 PAGES 
 
 King Rene's titles His character A beau-ideal Prince His occupations 
 His work as an artist Visits to Italy Scrivani ' ' The Burning 
 Bush" "Souls in Purgatory" "La Divina Gommedia " "St. 
 Madeleine preaching" "Preces Prse" "Pas d'Armes" "Livres 
 des Heures" Rene's literary work " Regnault et Jehanneton" 
 "Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance" "La Conquete de la Doulce 
 Mercy " " L'Abuze en Court " " Le Tracte des Tournois " Charles 
 d'Anjou-Orleans Dance songs Letters Collections, books, curios, 
 etc. Work as a craftsman Orders and Gxiilds Agricultural tastes 
 The rose de Provence Workshops " Les Comptes de Roy Rene" La 
 Cheminee du Roy Intercourse with his people A troubadour King 
 Relics A famous winecup 17 29 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 YOLANDA D'ARKAGONA i. 
 
 A Queen in labour Natural children Princess Juanita "La Gaya 
 Ciencia ' ' Troubadours lolande de Flandres Bar-le-Duc High- 
 waymen Recruits Fetes galants Court of Love---Juan I., King of 
 Aragon A beauteous damsel L 'Academic des Jeux Floraux A royal 
 Mainteneuse N"ails in their heads ! " Plucking the turkey " ! " Quite 
 as good as you!" "A gay woman" A royal baptism Princess 
 Yolanda The Salic Law A bridegroom-elect Mauled by a wolf A 
 silver throne "The Queen!" Bullfights A royal trousseau A 
 brilliant cavalcade Louis II. d'Anjou Attractive girls Castle of 
 Montpellier A royal progress "The Loves of Louis and Yolanda " 
 A King-suitor in disguise An ardent kiss A royal marriage Beauti- 
 ful Arlesennes " A lovely creature !" A splendid dowry Gardens 
 at Tarascon Legend of St. Martha A deadly dragon State entry 
 into Angers The castle and its contents "Mysteries" Inartistic 
 fare Feastings Yolanda Lieutenant-General of Anjou English 
 invasion Rabbit with a medallion Isabeau de Baviere A wasp-like 
 waist Jewels Catherine de Valois Yolanda's first-born The "Black 
 Death " Queen-Duchess Marie Princess Marie Taxes and tax- 
 gatherers Rene d'Anjou born St. Renatus The Queen's enterprise 
 Cutting off his tail ! Claimants for a throne A piteous little Prince 
 A royal betrothal Henry V. of England Louis II. in Italy His 
 death- ........ 30 66 
 
 vii
 
 viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 11. 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Royal mourning Cardinal Louis de Bar Yolande a constitutional 
 Sovereign The Duke of Burgundy Matrimonial alliances Tourna- 
 ments Princess Margherita di Savoia Louis III. fights for the crown 
 of Naples Queen Giovanna II. Princess Isabelle de Lorraine A 
 stick for a bad woman ! Rene takes up arms A vassal Ordre de 
 la Fidelite The Van Eycks Treasures Gardens at Bar-le-Duc 
 Floral games Fortune is a woman ! Battle of Bauge Birth of 
 Louis XI. of France Jeanne d'Arc A panel of matrons Slanders 
 Queen Yolande's daring Charles VII. inert Rene Duke of Barrois 
 A debauche Prince A young widow Preux chevaliers A love- 
 match Princess Catherine de Champagne burnt to death Rene and 
 Isabelle married Rene Duke of Lorraine Battle of Bulgneville A 
 royal prisoner A foisted child A beretta crown Prince Jean Duke 
 of Calabria Princess Marie de Bourbon Agnes Sorel, the most lovely 
 girl in France Queen Yolande in private life The Castle of Saumur 
 Queen Yolande's death Her character No trace of her grave 
 Theophaine la Magine A quaint epitaph The stained-glass windows 
 of Le Mans Cathedral "A good mother and a great Queen " - 67 93 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ISABELLE DE LORBAIKE 
 
 Child marriages "The Pride of Lorraine" A mailed fist Duchess's 
 bare feet Satin skin Cardinal matchmaker Ten considerations 
 Woman's Avit supreme A charming boy Jean "sans Peur " 
 " Polluyon " A Sovereign's oath " Noel ! Noel !" First free Parlia- 
 ment in France Veterans Antoine de Vaudemont " You may go !" 
 Bulgneville Rene a prisoner Insecurity of life The Duke's terms 
 Two boy hostages La Tour de Bar Rene's parole Money the crux 
 Rene at Naples The Golden Rose A royal artist Music and song 
 Duchess Margaret dies " Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi !" The sword 
 of Lancelot A very young widow Isabelle leads an army Alfonso 
 in check King Rene free Women of Genoa On the throne A 
 troubled land " Cette vraie Amazone !" Fortune did not smile 
 "Too much blood" A dastardly outrage Peace Princess Mar- 
 guerite betrothed Black armour Jehanne de Laval Black buffaloes 
 Grey hair Splendid tournments Ordre du Croissant Double 
 nuptials Henry VI. of England Ferri carries off Yolande Cupid's 
 "Lists" The spectre of war Death of Queen Isabelle "My heart 
 has lost its love !" " Amour etFoy" - - - 94 142 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 JEANNE D'ARC "LA PUCELLE" 
 
 " Give me Rene !" Village of Domremy Village feuds A busy mother 
 A weird accouchement Le Bois Chenus Voices St. Michael Mad 
 Jehanne A coarse kirtle She touched the hilt Duke Charles's 
 strange visitors A dash around the courtyard ' ' Vive la nostre 
 Royne !" A pilgrimage march Priests and minstrels A famous 
 sword Jeanne's oriflamme A dissolute Court Charles VI. at Chinon 
 A. winning hazard. Certain secrets Jeanne's double ordeal Bishops 
 and matrons "La Pucelle " so named by Queen Yolande Filles de
 
 CONTENTS ix 
 
 PAGES 
 
 Joie White armour An ultimatum Divided counsels The siege of 
 Orleans " The Maid" wounded En route to Reims The "Sacre" 
 Jeanne's modesty Her apotheosis " Sire, I bid you farewell " 
 Rene the hero Jeanne the heroine To expel the hated English The 
 fall of Paris "The Maid" a prisoner Deserted by everyone A 
 mock trial A human wreck Burnt to death A maiden's heart and 
 a white dove " Ma Royne est mort !" Rene's lament Charles's 
 remorse The memory of Jeanne d'Are .... 143 173 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 
 
 'The little Queen of Bourges" A master-stroke A lovely bride, an ill- 
 looking groom An evil mother's influence Three fair witches 
 Yolande's prestige Woman's power in France Marie v. Agnes 
 Unhappy Charles VI. The Chatelaine de Courrages A gallows and a 
 flagellation Marriage of Charles and Marie Impecuniosity Never 
 touched her below the chin ! Jacques Cceur's loyal succour Terrible 
 disasters A treacherous deed Isabeaii's rage Queen Marie's speech 
 A lovely bevy of Maids of Honour Outrageous fashions Correcte's 
 crusade "Abas les hennins !" Scudding stones Plain chapelles 
 A faint-hearted King Queen Marie's "I will" Marie d'Anjou and 
 Jeanne d'Arc No place for the Queen ! Agnes Sorel, "la Belle des 
 Belles " Serge chemises " The plaything of the most valiant King ?" 
 Agnes's four daughters A loving son Boxed her ears ! Agnes's 
 heart in gold "Males femmes" "Everything for France !" Disas- 
 ters and delirium Marie in shade and shine A pillion Poor little 
 Princess Margaret ! " A curse on life !" A dissolute Prince Slander 
 and hypocrisy The Bastard of Orleans A tryst disturbed The 
 obscene Fete des Fous A royal repast Tours for delicacies A 
 famous pack of cards The Queen as a business woman Cocks and 
 hens Marie dies at Poitiers "A good and devout woman " - 174 215 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 GIOVANNA II. OF NAPLES 
 
 " Like Queen Giovanna !" Anjou succession in Naples A lover suffocated 
 King Ladislaus Many suitors Hard to please A rare quality 
 Marriage ring torn off Louis d' Anjou 's advance A poor old Queen 
 Butterfly courtesans A champion of physical beauty A wily woman 
 The cord of St. Francis A baseborn athlete The chief of the pages 
 The Queen's master Vampire kisses Louis v. Alfonso A romantic 
 story Fair Leonora Not a tool of the Queen Fierce rivals Pulled 
 the Queen's hands Giovanna in her lover's arms Flashing eyes 
 Beneath the lips Superb entertainments Giovanna discovers the 
 liaison Rene bravest of the brave Treason Duchess Covella Ruffo 
 and her jewelled poniard Rene at Naples ' ' II galantuomo Re " 
 The Jews Alfonso defeated and a prisoner Belated pious deeds 
 Giovanna as the Virgin Mary! An embassy from Naples Many 
 claimants for the throne Isabelle a virago Queen A macaroni basket 
 " I'll not fight with a woman !" Colossal orgies A Spartan mother 
 Decisive battle of Troia End of the Angevine dynasty Jean, Duke 
 of Calabria, raises the flag in vain .... 216 252
 
 x CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 
 
 PAGES 
 
 "The loveliest Princess in Christendom" A storm-rocked cradle A 
 child's kiss Troubadours and glee-maidens An eligible suitor The 
 love of all the boys Neglected education A delighted grandmother 
 Marriage tangles Philippe, Count de Nevers, repudiated Henry VI. 
 of England looking for a Queen The "Three Graces of Armagnac" 
 Cardinal Beaufort charmed with Marguerite An unpainted face 
 "Oh fie! oh fie!" An autograph letter Splendid nuptials La 
 Confrererie de la Passion Too poor to buy her own wedding dress A 
 peachy blush Fine fashions Gold garter chains Sumptuous hair- 
 dressing A "Marguerite" flower-holder A sorrowful parting A 
 truly royal train The entente cordiale The Queen short of ready cagh 
 A stormy passage Chicken-pox ? The King's ring A famous tire- 
 woman Extraordinary presents Pageants Queen Margaret crowned 
 "La Frangaise" The Queen's strong character The Duke of 
 York nonplussed Pious foundations The King's seizure She had to 
 play the man ! The Prince of Wales York's dastardly insinuations 
 A costly churching-robe Civil war begins Margaret leads the 
 Lancastrians in person Success and failure York's grey gory head 
 "Lore Lady- Day " Lord Grey de Ruthen's treason King Henry a 
 prisoner in the Tower " Fie on thee, thou traitor !" The Queen in 
 Scotland King Louis's double game A shipwreck A common robette 
 Galant Sir Pierre de Breze " Une Merrie Mol !" The kiss of 
 etiquette Thorns All the poets sing of Margaret All is lost ! 
 Margaret at home again Earl of Warwick's loyalty A diplomatic 
 marriage The sea flouts Margaret Perjured Lord Wenlock A 
 treacherous blow The Prince murdered "Bloody Edward" The 
 "she- wolf" Hands tied behind her back King Henry killed The 
 Queen in a dungeon Renews pathetic letter The great heroine of the 
 Wars of the Roses Repose at Reculee A lioness at bay ' ' The grim 
 grey wolf of Anjou " A sad and lonely death ... 253 305 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 
 
 Roses "December" and "May" A famous House The Queen of 
 Beauty All in love with Jehanne The champion's crest A tourna- 
 ment banquet The Grand Prix Rene struck with Jehanne His 
 Genoese innamorate "Devils at home" A second marriage desirable 
 The King bemoans Isabelle No festivities A moral allegory 
 A new course of life Costly offerings" Les Tards-Venus " Court of 
 Love at Les Baux " La Passe Rose " A coffin full of golden hair 
 Ruralizing royalty Jehanne, nymph of the bosquets "Pastorals" 
 " Regnault et Jehanneton " All fall in love, and all fall out ! An 
 allegory of chivalry Cuer reads the strange inscription Louis XL's 
 outrageous behaviour " L'Abuz en Court " Rene the victim The 
 Pageant of the Pheasant An elysium of love The Queen's virtues 
 Her portrait Rene's school of architects St. Bernardin, the King's 
 confessor Rene's heart Pious Sovereigns Relics The crown of 
 Catalonia Queen Jehanne and Queen Margaret Church spectacles 
 Magnificent hospitality Demoiselle Odille La Petite Helene 
 Patroness of crafts " The Golden Rose " Rene's green old age ' Le 
 bon Roy est rnort !" Marie de la Ohapelle's children Queen Jehanne 
 retires to Beaufort A studious widow "I have no other r&le to 
 play !" " La Reine " in an iron cage The Queen's sweet death 
 Her will Her monument and Rene's " Priez pour la bonne 
 Jehanne "... .... 306356
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACIKO 
 PAGE 
 
 CEREMONIOUS ENTRY OF THE "LADY OF THE CREST" 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 QUEEN YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA - 30 
 
 ENTRY OF A QUEEN INTO HER CAPITAL - 40 
 
 FAVOURITE RECREATIONS - 50 
 
 A MYSTERY - - 60 
 
 KING Louis II. OF SICILY- ANJOU - - 68 
 
 COMMUNION OF A KNIGHT - 74 
 
 A ROYAL REPAST 80 
 
 STREET SCENE IN Aix - 86 
 
 QUEEN ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 94 
 
 KING RENE (circa 1440) 106 
 
 ROYAL PATRONESSES AND CRAFTS - - 118 
 
 "C(EUR" AND "THE ISLAND OF LOVE " 130 
 
 "THE WHITE QUEEN" JEANNE D'ARC - 144 
 
 EXPULSION OF GAY WOMEN - - 152 
 
 SIEGE OF ORLEANS - - 160 
 
 SACRE OF CHARLES VII. - 168 
 
 QUEEN MARIE D'ANJOU - 174 
 
 A BESIEGED CASTLE - 184 
 
 KING RENE AND HIS COURT - - 194 
 
 xi
 
 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING 
 PAGE 
 
 QUEENS, JUDGES, AND KNIGHTS - 204 
 
 QUEEN GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI - - 216 
 
 HOMAGE OF A VASSAL - - 226 
 
 KING AND QUEEN IN STONE - - 236 
 
 KING RENE AND GUARINI DA VERONA - 246 
 
 QUEEN MARGUERITE D'ANJOU - - - - 254 
 
 BEFORE THE " LISTS"- - 268 
 
 KING RENE IN HIS STUDY - - 280 
 
 AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS - 292 
 
 QUEEN JEHANNE DE LAVAL - - 306 
 
 ST. MADELEINE PREACHING - - 320 
 
 "THE BURNING BUSH" . 334 
 
 KING RENF, (circa 1470) ... . 343
 
 PREFACE 
 
 KING REN D'ANJOTJ AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS yes, 
 I stand by my title, and offer no apology to the 
 captious and the curious. 
 
 Rene was the most remarkable personality in the 
 French Renaissance. How many English readers of 
 the romance of history, I wonder, know anything about 
 him but his name ? Of his " seven Queens," two only 
 are at all familiar to the English public, Marguerite 
 d'Anjou and Jeanne d'Arc, and their stories as 
 commonly told are unconvincing. The other five are 
 not known even by name to the majority of people ; 
 therefore I have immense pleasure in introducing 
 them to any clientele: Yolanda d'Arragona, Isabelle 
 de Lorraine, Jehanne de Laval, Giovanna II. da 
 Napoli, Jeanne d'Arc and Marguerite d'Anjou. 
 This galaxy of Queens, fair and frail, will appeal as 
 something entirely new in sentimental biography 
 to those in search of novelty. 
 
 Turgid facts of history and dryasdust statistics of 
 the past are, of course, within everybody's ken, or 
 they are supposed to be this is an age of snobbery ! 
 Piquant stories of the persons and foibles of famous 
 men and women are my measure, and such you will 
 have in plenty in my narratives. To get at my facts 
 
 xiii
 
 xiv PREFACE 
 
 and fictions I have dug deep into the records of Court 
 chroniclers, and I think I have blended very success- 
 fully the spirit of the troubadours and the spirit of 
 the age of chivalry. At the end of the volume I 
 have added a Bibliography, for the benefit of 
 sententious students, and my Index is as full as possible, 
 to assist the casual reader. 
 
 The illustrations which adorn my pages have 
 been gathered from many sources. I think they 
 will greatly assist the appreciation of my work. With 
 respect to portraits of my " Queens," there are no 
 extant likenesses of Yolanda and Jeanne : for the 
 latter I have chosen to reproduce the historical 
 imaginative fresco of M. Lepenveu, at the Panthdon 
 in Paris ; for the former the stained-glass window effigy 
 at Le Mans Cathedral must do duty. Queen Isabelle 
 is an enlargement of a miniature by Rend ; Queen 
 Marie is after a French picture of the School of 
 Jean Focquet, now at the National Gallery, London, 
 but wrongly entitled. Queen Giovanna II. is from 
 an altar-piece in the National Museum at Naples. 
 Queen Marguerite is from a miniature by her father, 
 her portraits in England are eminently unsatisfactory 
 and non-contemporary, Queen Jehanne is froiti the 
 right wing of the Aix triptych, by Nicholas Froment. 
 
 There is, I think, nothing more to add to my preface, 
 so I leave " King Rene and his Seven Queens " t&e-a- 
 tete with my discerning public. If they are found to 
 be entertaining company I am repaid. 
 
 EDGCUMBE STALEY.
 
 CHRONOLOGY 
 
 1399. Marriage of Louis II. d'Anjou and Yolanda d'Arragona. 
 
 1408. Birth of Rene d'Anjou. 
 
 1411. Giovanna II. succeeds to throne of Naples. 
 
 1417. Rene 1 adopted by Cardinal de Bar. 
 
 1420. Marriage of Rene and Isabelle de Lorraine. 
 
 1422. Marie d'Anjou marries Charles VII. 
 
 1424. Kene, Duke of Barrois. 
 
 1429. Jeanne d'Arc and Kene at Siege of Orleans. 
 
 1431. Rene", Duke of Lorraine ; prisoner at Bulgneville. 
 
 1433. Rene's campaign in Italy. 
 
 1434. Rene, King of Sicily, etc. 
 
 1435. Giovanna II. dies; Rene, King of Naples. 
 1437. Rene released finally from Tour de Bar. 
 
 1441. Rene retires from Italy. 
 
 1442. Queen Yolanda dies. 
 
 1445. Marriage of Marguerite d'Anjou and Henry VI. 
 
 1448. Order of the Croissant established. 
 
 1453. Queen Isabelle dies. 
 
 1455. Marriage of Rene" and Jehanne de Laval. 
 
 1463. Queen Marie dies. 
 
 1465. Ren6 proclaimed King of Catalonia. 
 
 1470. Jean, Duke of Calabria, King of Catalonia, dies. 
 
 1473. Rene retires from Anjou, which is seized by Louis XL 
 
 1480. Rene" dies. 
 
 1482. Queen Marguerite dies. 
 
 1498. Queen Jehanne dies. 
 
 xv
 
 KING RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS 
 SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 " RENE, King of Jerusalem, the Two Sicilies, Aragon, 
 Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia and Corsica ; Duke of 
 Anjou, Barrois, and Lorraine ; Count of Provence, 
 Forcalquier and Piemont," so runs the preamble of 
 his Will. To these titles he might have added 
 Prince of Gerona, Duke of Calabria, Lord of Genoa, 
 Count of Guise, Maine, Chailly, and Longjumeau, 
 and Marquis of Pont-a-Mousson ! 
 
 He was famous as a Sovereign, a soldier, a legis- 
 lator, a traveller, a linguist, a scholar, a poet, a 
 musician, a craftsman, a painter, an architect, a 
 sculptor, a collector, a sportsman, an agriculturist, and 
 incidentally a chivalrous lover. About such a many- 
 sided character there is much to tell and much to 
 learn. His times were spacious ; the clouds of Medi- 
 sevalism had rolled away, and the Sun of Progress illu- 
 minated the heyday of the Renaissance ; art and craft 
 had come into their own. Venus disarmed Mars, Diana 
 entranced Apollo, and Minerva restrained Mercury, 
 and all the hierarchy of heaven was captive to the 
 
 17
 
 18 RENfi D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Liberal Arts. Rene d'Anjou, figuratively, seems to 
 have gathered up in his cunning hand the powers of 
 all the spiritual intelligences alongwith the life-lines 
 of practical manifestations. He has come down to us 
 as the beau-ideal Prince of the fifteenth century. 
 
 " A Prince who had great and pre-eminent 
 qualities, worthy of a better future. He was a great 
 Justicier and an enemy to long despatches. He 
 said sometimes, when they presented anything to 
 signe, being a-hunting or at the warre, that the Pen 
 was a kinde of Armes, which a person should use at 
 all times " so wrote the historian Pierre Mathieu, 
 in his "History of Louis XI.," in 1614. He goes 
 on to say : " The reign of so good a Prince was 
 much lamented, for he intreated his subjects like a 
 Pastor and a Father. They say that when his 
 Treasurer brought unto him the Roy ale Taxe, 
 which was sixteen florins for every kindled fire, 
 whereof Provence might have about three thousand 
 five hundred, hee enformed himselfe of the aboun- 
 dance or barenesse of the season ; and when they 
 told him, that a mistrall winde had reigned long, hee 
 remitted the moiety and sometimes the whole taxe. 
 Hee contented himself with his revenues, and did 
 not charge his people with new tributes. Hee spent 
 his time in paintings, the which were excellent, as 
 they are yet to be seen in the city of Aix. Hee 
 was drawing of a partridge when as they brought 
 him newes of the loose of the Realme of Naples, yet 
 hee could not draw his hande from the work and the 
 pleasure hee took here in. ... They relate that 
 he dranke not wine, and when as the noble men 
 of Naples demanded the reasons, he affirmed that 
 it had made Titus Livius to lie, who had said that
 
 INTRODUCTORY 19 
 
 the good wine caused the French to passe the 
 Alps. . . . He was perhaps better suited to 
 make a quiet State happy than to reduce a rebellious 
 one." 
 
 King Rene"s career and work as a Sovereign, a 
 soldier, a legislator, a traveller, a poet, and a lover, 
 are treated in full in the letterpress of this volume. 
 His work as an artist, a craftsman, an agriculturist, 
 and a collector, is here given under different head- 
 ings, as introductory to the expression of his personal 
 talents. 
 
 I. ARTISTIC WORKS OP KING RENE. 
 
 Rene"s first efforts as a designer and painter were 
 exhibited upon the walls of his prison-chamber at 
 Tour de Bar, near Dijon, 1431-1435. Thence forward 
 he decorated the walls and stain-glazed the windows 
 of his various castles and palaces Bar-le-Duc, 
 Nancy, Angers, Saumur, Reculee, Tarascon, Mar- 
 seilles, and Aix. Every bastide and maison 
 inhabited by his Queens and himself was also 
 similarly adorned, and many coloured church windows 
 were due to his gentle art. Alas that so few 
 vestiges of these admirable labours remain ! French 
 mobs are proverbial for iconoclastic propensities, and no 
 land has suffered more than France from the 
 suicidal mania of her sans-culottes. 
 
 To fresco-painting, portraits, and glass-staining, the 
 Royal artist added miniatures and penmanship. His 
 " style " was formed and developed successively 
 under such personal tuition as that of the bi others 
 Van Eyck and Maistre Jehannot le Flament. Later 
 on Jean Focquet of Tours and Nicholas Froment 
 influenced him. A letter is extant of King Rene,
 
 20 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 addressed in 1448 to Jan Van Eyck, in which he 
 asks for two good painters to be sent to Barrois. 
 
 Visits to Rome, Florence, Naples, Milan, and other 
 art cities of Italy, very greatly enlarged Renews 
 metier. Intercourse with Fra Angelico da Fiesole, 
 Fra Filippo Lippi, Paolo Ucello, the Delia Robbia, 
 and many other Tuscan artists, quickened his 
 natural talent and guided his eye and hand. Leon 
 Battista Alberti, Francesco Brunellesco, and Cennino 
 Cennini, and their works in materia and literature, 
 produced great results in the receptive faculties of 
 the King-artist. At Naples he came in contact 
 with Colantonio del Fiore, Antonio Solario II 
 Zingaro and Angiolo Franco, and gathered up 
 what they taught. 
 
 Besides these immense advantages as a personal 
 friend of great ruling Italian families, the Medici, 
 the Pazzi, the Tornabuoni, the Visconti, the Sforza, 
 the Orsini, and many others, Rend had oppor- 
 tunities enjoyed by very few. His own amiable 
 individuality and his ample knowledge were the 
 highest credentials in the pursuit of art and 
 craft. Rend witnessed the consecration of the 
 Duomo of Florence and the completion of the 
 guild shrine of Or San Michele, and he was 
 enrolled as an honorary member thereof. At 
 Florence also he was thrown in contact with world 
 famous scrivani writers and illustrators of manu- 
 script. The subsequent excellence of French minia- 
 turists was largely due to King Rene's example 
 and encouragement. 
 
 Rene's more considerable paintings, which have 
 been preserved, are as follows : 
 
 1. The Burning Bush, part of an altar triptych,
 
 INTRODUCTORY 21 
 
 at the Cathedral of Aix. Projected and begun by 
 the King, it was finished by Nicholas Froment, 1475-76, 
 and for it the artist received no more than 70 
 gulden (see illustration). 
 
 2. Souls in Purgatory, an altar-piece (7 x 5J), 
 originally in hospital chapel at the Chartreuse of 
 Villeneuve les Avignon. It is really a " Judgment," 
 with Christ and saints above the clouds, and twenty- 
 four little figures in and out torment. The building 
 was destroyed in 1793. 
 
 3. La Divina Commedia, an altar-piece (8 x 6), 
 in the church of the Celestins at Avignon in distemper. 
 It was due to Rene"s vision of his mistress, Dame 
 Chapelle, upon the day of her death, which shocked 
 him so greatly that he painted this composition to 
 remove the painful impression he thus experienced. 
 
 4. Saint Madeleine preaching, now in the 
 H6tel Cluny. It was a whimsical conceit connecting 
 the story of the sisters of Lazarus with Rene' and 
 his Queen Jehanne. It is conventional in treatment 
 but finished most beautifully (see illustration). 
 
 King Renews artistic speciality was miniatures. 
 He illuminated many manuscripts. 
 
 1. Preces Prce. The Latin " Hours " of King 
 Rene", a manuscript of 150 sheets of fine vellum, 
 written very beautifully in small lettering, with 
 superb capitals in gold and colours. The borders and 
 miniatures are exquisitely painted. It is bound in 
 red morocco. This precious volume was dedicated 
 to Queen Isabelle, whose portrait is painted as a 
 frontispiece (see illustration). It was one of the 
 King's wedding presents to his second Queen, Jehanne 
 de Laval. The value of the Preces Prce is enhanced 
 by numerous marginal notes of dates and details
 
 22 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 written by Rene's hand. At the end by way of 
 Finis is a clock-face, upon which is painted " R et J," 
 under the words " En Un," all in a circle of gold. This 
 treasure is now in the National Library in Paris, and 
 there is a copy almost exactly in duplicate in the 
 Imperial Library in Vienna. The date is 1454. 
 
 2. Pas d'Armes de la Bergere. A poem of 
 Louis de Beauvau, Seigneur de la Roche et Champigny, 
 Grand Seneschal of Angers, Ambassador to Pope 
 Pius II., and a famous Champion in the "Lists." It is a 
 pastoral allegory, and extols the courage and chivalry of 
 many famous knights Ferri de Vaude'mont, Philippe 
 Lenoncourt, Tanneguy de Chastel, Jean de Cossa, 
 Guy de Laval, and others. It was put forth in 1448 
 after the celebrated tournaments in Anjou, Lorraine, 
 and Provence. King Rene* illuminated it with 
 portraits and miniature paintings at Tarascon, where 
 he and Jehanne de Laval spent so many happy days 
 ruralizing in 1457. 
 
 At Aix, in the Library, is a manuscript Livres 
 des Heures, dated 1458 ; at Avignon, in the Church 
 of the Cordeliers, is another of the following year ; 
 at Poitiers, in the Library, is a " Psalter " ; in the 
 Musee de FArsenal of Paris, a Breviary (see illustra- 
 tion) all exquisitely written and illuminated by 
 the master-hand of the King. 
 
 II. LITERARY WORKS OF KING RENE". 
 
 The earlier works of the King are sufficiently 
 remarkable as exhibiting his serenity in adversity 
 and his uprightness as a legislator ; his later poems 
 are notable in revealing his chivalry as a knight- 
 adventurer, and his tenderness as a dainty troubadour.
 
 INTRODUCTORY 23 
 
 Rene, whether as Sovereign, knight, or lover, led the 
 taste of his age. His personality attracted every- 
 body, and his character elevated all in fruitful 
 emulation. His utterances and his writings, in spite 
 of the freedom of manners and the piquancy of 
 speech, were conspicuous for chastity of thought 
 and delicacy of expression. Not a single dubious 
 word or doubtful reference disfigures his pages : a 
 man and King was he without reproach. 
 
 The works which Rend composed as well as 
 decorated place him in the forefront of poets. The 
 principal are as follows : 
 
 1. Regnault et Jehanneton, or Les Amours de 
 Bergier et de la Bergeronne. It is an idyllic 
 pastoral. The manuscript occupies seventy sheets of 
 fine vellum, written in black and crimson, very care- 
 fully and finely. The miniatures and capitals are very 
 numerous, and display the greatest skill and taste in 
 design and finish. This manuscript was written at 
 Tarascon, after Rene and Jehanne's romantic sojourn 
 at his bastide on the Durance. 
 
 2. Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance, or Trade 
 entre I'Ame devote et le Cceur. In manuscript, 
 written very carefully in black and scarlet, with many 
 exquisitely-painted miniatures and capital letters. 
 This " Morality " covers fifty-five sheets of the 
 finest vellum. The Royal writer was assisted by 
 Jehan Coppre, a priest of Varronsgues. The frontis- 
 piece by Rene represents the King, fully robed, 
 seated in his studio labouring with his pen and brush 
 (see illustration). 
 
 3. La Conquete de la Doulce Mercy, or La 
 Conquete par le Cuer d' Amour Espris. This is a manu- 
 script with 138 sheets of very smooth vellum written
 
 24 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 in red, black, and purple, with sixty-two miniatures 
 and many capitals superbly painted. It is bound in 
 red morocco, and is in the National Library in Paris. 
 It bears the date 1457. Rene" both wrote and illumin- 
 ated it shortly before the death of Queen Isabelle. 
 
 4. L'Abuze en Court. A manuscript covering 
 fifty-seven sheets of very fine vellum. Where and 
 how King Rene got his " skins " we do not know, but 
 they are the finest and most perfect of any French 
 or Italian manuscripts of the period. The colour and 
 grain of the skin are very fine ; only an artist-writer 
 could have chosen such splendid folios. This manu- 
 script is bound in walnut-wood boards covered with 
 crimson velvet and embroidered. It contains fifty lovely 
 miniatures and has rich capitals. Rend has in this case 
 recorded the exact date of completion July 12, 1473. 
 
 5. Very superb perhaps King Rene's chef 
 d'ceuvre is Le Tracte des Tournois, a full descrip- 
 tion of his splendid tournament at Saumur, with the 
 richest possible illustration. It is dedicated to 
 Charles d'Anjou, his brother, who died in 1470 ; he 
 was Count of Maine and Guise, and Governor of 
 Lorraine. The frontispiece and two other illustra- 
 tions are reproductions of the Royal artist's designs. 
 
 One of the most charming incidents in Rene's long, 
 useful, and moving life was his intercourse with 
 Charles d'Anjou, son of the first Duke of Orleans, 
 brother of Charles VI. of France. The young Prince 
 was made a prisoner at the Battle of Agincourt in 
 1415, and remained in captivity in the Tower of 
 London for twenty -five years. His constant com- 
 plaint was : "I mourn with chagrin that no one 
 does anything to release me !" This piteous appeal 
 at length gained the heart of Duke Philippe of
 
 INTRODUCTORY 25 
 
 Burgundy, who effected his deliverance in 1440. 
 Between King Rene and Duke Charles there passed, 
 through spiritual affinity, a constant succession of 
 delightful poetic souvenirs the prisoner of La 
 Tour de Bar and the prisoner of the Tower of 
 London comrades in sorrow, companions in joy ! 
 The form these missives took was that of rondeaux, 
 or valentines, and in this category nothing could be 
 more delicate and sensuous. A very favourite ending 
 of the poems was 
 
 "Aprh wie seule excepter, 
 Je vous servirai cette conte, 
 Ma douce Valentine gente, 
 Puis qu'amour veuilt que on'y contents." * 
 
 Charles d'Anjou died in 1465, greatly lamented by 
 his poet-confidant. 
 
 King Rene composed and wrote, and also set to 
 music, very many motets and caroles (dance-songs). 
 The former are still sung in village churches in 
 Provence, and the latter danced at village fetes. 
 
 Rene was famous, too, as a polite letter-writer. 
 Between 1468 and 1474 he despatched thirty-seven 
 missives to Pope Sixtus IV. and others, chiefly 
 relating to affairs in the kingdom of Catalonia. 
 
 At the Chateau d' Angers, as well as at those of 
 Nancy and Aix, King Rend had splendid collections 
 of manuscripts and books. Rare works in Hebrew, 
 Greek, Arabic, Turkish, and Latin, he collected in the 
 several departments of Scripture, Philosophy, History, 
 Geography, Natural History, and Physics. Writers 
 
 *"With one only reservation, 
 I will send you this narration, 
 My gentle, natty Valentine, 
 Since your love so well content is mine."
 
 26 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and students naturally were attracted to such a 
 sapient Prince. Three of the former in particular 
 attached themselves to his patronage : Pierre de 
 Hurion, Jehan de Perin, and Louis de Beauvau ; and 
 with them was Rene's chief collaborator Herve' 
 Grellin. 
 
 III. CRAFTSMAN'S WORKS OF KING RENE. 
 
 Rene was a great advocate for the combination and 
 co-operation of the arts and crafts. In no sense was 
 he a free-trader : his policy was to encourage native 
 enterprise and to check destructive intrusion of aliens. 
 To consolidate commercial interests and to safeguard 
 industries, he established " Orders " or " Guilds " for 
 workers. For example, at Tarascon he instituted 
 " The Order of the Sturgeon," for fisherfolk, which 
 held an annual festival in July, called La Charibande, 
 specially in honour of Le Roy des Gardons " King 
 of Roaches." At Aix the King established " The 
 Order of the Plough," for agriculturists, and their 
 fete-day was the Festival of the Assumption. He 
 could hold the coulter with any of his farm labourers, 
 and greatly delighted in matches of strength and 
 speed. Rene's interest in agriculture and stock- 
 rearing did very much to make Anjou and Provence 
 fruitful States. He naturalized the sugar-cane, and 
 introduced many new trees and plants : the rose de 
 Provence ; the CEillet de Poete our Sweet William ; 
 the mulberry ; and the Muscat grape. 
 
 As patron of crafts, Rend especially encouraged 
 workers in tapestry, vestments, costumes and 
 tournament decorations, goldsmiths, jewellers, medal- 
 ists, armourers, and masters of wood, stone, and
 
 INTRODUCTORY 27 
 
 metal, with operatives in textiles. In Provence, at 
 Aix and Marseilles, he had workshops which he him- 
 self superintended, and where such instructors were 
 employed as Jehan de Nicholas, Gruillaume le 
 Pelletier, Juan d'Arragona, Jehan le Gracieux, Luigi 
 Rubbotino, Henri Henniquin, and Jehanne Despert. 
 These may be names only, but their fame may be 
 learnt by the study of useful industries in France. 
 The Comptes de Roy Rene, Rene's business-books, 
 at Angers are full of orders, instructions, payments, 
 etc., to work-people of all sorts and kinds. 
 
 At each of King Rent's residences, and more 
 especially at Aix, he designed and erected a raised 
 architectural loggia, or terrace, which at once 
 gained the name of La Cheminee du Roy. Here he was 
 wont to spend a good deal of his time in the enjoy- 
 ment of the fresh air and the contemplation of the 
 persons and avocations of his subjects within 
 range. Here, too, he gave audience to all sorts 
 and conditions of his subjects, passing the time of 
 the day merely to many, but with some of them 
 entering fully into matters proposed for his considera- 
 tion. Craftsmen, tradesmen, and merchants, were 
 accustomed to pass that way to expose commodities, 
 and exhibit novelties which might tempt the Royal 
 patronage. One salient object of this amiable habit 
 was that, as he put it, " my children may see their 
 father, and take cognizance of my state of health and 
 my pursuits." Rene lived and worked among and 
 for his people, and none who approached him ever 
 went away empty or dissatisfied. Nothing pleased 
 him better than a morning salutation or an evening 
 serenade by troubadour-jongleurs and other makers of 
 music and of fun. Sometimes the municipal author-
 
 28 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 ities made courteous protests to their liege Lord for 
 the creation of crowds and obstruction to the free 
 circulation of the traffic. To all such representations 
 the King turned a ready ear, but also turned their 
 pleas into subjects for good-humoured merriment. 
 
 " You see/' he used to say, " I am something of a 
 troubadour myself, and life's serious moods require 
 joyous elevation." 
 
 Rene" was great in loving-cups, or, more correctly, 
 their contents. Nothing pleased him more than to 
 hand to anyone who had interested or amused him a 
 delicious beverage, and often enough in the utmost 
 good-humour he bade the recipient keep the cup as 
 a memento of his interview and " mind," he added, 
 " you drink my health and Queen Jehanne's some- 
 times." 
 
 Rene's consideration of and generosity to his ser- 
 vants and attendants was proverbial. The Comptes are 
 full of instructions to his Treasurers to pay such and 
 such sums of money or other benefactions. To 
 Jehan de SeVancourt, an equerry, for example, he 
 gave a purse of 200 ducats, "for thy skilful care of 
 my favourite charger." To Alain le Hdrault, a valet 
 and barber " a gold snuffbox and fifty ducats for his 
 daughter's confinement." He was very fond of 
 quoting the example of Marie d'Harcourt, mother 
 of his son-in-law Ferri de Vaude'mont, who died in 
 1476. She was affectionately called "the Mother 
 of the Poor." " She," said Rene, " was rightly 
 called ; am not I, then, father too ?" 
 
 Rend was a great collector of works of art and 
 curios, although, by the way, he was obliged very 
 frequently to distribute his treasures in order to raise 
 money for his warlike enterprises and philanthropic
 
 INTRODUCTORY 29 
 
 pursuits. A speciality was the acquisition of relics of 
 saints and other venerable objects. In 1470 he and 
 Queen Jehanne assisted at the translation of a piece of 
 the True Cross, which he had obtained in Italy, to 
 the Church of St. Croix at Angers. Lists of such 
 treasures, and, indeed, of the treasures in general of 
 his house, may be read in Les Comptes de Roy Rene. 
 Many originally came from King John the " Good " 
 of France, Rene"s great-grandfather, handed down by 
 Louis I. and Louis II. of Sicily-Anjou. 
 
 Rend had a penchant for rock-crystal objects and 
 miniature carvings in wood. Among the former he 
 possessed a very famous winecup, upon which he 
 engraved the following quaint conceit : 
 
 " Qui bien beurra 
 Dieu voira. 
 
 Qui beurra tout d'une baleine 
 P'oira Dieu et la Madeleine !" * 
 
 * " Whoso drinks me 
 God shall see. 
 
 Whoso at one good breath drains me 
 Shall God and the Magdalen see !"
 
 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA "A GOOD MOTHER AND A 
 GREAT QUEEN." 
 
 I. 
 
 THE Queen was in labour, and shivering groups of 
 robust citizens and sturdy peasants were gathered in 
 front of the royal castle of Zaragoza, eagerly await- 
 ing the signal of a happy deliverance. The fervent 
 wish of King Juan for a male heir was shared by his 
 subjects, for his brother Martino, next in succession, 
 was in delicate health ; moreover, he had only one son, 
 and he was a cripple. The succession to the throne 
 was a source of anxiety to all good Aragonese. To 
 be sure, there was a baby Princess already in the 
 royal nursery, but whether her mother had been a 
 lawful wedded wife, or no more than a barragana of 
 the Sovereign, few knew outside the charmed circle of 
 the Court. In the opinion of the men and women of 
 the triple kingdom generally, this mattered little, for 
 natural children were looked upon as strengthening 
 the family ; hijos de ganancia they were called. The 
 Salic Law, however, barred the female heirs of the 
 royal house, so little Juanita was of no importance. 
 Within the courtyard, about the royal apartments, 
 
 and all through the precincts of the Presence, min- 
 
 30
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 
 
 (KING BENE'S MOTHER) 
 From Coloured Glass Window, Le Mans Cathedral 
 
 To face page 30

 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 31 
 
 strels and poets thronged, as well as Ministers and 
 officials ; Queen Yolanda was the Queen of Trouba- 
 dours, and the courtiers she loved best to have about 
 her were merry maids and men graduates of the 
 "Gaya Ciencia." The livelong night they had danced 
 and postured, they had piped and sung. Each poet 
 of the hilarious company had in turn taken up his 
 recitative, printed by staccato notes, to be repeated 
 in chorus and in step, until the fandangoes and 
 boleros of the South were turned into the boisterous 
 whirling jotas of Aragon. The first dawn of day 
 brought into play lutes and harps, restrung, retuned 
 cellos and hurdy-gurdies, and vihuelas de penola, 
 guitars with metal wires and struck with strong 
 herons' plumes, and so awoke the phlegmatic guardians 
 of the castle. Sweet and harmonious Provenal 
 voices blended with soft notes of melodious singers 
 from Languedoc to the running accompaniment of the 
 weird Basque music of the mountaineers. 
 
 The Queen, upon her massive curtained bed of 
 state, heard the refrains and felt the vibration of the 
 lilting measures, and smiled pleasantly as she laid awake 
 expectantly. At length the great tenor bell up in the 
 chapel turret gave out the hour of six. The last 
 note seemed to hang, and many a devout listener 
 bent a reverent knee and bared his head, whilst the 
 women-folk uttered fervent Aves. One single stroke 
 of the metal clapper was followed, alas ! immediately by 
 another. " Two for a Princess !" resounded from 
 lusty throats, but there was a tone of disappointment 
 in the cry. The glaring morning sun, however, made 
 no mistake, impartial in his love of sex. Dancing 
 upon the phosphorescent ripples of the rolling
 
 32 REN]* D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Mediterranean, he shot golden beams within the 
 royal chamber, and crimson flushed the cheeks of the 
 royal mother and her child. It was the red-hot sun 
 of Spain, and the day was red, too the feast of 
 San Marco, April 25, 1380. 
 
 Christened within eight hours of birth the cus- 
 tom in Aragon and " Yolanda " named, the little 
 Princess's advent was speeded right away to distant 
 Barrois, her mother's home, by the Queen's Chamber- 
 lain, trusty Cavalier Hugues de Pulligny. He had 
 been summoned at once to the accouchement couch, 
 and given to hold and identify the babe. With him 
 he took the Queen's mothering scarf the token of a 
 happy birth and hied post-haste to lay it and his 
 news at the feet of the anxious Duke and Duchess at 
 Bar-le-Duc. His reward was a patent of nobility 
 and 500 good golden livres. 
 
 Yolanda, Queen-consort of Juan I., King of the 
 triple kingdom of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia 
 Violante de Bar was the elder of the two daughters 
 of Robert I., Duke of Bar, and his wife, Marie 
 of France, daughter of King John II., " the 
 Good." Their Court was one of the chief re- 
 sorts of the Troubadours and Jongleurs, who 
 looked to the Duke's famous mother, Princess 
 lolande of Flanders, as their queen and patroness. 
 Bar, or Barrois, first gained royal honours when the 
 Emperor Otto III., in 958, created his son and 
 successor, Frederic, Count of Bar and Prince of the 
 Holy Roman Empire. The succession was handed 
 down for hundreds of years, and in 1321 Count 
 Henry IV. married the Flemish Princess. Her 
 jewels and her trousseau were the talk of half a 
 century. Her gaiety, her erudition, and her skill in
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 33 
 
 handicraft, were remarkable ; her Court the most 
 splendid in Europe. 
 
 Bar was, so to speak, the golden hub of the great 
 humming wheel of Franco-Flemish arts and crafts. 
 Bordered by Luxembourg, Lorraine, Champagne, and 
 Burgundy, the fountain-heads of rich and generous 
 vintages, she took toll of all, and the Barroisiens 
 were the healthiest, wealthiest, and the merriest folk 
 in the French borderland. 
 
 The influence of the bewitching and accomplished 
 Princess-Countess lolande was paramount, and she 
 was ever adding to her fame by making royal pro- 
 gresses throughout her husband's domains. Wherever 
 she went, music and the fine arts, and every artistic 
 cult and useful craft, prospered amazingly. Borne in 
 a great swaying chariot, drawn by four strong white 
 Flemish horses, the magnificence of her cortege led 
 on one occasion, if not on more, nearly to her undoing. 
 Travelling in the summer-time of the year 1361 to 
 Clermont en Argonne, one of the ducal castles, she 
 was, when not very far away from storied Laon, be- 
 set by an armed company of outlaws, who, however, 
 treated her with charming courtesy. They caused 
 the Princess and her ladies to descend from their 
 equipage and step it with them as vis-a-vis under the 
 greenwood tree. Then, not very gallantly, to be 
 sure, they stripped their fair partners of their orna- 
 ments and despoiled the princely treasure, causing the 
 Princess to sign a pardon for their onslaught. The 
 adventure, however, did not end here, for lolande 
 was a match for any man, and on the spot she 
 enrolled her highwaymen as recruits for Count 
 Henry's army ! 
 
 The almost fairy Princess-Countess survived her
 
 34 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 consort many years, and lived to see the county of 
 Bar raised to a dukedom, and to dance upon her 
 knee a little namesake granddaughter, Violante de 
 Bar. Nothing gave her greater pleasure than the 
 floral games of the troubadours, and one of these 
 fStes galants was enacted in 1363 at the Ducal 
 Castle of Val de Cassel, where Duchess Marie had 
 just brought into the world this very baby girl. The 
 poets chose their laureate one Eustache Des- 
 champs-Morel, and Princess lolande crowned him 
 with bays. The ballade he composed for those aus- 
 picious revels is still extant Du Metier Profitable 
 wherein he maintains that only two careers are 
 open to happy mortals. 
 
 " Ces deux ont partout I'avantage, 
 Uun enjtmglant, I'autre h corner" 
 
 The sights and sounds, then, which first greeted the 
 pretty child were merry and tuneful. She was reared 
 on troubadour fare, on troubadour lore. Violante" 
 had three brothers, Edouard, Jehan, and Louis, and a 
 younger sister Bonne, married to Nicholas, Comte 
 de Ligny, but alas ! buried with her firstborn before 
 the high-altar of St. Etienne at Bar-le-Duc. 
 
 When Violante was in her seventeenth year, there 
 came a royal traveller, disguised as a troubadour of 
 Languedoc, to the Court of Love at Bar-le-Duc. 
 His quest was for a bride. He was of ancient 
 lineage ; his forbears came from Ilia, in a southern 
 upland valley of the Eastern Pyrenees, and had ruled 
 the land 'twixt barren mountain and wild seacoast 
 for no end of years Juan I., King of Aragon, 
 Catalonia, and Valencia. He had just buried 
 Mahaud d'Armagnac, the young mother of his little
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 35 
 
 daughter Juanita, and there was a gaping wound 
 in his amorous heart which yearned for healing. 
 The royal Benedict looked for a Venus with a dash 
 of Diana and a measure of Minerva, and chroniclers 
 say he had drawn blank the Courts of Spain and 
 Southern France. Moreover, they tell a pretty tale 
 of him which must now again be told. 
 
 After wanderings manifold, the royal knight-errant 
 found himself within the pageant-ground of Bar-le- 
 Duc and at a "Court of Love." There he broke shield 
 and lance at tilt, and Prince Cupid pierced his heart. 
 Mingling in the merry throng, King Juan found him- 
 self partnered by the most beauteous damsel his eyes 
 had ever seen. She was the Princess Violante, 
 daughter of the Duke. Before she realized what her 
 gay vis-&-vis had said and done, he vanished. But upon 
 her maiden finger glittered a royal signet-ring. Back 
 to Zaragoza sped the gay troubadour, and in a trice 
 a noble embassy was on its way to the Barrois Court 
 to claim the hand of the fascinating Princess and to 
 exchange the heavy ring of State for the lighter 
 jewelled hoop of espousal. 
 
 The entry of Queen Yolanda (Violante) into 
 Zaragoza was a resplendent function, and, despite 
 their habitual taciturnity, the citizens hailed the 
 lovely consort of their King with heartiest acclama- 
 tions. In her train came minstrels and glee-maidens 
 from Champagne and Burgundy, from Provence and 
 the Valley of the Rhine and Languedoc. Such 
 merry folk were unknown in phlegmatic Aragon. 
 To be sure, they had their poets, their dances and 
 their songs, but they were the semi-serious pastimes 
 of the sturdy Basque mountaineers. 
 
 The Academic des Jeux Floraux of Toulouse,
 
 36 REN^l D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 newly founded in 1323, and better known there as 
 the College du Gaye Sqavoir, sent an imposing 
 company of minstrels to greet the new Queen of 
 Aragon at Narbonne the city of romance and song 
 and to offer her a spectacular serenade beneath 
 the balconies of the Archiepiscopal Palace, where 
 she and her suite were accommodated. With them 
 they bore golden flowers and silver with which 
 Royal Violante should crown the laureates, and to 
 Her Majesty they offered a great amaranth of 
 gold, together with the diploma of a Mainteneuse. 
 Acclaimed " Queen of Troubadours," her motley 
 train swept through the cities of the coast and 
 crossed the Spanish frontier. One and all offered 
 her their true allegiance to live and dance and sing 
 and die for Yolanda d'Arragona. 
 
 If the Aragonese were noted for stubbornness, 
 and of them was curtly said : " The men of Aragon 
 will drive nails in their heads rather than use 
 hammers," they have a sound reputation for chivalry. 
 King lago II. established this characteristic in an 
 edict in 1327. "We will," ran the royal rescript, 
 " that every man, whether armed or not, who shall 
 be in company with a lady, pass safely and unmolested 
 unless he be guilty of murder." Courting an alegra 
 senorita, whether of Aragon, Catalonia, or Valencia, 
 was the duty of every lad, albeit the fair one jokingly 
 called it " pelando la pava" (plucking the turkey). 
 The royal romance was a charming example for all 
 and sundry, and many an amorous French troubadour 
 had his wings cut by Prince Cupid and never went 
 home again at all, and many a glee-maiden, to boot, 
 plucked a " turkey " of Aragon ! 
 
 King Juan threw himself unreservedly into the
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 37 
 
 arms of his merry Minerva- Venus Queen : no doubt 
 she " plucked " him thoroughly ! A " Court of Love " 
 was established at Zaragoza. All day long they 
 danced, and all night through they sang, and at all times 
 played their floral games, whilst dour senors scowled 
 and proud duenas grimaced. The revels of the "Gay a 
 Ciencia " shocked their susceptibilities, until a crisis 
 was reached in 1340, when the King sent embassies 
 to all the French Courts to enlist the services of their 
 best troubadours. A solemn session of the Cortes, 
 wherein resided the actual power of the State, the 
 King was King only by their pleasure, was called, 
 " Podemos mas que vos " " We are quite as good as 
 you, or even better " that was the moving spirit of 
 Aragon. A resolution was passed demanding the 
 suppression of " the feast of folly," as the gay doings 
 at Court were called, and the immediate expulsion of 
 the foreign minstrels and their hilarious company. 
 
 Here was a fix for the easy-going King, dubbed 
 by many " Vlndolente" the Indolent, between the 
 devil and the deep sea. The Queen point-blank 
 refused to say good-bye to her devotes, and her 
 wiles prevailed to retain many a merry lover at her 
 Court, for the stoutest will of man yields to the 
 witchery of beauty in every rank of life ! 
 
 If Queen Yolanda was a "gay woman," as his- 
 torians have called her, and no class of men are 
 anything like so mendacious, she was not the " fast " 
 woman some of them have maliciously styled her. 
 No, she was a loving spouse and a devoted mother. 
 Perhaps, could she have chosen, she would have 
 brought forth a boy ; but, still, every mother loves her 
 child regardless of sex or other considerations. She 
 addressed herself zealously to the rearing of the little
 
 38 REN]6 D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 princess. No sour-visaged hidalgo and no censorious 
 citizen was allowed the entree to the nursery. 
 Minstrels rejoiced at the nativity, and minstrels 
 shared the rocking of the cradle. She was baptized 
 at the old mosque-like cathedral of Sa Zeo, or San 
 Salvador, where the Kings her forbears were all 
 anointed and crowned, with the courtly ceremonial 
 of Holy Church, whilst outside the people sang their 
 well-loved ditties. Quite the favourite was " Nocte 
 
 Buena " 
 
 " La Vergin se fui' in lavar 
 Sui manos Uancas al rio ; 
 El Sol sequedd parado, 
 La Mar perdio su ruido" etc.* 
 
 and many, many other verses. Zaragoza was famous 
 for the splendour of her mystery plays, as many 
 quaint entries in the archives of the archdiocese 
 prove : " Seven sueldos for making up the heads of 
 the ass and the ox for the stable at Bethlehem ; six 
 sueldos for wigs for the prophets ; ten sueldos for 
 gloves for the angels." 
 
 The little Princess was not the only occupant of 
 the royal nursery in Zaragoza ; King Juan's child 
 Juanita greeted her baby companion with glee, but 
 the Queen was not too well pleased that she should 
 be allowed to remain there. Indeed, an arrangement 
 was come to whereby Mahaud's child was delivered 
 over to a governante, and Princess Yolanda was 
 queen of all she saw. Very carefully her training 
 was taken in hand, with due respect to the peccadilloes 
 of the Court ; but her mother saw to it that her 
 
 * " To the rivulet the Virgin sped, 
 Her fair white hands to wash; 
 The wandering Sun stood still o'erhead, 
 The Sea cast up no splash," etc.
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 39 
 
 environment should be youthful, bright, and intelligent. 
 Hardly before the child was out of leading-strings her 
 future was under serious consideration, for the King 
 had no son nor the promise of one by his consort, and 
 Queen Yolanda determined to do all that lay in her 
 power to circumvent the obnoxious clauses of the 
 Salic Law. 
 
 The Princess grew up handsome like her father and 
 bewitching like her mother. She was the pet of the 
 palace and the pride of the people, and everybody 
 prophesied great things for her and Aragon. The 
 most important question was, naturally, betrothal and 
 marriage. The King, easy-going in everything, left 
 this delicate matter to his ambitious, clever Queen, 
 and very soon half the crowns in posse in Europe were 
 laid at her daughter's feet. 
 
 The survey of eligible lads of royal birth was far 
 and wide, but, with the tactful instinct of a ruling 
 native, Queen Yolanda made a very happy choice. 
 At Toulouse, three years before the birth of her little 
 daughter, had been born a royal Prince, the eldest 
 son of her uncle Louis of France, her mother's 
 brother, titular King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem, 
 Duke of Anjou, and Count of Provence. The boy's 
 mother was Countess Marie de Chatillon, the wealthy 
 heiress of the ducal line of Blois-Bretagne. He was 
 the husband-to-be of Princess Yolanda d'Arragona, 
 Louis d' Anjou. King Juan cordially approved the 
 selection of the young Prince : French royal mar- 
 riages were popular in Aragon. An imposing 
 embassy was despatched at once to Angers, with an 
 invitation for the boy to visit the Court of Zaragoza 
 under the charge of his aunt, Queen Yolanda. The 
 King and Queen made the most they could of their
 
 40 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 interesting little visitor. With a view to contingen- 
 cies, Louis was introduced at the session of the Cortes, 
 and the King gave splendid entertainments to the 
 ricoshombres and other members of the Estates in 
 honour of his future son-in-law, the royal fiance' of 
 the soi-disante heiress to the throne. 
 
 This notable visit came to an abrupt and unexpected 
 end upon receipt of the news of the sudden death of 
 King-Duke Louis at the Castle of Bisclin, in La 
 Pouille, on September 20, 1389. His young son, 
 now Louis II., was called home at once. Met at the 
 Languedoc frontier by a kingly escort, the young 
 Sovereign passed on to Aries, and thence to Avignon, 
 where, on October 25, 1389, he was solemnly crowned 
 in the basilica of N6tre Dame des Dons by Pope 
 Clement VII. A stately progress was made to the 
 Court of Charles VI. in Paris, and the youthful King 
 was presented to imperious Queen Isabeau, his 
 aunt by marriage, the proud daughter of Stephen II., 
 Duke of Bavaria, and Princess Thadee Visconti of 
 Milan. 
 
 The chief object of this visit was the formal 
 betrothal of the young King and the Princess 
 Yolanda d'Arragona a ceremony deemed too im- 
 portant for celebration either at Angers or at Aix, in 
 the King's domains. A notable function, in the 
 grand metropolitan cathedral of Notre Dame, was 
 held on, of all days the most suitable, the Feast of 
 the Three Holy Kings, January 6, 1390, whereat 
 assisted all the Princes and Princesses of the House 
 of France, with Prince Ferdinand of Castile and 
 Aragon as proxy for the bride-Princess, and an 
 imposing embassy from King Juan and Queen 
 Yolanda.
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 41 
 
 Back to Angers went, with his mother, Queen- 
 Duchess Marie, the youthful bridegroom-elect, to be 
 safeguarded and trained for his brilliant career. 
 Everybody in Anjou and Provence loved their 
 Duchess. She had won all hearts. Those were 
 prosperous, happy days the days of the gracious 
 Regent's kindly government. 
 
 Early in 1393 King Juan met with a serious 
 accident whilst hunting in the mountains around 
 Tacca, the ancient capital of Aragon. He was, by 
 the way, a famous huntsman, and had gained by his 
 keenness in pursuit of game the title of "El Cazador" 
 " The Sportsman." Mauled by a wolf he had 
 wounded in the chase, he never recovered from the 
 loss of blood and the poison of those unclean fangs. 
 Feeling his end approaching, and anxious about the 
 future of his darling child, he proposed to Queen 
 Marie and the Anjou-Provence Court of Regency 
 that the nuptials of Louis and Yolanda should be 
 celebrated without delay. This he did because he 
 had determined to evade the restrictions of the Salic 
 Law by proclaiming Louis and Yolanda heir and 
 heiress together of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia. 
 
 Queen Yolanda most heartily seconded her con- 
 sort's project, indeed, she it was who had first 
 suggested that line of action, and when, on 
 May 15, the King breathed his last in the castle 
 of his fathers in Zaragoza, she claimed the succession 
 for her son-in-law and daughter. On the day follow- 
 ing the King's death she took the young Princess, 
 barely thirteen years of age, accompanied by the 
 whole Court and a crowd of sympathetic citizens, 
 into the basilica of Sa Zeo, and placed her upon the 
 magnificent and historic silver throne of the Kings
 
 42 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 of Aragon. Bending her knees before her, she 
 kissed the child's hand in homage to her sovereignty, 
 and caused heralds to proclaim her " Yolanda Reina 
 d'Arragona" It was a bold step, but quite in accord 
 with the ruling instinct of the royal house ; more- 
 over, it commanded the suffrages of very many 
 members of the Cortes. 
 
 The Estates of the three realms met in plenary 
 session, and before the deliberations were opened the 
 little " Queen " was presented by her mother, who 
 demanded a unanimous vote in favour of Louis and 
 Yolanda. There were, however, other claimants for 
 the crown, and the Cortes decided to offer it to Dom 
 Martino, the late King's only surviving brother, a 
 next heir-male of the blood, whose consort was Queen 
 Maria of Sicily. The new King treated his widowed 
 sister-in-law and his little niece with the utmost con- 
 sideration. He prevailed upon Queen Yolanda to 
 retain the royal apartments at the castle, for he did 
 not propose to reside there. He only stayed at 
 Zaragoza for his coronation, and returned at once to 
 Palermo. 
 
 The whole energy of the widowed Queen was now 
 devoted to the education of her only child. Her 
 widowhood weighed lightly upon her ; her buoyant, 
 happy nature soon shook off her grief and mourning. 
 She was now perfectly free to cultivate her tastes. If 
 the " little Queen " was not to be Queen of Aragon, 
 she should succeed herself as " Queen of Hearts and 
 Troubadours." Accordingly she moved her residence 
 to Barcelona, the sunny and the gay, and there at 
 once set up a " Court of Love." Catalonia was times 
 out of mind the rival of Provence in romance and 
 minstrelsy ; her marts had quite as many merry
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 43 
 
 troubadours as serious merchants. The corridas de 
 toros bullfights of Barcelona were the most 
 brilliant in Spain, whilst the people were as inde- 
 dependent and as unconventional as they were 
 cultured and industrious. The two Queens very 
 soon became expert aficionadas of the royal sport. 
 
 Queen Yolanda never for a moment lost sight of 
 the future of her daughter, and preparations for her 
 marriage to Louis d'Anjou occupied very much of 
 her busy, merry, useful life. Queens' trousseaux 
 were something more than nine days' wonders ; be- 
 sides, the ambition of the mother-Queen knew no 
 bounds to her daughter's horizon. She must go 
 forth at least as richly clothed and dowered as 
 any of her predecessors. Goldsmiths, glass-blowers, 
 cabinet-makers, saddlers, silk-weavers, and potters, 
 none more accomplished and famous in Europe than 
 the artificers of Barcelona and Valencia, were set to 
 work to fill the immense walnut marriage-chests of 
 the bride-to-be. Her jewels were superb, no richer 
 gold was known than the red gold of Aragon, the 
 royal gems were unique, of Moorish origin, uncut. 
 Years passed quickly along, and Princess Yolanda 
 kept her eighteenth birthday with her mother in 
 Barcelona. She was on the threshold of a new life. 
 
 II. 
 
 One glorious autumn morning in the good year 
 1399, " good " because " the next before a brand-new 
 century," as said the gossips of the time, a gallant 
 cavalcade deployed down the battlemented approach 
 to the grim old castle of Angers. At its head, 
 mounted upon a prancing white Anjou charger, rode
 
 44 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 as comely a young knight as ever hoisted pennoned 
 lance to stirrup-lock. He was dressed in semi- 
 armour, the armour of the " Lists." His errand was 
 not warlike, for knotted in his harness were Cupid's 
 love-ribbons : he was a royal bridegroom-elect speed- 
 ing off to bring gaily home from distant Aragon his 
 fair betrothed. He had been knighted ten years 
 before by his uncle, Charles VI., at his coronation in 
 Notre Dame in Paris, at which solemnity he had, 
 a slim lad of twelve, held proudly the stirrup of the 
 Sovereign. 
 
 Louis II. d'Anjou, born at the Castle of Toulouse 
 on October 7, 1377, succeeded his father, Louis I., in 
 1389, and, like him, bore many titles of sovereignty : 
 King of Naples, Sicily, and Jerusalem ; Duke of 
 Anjou, Calabria, Touraine, and Pouille ; Grand Peer 
 of France ; Prince of Capua ; Count of Provence, 
 Maine, Forcalquier, and Piemont ; Lord of Mont- 
 pellier ; and Governor of Languedoc and Guienne. 
 His grandfather was the brave but unfortunate King 
 John " the Good " of France ; his grandmother, the 
 beautiful but sorrowful Queen Bonne of Luxembourg 
 and Bohemia. 
 
 The boy-King carrouselled through the lumbering 
 gates of Angers that brilliant October morning 
 between two trusty knights of his household, loyal 
 lieges of their late King now devoted to the service 
 of the son. As valiant in deeds of war as discreet in 
 affairs of State were Raymond d'Agout and Jehan de 
 Morien. All three bore the proud cognizance of 
 Sicily-Anjou, the golden flying eagle, and their 
 silken bannerets were sewn with the white lilies of 
 the royal house of France. A goodly retinue of 
 mounted men followed the young King, guarding the
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 45 
 
 person and the costly bridal gifts which accompanied 
 the royal lover's cortege. 
 
 Queen-Duchess Marie, his mother, had kept as 
 Regent unweariedly her long ten years' watch, not 
 only over the business of the State, but also over the 
 passions and the actions of her lusty, well-grown son. 
 Many a maid, royal, noble, and simple, had 
 attracted the comely youth's regard, and had flushed 
 her face and his. Women and girls of his time were, 
 as an appreciative chronicler has noted, "f ranches, 
 desinter esses, capable d'amours, epidementes, elles 
 restent nawe tres longtemps, parceque les vices 
 etrangeres riont point penetres dans les families."* 
 Louis had responded affectionately and loyally to 
 his mother's solicitude ; he was famed as the 
 St. Sebastian of his time, whose chastity and good 
 report had no sharp shaft of scandal pierced. 
 
 The royal cavalcade pranced its way warily over 
 the wide-rolling plains and across the gently cresting 
 hill-country of Central France, making for the Spanish 
 frontier. The whole of that smiling land was ravaged 
 by foreign foes and overrun by native ne'er-do-wells, 
 but, happily, no thrilling adventures have been 
 recorded of that lengthy progress. Near upon the 
 eve of St. Luke, King Louis II. and his suite were 
 cordially welcomed in his royal castle of Montpellier, 
 which the two mother-Queens, Marie and Yolanda, 
 had indicated as the trysting-place. There the royal 
 Court was established, whilst d'Agout and de 
 Morien were despatched, with a lordly following, to 
 Perpignan and across the frontier of Aragon to greet, 
 
 * "Natural, open-hearted, amorous, and accessible, they are 
 always unspoiled because odious foreign manners have never marred 
 their home."
 
 46 
 
 at the Castle of Gerona, the two Yolandas who were 
 already on their way from Barcelona and thence 
 escort them to their Sovereign's presence. 
 
 The young " Queen " was quite as anxious to 
 meet her affianced husband as he was to embrace 
 her, and no undue delay hindered the resumption of 
 the queenly progress. It was a notable cortege, for 
 Queen Yolanda, holding as she did tenaciously that 
 her daughter was, at least, titular Queen of Aragon, 
 Catalonia, and Valencia, travelled in extravagant 
 royal state. Besides the great chariot, with its 
 tapestries and furniture of richest Hispano-Moorish 
 origin, were others almost as sumptuous for the lords 
 and ladies of the suite. All these had their guards 
 of honour trusty veterans of King Juan's time, and 
 devoted to their " Queen." Great tumbrils, laden 
 with costly products of Zaragoza, Barcelona, and 
 Valencia, the royal trousseau and magnificent offer- 
 ings for King Louis and his widowed mother, 
 accompanied by well-mounted cavalry, rolled heavily 
 along the ancient Roman road to France. 
 
 The whole of Languedoc agreed to pay honour to 
 the royal travellers, and they revelled in the floral 
 games and fStes galants offered by every town and 
 castle by the way. From Toulouse, the birthplace of 
 the bridegroom-elect, came quite appropriately a 
 phalanx of maintaineurs to Montpellier to recite and 
 sing poems and melodies of the "Gay a Ciencia." The 
 green rolling hills of Languedoc gave back in sweetly 
 echoing refrains the tuneful music of the shell-sown 
 shores of the rolling sea, the sun-kissed Mediter- 
 ranean : all sang the " Loves of Louis and Yolanda." 
 
 There is a quaint and suggestive story anent the 
 meeting of the august young couple which calls to
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 47 
 
 mind the adventures of King Juan at the Court of 
 Bar-le-Duc. The young King had timely warning 
 of the approach of his royal bride-elect, and, hastily 
 donning the guise of a simple knight, he mingled in 
 the throng of enthusiastic citizens, unrecognized, at 
 the entrance of the town. Both Queens leaned for- 
 ward in their chariot to acknowledge the loyal greet- 
 ings ; and the bride, arrayed in golden tissue of 
 Zaragoza, and wearing Anjou lilies in her hair, 
 smiled and laughed and clapped her hands in ecstasy, 
 the animation adding immensely to her charms of 
 face and figure. King Louis was enraptured, and, 
 falling head over ears in love, approached the royal 
 carriage ; and kneeling on his berretta, he seized the 
 youthful Queen's white, shapely hand, and implanted 
 thereupon one ardent kiss. The impact sent the hot 
 blood coursing through his veins, and it was as much 
 as his esquire could do to drag his master back and 
 hurry him to the palace in time to change his 
 costume and receive his royal guests with courtly 
 etiquette. The young Queen was conscious of this 
 outburst of love ; she, too, coloured, and tried in vain 
 to penetrate the disguise of her impassioned lover. 
 The mother-Queen instinctively guessed who he was, 
 and quietly remarked : " You will meet your gallant 
 knight again, and soon and no mistake." 
 
 Montpellier was all too small to accommodate such 
 a numerous and such a distinguished company, so 
 King Louis gave his royal visitors barely time to 
 recover from the fatigues of the long coach-ride out 
 of Spain when he hurried on the royal train to Aries, 
 in Provence. Queen-Duchess Marie was already 
 waiting at the great Archiepiscopal Palace to give the 
 
 royal visitors a cordial greeting. After having waved 
 
 4
 
 48 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 her son adieu from the boudoir- balcony of the Castle 
 of Angers, she, too, set out for the south. She had 
 chosen Aries for the royal nuptials, as being the 
 capital of the third great kingdom of Europe and the 
 most considerable city in her son's dominions. 
 
 No better choice could have been made from a 
 psychological point of view, for have not the Arlesi- 
 ennes been noted for all time for their perfect figures, 
 Venus di Milo was one of them, their graceful 
 carriage, and surpassingly good looks ? They, with 
 their menfolk, animated and merry, have always eaten 
 well and well drunk. The delicious pink St. Peray 
 is a more generous wine than all the vintages of 
 Champagne. Physical charms andjfm bouquets were 
 ever incentives to love and pleasure, and Mars of 
 Aragon yielded up his arms to Venus of Aries. 
 Aries la belle Grecque aux yeux Sarrazines ! 
 Perhaps the becoming, close-fitting black velvet 
 chapelles, or bonnets, and the diaphanous white 
 gauze veils, did much to express la grdce fiere aux 
 femmes ! 
 
 It was indeed a gorgeous function at which the 
 royal couple were united in the bonds of matrimony, 
 that morrow of All Saints, 1399. The ancient 
 basilica of St. Trophimus was one vast nave, no 
 choir, that the royal brothers Louis and Rene built 
 a generation later, but it was too circumscribed for 
 the marriage ritual ; consequently, under a gold and 
 crimson awning, slung on ships' masts beyond the 
 deeply recessed chief portal, with its weird sculptures, 
 the clergy took up their station to await the bridal 
 pageant. The Cardinal-Archbishop, Nicholas de 
 Brancas, joined the two young hands in wedlock, and 
 Cardinal Adreano Savernelli, the Papal Legate, gave
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 49 
 
 the blessing of Peter, whilst the two mother-Queens 
 looked on approvingly. 
 
 The royal bride, in white, of course, had an over- 
 kirtle, or train, of gemmed silver tissue a thing of 
 wonderment and beauty worn by her royal mother, 
 and her mother, Marie de France, before her, and 
 coming from the Greco - Flemish trousseau of the 
 famous Countess lolande. Her abundant brown- 
 black hair was plaited in two thick ropes, with pearls 
 and silver lace reaching far below the jewelled golden 
 cincture that encompassed her well - formed bust. 
 Upon her thinly covered bosom reposed the kingly 
 medallion of her father, King Juan, with its massive 
 golden chain of Estate, the emblem of her sovereign 
 rank. Upon her finger she wore the simple ruby ring 
 of betrothal, now to be exchanged for the plain 
 golden hoop of marriage. 
 
 " Yolande is one of the most lovely creatures any- 
 body could imagine." So wrote grim old Juvenal 
 des Ursines, the chatty chronicler of Courts. She 
 brought to her royal spouse a rich dowry much of 
 the private wealth of her father and many art 
 treasures, among them great lustred dishes and vases 
 of Hispano-Moorish potters' work, with the royal 
 arms and cipher thereon. Four baronies, too, passed 
 to the Sicily- Anjou crown : Lunel in Languedoc 
 famed for vintages of sweet muscatel wines Berre, 
 Martignes, and Istres, all bordering the salt ]5tang 
 de Berre, in Provence, each a Venice in miniature, 
 and rich in salt, salt-dues, and works. The royal 
 bride's splendid marriage-chests were packed full of 
 costly products of King Juan's kingdoms : table 
 services in gold from Zaragoza and finely -cut gems ; 
 delicate glass arruxiados, or scent-sprinklers, and
 
 50 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 crystal tazzas from Barcelona more famous than 
 Murano ; great brazen vessels from Valencia and 
 richly-woven textiles. 
 
 The same veracious historian has painted a picture 
 in words of the youthful Yolande. " Tall," he says, 
 " slim, erect, well proportioned in her frame, her 
 features of a Spanish cast, dark lustrous hair, the 
 Queen-Duchess has an intrepid heart and an elevated 
 spirit, which give animation and distinction to her 
 charming personality. She is remarkable for decision, 
 and commands obedience by her authoritative 
 manner." 
 
 The Court did not tarry long at Aries, for, in 
 spite of the beauty of the women and the gallantry 
 of the men and its other notable attractions, it was, 
 after all, somewhat of a dull, unhealthy place. A 
 move was accordingly made, before, indeed, the 
 festivities were quite exhausted, to the comfortable 
 and roomy manoir of Tarascon, a very favourite 
 country residence of all the Provence Princes. The 
 gardens were famous, and laid out in the Italian 
 manner, and the extensive park and fresh-water lakes 
 were well stocked with game and fish. The fttes 
 galants of Louis XV. and " La Pompadour " here 
 had their model. The bridal couple, with their 
 guests and retainers, often as not in the guise of 
 shepherds and shepherdesses, thus kept there state 
 for three merry months, until the warmer spring 
 weather hurried them off to Angers, in the north. 
 
 The pretty legend of St. Martha of Bethany 
 appealed to the young Queen - Duchess. In the 
 crypt of the principal church of Tarascon is the tomb 
 of the saint, and on the walls is her story sculptured. 
 Once upon a time a deadly dragon, called by the
 
 FAVOURITE RECREATIONS 
 I. A DIGNIFIED MUSIC PARTY. 2. HAND-BALL AND CHESS 
 
 Both from Miniatures in MS., Fourteenth Century, " Valeur Maxime " 
 British Museum 
 
 To face page 50
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 51 
 
 fearful countryfolk " Tarasque," dwelt in a hollow 
 cave by the Rhone shore, and fed on human flesh. 
 News of the devastation wrought by the monster 
 reached the ears of Lazarus and his sisters at Mar- 
 seilles, and St. Martha took upon herself to subdue 
 the beast. With nothing in her hand but a piece of 
 the true Cross of Christ and her silken girdle of many 
 ells in length, she sought out the deadly dragon in 
 his lair. Casting around his loathsome body her 
 light cincture, she enabled her companions to slay 
 him. The girdle of St. Martha became the mascot 
 of all the Tarasconnais, and everybody wore a goodly 
 belt or bodice d la Marthe. Such a girdle, in cloth 
 of gold and tasselled, was offered to the young bride 
 by the loyal townsfolk. 
 
 The state entry of the Sovereigns into Angers, 
 the major capital of the King-Duke's dominions, 
 was just such another pageant as that which greeted 
 Queen Isabeau of Bavaria in Paris in the summer of 
 1385. From ancient days Angers had been a place 
 of note the Andegavi of Gallo-Roman times, a 
 municipium and a castrum combined. In the 
 Carlovingian era the Counts then Dukes of the 
 Angevines, founders of the great Capet family, 
 and their vigorous consorts nursed stalwart sons, who 
 were the superiors of their neighbour rulers in Frank- 
 land. From Geoffrey Plantagenet, titular King of 
 Jerusalem, sprang our English Kings. Louis IX., 
 St. Louis of blessed memory, bestowed the duchy of 
 Anjou upon his brother John with the title of King 
 of the Two Sicilies ; hence came the sovereign titles 
 of Louis II. and Yolande. 
 
 The Castle of Angers in the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries was one of the most imposing in
 
 52 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 France. Flanked by eighteen great donjon towers, 
 shaped like dice-boxes, it had the aspect of a prison 
 rather than of a palace. The royal apartments were 
 between two great bastions, Le Tour du Moulin and 
 Le Tour du Diable. The drawbridge spanned the 
 deep, wide moat to the esplanade called Le Pont du 
 Monde ; beneath were dark dungeons and odious 
 oubliettes. To honour their King and Queen, the 
 castle household hung great swaying lengths of scarlet 
 " noble cloth," newly purchased from the Florentine 
 merchants of the " Calimala," to cover up the black 
 slate-stone courses of the masonry of Le Diable, whilst 
 they concealed the rough masonry of Le Moulin by 
 strips of gorgeous yellow canvas of Cholet d'Anjou. 
 These were the heraldic colours of Aragon. All the 
 gloomy slate-fronted houses of the city, " Black 
 Angers " it was called, were decorated similarly, 
 and gay Flemish carpets and showy skins of beasts 
 were flaunted from the windows. The citizens kept 
 holiday with bunches of greenery and early spring 
 flowers in their hands to cast at their new liege Lady. 
 Queen Yolande waved her gloved hand, a novelty 
 in demure Angers, in friendly response to the 
 plaudits of the throngs, and refused no kiss of 
 bearded mouth or cherry lips thereon as she rode 
 on happily by the side of her royal spouse. At 
 St. Maurice, the noble cathedral, with its new and 
 glorious coloured windows, the royal cortege halted 
 whilst Te Deum was sung, and the bridal pair were 
 sprinkled with holy water and censed. Another 
 " Station " was made where the ascent to the castle 
 began, for there pious loyal folk had prepared the 
 mystery -spectacles of the " Resurrection of Christ " 
 with " His Appearance to His Virgin Mother." The
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 53 
 
 Saviour's features, by a typical but strange conceit, 
 were those of the King-Duke, St. Mary's those of 
 the royal bride ! 
 
 The banquetings and junketings were scenes of 
 deep amazement to the new Queen. In Aragon and 
 Barcelona people ate and drank delicately, their 
 menus were CL la Grecque, but in cold and phleg- 
 matic Anjou great hunks of beef and great mugs of 
 sack, quite a la Remain, were de rigueur. An 
 old kitchen reporter of Angers records the daily fare 
 at the castle : " One whole ox, two calves, three sheep, 
 three pigs, twelve fowls." The only artistic confec- 
 tion was " hippocras, seasoned with cloves and cinna- 
 mon." Pepper, ginger, rosemary, mint, and thyme, 
 were served as " delicacies." Another harsh note on 
 the fitness of things which struck the royal bride as 
 extraordinary was the loud laughter indulged in by 
 the gentlemen of the Court and their coarse jests ; le 
 rire franqais had nothing of the mellowed merriment 
 of the " Gaya Ciencia." 
 
 Alas ! the rejoicings and the feastings of the 
 Angevines and their guests were suddenly arrested, 
 and the enthusiastic shouts of welcome were drowned 
 by harsh hammerings of armourers and raucous mili- 
 tary commands. The King-Duke was summoned to 
 take his position among the captains of France, in 
 battle order, in face of the foreign foe, and the Queen- 
 Duchess, young and inexperienced as she was, assumed 
 the government of Angers and the care of the citizens. 
 All France was ravaged by the English, and State 
 after State fell before their onslaught. Yolande 
 addressed herself to the strengthening of the defences 
 of the castle and the city. Imitating the tact and 
 prudence of Silvestro and Giovanni de' Medici at
 
 54 REN;6 D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Florence, she ordered the levying of a poll-tax, rated 
 upon the variations of land-tenure and the varying 
 incomes of the craftsmen : a tenth of all rateable 
 property, shrewdly spread over three years, with a 
 credit for immediate needs, was cordially yielded by 
 the Angevines. 
 
 Probably this impost was made upon the advice of 
 worthy councillors, but, all the same, the manner in 
 which the young chdtelaine Lieutenant-General in 
 person superintended its operation was an eloquent 
 testimony to her force of character and her true 
 patriotism. She disposed of many personal belong- 
 ings, and submitted to many acts of self-denial, an 
 example quickly followed by great and small. She 
 sent also to Zaragoza for master-armourers to refurbish 
 old and temper new weapons of various sorts. Some 
 of these craftsmen she ordered to give instruction to 
 native workers ; so very shortly her armoury was 
 efficient, not alone for home defence, but for the re- 
 arming of the King's forces in the field. 
 
 Not content with these warlike preparations, 
 Queen Yolande gave time and money for the distrac- 
 tion and amusement of her people in their time of 
 stress. Castle ftes, town sports, and church 
 mystery plays, were bravely carried through. The 
 Queen herself was everywhere now mounted for 
 the chase, now tending sick folks, now at public 
 prayers. Born daughter of a grand race, and full of 
 dignity, she had inherited her mother's happy dis- 
 position. She charmed everyone in town and country, 
 and endeared herself to her loving subjects by many a 
 homely trait. 
 
 A pretty tale has been preserved about her whilst 
 King Louis was standing shoulder to shoulder with
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 55 
 
 Charles VI. and his other peers of France. One 
 afternoon, according to her wont when not hindered 
 by affairs of State or claims of charity, she sallied 
 forth to the royal park of L'Vien, her dogs in leash. 
 Let loose, they put up a rabbit, which made directly 
 for their royal mistress, and sought refuge in the skirt 
 of her green velvet hunting-kirtle. Reaching down 
 her hand, she fondled the little trembling creature, 
 when, to her immense surprise, she discovered upon 
 its neck a faded ribbon, with a medallion bearing an 
 image of the Virgin. The incident occurred in a 
 woody dell within the ruins of a half-buried hermit's 
 cell. Yolande did not for a moment hesitate in her 
 interpretation of the incident. She noted the date, 
 February 2, the Feast of the Purification, and 
 she set to work to restore the holy house in honour 
 of St. Mary. Upon the portal, by her command, 
 was sculptured the charming episode, with the 
 legend : " Ndtre Dame de Sousterre, ramie et la 
 protectrice des dmes en danger."* 
 
 The same year, 1401, found Louis d'Anjou and 
 Yolande upon their way to Paris, where she, as 
 Queen of Jerusalem, Naples, Sicily, and Aragon, 
 made her state entry at the Court of Charles VI. 
 and Isabeau. Doubtless the young Queen was struck 
 with Isabeau's extraordinary freedom of manner. 
 Her own training, both at Zaragoza and Barcelona, 
 in the rigid conventions of a semi-Moorish Court, had 
 taught her restraint and aloofness. The dress of the 
 French Queen astonished her, for in Aragon and 
 Catalonia physical charms were enhanced by semi- 
 concealment, whereas Isabeau exposed her painted 
 
 * " Our Laxly of the Deep Cell, the friend and protectress of souls 
 in danger."
 
 56 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 arms, shoulders, and her breast, right down to her 
 cincture ; whilst her low waist at the back was 
 pinched by a cotte hardie, so that the bust was 
 enlarged to the degree of distortion : une taille de 
 gudpe " wasp-like " indeed ! The etiquette of the 
 Court of her father, as well as that of Anjou, kept 
 men out of the bedchambers of the fair, but Isabeau, 
 decolletee and en deshabillee, was the centre of a crowd 
 of flatterers and fawners at her daily se lever. The 
 dressing-room of Isabeau was the factory of gossip 
 and intrigue. Perhaps she gave utterance to the 
 aphorism : 
 
 " Ostez lefard et le vice, 
 V(ws luy ostez I'dme et le corps" * 
 
 On her side Queen Yolande caused a sensation 
 among the French courtiers. No one had ever seen 
 such a wealth of gold and jewels as that which 
 adorned the winsome Spanish Queen. In spite of 
 their great dissimilarity in age, appearance, character, 
 and manner, the two Queens became fast friends, and 
 Yolande was permitted to weld the intimacy into a 
 permanent relationship at the fortunate accouchement 
 of Isabeau. With admirable simplicity and charm 
 she assumed the charge of the royal infant, sponsored 
 it, and gave it her own name added to Catherine. 
 Born to be the consort of Henry V. of England, the 
 victor of Azincourt, Catherine de Valois served as the 
 gracious hostage and pledge of a greatly-longed-for 
 peace. 
 
 Queen Yolande was, however, approaching her own 
 accouchement, and Louis, judging that a fortified 
 castle was not a desirable locality for such an 
 
 * " Take away fashion and vice, 
 
 And you expose both soul and body."
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 57 
 
 auspicious event, hurried his consort and her boudoir 
 entourage off to Toulouse, the gay capital of Lan- 
 guedoc Toulouse of the Troubadours. There, upon 
 September 25, 1403, within the palace, Yolande 
 brought forth her firstborn, her royal husband's son 
 and heir. Louis the bonny boy was named by the 
 Archbishop at the font of St. Etienne's Cathedral. 
 Great was the joy over all the harvest-fields and 
 vineyards of Provence and Languedoc. Perhaps the 
 good folk of Aix felt themselves a little slighted. 
 Why was not the happy birth planned for their 
 capital ? they asked. Nevertheless, they sent a 
 goodly tribute of 100,000 gold florins to the cradle 
 of the little Prince, and saluted him as " Vicomte 
 d'Aix." 
 
 The year 1404 had seasons of peculiar sorrow for 
 the Angevine Court, followed, happily, by joyous 
 days. On May 1 9 the King-Duke's brother, Charles, 
 Duke of Maine and Count of Guise, died suddenly at 
 Angers, the " Black Death " they called his malady, 
 amid universal regret. He had been content to 
 play a subordinate role in the affairs of State a man 
 more addicted to scholarly pursuits than political 
 activities. He had, however, proved himself the son 
 of a good mother and the stay of his young sister-in- 
 law from Aragon during her spouse's absence from 
 his own dominions. The Duke left one only child 
 a boy who succeeded him as Charles II. of Maine. 
 Queen-Duchess Marie felt her dear son's untimely 
 death acutely, and, notwithstanding the loving care 
 of her devoted daughter-in-law, she never recovered 
 from the prostration of her grief. Within a fort- 
 night of the obsequies of her son, the feet of those 
 who had so sorrowfully borne his body forth to
 
 58 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 burial were treading the same mournful path, tenderly 
 bearing her own funeral casket. 
 
 Ever since her happy marriage to Louis I. in 
 1360, Marie de Chatillon-Blois had borne nobly her 
 part as the worthy helpmeet of her spouse and the 
 devoted mother of his children. For ten years after 
 his death her gentle presence and wise counsels had 
 directed the affairs of the House of Sicily- Anjou, and 
 smoothed away all difficulties from the path of her 
 son. She left immense wealth, which, added to the 
 goodly fortune of Louis I., made her son the richest 
 Sovereign in all France. It was said at the time 
 that she was worth " more than twenty- two millions 
 of livres." " In spite of reputed avarice and hoard- 
 ing," said a not too friendly historian, " she was a 
 sapient ruler, moderate and firm, and she left Anjou 
 the better for a good example." " Sachiez" wrote 
 Bourdigne of her, " que cestoit une dame de godt 
 faiet, et de moult grant ponchas, car point ne dormoit 
 en poursuivant ses besoignes." 
 
 These dark clouds hung heavily over Louis II. and 
 Yolande, but the cause of their passing was a 
 signal of enthusiastic joy. On October 14 a little 
 baby-girl was born. Mary, the " Mother of Sorrows," 
 heard the prayer of the stricken Royal Family, and 
 sent a new Mary to fill the place of the lamented 
 Duchess ; for the child was named Marie simply, 
 and was offered to St. Mary for her own. 
 
 Troubles, however, were gathering thickly all over 
 the devoted land of France. The enemy in the gate, 
 ever victorious, plundered and pauperized every State 
 in turn, so that the country was " like a sheep bleat- 
 ing helplessly before her shearers." Tax-gatherers and 
 oppressors of mankind beggared the poor and feeble,
 
 YOLANDA D 1 ARRAGONA 59 
 
 and spoiled the rich and brave. " Sa de T argent ? 
 Set, de V argent f" " Where's your money ?" was the 
 desolating cry which the rough cailloux of the village 
 pave tossed through the draughty doorways of 
 peasant cottages, and the smooth courtyards echoed 
 through the mullioned windows of seigneurs' castles. 
 The gatherings, in spite of rape and rapine, fell far 
 short of the requirements of these times of stress, and 
 a general appeal was made to Queens and chatelaines 
 to exercise their charms in staying the hands of 
 ravishers. The famous answer of Queen Isabeau 
 was that, alas ! of Queen Yolande, though more 
 sympathetically expressed : " Je suis une povre voix 
 criant dans ce royaume, desireuse de paix et du bien 
 de tons /" * 
 
 This aptly expressed the weary sense of disaster 
 which saw that fateful year expire, but for the King 
 and Queen of Sicily- Anjou-Provence a gleam of the 
 brightness of Epiphany fell athwart their marital 
 couch. Yolande was for the third time a mother, 
 and her child was a boy. Born on January 6, 1408, 
 in a crenellated tower of the castle gateway of Angers, 
 his mother had to bear the anxiety and the vigil all 
 alone, for Louis II. was in Italy fighting for his own. 
 
 As before the birth of the Princess Marie deva- 
 tions had been addressed to the Mother of God and to 
 the saints for a favourable carriage, now, in view of 
 the troubles of the land, special petitions were 
 addressed to the most popular saint of Anjou, St. 
 Renatus, that the new deliverance might presage a 
 new birth of hope for France, and that the holy one, 
 the patron of child-bearing mothers who sought 
 
 * "I am a poor voice crying helplessly in this wretched kingdom, 
 seeking only peace and the good of all."
 
 60 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 male heirs, might supplicate at the throne of heaven 
 for a baby -boy. 
 
 Baptized in the Cathedral of St. Maurice eight 
 days after birth, the little Prince had for sponsors no 
 foreign potentates, but men of good renown and sub- 
 stance in Anjou : Pierre, Abbe de St. Aubin ; Jean, 
 Seigneur de 1'Aigle ; Guillaume, Chevalier des 
 Roches ; and Mathilde, Abbee de N6tre Dame 
 d' Angers. The Queen by proxy named her child 
 " Rene' reconnaissance a Messire St. Renatus" 
 
 The Queen folded her little infant to her breast, 
 but after weaning him she gave him over to the 
 care of a faithful nurse, one Theophaine la Magine of 
 Saumur, who came to love him, and he her, most 
 tenderly. 
 
 Among the documens historiques of Anjou are 
 Les Comptes de Roi Rene notices of public works 
 carried out in various parts of the royal - ducal 
 dominions. Many of these enterprises were under- 
 taken at the direct instance of Queen Yolande, and 
 they throw a strong light upon her character as a 
 loyal spouse and sapient ruler. For example, on 
 July 26, 1408, a marche, or contract, was made 
 between the Queen's Council and one Julien Guillot, 
 a master-builder, for restating the roof of the living 
 apartments and the towers of the Castle of Angers, 
 and also of various public buildings in the city, and 
 the manor-houses of Diex-Aye and de la Roche au 
 Due, at an upset price of fifty-five livres tournois 
 (standard gold coins), " to be paid when the work is 
 complete, with twenty more as deposit." 
 
 Again, under date October 25, 1410, another 
 marchJ was signed, whereby " Jean Dueceux and 
 Jean Butort, master-carpenters of Angers, agree to

 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 61 
 
 strengthen the woodwork of the castle chapel and 
 replace worn-out corbels. All to be finished against 
 the Feast of the Magdalene, at a total cost of two 
 hundred livres tournois, according to the order of 
 Queen Yolande and her Council." King Louis had 
 in 1403 assigned a benefaction of twenty-five gold 
 livres to the ancient chapel of St. John Baptist, 
 to be paid yearly for ever, as a thank-offering for the 
 birth of Princess Marie. 
 
 These documens are full of such notices, and they 
 also record events of festive interest. One such 
 incident had a most ludicrous denouement : " On the 
 twenty - seventh of June, 1409, Messire Yovunet 
 Coyrant, Superintendent of the Castle of Angers, paid 
 a visit of inspection, and he complained that on 
 Sunday, June 23rd of this month, being within the 
 said castle, where a merry company was occupied 
 with games and drolleries before Queen Yolande and 
 the Court, he stood for a time to watch the fun. 
 Quite unknown to him, the tails of his new long coat, 
 which had cost him ten solz [half a livre], were cut off 
 by some miscreant or other, whereby he became an 
 object of derision ! For this insult he claimed satis- 
 faction, and named as his go-betweens Guye Buy- 
 neart and Jehan Guoynie." Whether these practical 
 jokers were inspired by the Queen we know not, but 
 this trifling record shows that she was not entirely 
 absorbed by the heavy responsibilities of her rank as 
 Lieutenant-General of her consort, but found time to 
 indulge in some of the gaieties which had been the 
 joy of her mother and herself in Aragon, and which 
 had graced her own nuptials and entry into Anjou 
 and Provence. 
 
 Again the mirthful pursuits of the Court and
 
 country were stayed by the stringency of the times. 
 Sedition spread its baneful influence all over Provence 
 and Languedoc what time King Louis was still far 
 away fighting in Italy. With courage, fraught with 
 love and assurance, she set off to the distant province, 
 taking with her, not only an escort of doughty war- 
 lords, but also her own tender nurslings Louis, 
 Marie, and Rend. With her children was also the 
 young Princess Catherine, daughter of Jean " sans 
 Peur," the Duke of Burgundy, whose betrothal to 
 her eldest son Louis was imminent. Through his 
 children her appeal would first be made to her 
 husband's disaffected subjects. Should that fail, then 
 she could don cuirass and casque and head her royal 
 troops to worst them. With little Vicomte d'Aix 
 upon her saddle-lap, she passed through village, town, 
 and city, receiving enthusiastic plaudits everywhere ; 
 she was " Madame la Nostre Royne !" The head of 
 the rebellion was scotched, and from Aix the intrepid 
 Queen despatched messengers to the King to tell of 
 her success, and to say that she was ready to embark 
 at once to his assistance. 
 
 This heroic offer was made possible by the death 
 of King Martin of Aragon in 1410, who bequeathed 
 to his niece the whole of his . private fortune. This 
 event, however, added to the Queen's anxieties, for 
 she was not the sort of woman to allow the royal 
 succession to pass for ever unchallenged. La Justicia 
 Mayor of the State of Aragon assembled at the 
 ancient royal castle of Alcaniz to receive the names 
 and to adjudicate the claims of candidates for the 
 vacant throne. Yolande, still styling herself " Queen 
 of Aragon," was represented by Louis, Duke of 
 Bourbon, and Antoine, Count of Vend6me. Her
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 63 
 
 claim was not immediately for herself, but for her 
 son Louis. Two years were spent in acrimonious 
 deliberations, butthe provisions of the Salic Law 
 penalized the female descent, and consequently the 
 next male heir, Prince Ferdinand of Castile, placed 
 the crown of Aragon upon his head as well as that 
 of Castile. Queen Yolande had to be content with 
 her protest and her titular sovereignty. 
 
 Back at Angers in 1413, the Queen conceived a 
 notable future for her nine - years - old daughter, 
 Marie. Of the six sons of Charles VI. of France 
 and Isabeau, only one survived, the fifth - born, 
 Charles. The imperious Bavarian Queen had little 
 or none of Queen Yolande's fondness for her 
 offspring ; they were born, alas ! put out to nurse, 
 forgotten, and neglected so they died. Upon the 
 little Prince the cherished jewel of his father 
 Queen Yolande fixed her motherly regard. He was 
 a year older than her Marie, and a piteous little 
 object bereft of a mother's love and solicitude. 
 Yolande's warm heart yearned towards the lonely 
 child ; she would mother him, she would train him, 
 and then she would marry him to Marie this was 
 the Queen's dream. 
 
 With that promptitude which marked all her 
 well-considered actions, Queen Yolande set about 
 the realization of her castle in the air. She again 
 packed up herself, her children, and her Court, and 
 took up her abode in the Chateau de Mehun-sur- 
 Yevre, near Bourges, a favourite residence of the 
 French Court. Among her little ones was a baby- 
 girl, no more than six months old Yolande, her 
 own name-child. She gave as her reason for so 
 strange a line of conduct her wish for greater facilities
 
 64 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 in the education of her children. Charles VI. offered 
 no objection to the residence of such a worthy mother 
 and heroine wife in his own neighbourhood ; indeed, 
 he regarded her advent with considerable pleasure 
 and satisfaction. Yolande's influence for good would 
 outweigh Isabeau's for evil ; besides, she would be 
 a trusty counsellor. 
 
 Queen Yolande had not been very long established 
 at Mehun before she put in a plea on behalf of the 
 poor little heir to the throne of France. Charles 
 was thankful, he was delighted, and at once gave 
 into her sole charge, untrammelled in any way, his 
 dear little son, to share the home care and the 
 studies of his two young cousins, Louis and Rene' 
 d'Anjou. Having obtained the charge of the little 
 Count de Ponthieu, Queen Yolande once more went 
 home to Angers, by no means embarrassed by the 
 fact that she had assumed the training of two Kings, 
 Louis and Charles, with Rene' a possible King of 
 Aragon besides. 
 
 For two years Charles passed for Yolande's son, 
 the playmate and boy -lover of her sweet Marie. All 
 his inspirations and his examples he took from her 
 and them at last a happy boy, with a hopeful 
 future. The Queen allowed that future no halting 
 steps ; Charles and Marie should be betrothed, and 
 Mary should be Queen of France ! Yolande broached 
 the subject to King Charles, and at once gained 
 his cordial consent, but tactfully she left to him the 
 furthering of the project. Upon December 18, 1415, 
 Charles of France and Marie of Sicily -Anjou were 
 privately affianced in the Royal Chapel of the Castle 
 of Bourges. France was in the throes of revolution 
 and dissolution ; the terrible defeat at Azincourt, on
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 65 
 
 October 24 that same year, had paralyzed the 
 military power of the French States, and was the 
 ultimate cause of King Charles's insanity. For 
 seven years he became a fugitive, not only bereft 
 of reason, but of all resources. Queen Isabeau did 
 nothing to relieve the tension, but maintained her 
 irreconcilable position, and continued her ill-living. 
 The King's only brother, the lamented Duke of 
 Orleans, had been assassinated eight years before, 
 and there appeared to be no one capable of steering 
 the ship of State into a calm haven. 
 
 This was Queen Yolande's opportunity, and she 
 rose to its height majestically. She was already 
 guardian of the Dauphin, who after his espousal 
 returned with his child-bride to Angers. Now she 
 assumed the general direction of affairs, and became 
 virtually Regent of France and the arbiter of her 
 destiny. She personally approached the English 
 King, and obtained from him favourable terms of 
 peace, which assured tranquillity and regeneration for 
 France. She it was who proposed to Henry his 
 alliance with her young goddaughter, Catherine, 
 the youngest child of Charles VI. and Isabeau, then 
 fourteen years of age. He was twenty-eight, and 
 the marriage was consummated five years later, 
 although Henry's terms included the payment of the 
 arrears of the ransom of King John the " Good," the 
 prisoner of Poitiers, a sum of 2,000,000 crowns. 
 
 The Queen's judgment and resourcefulness emin- 
 ently merited the grudging encomium of the wife of 
 her husband's fiercest rival, the Duchess of Bur- 
 gundy. " I am always glad," she said, " when it is 
 a good woman who governs, for then all good men 
 follow her !"
 
 66 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 All this time, a time fraught with infinite issues, 
 King Louis II. of Sicily- Anjou was in Italy, meeting 
 in his campaign with varied fortune. He had all 
 he could do to hold his own, but his presence at the 
 head of his army was essential to ultimate success. 
 Three times he entered Naples acclaimed as King, for 
 Queen Giovanna II. had named him so. Three times 
 he fled discomfited after victory, which he failed 
 to follow up. He rarely returned to his French 
 dominions, and really he had no necessity so to do 
 on the score of administration, for his beloved and 
 capable Lieutenant-General was perfectly able to 
 keep everything in order and uphold his authority. 
 At last the King of Sicily-Anjou and Naples re- 
 turned to Angers a broken and an ailing man, to 
 spend what time Providence would still grant him 
 with his devoted noble wife. 
 
 Queen Yolande's first great grief came to her in 
 1417, when her faithful husband was taken from 
 her. Happily for them both, they were united at 
 the deathbed consoling and consoled. He was 
 young to die barely forty years of age but ripe 
 enough for the greedy grasp of Death. Louis II. 's 
 fame was that of a " loyal Sovereign, a righteous 
 man, a true spouse, and an affectionate father."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA " A GOOD MOTHER AND A 
 GREAT QUEEN " continued 
 
 I. 
 
 A ROYAL corpse reposed upon the state tester bed- 
 stead within the great Hall of Audiences in the 
 enceinte of the Castle of Angers, and a royal widow 
 knelt humbly at a prie-dieu at his feet. It was late 
 in the evening of that sweet April day, half sun, 
 half shower, that the body of Louis II., King of 
 Sicily, Naples, Jerusalem, and Anjou, was ceremoni- 
 ally displayed, flanked by huge yellow wax candles in 
 chiselled sticks of Gerona brass work. The tapestried 
 walls of this chapelle ardente were covered with sable 
 cloth sewn with silver lilies and hung with great 
 garlands of yew. The head of the lamented Sove- 
 reign reposed upon a soft cushion of blue velvet, put 
 there by the widow herself. Upon his breast, with 
 its pectoral cross, was his favourite " Livre des 
 Heures" one of the famous treasures of the collection 
 of King John the " Good," his grandfather. 
 
 In her black velvet chapelle, with its close gauze 
 veil concealing her beautiful hair, and attired in 
 sombre black, unrelieved, the devotional figure, sorrow- 
 ful and brave, was none other than " Good " Queen 
 
 67
 
 68 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Yolande. Her right hand rested consolingly upon 
 the shoulder of her eldest son, now Louis III., a 
 well-grown stripling of fourteen. Around his neck 
 his mother had but just hung the chain and medallion 
 of sovereignty, taken tenderly from her dead spouse. 
 Behind them knelt Prince Rene and Princess Marie, 
 the fondest of playmates, weeping bitterly, poor 
 children ! The vast hall was filled with courtiers, 
 soldiers, citizens, all manifesting signs of woe and 
 regret. The royal obsequies were conducted mag- 
 nificently, under the personal direction of the Queen, 
 within the choir of the Cathedral of St. Maurice. 
 Feuds of rival Sovereigns, operations against the 
 foreign foe, quarrels of fault-finders, and the like, 
 were all hushed in the presence of the King of 
 Terrors. To Angers thronged royal guests and 
 simple folk to pay their last tributes of respect and 
 devotion. In state, King Charles VI. started to 
 tender his homage to the dead, but, struck down 
 with sudden illness at Orleans, he requested Queen 
 Isabeau to take his place. Burial rites were not 
 much in that giddy woman's way, and her hard 
 heart had no room for sympathy and condolence ; so 
 the " Scourge of France," as she was called, gave 
 Angers a wide berth. 
 
 The Angevine royal children were five in number, 
 and Louis left besides a natural son, Louis de 
 Maine, Seigneur de Mezieres, and a natural 
 daughter, Blanche, whom Rene', when he attained 
 his father's throne in 1434, married to the Sieur 
 Pierre de Biege. The defunct King's will appointed 
 four simple knights, his henchmen true, executors : 
 Pierre de Beauvais and Guy de Laval for Anjou, and 
 Barthelemy and Gabriel de Valorey for Provence,
 
 KING LOUIS OF SICILY-ANJOU 
 
 (KING BENE'S FATHER) 
 From Coloured Glass Window, Le Mans Cathedral 
 
 To face page 68
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 69 
 
 with Hardoyn de Bueil, Bishop of Angers, as 
 moderator. The Queen - mother was constituted 
 Regent of the kingdoms and dominions and guardian 
 of the young King, whilst Prince Rene was com- 
 mended, under his father's will, to the charge of his 
 great-uncle Louis, Cardinal and Duke de Bar, with 
 the family title of Comte de Guise. 
 
 The loss of her second son and the parting of the 
 brothers was a sore trial to the whole family. The 
 Cardinal, however, insisted upon his young nephew 
 being sent to him at Bar-le-Duc, to be educated under 
 his eye and prepared for his destiny as future Duke of 
 Bar, which the Cardinal caused to be announced both 
 in Anjou and Barrois. Louis de Bar was a very 
 distinguished ecclesiastic ; he had passed through 
 every grade of Holy Order with rare distinction. In 
 1391 the Pope conferred upon him the bishopric of 
 Poitiers, and two years later translated him to 
 Langres, with the Sees also of Chalons and Verdun. 
 The latter dignity carried with it the degree of 
 Grand Peer of France, and in those days Bishops 
 were regarded as temporal Sovereigns within the 
 jurisdiction of their Sees. Benedict XIII. in 1397 
 preconized Louis de Bar Cardinal-Bishop, and 
 named him Papal Legate in France and Germany. 
 His temporal honours as Duke of Bar came to him 
 in 1415, after the calamitous battle of Azincourt, in 
 which his two elder brothers, Edouard and Jehan, 
 fell gloriously. Their untimely deaths and disasters 
 keen and sad brought about, too, the death of good 
 Duke Robert, their father. He died of a broken 
 heart, whilst Duchess Marie shut herself up in a 
 convent, and was never known again to smile. Her 
 death has not been recorded.
 
 70 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 After bidding adieu to her dearly loved son, 
 perhaps her favourite child, and most like herself in 
 temperament and character, Queen Yolande, with 
 the young King, was fully occupied in receiving 
 addresses of condolence and assurances of loyalty both 
 at Angers and at Aix, to which they made a progress 
 in full state. She assumed the personal direction of 
 affairs, appointing tactfully as assessors the most 
 prominent men of all classes in both domains. In a 
 very distinct sense she was a democratic Sovereign, 
 and under her regime the Estates were allowed a 
 good deal of independent action in matters, at least, 
 of local policy. Thus, by maintaining the dignity of 
 the crown of Sicily- Anjou-Prove.nce and encouraging 
 popular government, Queen Yolande initiated the 
 first free constitution in the history of all France. 
 
 The stability of the throne and the welfare of its 
 subjects having been secured, the Queen turned her 
 attention to the matrimonial prospect of her eldest 
 son. Some years before King Louis's death, Jean 
 " sans Peur," Duke of Burgundy, in days when the 
 Courts of Angers and Dijon saw eye to eye, and the 
 States were not rivals in the direction of the general 
 policy of the French Sovereigns, had confided his 
 little daughter Catherine to the charge of the eminent 
 Queen of Sicily-Anjou, to be brought up with her 
 own girls, the Princesses Marie and Yolande. Then 
 the idea of the betrothal of Louis d'Anjou and 
 Catherine de Bourgogne was accepted as a very 
 excellent mutual arrangement ; indeed, the Duke had 
 named his intention of dowering the Princess with 
 50,000 livres tournois (-circa 30,000), besides 
 placing the castle at the disposal of the young couple 
 upon the consummation of the marriage.
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 71 
 
 There had arisen coolness and suspicion between 
 the Sovereigns of France and the Duke of Burgundy, 
 whose connection with the assassination of the Duke 
 of Orleans, in 1407, had never been cleared up. The 
 Duke, moreover, had seen good, in view of his 
 professed claims to the crown of France, to make 
 terms with the King of England which would, under 
 certain circumstances, gain territorial aggrandizement 
 for Burgundy, and ultimately the reversion to his 
 family of the royal title. This rapprochement with 
 the hated invader of Northern France, the foe at the 
 gates of Anjou, lead summarily to the renunciation 
 by the Angevine Sovereigns of all matrimonial 
 affinities between the Houses of Anjou and Burgundy. 
 Little Princess Catherine was sent home to Dijon, 
 and the Duke scouted the Anjou alliance, and made 
 terms with Lorraine, a step which in another decade 
 told disastrously against the son of Queen Yolande. 
 
 She, on the other hand, cared very little for the 
 change of front of Duke Jean " sans Peur." Her 
 mind had all along been made up in the matter of her 
 son's betrothal, and her eyes were turned to Brittany, 
 whose Sovereigns were the most stable and the most 
 powerful in France. The dual crown of Sicily- 
 Anjou was rich, and the prospects of the new 
 occupant of that throne with respect to Naples, and 
 possibly to Aragon, were of the highest ; consequently 
 the matrimonial market was absolutely at her com- 
 mand. Politically it was clear that an alliance of 
 Anjou and Brittany would more than balance that 
 of Burgundy and Lorraine. Very tactfully the 
 Angevine Queen-mother caused her " cousin " at 
 Nantes to know that a nuptial arrangement between 
 her son and a daughter of Duke Jean VI. would
 
 72 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 be favourably considered at Angers. To pave the 
 way more auspiciously, splended fetes were organized 
 at the castle, to which the ducal family of Brittany 
 were invited as principal guests of honour. The 
 Duke and Duchess were acccompanied by their 
 young daughter, Princess Isabelle, and were greatly 
 affected by their reception. In the tournaments, 
 pageants, and floral games, the young Bretagne 
 Princes gained all the laurels, whilst the blushing 
 Princess, as the " Queen of Beauty," bestowed the 
 prizes upon the victors. 
 
 On July 3 a royal function in the Cathedral of 
 Angers brought the fetes to an auspicious finish, for 
 there Louis d'Anjou and Isabelle de Bretagne were 
 formally espoused, the young couple being of the 
 same age. Alas for the hopes of all concerned ! the 
 Princess, a very beautiful and an accomplished girl, 
 was not destined to wear the Queen-consort's crown 
 of Sicily- Anjou. Before the year was out she 
 sickened of plague, as captious critics said, caught 
 in " Black Angers," and died. This was a serious 
 blow to Queen Yolande's diplomacy, but she was 
 not the sort of woman to waste time in unprofitable 
 lamentations. 
 
 By the force of circumstances, seen and unseen, 
 the Queen-mother's search for favourable alliances 
 and an eligible consort for her son was greatly aided 
 by the fresh aggression of the English under Henry V. 
 In face of the common danger, which threatened 
 alike the western and the eastern States of France, 
 Queen Yolande found her opportunity of immensely 
 strengthening the position of her son's dominions by 
 detaching Burgundy and Lorraine from the English 
 alliance. At Saumur she signed the articles of a
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 73 
 
 defensive and offensive treaty between the four great 
 duchies, Bretagne, of course, being one, La Ligue 
 de Quatre, it was called. 
 
 Next to the assurance of political security at 
 home, this instrument set the astute Queen free to 
 turn her attention to the support of her son's claims 
 to the throne of Naples. First appertaining to the 
 older line of Anjou in the person and descendants 
 of Jehan, brother of St. Louis, they had lapsed 
 until King Louis I. of Sicily- Anjou asserted his right 
 as head of the younger line of Anjou in virtue of the 
 grant by his father, King John the " Good." These 
 prerogatives, alas ! Louis II. had lost the year he 
 died, and their reacquisition was the destiny of his 
 son. In furtherance of these duties, Queen Yolande 
 conceived that an Italian alliance, with the corollary 
 of a matrimonial contract for the young King, were 
 indicated, and she set to work to elaborate a scheme 
 which should achieve the ends in view. 
 
 In September, 1418, Queen Yolande opened 
 negotiations directly with Amadeo VIII., Duke of 
 Savoy, first for his assistance in the field of battle, and 
 next for the betrothal of his daughter Margherita, 
 then an infant of three years old. A treaty was 
 signed on October 18, wherein the Duke agreed to 
 receive young King Louis in Savoy, and either 
 personally to accompany him through the proposed 
 campaign, or at least to see his embarkation at 
 Genoa at the head of a Savoyard contingent of ten 
 thousand men-at-arms, for the recovery of the crown 
 of Naples. One clause ceded the county of Nice to 
 Savoy in lieu of moneys borrowed by Louis II. for 
 his Naples expedition. Appended to this treaty was 
 the marriage contract, which appointed Chambery,
 
 74 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the capital of Savoy, as the place, and Lady Day 
 the following year as the date, for the formal espousal 
 of Louis and Margherita. 
 
 Steps were at once taken for the young King to 
 enter upon his expedition in a manner suited to his 
 rank and commensurate with the military movements 
 of the time. Angers once more resounded to the 
 metallic music of armourers. A Guild of Sword- 
 Cutlers was incorporated, arid skilled craftsmen 
 from Aragon were again welcomed by the Queen. 
 Masters of Arms, too, were invited to give Louis 
 the best instruction in warlike exercises, Yolande 
 herself meanwhile inculcating lessons of hardihood, 
 chivalry, and patriotism. Hers, happily, was the 
 satisfaction of knowing that these efforts were 
 productive of the best results, for the youthful 
 Sovereign quickly became an expert and an en- 
 thusiast. 
 
 It does not appear that the young King took 
 much interest in the matrimonial part of the nego- 
 tiations. An unripe boy of sixteen would naturally 
 be very much more affected by military prowess than 
 by uxorious daintiness. The service of Mars was 
 very much more to his liking than that of Venus, 
 and he addressed himself zealously to the task of 
 winning back his grandfather's crown and sceptre, 
 which his father had failed to retain. It was doubt- 
 less a daring enterprise for a youth to undertake, 
 but we may be quite sure that he inherited not 
 a little of his family's well known fearlessness. 
 Province was denuded of her garrisons, and Languedoc 
 also ; but no men could be spared from Anjou and 
 Bar, and it was but the nucleus of an army which 
 Queen Yolande reviewed at Marseilles, whither she
 
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 . ^ >i-*-/"-i^^i^ r^Vj^.v 
 
 COMMUNION OF A KNIGHT 
 Sculpture from Interior, Western Facade, Reims Cathedral 
 
 To face page 74
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 75 
 
 went to bid adieu to her dearly loved son upon his 
 adventurous career. 
 
 Louis sailed for Genoa, where he met the Duke of 
 Savoy and took command of his contingent. He 
 anchored in the Bay of Naples on August 15, 1420, 
 a day full of favourable omens. On the voyage he 
 fell in with the fleet of the King of Aragon, his rival 
 for the crown of Naples, and worsted it. At once he 
 went off to Aversa, where the Queen of Naples, 
 Giovanna II., received him with open arms. His 
 nawetS delighted her, jaded as she was with the 
 attentions of willing and unwilling aspirants for her 
 favours. She created him Duke of Calabria, and 
 proclaimed him her heir in lieu of the defeated and 
 discredited Alfonso. 
 
 It was a perilous position for the vigorous and 
 gallant stripling Prince, but the counsels of his 
 virtuous mother were not thrown away. The young 
 King refused the amorous royal overtures success- 
 fully, and having kissed the Queen's hand, he offered 
 a plausible excuse, and speedily took his departure for 
 Rome. The Supreme Pontiff extended to the 
 youthful hero his paternal benediction, and detained 
 him at the Vatican just long enough to invest him 
 with the title of King of Naples, in place, as His Holi- 
 ness wished, of the worthless and abandoned Queen. 
 Thence Louis travelled on to Florence and Milan, 
 and obtained promises of substantial assistance from 
 their rulers against the pretensions of the King of 
 Aragon. 
 
 But to return to Anjou and the " good mother " 
 there, the anxious and busy Queen Yolande. 
 
 The Revue Numismatique du Maine contains 
 muny paragraphs recounting the Queen's prudence
 
 76 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and activity in military matters. Under date June 1 0, 
 1418, for example, she issued an order to the 
 Seneschal and Treasurer of Provence " to reimburse 
 one Jehan Crepin, keeper of the Castle of Forcalquier, 
 whence one of the sovereign titles are taken, the 
 advance made by him for the reparation of the said 
 castle." On February 18, 1419, the States of 
 Provence assembled at Aix besought the Queen, as 
 head of the State, " to suppress the tax which had 
 been levied upon the circulation of foreign money, 
 with a view to greater facilities being accorded for 
 the payment of sums required for the defence of the 
 country." A few years later, in 1427, the authori- 
 ties of the city of Marseilles prayed the Queen, then 
 at Tarascon, to authorize them to impose a poll-tax 
 upon all foreign merchants in the port, " so that the 
 funds at their command might be enlarged, for the 
 express purpose of fitting out vessels of war." The 
 inhabitants of Martignes, which county Yolande had 
 brought, on her marriage, to the possessions of her 
 husband, on December 20, 1419, sought for their 
 Queen-Countess, as ruler and administrator, the right 
 to retain certain dues on the production of salt for the 
 defence of their coast-line. There are very many 
 such entries in the State papers of the reign ; indeed, 
 both before and after the departure of Louis III. for 
 Naples, Queen Yolande was recognized as responsible 
 ruler for her son. 
 
 II. 
 
 If Louis's matrimonial prospects were somewhat 
 clouded by the extreme youth of his child-bride, 
 the Queen was by no means discouraged in her 
 policy of influential alliances. Her second son, Rene',
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 77 
 
 who had won all hearts in Barrois, was actually 
 married to Princess Isabelle of Lorraine in 1420, 
 although she was no more than nine years old, and he 
 but twelve. This match was, however, not wholly 
 the work of Queen Yolande ; her ideas, however, 
 were those which impelled her uncle, Cardinal Louis 
 de Bar, directly to ask the hand of the juvenile 
 Princess. 
 
 The year before this precocious marriage the 
 Cardinal had formally proclaimed Rene his heir to 
 the duchy of Bar, and created him Marquis of 
 Pont-a-Mousson. This action greatly displeased 
 Arnould, Duke of Berg, whose wife was Marie de 
 Bar, a sister of the Cardinal. She preferred claims 
 to the succession as next of kin to her brother, and 
 when she was refused, the Duke took up arms and 
 advanced upon Bar-le-Duc. The movement failed, 
 and young Rene saw the Duke's dead body taken 
 away for burial without emotion. The young Prince 
 had been for nearly two years residing at his great- 
 uncle's castle, under his immediate care and instruc- 
 tion. Among the tutors chosen for his training were 
 Maestre Jehan de Proviesey, a grammarian and 
 Latinist, and Maestre Antoine de la Salle, poet and 
 musician. Such instructors were de rigueur, of 
 course, for the true development of a perfect gentle- 
 man and courtier. The latter master wrote a treatise 
 entitled " Les quinze joyes de la mariage : instructions 
 addresses aux jeunes hommes." This he dedicated to 
 his pupil, Prince Rend Among the quaint aphorisms 
 it contains, this must have caused more than a smile 
 on the part of the young knight : 
 
 "Bon cheval, mauvais cheval, veut I'esperon ; 
 Bonne femme, mauvaise femme, veut It. boston /"
 
 78 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Perhaps the pith of the treatise is expressed in the 
 neat quintet : 
 
 " Quattuor sunt que mulieres summe cupiunt, 
 A formis amari juvenibus, 
 Pottere fillis pluribus 
 Ornari preciosis vestibus 
 Et dominwi pre ceteris in domibus." 
 
 Rent's time was, however, not wholly absorbed by 
 his studies in school and Court, for he bestrode his 
 warhorse like a man, and rode forth by his great- 
 uncle's side on punitive expeditions against recalci- 
 trant vassals and against the incursions of freebooters, 
 who under the designation of " Soudoyers " were de- 
 vastating the duchy. It was said of the Cardinal : 
 " II savait au besoin porter ung bassinet pour mitre 
 et pour croix d'or un tache d'acier /" 
 
 Directly Duke Robert died, and the succession fell 
 to an ecclesiastic, the dissatisfied subjects of the 
 Barrois crown considered it a favourable opportunity 
 for throwing off their allegiance. Jean de Luxem- 
 bourg, a cousin of the widowed Duchess Marie, and 
 Robert de Sarrebouche, at the extreme limits of the 
 territories of the duchy, were perhaps the most 
 conspicuous for their infidelity. The Cardinal-Duke 
 struck home at once, and both rebels surrendered. 
 In the case of the latter, Prince Rene was put for- 
 ward to receive his submission, on his great-uncle's 
 behalf. The " proud Sieur de Commercy," as he was 
 called, was compelled to kneel in the market-place of 
 Commercy before the boy-knight, and, putting his 
 great hands between the tender palms of his Prince, 
 obliged to swear as vostre homme et vostre vassail ! 
 The Prince's bearing in this his first military cam- 
 paign was beyond all praise, and the Cardinal was
 
 VOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 79 
 
 delighted with his chivalry. The Duke of Lorraine 
 sent to compliment him upon his courage, and his 
 doting mother, Queen Yolande, held a ten - days 
 festival at Angers, and rang all the church bells in 
 honour of her son's baptism of blood. 
 
 These exploits caused the youthful hero to carry 
 himself proudly, and greatly increased his self-conceit. 
 This latter development had an amusing and yet a 
 very natural sequel. The Prince with his own hand, 
 under the instruction of Maestre Jehan de Proviesey, 
 wrote letters to all the leading men of Angers, Pro- 
 vence, Barrois, and Lorraine, in which he enlarged 
 upon the boldness of his conduct ; and inditing sen- 
 tentious maxims, he sought their approbation and 
 good-will. The Cardinal-Duke doubtless smiled good- 
 humouredly at these juvenile effusions, but at the 
 same time he reconstituted the Barrois knightly 
 " Ordre de la Fidelite" which embraced as members 
 all the young French Princes, and created Rene de 
 Bar, as he was now called, first and principal Knight. 
 The Prince henceforward wore the motto of his Order 
 embroidered upon his berretta and chimere " Tout 
 Ung " and chose it as his gage de guerre. 
 
 Louis de Bar had, however, other duties and 
 pursuits to place before his favourite nephew. At 
 the Court of Dijon resided two famous Flemish 
 painters, brothers Hubert and Jehan Van Eyck, 
 pensioners of the enlightened Duke of Burgundy. 
 By means of bribes and other influences brought to 
 bear, they were induced to remove to Bar-le-Duc, 
 and with them came Petrus Christus and other 
 pupils. Keen patron of the arts and crafts, the 
 Cardinal-Duke encouraged his principal courtiers and 
 
 vassals to send their sons to them for instruction in 
 
 6
 
 80 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the art of painting. The first pupil enrolled in 
 Barrois upon the books of the Van Eycks was none 
 other than Prince Rene', and no pupil showed greater 
 talent and greater perseverance. His uncle once said 
 to him : " Rene, if thou wast not destined to succeed 
 me as Duke of Bar and leader of her armies, I would 
 make of thee an artist." In his veins, we must 
 remember, ran Flemish blood, his famous and 
 talented ancestress, the Countess-Princess lolande, 
 came from Flanders, and these excellent pigment 
 masters appear to have stirred qualities in the young 
 Prince which eventually proclaimed him the foremost 
 royal artist in Europe. 
 
 The Cardinal also inculcated in his nephew the love 
 and taste for objects of beauty. He was himself a 
 proficient in the craft of goldsmithery, and, more- 
 over, possessed a very magnificent collection of gold 
 and silver work. Part of this had come to him from 
 her mother, Duchess Marie of France, who took to 
 Bar her share of her father's treasures, the good King 
 John. Of these, the Cardinal presented to Pope 
 John XXIII. in 1414 a writing-table made of cedar, 
 covered with plates of solid gold, and the superb gold 
 chalice and paten which are still used in the Papal 
 chapel at Rome at special Masses by His Holiness 
 himself. Another precious goblet, mounted with 
 sapphires and rubies, was bequeathed to the Car- 
 dinal's sister, the Princess Bonne, Countess of Ligny. 
 
 The ducal gardens at Bar-le-Duc were famous. 
 The Cardinal sent to Italy for skilled gardeners, who 
 reproduced something of the terrestrial glories of that 
 favoured land. Tuscan sculptors and Venetian decora- 
 tive painters followed in the wake of the gardeners, 
 who not only designed architectural terraces with
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 81 
 
 marble statues and garden-pavilions with painted 
 ceilings, but also designed and minted medals and 
 plaques of the Cardinal, Prince Rene', and other 
 members of the family. Naturally, the young Heredi- 
 tary Duke revelled in these graceful settings for the 
 floral games and festive pastimes which made the 
 Barrois Court, even in the absence of a reigning 
 Duchess, the rendezvous of poets, gallants, and 
 beauties. Here, too, the Prince's natural love for 
 music had full play ; he became a poet and a trouba- 
 dour " in little," if not in " great." In a very real 
 kind of way Rene"s training in the arts of war and in 
 the arts of peace was the very same which made a 
 Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence and a Francesco 
 Sforza at Milan. 
 
 Amid all these occupations, the Prince had few 
 opportunities for visiting his birthplace, Angers, and 
 his devoted mother there. Travelling was very 
 insecure, and the Cardinal disparaged any expedition 
 beyond the bounds of the duchy. Only one such 
 visit is recorded, and that in 1422, when Rene took 
 his absent brother's place to give away his favourite 
 sister Marie to Charles VII. of France, and then 
 Queen Yolande once more embraced her son. On 
 the other hand, the Prince was permitted by his uncle 
 to vigorously assist King Charles against Louis de 
 Chalons, Prince of Orange, who was devastating 
 Dauphind In another direction the young warrior 
 gained laurels also. Named protector of the city of 
 Verdun, he destroyed the rebel castle of Renancourt 
 and the fortresses of La Ferte", and hastened to the 
 assistance of his kinsman, the Count of Ligny, at 
 Baumont en Argonne. Guillaume de Flavy and 
 Jehan de Mattaincourt surrendered, and Rene* cleared
 
 82 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the country of disaffected marauders and adven- 
 turers. 
 
 Charles V.'s speech at the siege of Metz one 
 hundred years later might very well have fitted the 
 youthful conqueror in Barrois : " Fortune is a 
 woman : she favours only the young." 
 
 Queen Yolande's eldest son, Louis III., was mean- 
 while meeting with varying fortunes in Italy, but the 
 slow progress of his campaign greatly chagrined his 
 dauntless mother. She actually made up her mind 
 to set out for Naples in person to try and turn the 
 slow tide of victory into an overpowering flood ; but 
 Anjou was too closely invested by the English for the 
 realization of her project. Here, however, the Queen 
 had her militant opportunity, for at the bloody battle 
 of Bauge, between La Fleche and Saumur, in 
 1421, the English were routed and so greatly dis- 
 heartened that they evacuated all their strategic 
 points within and around the duchy. That victory 
 was gained directly by Queen Yolande, who com- 
 manded in person, sitting astride a great white 
 charger, clothed in steel and silver mail. Some years 
 later King Rene built an imposing castle upon the 
 heights overlooking the field of battle in memory of 
 his mother's valour. 
 
 The Queen's warlike ardour, however, received a 
 check, for Queen Marie, driven with King Charles 
 before the all- conquering English, escaped to Bourges, 
 and there begged her mother to hasten to her side. 
 She needed, not a mailed woman's fist, but the gentle 
 hand of her good mother at her accouchement. Louis 
 le Dauphin, her first-born, saw the light in the Arch- 
 bishop's Palace on July 3, 1423. Those days were 
 dark indeed for France, but a brilliant star was about
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 83 
 
 to rise above her eastern horizon. Towards the end 
 of 1428 strange reports began to spread all over the 
 stricken country concerning a simple village maiden in 
 far-off Champagne, to whom, in the obscure village of 
 Domremy, Divine visions had been vouchsafed. Her 
 mission, it was stated, was nothing less than the 
 deliverance of France and the coronation of King 
 Charles at Reims. 
 
 Nowhere did the mysterious tidings create greater 
 interest than among the members of the Royal Families 
 and Courts of Sicily- Anjou and France. When the 
 news of Jeanne d' Arc's arrival with Duke Rene' 
 reached Angers, Queen Yolande set out at once for 
 Chin on, that she might judge for herself of the girl 
 and her mission. Very greatly struck was the Queen 
 by the maid's youth, comeliness, and innocence. Her 
 simple manners and unaffected devotion convinced 
 Yolande that she had no adventuress to deal with. 
 She conversed freely with her, and her simple narra- 
 tive and fearless courage determined her to take the 
 maid under her direct patronage. When it was 
 proposed to inquire formally into Jeanne's character 
 and mental bias, the Queen promptly allocated to her- 
 self that duty. She called to her assistance three 
 ladies of her Court of good repute. Jehan Pas- 
 querelle has quaintly recorded this plenary council 
 of matrons : " Fust icelle Pucelle baillee a la Royne 
 de Cecile, mbre de la Royne, nostre souveraine, et d 
 certaines dames d'estant avec elle, dont estoient les 
 Dames de Gaucourt, de Fiennes, et de Tr&ves" 
 Another chronicler adds the name of Jeanne de 
 Mortemar, wife of the Chancellor, Robert le Ma9on. 
 Their verdict was a complete vindication of Jeanne's 
 honour and sincerity.
 
 84 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 The tongue of slander had associated Ren^ and 
 Jeanne in a liaison. The Court of Chinon was full 
 of evil gossip, and the more ill-conditioned courtiers 
 and hirelings, both men and women, revelled in com- 
 promising insinuations and coarse jests. Queen 
 Yolande determined once and for all to put an end 
 to these baseless and foul rumours. She knew her 
 son too well to doubt his honour, and now she 
 pledged herself to defend that of the village maid. 
 Several of the offenders were dismissed the service 
 of the King, and warned to hold their tongue, unless 
 they wished for condign punishment. 
 
 History has done scant justice to Queen Yolande 
 for the part she bore in the drama of Jeanne d'Arc. 
 It was in a very great measure due to her that the 
 maid's mission was carried out. Whilst Charles was 
 dallying with his idle associates and procrastinating in 
 his military measures, Yolande played the man. Her 
 intrepid counsels and fearless insistence were the 
 levers which moved his son-in-law's inertness. There 
 is a story told that, when Queen Marie's gentle 
 chiding had failed to rouse her desponding consort, 
 Queen Yolande appeared before him clothed in full 
 armour, and demanded why the King of France 
 skulked in his castle ! 
 
 " See, Charles," she said, " if you refuse to follow 
 La Pucelle at once and do your duty to God and to 
 your country, I will go forth as your lieutenant, and 
 in person lead your army against the English. But 
 shame to you to trust in a woman's arm rather than 
 your own ! Rouse you like a man, and begone !" 
 
 This emphatic order fairly called out Charles's 
 manhood, roused, to be sure, by the mission of 
 Jeanne d'Arc. Nothing excites a man more than a
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 85 
 
 woman's threats to take his place and do his work ; 
 and many women can be as good as their word, and 
 one of these was Yolande of Sicily- Anjou-Aragon. 
 
 The noble patriotic Queen-mother, moreover, 
 backed her stout words by actions firm. With that 
 splendid unselfishness which marked her character, she 
 raised a considerable sum of money by the sale of her 
 jewellery and other precious possessions, and applied it, 
 together with the substantial offerings of her devoted 
 subjects, to the fitting out of a convoy of provisions 
 and necessaries for the besieged garrison of Orleans. 
 She also persuaded the University of Angers, which 
 her late consort, Louis II., had founded in 1398, to 
 vote a goodly sum of money towards the King's 
 expenses. Charles, stirred by the gentleness of 
 Jeanne and the vigour of Yolande, was no longer 
 despondent. The Queen thankfully noted his con- 
 fidence in his mysterious guide from Domremy, but 
 she remained at Chinon until she had seen him 
 and his equipage take boat upon the Loire. His 
 last words to his mother-in-law were : " Yes, now I 
 am on my way to Reims with Jeanne, my oracle, my 
 Queen ma Royne blanche : tons pour Dieu et la 
 France /" Yolande then quietly returned to her castle 
 at Angers, and Anjou once more greeted the King's 
 guardian and the Lieutenant-General of his dominions. 
 
 The decade had its consolations as well as its 
 troubles, and among them Queen Yolande rejoiced 
 at the births of vigorous grandchildren. To Queen 
 Marie were born Princesses Jeanne and Yolande, as 
 well as the Dauphin Louis ; and to Duke Rene', 
 Jean, Louis, Nicholas, Yolande, and Marguerite, in 
 lawful wedlock. The Queen-mother, too, had satis- 
 faction in the less disturbed state of Barrois and
 
 86 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Lorraine, of receiving at Angers her son Rene and 
 his fair young wife Isabelle. He had added to the 
 bays of victory the palms of peace, and his fame as 
 an administrator of justice and charity was already 
 spread abroad. 
 
 The Cardinal-Duke Louis was ageing rapidly, and 
 he executed his final testament whilst his nephew 
 and niece were in Anjou. Everything was left to 
 Rene, who had as much as he could do to get back 
 to Bar-le-Duc in time to receive his uncle's last 
 blessing and close his eyes in death. The dying 
 Prince was at the Abbey of Varennes when he 
 breathed his last, on February 15, 1431. Duke 
 Rene' was at once proclaimed his successor, and the 
 Estates of Barrois did their homage heartily. The 
 career of the young Duke had been developed under 
 the approving eyes of his uncle's subjects, and his 
 marriage with Isabelle de Lorraine had been 
 immensely popular. The new reign opened, then, 
 under the happiest auspices. 
 
 Rene's future being thus amply provided for, his 
 hand was also on the throne of Lorraine, Queen 
 Yolande turned her attention to the settlement in 
 life of her younger children Yolande, just eighteen, 
 and Charles, two years younger. For her daughter, 
 whose espousal three years before to Jehan, Comte 
 d'Alenon, had not led to marriage, the Queen 
 sought once more an alliance with the House of 
 Bretagne. The Duke's eldest son, Franois, Comte 
 de Montfort, who had been first champion at the 
 Angers tournament in 1417, was the chosen bride- 
 groom. He, indeed, had seen and played with the 
 Princess then, but she was a little child of five ; 
 their betrothal, however, had been considered, and
 
 STREET SCENE IN AIX OF PROVENCE 
 FOREGROUND : MIRACLE OF ST. MAX1ME 
 
 From.a Painting by Nicholas Froment (1475-76). Aix Cathedral 
 
 To face page 8(5
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 87 
 
 only hindered by the military exigencies of the time. 
 The Prince was in person as handsome as could be, 
 and talented, but his character was not one that 
 Queen Yolande looked for in a son-in-law. More 
 addicted to warlike deeds and the free licence of a 
 soldier's calling, he had little taste for peaceful 
 pursuits, and still less for the restrictions of family 
 life. He was, like most Princes at the time, more or 
 less of a de'bauche, and his fair fame was besmirched 
 by sordid and licentious habits. Still, the Comte de 
 Montfort stood for political advantages, and questions 
 of character were counted of less importance. The 
 royal nuptials were celebrated in due course at the 
 Cathedral of St. Pierre at Nantes, the capital of 
 Brittany, on July 1, 1431, in the presence of Queen 
 Yolande and the Duke and Duchess of Barrois. 
 Alas ! once more marriage proved a failure, for the 
 year following the home-coming of the Count and 
 Countess he was slain in a foray with the English, 
 leaving his childless young widow to bewail her 
 ill-luck alone. 
 
 The marriage of Prince Charles d'Anjou was 
 delayed many years, and his experience of the 
 vicissitudes of Cupid's thraldom was almost identical 
 with that of King Louis III., his elder brother. 
 Affianced in 1431, at the same time as his sister 
 Yolande, to a daughter of Guy, Count of Laval, 
 his brother Rene's bosom friend, and one of Jeanne 
 d' Arc's preux cavaliers, another Yolande, he broke 
 off the match because the infant Princess, she 
 but three years old, was " so plain and weak." 
 " Besides," said he, " I will not wait twelve years 
 for her." He was himself just seventeen. The 
 baby-fiancee's mother was a Bretagne princess,
 
 88 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Isabelle, a daughter of Queen Yolande's great ally, 
 Duke Jehan VI. The young Prince had in his 
 mind another amour, perhaps hardly in his heart ; 
 but he had seen and admired, when assisting at the 
 sacre of King Charles VII., his brother-in-law, at 
 Reims, a Princess of Champagne, and, much against 
 his mother's wish, he bespoke her for his own. They 
 were betrothed at the ancient castle of Coucy, near 
 Soissons, in 1435. This match, too, came to 
 nothing, for the fair fiancee, Catherine, perished in 
 the flames of her boudoir curtains, set on fire by 
 accident, and left her young Prince of twenty-one free 
 to step along the uncertain path of courtship once 
 more. Such were some of the ups and downs of the 
 Queen of Sicily- Anjou and of her family. 
 
 The death of Charles II., Duke of Lorraine, on 
 January 25, 1431, saw the reunion, after a century 
 or more apart, -of Bar and Lorraine under one 
 Sovereign. Duke Rene and his Duchess Isabelle 
 had resided more or less quietly for ten years at the 
 Castle of Bar-le-Duc, and there the greater part of 
 their family was born. Now they prepared to move to 
 Nancy, but their way, which Duke Charles had, as 
 he thought, secured, was barred, and Rene was called 
 out to fight for his throne. Antoine, Comte de 
 Vaude"mont, Duke Charles's eldest nephew, thrust the 
 provisions of the Salic Law in the new Duke's face, 
 and drew his sword to enforce his action. Varied 
 were the fortunes of the civil war, but at the Battle 
 of Bulgneville Duke Rene' was taken prisoner by 
 Philippe, Duke of Burgundy, who supported his 
 kinsman Vaudemont, and was kept in captivity for 
 nearly three years. In vain Queen Yolande tried 
 every expedient to set her son free. His captors
 
 YOLANDA TARRAGONA 89 
 
 required his absolute renunciation of the duchy of 
 Lorraine, and would accept no compromise. Then 
 came another crushing blow. Louis III., King of 
 Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem, Duke of Anjou, and 
 Count of Provence, died of fever at Cosenza, the 
 capital of Calabria, on November 15, 1434, lamented 
 alike by friend and foe. Queen Giovanna had in 
 1424 created him Duke of Calabria, but many 
 attributed his death, indeed, to poison administered 
 by order of the Queen. Never was there a more 
 gentle nor a braver Prince " Vescarboucle de gentil- 
 esse," he was styled in the annals of chivalry. His 
 devoted mother, of course, was not with him ; she 
 was broken-hearted at Marseilles. Cast down by 
 grief unspeakable, the young Queen of Sicily- Anjou 
 and Naples, Margherita, still a bride, was by his side 
 to console his last hours. They had been married by 
 proxy at Geneva, not at Chambery, as arranged, 
 years before, but had sworn to each other recently in 
 the Cathedral of Cosenza. Alas ! no son was left to 
 succeed his father and cheer his mother's heart ; their 
 only child, a little daughter, had survived her birth a 
 short six weeks. 
 
 Queen Giovanna, in spite of her iniquity in seeking 
 to foist upon Rene" d Anjou and Bar a child not his 
 nor hers, in all probability, but so acknowledged, 
 made no opposition to his proclamation as King of 
 Naples or the Two Sicilies. What an exquisite piece 
 of irony it was, to be sure a King proclaimed 
 when fast bound in prison, a crayon for a sceptre in 
 his hand, his crown a drab berretta ! Three devoted 
 women, good and bad, supported the royal captive's 
 prerogatives three Queens indeed : Yolande was for 
 Anjou and Provence, Isabelle for Barrois and
 
 90 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Lorraine, and Giovanna for Naples and Sicily ; whilst 
 a fourth, Queen Margherita, looked to the donjon of 
 Dijon for clemency. It was said that a copy of King 
 Rene"s proclamation was fixed upon the portal of his 
 prison in insolent derision. "Sic transit gloria mundi " 
 might well have been penned beneath it. 
 
 Upon King Renews succession to the throne of 
 Sicily- Anjou, Queen Yolande continued to act as his 
 Lieutenant-General for Anjou and Provence, and left 
 negotiations for his release to the young Queen - 
 Duchess Isabelle, who was very much more favour- 
 ably placed, and near at hand to serve the royal 
 prisoner's interests. She spent most of her time in 
 Anjou, but paid many visits to Marseilles, her 
 favourite residence in Provence. She never crossed 
 the Aragonese frontier ; she could have done so only 
 as Queen-regnant, which of course was impossible. 
 However, she named her grandson Jean, Duke of 
 Calabria, King Renews eldest son, as the heir to her 
 ancestral claims. 
 
 The Queen-mother's presence in Anjou was neces- 
 sary in the interests of her daughter, Queen Marie of 
 France, and she never relaxed her control of the 
 policy of her royal son-in-law. At each accouche- 
 ment of the French Queen her devoted mother 
 assisted, and it was a long family of grandchildren she 
 nursed upon her knee. Her succour in sickness, her 
 stay in trouble, and her help in poverty, were im- 
 measurably precious to the fugitive Sovereigns. In 
 1437 Queen Yolande had the felicity also of receiving 
 her son Rene", after his release from durance vile, in 
 the Castle of Tine, near Saumur, and with him came 
 Queen Isabelle and her children, Prince Jean, the 
 eldest, being a fine lad of eleven. It was a season of
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 91 
 
 universal rejoicing in Anjou, and the Queen-mother, 
 laying aside her widow's chapelle and veil, entered 
 whole-heartedly into the festivities. The most cheer- 
 ing feature of the gaiety was due to the magnanimity 
 of the Duke of Burgundy, who quite unexpectedly 
 and unreservedly offered the crown of peace by pro- 
 posing that Princess Marie, daughter of Charles I., 
 Duke of Bourbon, his niece, should be affianced to the 
 young Duke of Calabria. The ceremony of betrothal 
 was duly celebrated in Angers Cathedral, the little 
 bride being no more than seven years old. This was 
 a great joy to the Queen-mother, and Rene and 
 Isabelle were very happy, too. 
 
 Again in 1440 the splendours of the Angevine 
 Court were once more revived by the Queen-mother, 
 when she welcomed right royally King Charles VII. 
 and Queen Marie. It was by way of being a family 
 gathering also, for King Rene and Queen Isabelle 
 were of the party. It was a reunion remarkable in 
 one way, as the introduction at Angers of the most 
 lovely girl in France, in the suite of Queen Isabelle, 
 a girl destined to play a very important part in the 
 private life of King Charles VII., Agnes Sorel. 
 The Queen-mother was charmed with her lovely 
 young visitor, and never made any opposition to her 
 appointment as Maid of Honour to Queen Marie. 
 These festivities, however, were the last in which 
 Queen Yolande took part. The sorrows she was 
 called upon to bear and the anxieties of the life she 
 lived had their natural effect even upon such an 
 ardent and vigorous constitution as hers. Gradually 
 she retired altogether from public life, and in 1441 
 she took up her residence at Saumur. The castle was 
 one of the strongest fortresses in France, and was one
 
 92 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 of the very few which held out successfully all through 
 the Hundred Years' War. Originally called La 
 Tour du Tronc, Count Foulques Nerra, Count of 
 Anjou, in the tenth century gave it the appearance 
 and stability which it subsequently retained. Queen 
 Yolande placed her suite within the castJe precincts, 
 but she herself, putting on an oblate's habit, occupied 
 for some time a house in the Faubourg des Fonts, 
 where her privacy could be less easily disturbed. 
 What remains, and that, alas ! is very little, of this 
 habitation, is still called La Maison de la Reine 
 Cicile (Sicily). In this humble abode Yolanda 
 d'Arragona, " the great Queen," died quietly on 
 December 14, 1443. 
 
 Whether King Rene was present to close his 
 beloved mother's eyes we know not, but it is signifi- 
 cant of absence that the expense, 500 livres, 
 of the Queen's obsequies was borne by her youngest 
 son, Charles, Duke of Maine ; indeed, it is almost cer- 
 tain that Rene was at Marseilles when he heard of his 
 mother's death. In one of his " Livres des Heures " 
 he inscribed: " Le 14 Decembre de Tan 1443 tres- 
 passa au Chdteau de Saumur Madame Yolande, 
 fille de Roy d'Aragon et depuis mere de Roy Rene" 
 The funeral ceremonies were celebrated by the Arch- 
 bishop of Tours, her private chaplain, not at Saumur, 
 but at Angers, in the Cathedral of St. Maurice, to 
 which her remains were conveyed by night two days 
 after her death. Her grave was that of her consort's, 
 twenty-five years before, in front of the high-altar, 
 but all trace of it has disappeared, and explorations 
 have failed to reveal her burial casket. 
 
 It is eloquent of the irony of human affairs, that 
 whereas no memorial, or even inscription, is left to
 
 YOLANDA D'ARRAGONA 93 
 
 record the virtues of the royal mother of Anjou, in 
 the Church of Notre Dame de Nantilly at Saumur 
 there is a memorial to Mere Theophaine la Magine, 
 the devoted nurse of King Rene and Queen Marie, 
 who died March 13, 1458. The original monument, 
 erected by the King, presented his faithful domestic 
 holding him and Marie in her arms. This has been 
 destroyed, but an epitaph still remains : 
 
 " Cy gist la nourrice Theophaine 
 La Magine, qui ot grant paine 
 A nourrie de let en enfance 
 Marie d' Anjou, Eoyne de France, 
 Et apres, sonfrere Een6, Due d' Anjou."* 
 
 The only existent memorials to King Louis II. and 
 Queen Yolande are to be seen in a stained-glass 
 window in the Cathedral of St. Julien at Le Mans, 
 the capital of Maine, one of the richest and most 
 beautiful specimens of fifteenth - century glass in 
 Europe. The royal couple are upon their knees, 
 attired in conventional costumes, and bare-headed. 
 Their youngest son, Charles of Anjou and Maine, is 
 buried near that splendid window, an interesting and 
 curious circumstance in the happenings of Providence. 
 He died in 1474. All Anjou and Provence bewailed 
 their Queen, her virtues, her benevolence, her piety, 
 her loyalty. 
 
 Yolande's claim to the title with which she has 
 been honoured, " a good mother and a great Queen," 
 needs no vindication. She was, in short, the most 
 noble woman in all France during the first half of the 
 fifteenth century. 
 
 * " Here lies good nurse Theophaine 
 La Magine, who at great pain 
 Foster-mother'd in infancy 
 Marie d'Anjou, Queen of France, 
 And then Rene 1 , Duke of Anjou."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE " THE PRIDE OF LORRAINE " 
 
 I. 
 
 CHILD-MARRIAGE was a distinguishing mark of the 
 Renaissance, but its fashion in the Sovereign States 
 of France was very much more commendable than its 
 prototype in Italy. In the Italian republics it 
 became a holocaust of immature maidens, condemned 
 to untimely death through the perverted passions of 
 worn-out men of middle age. In France the girl 
 brides were mated with boy husbands, but cohabita- 
 tion was regulated by the watch and will of guardians. 
 In both countries, doubtless, the marriage contract 
 was essentially a commercial undertaking, but in 
 France it marked the attainment of political and 
 dynastic aims. Sovereign families rarely allied their 
 offspring out of the ruling class. At the same 
 time the danger of conjugal union between indi- 
 viduals nearly related was immeasurably increased. 
 Indeed, such relationships were those most zealously 
 cultivated by ambitious and exclusive rulers. The 
 marriage of Rene d'Anjou and Isabelle de Lorraine 
 was a striking and typical instance of this precocious 
 marital custom. 
 
 Isabelle, " the Pride of Lorraine," as she was 
 
 94
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 
 From a Miniature by King Rene, in " Le Livre des Heures " 
 
 To face page !
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 95 
 
 acclaimed by her devoted subjects at the time of her 
 betrothal, was born at the Castle of Nancy, 
 March 20, 1410. Her parents were Charles II., 
 Duke of Lorraine, and his consort, Margaret of 
 Bavaria. Charles himself was the eldest son of Jehan, 
 Duke and Count of Lorraine, and Sophie, Princess of 
 Wiirtemberg. Born in 1364, at Toul, a free city 
 of the German Empire and an ecclesiastical sover- 
 eign see, Charles succeeded his father in 1392. 
 Originally a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, 
 Lorraine was erected a kingdom by the Emperor 
 Lothair, who styled himself " King and Baron of 
 Lothairland." The first Prince to bear the ducal 
 title was Adelebert, in 979, and that style descended 
 unbroken through 500 years. 
 
 The Duchess Margaret was the second daughter of 
 the Emperor Robert III., Duke and Baron of Bavaria. 
 She married Charles II. in 1393. To them were 
 born eight children, but, alas ! Louis and Rodolphe 
 died in infancy, Charles and Ferry before their 
 majority, and Robert in 1419, unmarried, at twenty- 
 two. Of their three daughters, Isabelle was the 
 eldest. Marie became the wife of Engu errand de 
 Coucy, Baron of Champagne and Lord of Soissons, 
 a lineal descendant of the founder, in the thirteenth 
 century, of the famous Chateau de Coucy, the most 
 complete feudal fortress ever built, whose proud 
 motto may still be seen on the donjon wall : 
 
 " Roi je ne suis 
 Prince ni Comte aussi : 
 Je suis le Sire de Coucy." 
 
 This union was childless Catherine, the third 
 daughter, in 1426 married James, Marquis of
 
 96 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Baden, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector. 
 She renounced all claims to Lorraine. Their only 
 child was a daughter. 
 
 At the time of their marriage, Charles II. of 
 Lorraine and Margaret of Bavaria were a model 
 couple upon the principles of dissimilarity and contrast. 
 The Duke, a soldier born, had made good his degree 
 of knighthood ten years before, when, a mere strip- 
 ling, he won his spurs fighting daringly by the side of 
 his cousin, Philippe " le Hardi," Duke of Burgundy. 
 With him he went on a punitive expedition against 
 the pirates of the Barbary coast. At Rosebach, 
 and especially at the tremendous battle of Azincourt, 
 he did prodigies of valour. In Flanders and in 
 Germany his ensign led on victorious troops. 
 Charles's last military achievement was the rout 
 of the Emperor Wenceslas under the very walls of 
 Nancy. No warrior loved fighting more than the 
 Duke of Lorraine. Slightly to alter the text, he 
 was one of those war-lords whom Shakespeare, in 
 his " seven ages of man," says " sought reputation 
 at the cannon's mouth." He yearned for the 
 applause of gallant knights, both friends and foes ; 
 he yielded himself amorously to the smiles and 
 embraces of the fair sex, and he revelled in the 
 praise and adulation of poets and minstrels. His 
 mailed fist was ever toying with his trusty sword 
 and grappling the chafing-reins of his charger ; his 
 mailed foot was ever ready for the stirrup and to 
 trample upon the head of a fallen foe. 
 
 At the same time he was a gay and polished 
 courtier, one of the most accomplished Princes in 
 Europe. Fond of literature and poetry, he studied 
 daily his Latin copy of the " Commentaries of
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 97 
 
 Julius Csesar " and similar treatises. He had besides 
 a taste for music, and was no mean exponent of the 
 lute and guitar, and a friend of troubadours. 
 
 On the other hand, the gentle, lovable Duchess 
 was born for the cloister and for the worship of the 
 Mass. Her bare feet were ever moving in penitential 
 pilgrimages and religious processions, and her shapely 
 hands were ever joined in prayer or divided in 
 charity. Her passion was the submissive rule of 
 Christ, her will the conquest of herself. 
 
 Daring and devotion thus harnessed together 
 rocked the family cradle, and insured for their off- 
 spring the best of two worlds. Such a union was 
 bound to be productive of genius and corrective of 
 faults of heredity. What a bitter disappointment, 
 then, it must have been for both the Duke and the 
 Duchess when one after another their beauteous 
 babes and adolescent sons dropped like blighted 
 rosebuds from their young love's rosebush prema- 
 turely into the cold, dark grave, leaving only the 
 aroma of their sweet young lives to soothe their 
 sorrowing parents ! 
 
 Isabelle was the fairest daughter of the three. 
 She inherited the force of character of her father 
 and the pious disposition of her mother, and to these 
 precious traits she joined a spirit of intelligence much 
 in advance of her years as a growing girl. In short, 
 she was remarkable "pour ses qualites de I* esprit et 
 du coeur" a description difficult to render into good 
 English ; perhaps we may say she had her father's 
 will and her mother's love. 
 
 Many were the suitors for her hand, some for the 
 pure love of beauty, grace, and spirit, but most with 
 a view to the Duke-consortship in the future of rich
 
 98 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Lorraine. The " Pride of Lorraine," indeed, served 
 as an ever-reinforced magnet. She became remark- 
 able for her loveliness of person, her animation of 
 manner, and her distinguished carriage. The natural 
 sweetness of her voice lent a gracious persuasiveness 
 to her eloquence, which in later life proved invaluable 
 in the recruiting of adherents to her husband's cause. 
 High-souled and condescending, she brought her 
 enemies to her feet, only to raise them her warmest 
 friends. Talented beyond the average of Princesses, 
 she had also the charm of winsome gaiety, and proved 
 herself a worthy spouse and companion for her gallant 
 and clever consort Rene. Tall, slim, fair-haired, 
 blue-eyed, with a skin of satin softness, the " Pride 
 of Lorraine " won all hearts and turned many a head. 
 To Louis, Cardinal de Bar, was due the accom- 
 plishment of an idea suggested by Queen Yolande 
 with respect to the future of her second son, Rene 
 d'Anjou. He had for ever so long been considering 
 what steps he should take with respect to the succes- 
 sion to the duchy. He of course, as an ecclesiastic, 
 could have no legitimate offspring. His brothers had 
 died childless, and only one of his sisters had male 
 descendants, the grandsons of Violante de Bar, his 
 own grand-nephews. In His Eminence's mind, too, 
 was a project to reconstitute the ancient kingdom of 
 Lothair by merging Barrois and Lorraine proper. 
 Whilst Duke Charles II. 's young sons were living, 
 the Cardinal looked to one of them as his heir ; and 
 when they all drooped and died, he reflected whether 
 or not he should name Charles as his successor. At 
 this juncture his niece, the Queen of Sicily- Anjou, 
 was busy looking out for brides for her two elder 
 sons, Louis and Rene. For the former a Bretagne
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 99 
 
 alliance was indicated ; for the latter a union with 
 Lorraine Burgundy for the time being out of the 
 question or Champagne seemed desirable. 
 
 The Cardinal clinched the matter, and paid a visit 
 to the Duke of Lorraine in furtherance of his project, 
 which was the very natural and sensible one of 
 marrying his nephew Rene" with the Duke's eldest 
 daughter Isabelle. Whether Charles had any ink- 
 lings of the Cardinal's cogitations with relation to his 
 own position with respect to Bar we know not ; but 
 possibly he had, for he met the proposition with a 
 direct refusal. He read to his relative two clauses of 
 a will he had recently executed, which forbade his 
 daughter Isabelle to marry a Prince of French origin, 
 and especially barred the House of Anjou. This 
 latter prohibition was inserted with reference to the 
 rupture between Jean " sans Peur," the Duke of 
 Burgundy, and Louis II., King of Sicily and Duke 
 of Anjou, which resulted from the part the former 
 had played in the assassination of the Duke of 
 Orleans in 1407, and the consequent repudiation of 
 the betrothal of Catherine de Bourgogne and Louis 
 d' Anjou. Lorraine and Burgundy were in close 
 alliance. 
 
 The Cardinal, however, was not to be diverted 
 from the course he had taken. He placed ten con- 
 siderations before the Duke and his advisers : (1) The 
 advisability of reuniting the two portions of Lorraine ; 
 (2) Charles's lack of male heirs; (3) his own incom- 
 petence in the same direction ; (4) his choice of his 
 grand-nephew, Rene* d'Anjou, as his successor at Bar- 
 le-Duc ; (5) the attractive personality, mental attain- 
 ments, and high courage of the young Prince ; (6) his 
 descent from a Barrois-Lorrame Princess, Violante,
 
 ioo RENE D'ANJou AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 his sister ; (7) the risks of the application of the 
 power of the Salic Law over his daughters ; (8) the 
 equality of age of Rene and Isabelle ; (9) the wish of 
 the late King and of the Queen of Sicily- Anjou for 
 an alliance with Lorraine and a better understanding 
 politically; (10) the welfare of the peoples of the 
 two duchies and the love of the Lorrainers for their 
 princely house. 
 
 Charles asked time to consider these points, but 
 meanwhile he summoned the Estates, and laid before 
 them a proposition concerning the succession to Lor- 
 raine at his death. He named his eldest daughter as 
 Hereditary Duchess, and proposed that her consort 
 should bear the title, and with her exercise the pre- 
 rogatives, of Duke of Lorraine. A concordat was 
 agreed to whereby the Estates were pledged to sup- 
 port the Duchess Isabelle, and to carry out Charles's 
 wishes. 
 
 Queen Yolande had seconded her uncle's negotia- 
 tions in a very womanly and sensible way. She 
 communicated directly with good Duchess Margaret. 
 She pointed out to her the mutual advantages of the 
 marriage of the two children, and declared that such 
 a union would heal the breach between the eastern 
 and the western Sovereigns of France. Margaret, 
 loving peace and holy things, was easily persuaded to 
 reason with her husband ; she submitted absolutely 
 to the overpowering personality of the Queen. With 
 Charles, Yolande had a stiflfer fight, but she gathered 
 up her strength, and in the end, lusty warrior that he 
 was, he yielded up his defence to the tactful diplomacy 
 of the good mother of Anjou. Woman's wit once 
 more, as it generally does, triumphed over man's 
 obstinacy.
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 101 
 
 Charles agreed to receive the young Prince, and 
 judge for himself of his prepositions and qualifications. 
 The result was beyond the Cardinal's expectation, for 
 the Duke declared himself charmed with the boy. 
 He was, he said, ready to rescind the prohibitory 
 clauses of his will, but he made it a condition that he 
 should have the personal and unrestricted guardian- 
 ship of the boy until he reached the age of fifteen. 
 He desired Rene to proceed at once to Angers to 
 obtain Queen Yolande's consent to the matrimonial 
 contract between himself and Princess Isabelle. 
 Everything went merrily, like the marriage-bells 
 which soon enough pealed forth all over Lorraine, 
 Barrois, and Anjou, at the auspicious nuptials. The 
 final arrangements were completed, and Rene and 
 Isabelle were betrothed at the Castle of St. Mihiel, 
 and on October 20, 1420, married at the Cathedral 
 of Nancy by the Bishop of Toul, Henri de Ville, 
 Duke Charles's cousin. Immediately before the 
 wedding, Cardinal-Duke Louis caused a herald to 
 proclaim publicly, in the market-place of Nancy, Rene 
 d' Anjou, Comte de Guise, Hereditary Duke of Bar, 
 with the ad interim title of Marquis of Pont-a- 
 Mousson. 
 
 The record of the marriage is thus entered in 
 " Les Chroniques de Lorraine ": " Les nopees furent 
 faictes en grant triomphe, et la dicte fille menee & 
 Bar 'moult honorablement. Le Cardinal fust moult 
 joyeulx." * The contract had been signed on March 
 20, 1420, by the Duke and the Cardinal at the Chateau 
 de Tourg, near Toul, Queen Yolande's signature 
 
 * " The nuptials were celebrated with great ceremony, and the 
 said Princess was conducted to Bar very honourably. The Cardinal 
 was full of joy."
 
 102 RENE D 1 ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 being provided by her proxy. She granted to her 
 son the right to quarter the arms of Bar and Lorraine 
 with those of Anjou and Guise. 
 
 On November 10 formal proclamation was made 
 in [every important town in Lorraine, to the effect 
 that Duke Charles II. constituted his eldest daughter, 
 now Duchess of Barrois and Countess of Guise, 
 heiress to the duchy of Lorraine, and confirmed to 
 her, and to her issue by Rene" d'Anjou and Bar, full 
 rights of succession and government. The procla- 
 mation named Queen Yolande of Sicily - Anjou, 
 Louis, Cardinal de Bar, and the Duke himself, 
 Charles's guardians during the minority of the young 
 couple. 
 
 " Rene," wrote a chronicler, " is well-grown, well- 
 bred, and well-looking. He is greatly admired by 
 all the fair sex, and loves them in return. He will 
 make a good husband, and has the making of a great 
 Sovereign." The bride's praises were sung by poets 
 and minstrels the length and breadth of Lorraine 
 and Bar. 
 
 Among the earliest to congratulate the young 
 people and their parents was the redoubtable Duke 
 of Burgundy ! He sent a special embassy to Nancy 
 with this striking message : " Tons estoient si joyeulx 
 de veoir lafervente et cordiale amour qui estoit entre 
 ces deulx jeuns gens, que je me trouve capable des 
 sentiments les plus amiables pour tous mes cousins 
 royales. Je salue mes bonsfreres les Souverains Dues 
 de Lorraine et Barrois avec Madame la Duchesse 
 Marguerite, et sans autre choses la bonne Rogue de 
 Cecile, son epous le Roy Louis, pour jamais" * 
 
 * "Everybody was delighted to behold the fervent and cordial 
 love which exists between the two young people, whilst I found
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 103 
 
 This was as a jewel in the hair of Queen Yolande, 
 and as nectar in the cup of Cardinal Louis. Their 
 plans had succeeded splendidly. 
 
 Shortly after his marriage, Rene returned to Bar- 
 le-Duc with his child-bride, and they were received 
 in royal state by the Cardinal, who had renovated 
 and decorated the castle specially in their honour and 
 for their use. The town of Ligny was causing trouble 
 in Barrois by refusing to pay the accustomed tribute. 
 The Prince de Ligny claimed that portion of the 
 duchy of Bar as his, by the marriage contract of his 
 wife, the Cardinal's sister. He attacked the Castle 
 of Pierrepoint and the town of Briey, whose garrison 
 he caused to be put to the sword. The Cardinal 
 took arms, and, accompanied by Rene and companies 
 of Lorraine soldiers from Longwy, defeated his 
 relative and took him prisoner. The young Prince 
 received the rebel's sword and personally conducted 
 him to Nancy, where, after two years' confinement 
 in the fortress, he signed an act of renunciation of his 
 pretensions in Barrois. 
 
 Rene, only twelve years old, the following year 
 accompanied Charles II. of Lorraine to the siege 
 of Toul, for many years a turbulent element in his 
 dominions, where there was a hot dispute concern- 
 ing certain laws and customs oppositive to the claims 
 of the crown of Lorraine. Toul was captured, and 
 mulcted in an annual tribute of a thousand livres. 
 
 Directly the proclamation of Isabelle of Lorraine 
 with Rene* as the sharer of her throne was made, 
 
 myself filled with the most amiable sentiments for all my royal 
 cousins. I salute my good brothers the Sovereign Dukes of 
 Lorraine and Barrois, and also the Duchess Margaret, and equally 
 the good Queen of Sicily and her consort King Louis."
 
 104 RENE D^ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Antoine de Vaude"mont, Duke Charles's eldest 
 nephew, entered a protest and claimed the succession. 
 He based his action upon the three conditions 
 
 ( 1 ) The Salic Law ruled the succession of Lorraine ; 
 
 (2) the male line had not been broken since the 
 creation of the duchy ; and (3) the realm had never 
 gone out of the family. Charles scouted all these 
 positions, affirmed his own sovereign right to name 
 his successor, and refused to alter the terms of the 
 proclamation so far as regarded the succession of his 
 daughter and Duke Rene. 
 
 All the church-bells in Barrois and Lorraine were 
 again set jingling joyously when, in the ducal castle 
 of Toul, on the morning of January 17, 1437, a 
 young mother, very young indeed, barely seventeen, 
 brought forth her firstborn a beauteous boy, the 
 image, as the midwives said, of the boy-father, not 
 yet nineteen. Church-bells, too, rang merrily all 
 over Anjou and Provence when the glad tidings 
 reached their borders that a male heir was born 
 to the honours of Sicily- Anjou-Provence. Perhaps 
 Rene' and Isabelle were too young to realize what 
 it all meant for France at large, but Queen Yolande 
 understood well enough its tenor, and with her 
 congratulations she greeted her first son's grandchild 
 with the title of " Prince of Gerona," linking him 
 ostentatiously with her hereditary rights in Aragon. 
 Duke Charles, too, and Duchess Margaret were the 
 happiest of grandparents, and baby Jean was created 
 Comte de Nancy as future Duke. 
 
 Charles's death was somewhat sudden and quite 
 unexpected. Strong man that he was, King Death 
 seemed to be a power not immediately to be feared. 
 Rene was not at Nancy when the death-knell
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 105 
 
 sounded, but news swiftly reached him, and he re- 
 turned at once to the capital. Duchess Margaret, 
 despite her lamentations and her natural dislike to 
 public appearance, attired herself in full Court dress, 
 the crown she rarely wore upon her head, and all the 
 officials of the Court, the Government, and city, in 
 her retinue, and hastened to the gate to welcome the 
 new Duke of Lorraine. Before her carriage rode 
 a number of lords and knights, who dismounted on 
 the approach of Rene, and, saluting him deferentially, 
 greeted him as " Vous estoit le nostre due /" The 
 cry was taken up by all the gallant company, whilst 
 Rene, having dismounted at the portal of St. George, 
 took the sacred missal offered by the Dean into his 
 hands, and swore then and there to respect and safe- 
 guard the ancient liberties of the State and city. 
 
 One of the quaintest of quaint observances fol- 
 lowed, a custom peculiar to Lorraine. After re- 
 ceiving the ecclesiastical blessing, the new Duke 
 remounted his horse, and into his hand was placed the 
 ancient altar cross called " Polluyon." He rode 
 slowly through the city to St. Nicholas Gate, where 
 he again dismounted, and gave his charger into the 
 care of one of the canons, who took his place in the 
 saddle and rode out of sight. This strange custom 
 had been observed at all the public recognitions of 
 new Dukes of Lorraine ever since its inception by 
 Duke Raoul, in 1339. The Duke then returned on 
 foot to St. George's, bearing still the jewelled cross. 
 At the entrance the Bishop stood ready to administer 
 the customary oaths and to accord the Papal bene- 
 diction. This ceremony also was unique. The 
 Bishop told him to face the assembly of his subjects 
 at the four points of the compass, and to repeat at
 
 306 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 each the formula : " I take this oath before God and 
 you willingly, and look to God for assistance, and 
 to you for service." 
 
 Then conducted to the castle in great circum- 
 stance, amid the vociferous plaudits of the populace, 
 " Noel ! Noel /" they cried, the Duke knelt and 
 kissed the hand of Duchess Isabelle, who was waiting 
 there, and presented her to the delirious citizens. 
 " Vive le nostre Due ! Vive la nostre Duchesse /" rang 
 through the city, and, caught up by the sculptured 
 pinnacles and turrets of the cathedral, mingled 
 harmoniously with the musical cadences of the bells, 
 and so was wafted over all that fair and smiling land. 
 
 Rene", although but two-and-twenty, gave imme- 
 diate evidence of wisdom beyond his years. His 
 power to grasp and handle complex affairs of State, 
 and his discrimination in matters of moment, proved 
 the excellence of his grand-uncle's training. His 
 personal appearance was all in his favour, and his 
 graceful, well-set-up figure, his open countenance, his 
 majestic manner, ever ready to bend to circum- 
 stances, gained general admiration and confidence. 
 His gracious, patient, and conciliatory bearing was 
 remarkable. His modesty and absolute lack of 
 presumption attracted the best men of all parties. 
 His readiness to appoint a Council of State, with 
 unusual freedom of deliberation and action, was only, 
 perhaps, what might have been looked for from the 
 son of the founder of the free Parliament of Provence 
 in 1415. The new Duke set on foot movements for 
 the amelioration of the condition of the poor, for the 
 improvement of education, and for the rectification 
 of the morals of the Court and city. One of his 
 earliest edicts was for the suppression of blasphemy ;
 
 RENE D ANJOU 
 (Circa 1440) 
 
 Painted by himself " Le Livre des Heures ' 
 
 To face page 106
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 107 
 
 a first charge was punishable by the judge in the 
 ordinary way, a second involved a heavy fine, a 
 third obtained correction in the public pillory, and 
 a fourth offence was purged only by the splitting 
 of the tongue and rigorous imprisonment. 
 
 In all these, and many similar acts of sapient 
 policy, Duchess Isabelle bore her part in counsel and 
 example ; her conduct was beyond all praise. The 
 next move was a progress through every part of the 
 two duchies. At each considerable town the royal 
 cortege halted first of all that the Duke and Duchess 
 might make their devotions in the principal church, 
 and endow Masses and ecclesiastical grants. Then, 
 assembling the officials and chief citizens, they 
 inquired into the hardships of the people and 
 encouraged local institutions, at each place leaving 
 largesse for distribution. In strong places with 
 garrisons, the Duke interested himself in re- 
 dressing injuries and inequalities among the veterans. 
 He offered to pay all the losses of officers in the 
 wars ; he allowed eighteen sols for each horse killed 
 in battle or on march ; he bestowed on each soldier 
 a surcoat and steel helmet with his royal cognizance, 
 and created many knights. Meanwhile Duchess 
 Isabelle endeared herself to the womenfolk by con- 
 soling words of sympathy and gracious doles of 
 charity. Widows and orphans she took under her 
 personal patronage, and no worthy claimant for her 
 benevolence lacked favour and assistance. 
 
 Thus Rene and Isabelle won, not only golden 
 opinions, but the sincerest affection of their subjects, 
 rich and poor. But a climax was put to the 
 noble works of the kindly Sovereigns, and never came 
 truer the saying ; " Providence ever destroys the
 
 108 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 good that men do." An evil genius appeared upon 
 the peaceful scene when Antoine de Vaudemont 
 refused to pay allegiance to the new Duke and 
 Duchess. The moment of his declaration of hostility 
 was as unfortunate as it was cruel. At the public 
 baptism of Prince Jean, the Duke's eldest son, who 
 had been privately baptized at his birth, in 1426-27, 
 the Count entered the Cathedral of Nancy in full 
 armour, and objected to the Duke of Calabria, the 
 title of the young boy, being received by the 
 Church as heir to the throne of Lorraine. 
 
 The Duke immediately summoned him to appear 
 before the Council of State, and also before a 
 meeting of principal citizens, and there repeat his 
 protest. By both assembles his pretensions were 
 scouted unanimously. Sieur Jehan d'Haussonville, 
 the Mayor, addressed the Count, and said : " Your 
 uncle has left daughters ; the eldest, Isabelle, is 
 Duchess of Lorraine. I salute you. You may go." 
 Vaudemont left Nancy in a violent rage, crying out 
 as he passed through the gateway of St. George : 
 " I shall be Duke of Lorraine all the same, and 
 soon, and then will I reckon with you dogs !" He 
 posted off to Dijon, and there took counsel with the 
 Duke of Burgundy. 
 
 The body of Charles II. had scarcely been con- 
 signed to its monumental tomb in the choir of St. 
 Georges de Port at Nancy, when the Comte de 
 Vaudemont revealed himself in his true colours. 
 After his protest against the edict of the Duke 
 which named Duke Rene" of Barrois, the consort of 
 the heiress to the throne, as his successor to the 
 title of Duke of Lorraine, he had remained skulking 
 in his castle, where he welcomed as many malcontents
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 109 
 
 and disturbers of the peace as accepted his pre- 
 tensions to the crown. The coronation of Duchess 
 Isabelle was the signal for Vaudemont's attempt to 
 vindicate his claim. He had hardly a sympathizer 
 at Court, for Charles had caused all the principal 
 nobles and citizens to swear allegiance to his 
 daughter and her husband before he died. The 
 Count appeared suddenly before Nancy, and demanded 
 the keys and the custody of the Duchess. Duke 
 Rene was away besieging Metz, but he at once 
 posted off to Nancy, and assisted with men-at-arms 
 by Charles VII., and aided by the generalship of 
 Barbazan, he defeated Vaudemont in eight battles 
 great and small. 
 
 Vaudemont rallied his forces from Burgundy under 
 Antoine de Toulongeon, Duke Philippe's favourite 
 general, and enlisted foreign mercenaries from 
 Flanders and Germany. Rene had at his back all 
 the armed men of Lorraine and Bar, and contingents 
 from Anjou and Provence. James, Marquis of 
 Baden, and Louis of Bavaria, joined him with 
 squadrons of cavalry, and his army numbered 
 nearly 20,000 men. Perhaps he was over-con- 
 fident of his strength, his right, and his in- 
 trepidity ; and having a very much more numerous 
 following, he advanced upon his enemy disregarding 
 sundry cautions and wise counsels. The two armies 
 met upon the plain of Bulgneville, near Neufchateau, 
 on July 2. Vaudemont played a waiting game ; 
 besides, he had in reserve heavier artillery than his 
 royal foeman. Early in the encounter Barbazan 
 fell mortally wounded, and then Rene himself received 
 a wound which incapacitated him for a time. The 
 fall of their leaders demoralized the Lorraine army,
 
 110 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and Vaudemont, seeing his advantage, made a dash 
 with a column of heavy cavalry. Rene was smitten 
 to the ground and surrounded. He refused to 
 surrender until an officer of sufficient rank should 
 be allowed to receive his sword. Then Toulongeon 
 galloped up, and the Duke, covered with blood and 
 dust, was lead away to the Burgundian camp. 
 
 Taken the same evening to the Chateau de Talant, 
 near Dijon, the royal prisoner was treated with the 
 deference due to his rank, but, alas ! he had fallen 
 into the hands of the enemy of his house the 
 hated Duke of Burgundy. That evening the curfew 
 sounded not in Nancy, but the gates were shut 
 and barred, and two weeping women, powerless in 
 their woe, never sought their couches in the castle. 
 Mother and daughter, Margaret and Isabelle, were 
 nigh death themselves. No tidings could they gain 
 of the whereabouts or of the condition of the man 
 they loved. Duchess Isabelle cried out : " Alas ! I 
 do not know whether my husband is dead or alive 
 or wounded, nor where they have taken him." None 
 had a consoling answer, for all Nancy was in mourn- 
 ing. Two thousand good men and true lay dead 
 upon the stricken field, and three thousand more 
 shared the imprisonment of their Duke. The wounded 
 in hundreds crawled into city, village, and mansion ; 
 not a house in Lorraine but was flooded with women's 
 tears and men's blood that desperate day and night. 
 At last splashed and bedraggled heralds brought 
 news of the Duke's captivity, and that his wounds 
 were not serious : " M'sieur le Due, madame, estoit 
 en bon sante ; les Bourguignons I'avoient pris: il se 
 trouv at Dijon demain." 
 
 Thus assured of her husband's safety, Isabelle
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 111 
 
 brushed away her tears and roused herself to action. 
 Promptly she called together the Council of State, 
 where she presided in person, and eloquently demanded 
 that strong measures should at once be taken to carry 
 on the war against Vaudemont and Philippe de 
 Bourgogne, raise sufficient funds to make good losses, 
 and secure the liberty of the Duke. The Council 
 responded nobly and patriotically to the call of their 
 Duchess ; as the " Chroniques de Lorraine " has it : 
 " They had pity upon her, for she had borne four 
 sturdy children as comely as you might wish to see." 
 " Elle fust allegree!" was the universal testimony to 
 Isabelle's worth as a wife and mother. Duchess 
 Margaret, too, perhaps for the first time in her life 
 of devotion, raised her voice, and called for the 
 temporal sword to be reground to avenge the disaster. 
 She accompanied her daughter, both mounted, to 
 Ve"zelise, which Isabelle had appointed as the rendez- 
 vous of the new army, and personally enrolled com- 
 panies and squadrons, fastening to each man's helm 
 a thistle the cognizance of Lorraine. Then she 
 addressed a protest to the victor of Bulgneville, in 
 which she warned him not to approach Nancy, but 
 to regard herself as his implacable foe until he 
 should deliver up the Duke. Etienne Pasquier, the 
 chronicler, sums up in ten words the courageous 
 character of Duchess Isabelle. " Within the body of 
 a woman," he says, " the Duchess carries the heart 
 of a man." After warning Vaude*mont, she concluded 
 with him a truce of three months, during which 
 period she went in person to Charles VII., who was 
 then in Dauphine", and implored his intervention and 
 assistance. In her train was a young Maid of Honour, 
 Agnes Sorel, whose beauty and nawete rightly
 
 112 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 affected that unstable monarch ; it was an introduc- 
 tion which ripened later on into something more 
 intimate than mere admiration. 
 
 Duchess Margaret also greatly bestirred herself. 
 Hearing that her uncle, the Duke of Savoy, and her 
 brother-in-law, the Duke of Berry, were at Lyons 
 awaiting the coming of King Charles, she posted off 
 there, taking with her as advisers the Bishops of Toul 
 and Metz. In company with the King of France 
 was no less a person than Queen Yolande, his 
 mother-in-law 
 
 " Aussi vient en icelle mile, 
 Accompaignde de demoiselles, 
 La noble Royne de Cecile" * 
 
 as we read in the " Heures de Charles VII" 
 
 Rene was not kept long at Talant, but transferred 
 to the fortress of Bracon, near Salines. His imprison- 
 ment varied in severity ; at times he was treated 
 roughly, half starved and unclothed, with no resources 
 or intercourse with friends outside. Then he was 
 served with dignity befitting his rank, and granted 
 facilities for the better occupation of his time. But 
 what a staggering blow was his misfortune to all his 
 dreams and aims of honour, glory, and sovereignty ! 
 
 Lorraine was in a terrible state, and so was 
 Barrois ; men knew not what to do nor whom to 
 trust. Overrun with soldiers of fortune and the riff- 
 raff of foreign camp-followers, security for person and 
 for property was no more. Vaude'mont made, how- 
 ever, no use of his victory at least, so far as pressing 
 his claims to the duchy. Everywhere his cause was 
 unpopular ; indeed, he found himself in the very 
 
 * " There also came to the same town, accompanied by Maids of 
 Honour, the noble Queen of Sicily."
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 113 
 
 unusual and humiliating position of a victor denied 
 the fruits of his victory. He disbanded his army 
 and retired from Lorraine, and took up his abode 
 with his ally, Philippe of Burgundy, and there awaited 
 developments. Rene found means to communicate 
 with his desolated wife, and forwarded instructions to 
 the Estates of Lorraine and Barrois to acknowledge 
 and serve Duchess Isabelle as Lieutenant-General 
 during his captivity. She entered upon her respon- 
 sible duties with the utmost fortitude and courage. 
 All historians testify to her indefatigable zeal and 
 administrative ability. 
 
 Whilst the two Duchesses were doing all they 
 could to effect the Duke's release and maintain the 
 rights of Lorraine and Barrois, Rene" himself made 
 a direct appeal to Philippe of Burgundy, and on 
 March 1, 1432, he proposed certain terms to his 
 royal gaoler. They were as follows : ( 1 ) The accept- 
 ance by the Duke of Burgundy of Duke Renews two 
 young sons, Jean and Louis, as hostages for their 
 father ; (2) the cession of the castles of Clermont 
 en Argonne, Chatille, Bourmont, and Charmes ; and 
 (3) the payment of the Burgundian troops in full for 
 all arrears. Philippe accepted these hard conditions, 
 and added to their harshness by fixing a ransom 
 of 20,000 saluts d'or. At the same time thirty 
 nobles of Lorraine and Barrois offered themselves 
 in lieu of the two young Princes. 
 
 This contract Philippe submitted to the Comte de 
 Vaude"mont for his approval, which he gave after 
 much consideration, but required the insertion of a 
 clause to the effect that his son Ferry should be 
 betrothed to Yolande, Duke Renews eldest daughter, 
 then not quite three years old, and that she should
 
 114 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 receive a dowry of 18,000 florins de Rhin for 
 the purchase of an estate in Lorraine, and he 
 added very cunningly a proviso that residuary rights 
 to the duchy should be settled upon the issue of the 
 marriage. This was with grim vengeance the hoist- 
 ing both of the Duke and the Count upon their own 
 petards. Such an extraordinary arrangement was, 
 perhaps, never before contrived by the craft of man. 
 
 At Nancy in the Queen's apartments there was 
 sorrow keen. Isabelle's heart was stabbed to the 
 core. Could she part with her dear children ? That 
 was the question she had to answer. The other 
 clauses of Rene's charter of freedom were serious 
 enough, to be sure, but none of them weighed upon 
 a mother's heart as did this. As she looked out 
 upon the pleasaunce whence came echoes of childish 
 laughter, her will failed her. No, there they were, 
 Jean and Louis, lovely boys of six and four, too 
 tender much to leave her fostering care, too young to 
 face the rigours of captivity. And yet her dearly 
 loved husband, Rene, could not be left in durance 
 vile ; his liberty was of the first importance, and no 
 sacrifice would be too great to bring him home to her 
 again. What should she do ? First of all she knelt 
 in prayer to God, and implored the aid of St. Mary 
 and the saints. St. George was for Lorraine. Then 
 she hied her to the boudoir of her mother, Duchess 
 Margaret, and fell upon her bosom, sobbing violently, 
 the woman with the courage of a man ! Those tears, 
 however, washed away her momentary want of 
 resolution, and when she had laid bare her troubles 
 before her sympathetic parent, the answer to her 
 prayers came through the same devoted channel. 
 
 " Isabelle, my child/' the old Duchess said, "dry
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 115 
 
 your tears, and thank-God in any case, for this trouble 
 will pass. St. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, feels for 
 you, the mother of her boys. She inspires me, too, 
 and I am ready to take the dear children myself to 
 Dijon or wherever our Rene may be, and to remain 
 with them till Philippe of Burgundy plays the man 
 and the Christian and releases them, and then our Rene 
 shall fold thee to his heart ere many suns have set." 
 
 This pious and heroic resolution of the good-living 
 Duchess-Dowager was, perhaps, no more than Isabelle 
 expected. She, of course, could not take her hand 
 off the helm of State, but her mother was a persona 
 grata at the Burgundian Court ; at least, she had been 
 so when she came as a bride to Nancy many years 
 before. The long and the short of the matter was 
 that Duke Rene was released from his prison on 
 March 1, 1432. He gave his parole to return there 
 within a twelvemonth if the conditions of his freedom 
 were not complied with. 
 
 By a curious concatenation of circumstances the 
 arrival of Duchess Margaret and her two little grand- 
 sons at Dijon synchronized with that of the Duke of 
 Burgundy. He had been away in Flanders and in 
 the English camp on political business, and had post- 
 poned the bestowal of rewards and honours upon his 
 adherents at Bulgneville. Now he called a Chapter 
 of the " Order of the Toison d'Or " at Bracon, of all 
 places in the duchy, apparently forgetful of the fact 
 that his royal prisoner was there. The fortress 
 possessed two towers ; in one of these Rene was 
 confined, henceforward known as La Tour de Bar. 
 There were three floors ; on the topmost were the 
 Duke's two chambers, below certain Lorraine prisoners 
 of distinction were accommodated, and the guard
 
 116 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 occupied the ground-floor. The other tower con- 
 tained the regalia and the archives of the Order. A 
 very pleasant story is told of a meeting of the two 
 Dukes at Tour de Bar, and it delightfully illustrates 
 the French proverb, "Noblesse oblige." On the day 
 of the Chapter the Duke of Burgundy, passing the 
 portal of Rene's tower, cast up his eyes, and beheld 
 his prisoner looking out of a window. He tossed up 
 his bare hand in token of recognition, and sent an 
 officer up to Rene's chamber with a request that 
 he would permit him to enter and hold converse 
 there. Such a demand appealed, of course, in- 
 stantly to the chivalrous instinct of the Duke of 
 Lorraine and Bar, and the two Sovereigns clasped 
 each other's hand in silence. Philippe's heart failed 
 him at the greeting of his captive, and he shed tears. 
 Whilst the Princes were so engaged, a noble of the 
 Court of Dijon approached his liege and delivered 
 him a despatch, the perusal of which greatly affected 
 him. It was, indeed, the intimation that Duchess 
 Margaret of Lorraine was in attendance with Rene's 
 two young boys at the palace in Dijon, awaiting 
 Duke Philippe's pleasure. He communicated the in- 
 telligence to Duke Rene, who covered his face with 
 his hands and sank to his seat in a conflict of emotions. 
 Duke Philippe, laying his hand on his prisoner's 
 shoulder, said : " La parole du Due du Bar est plus 
 forte que les 6tages !" Then he added: "Pray, 
 Monseigneur, consider the portals of the Tour de Bar 
 open to your orders. Let us go together and greet 
 the good Duchess Margaret. You and she and your 
 children shall be set forth this day to Nancy. May 
 the good God cheer your way !" This was magna- 
 nimity incarnate a choice trait of the days of la,
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 117 
 
 vraie chivalrie ! To describe the joy of Rene as he 
 once more caressed his sons and kissed the hand of 
 his mother-in-law, and to set forth the rejoicings 
 at Nancy, and, indeed, all along that joyous march 
 from Dijon, with the blessedness of reunion between 
 Isabelle and her spouse, would tax the pen of any 
 ready writer. Rene was free, and Philippe had 
 attained his apogee. Joy-bells rang, voices cheered, 
 and Lorraine and Barrois gave themselves over to 
 unbridled festivity ; whilst the Duke and Duchess and 
 their two brave boys made a royal progress, whereon 
 they were nearly torn to pieces by their enthusiastic 
 subjects. Rene and Isabelle once more visited every 
 town, and personally thanked all and sundry for their 
 loyalty and affection. 
 
 But business is business even in royal circles, and 
 the Estates of Lorraine and Bar were assembled by 
 the Sovereigns to consider and fulfil the terms of 
 Rene's charter of liberty. The crux was the amount 
 of the money ransom, and how to raise it. Both 
 duchies were stripped bare of resources, prolonged 
 wars had impoverished the nobles, and had brought 
 upon all classes great privations. In Anjou and 
 Provence much the same conditions existed, and 
 Queen Yolande had as much as she could do to make 
 all ends meet. King Charles VII. was a fugitive 
 or little better, he had no money, and the Duke of 
 Brittany had his own responsibilities and cares. The 
 only wealthy member of the Sicily-Anjou family was 
 the Queen of Naples, and she was financing King 
 Louis III. and his conflict with the King of Aragon. 
 Nevertheless something had to be done, and Ren6 
 and Isabelle together put their pride into their 
 pocket and made approaches to their unlovely rela-
 
 118 RENE D\ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 tive. Queen Yolande and Duchess Margaret also 
 backed up the appeal. 
 
 Rene embarked at Marseilles directly Queen 
 Giovanna's reply reached him, for she demanded 
 that his request for assistance should be made in 
 person at Aversa. It was not a very pleasant pros- 
 pect that presented itself to the Duke of Bar- 
 Lorraine. The ill-fame of the Queen of Naples had 
 by no means been lessened by her attempted liaison 
 with his elder brother, King Louis. Nevertheless, 
 Re'ne was prepared to pay a high price for the 
 20,000 saluts d'or, but Isabelle had no fear for his 
 honour. The mission was a failure. The Queen's 
 price was impossible ; and although Rene remained 
 in dalliance upon her, and played the part of a com- 
 plete courtier, so far as was possible for him to do, 
 she dismissed her relative with a sneer and a refusal. 
 
 News of Rene's failure reached Nancy before his 
 own arrival, and resourceful Duchess Isabelle imme- 
 diately set to work upon an alternative plan for 
 securing the liberty of her consort. The city of 
 Basel was then preparing to receive the Fathers of 
 the Ecumenical Council of the Roman Church, and 
 with them the citizens were required to welcome 
 the Emperor of Germany, under whose protection 
 they were. Sigismund was the son of Marie de 
 France, sister of Louis I. of Sicily- Anjou. Moreover, 
 he had married the Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria, a 
 sister of Duchess Margaret. 
 
 Isabelle despatched a notable embassy to greet 
 her uncle the Emperor, and at the same time to 
 crave his sympathy and help. A very favourable 
 reply came quickly back to Nancy, and with the 
 returning Lorraine envoys travelled two Chamber- 
 lains of the Imperial Court, sent by the Emperor to
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 119 
 
 escort Rene to Basel. Sigismund furthermore cited 
 the Comte de Vaudemont to appear before him and 
 state his case. A most patient hearing was granted 
 by His Majesty to the arguments of the victorious 
 Count, but on April 24 Sigismund ascended the 
 imperial thone in the Cathedral of Basel, and there 
 solemnly gave his judgment. He decreed that Rene* 
 was lawful Duke of Lorraine, that he should not be 
 required to return to prison, and that further grace 
 should be allowed for the payment of the ransom. 
 
 With scant reverence for the sacred edifice, and 
 with much discourtesy to the Emperor and the 
 dignitaries who sat with him as assessors, the 
 Papal Legate and the Patriarch of Constantinople, 
 Vauddmont indignantly refused to accept the imperial 
 ruling, and demanded the immediate payment of 
 the 20,000 saluts d'or or the prompt return of 
 Duke Rene to Bracon. Duchess Isabelle, who had 
 courageously accompanied her husband, fell upon her 
 knees before their stern, irreconcilable enemy, and 
 pleaded with him to extend knightly magnanimity 
 towards his prisoner. No ! Vaudemont would 
 have the duchy or Rene's money or his person. 
 Rene, gently raising his loving spouse, led her from 
 the scene, and then, tenderly embracing her, he re- 
 turned to where he had left Vaudemont scowling. 
 " See," said he, " here I am : take me at once to Dijon." 
 Before leaving the Imperial Court the Emperor 
 beckoned to him, and, directing him to kneel, formally 
 invested him with the temporalities of the duchy 
 of Lorraine, and upon Isabelle he bestowed with the 
 Papal benediction the honour of the "Golden Rose." 
 
 Torn from the bosom of his family once more, 
 Rene bore his misfortune like a man, and Isabelle 
 rose superior to her trouble. Their noble bearing
 
 120 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 gained further the respect and good-will of all the 
 Sovereigns and peoples of Europe, whilst the spleen 
 and meanness of Vaudemont rendered him odious 
 everywhere. Rene submitted obediently to the 
 newly-imposed discipline. He beguiled his time by 
 adorning the walls and windows of his chamber with 
 sketches and paintings. What a thousand pities it 
 is that none of those treasures have been preserved ! 
 Alas ! France has suffered more than any other land 
 from the suicidal tendencies of her people. Over 
 and over again national passion has swept away 
 works of art and historical memorials. King Rene's 
 frescoes have, with the fortress of Bracon, wholly 
 disappeared. Music, too, and poetry, formed for him 
 consolations. He composed ballades, he sang songs, 
 sacred and profane. He played the viol and zither, 
 and so whiled away some of the tedium of his 
 captivity. " Les Chroniques de Lorraine" note that 
 " il a sgu la musique, et marier la voix aulx doulx 
 accents d'un luth, gemissant sous ses doigts."* 
 
 At Bracon was the Duke of Burgundy's splendid 
 library, to which Rene* was freely admitted. There he 
 studied painstakingly classical works in Greek, Latin, 
 and Hebrew. 
 
 Cut off as he was entirely from intercourse with 
 his family, friends, and subjects, at times he gave 
 way to melancholy, and regarded himself as unjustly 
 treated by Providence. He craved to behold his 
 children, and this longing was assuaged by the 
 chivalrous consideration of the Duke of Burgundy, 
 who permitted the little Princes Jean and Louis to 
 visit their unhappy father in his prison. 
 
 * " He knew music, and how to modulate his voice to the notes of 
 a lute, striking it with his fingers."
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 121 
 
 II. 
 
 The years 1434 and 1435 were full of tragic happen 
 ings for Rene and Isabelle. Death claimed three im- 
 portant personages near of kin. All Lorraine mourned 
 the saintly Duchess Margaret. She died in her 
 devoted daughter's arms during the feast of Pente- 
 cost, and they buried her beside her consort, Charles II., 
 in the ducal tomb at St. George-by-the-Gate. Her 
 quiet influence had been all for good, both upon her 
 children's account and upon the morals of the Court 
 and nation. She could, as we have seen, act the 
 heroine as well as the devotee. Isabelle missed her 
 mother's goodly counsels more than she could express 
 in words. Rene's greatest loss was undoubtedly his 
 brother, Louis III., King of Sicily- Anjou and Naples. 
 This bereavement wholly changed the position and 
 prospects of the Bar-Lorraine ducal family ; for Louis 
 dying without surviving issue, all his honours, titles, 
 and dominions, were inherited by his next brother, Rene. 
 
 This event, and what it meant for Rene, were the 
 climax of his career. The proclamation of the new 
 King was a tragedy and a travesty combined. The 
 pathos of his position was emphatic. The news 
 stunned him powerless and wellnigh nerveless, hope- 
 less and wellnigh demented. He had not regained 
 his equanimity, when the mockery of his fate was 
 borne still more cruelly upon him in the intelligence 
 that reached him on February 2, 1435, in the Tour 
 de Bar, of the demise of Queen Giovanna II., whose 
 will named him her successor as King of Naples. 
 
 Louis died of fever at Cosenza, the capital of Cala- 
 bria, on November 15, 1434, lamented by his enemies 
 as well as by his friends. His devoted mother was
 
 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 not with him. She was broken-hearted at the news 
 which reached her at Angers. Alas that so gallant a 
 soldier-King should be cut off so suddenly and so 
 prematurely in the first bloom of his manhood ! Cast 
 down with grief unspeakable and mute, his girl-wife 
 still a bride Marguerite, consoled his last hours. 
 No child had come to bless their union, and the 
 palpitating passion of the honeymoon was naturally 
 cooling. The stress, too, of martial movements 
 separated all too soon and too frequently the bridal 
 couple. Still, Queen Marguerite ministered tenderly 
 to her sick spouse, and her love burst forth in un- 
 diminished fervency as she realized that death would 
 so cruelly part them. Very nobly and unselfishly, 
 Louis in his will, very strangely, made exactly to 
 the day a year before, required all honour to be 
 paid to his widow, for his sake as well as for her own, 
 and left her the bulk of his private property alas ! 
 greatly diminished by the expenses of his military 
 campaigns. Moreover, he expressly directed that she 
 should be free to go where she would, if not to 
 Anjou, then to her home again in Savoy, and he 
 besought her, " for the love she bore him, not to pine 
 away in sadness, but to choose some good man and 
 marry him, for the relief of nature and for the love 
 of God." 
 
 Marguerite buried Louis with the burial of a King, 
 and built a monument to his memory in the cathedral, 
 and she directed that the sword of Lancelot, the 
 British knight whom Louis had unhorsed at tilt and 
 slain, should be suspended over the royal burying- 
 place. Then she speeded back to her father's Court, 
 not adventuring herself at Naples, where Queen Gio- 
 vanna lay a-dying. Good and true wife that she was,
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 123 
 
 she kept her sorrow silently and unaffectedly for 
 twelve long years, and then she married another Louis 
 Louis IV., Duke of Bavaria. Short was again 
 this second union, for after another two years' widow- 
 hood she married, for a third time, Ulric VII., Count 
 of Wiirternberg, in 1452. At Stuttgart, after so 
 many tragic changes, Queen-Duchess-Countess Mar- 
 guerite settled down, and lived seventeen years in 
 peace and happiness, drawing her last breath upon 
 the very day of November, the 15th, which had wit- 
 nessed the marriage vows of Louis III. and herself 
 just thirty-six years before. 
 
 Duchess Isabelle de Lorraine, now Queen of Sicily - 
 Anjou and Naples, with her accustomed promptitude, 
 despatched a messenger to the King in prison, announ- 
 cing her instant departure for Naples. She sapiently 
 understood that her presence in Italy was essential if 
 the crown of Naples was to rest securely upon her 
 husband's head. She would receive the allegiance of 
 the Neapolitans in his name, and administer the 
 government as his Lieutenant-General. On Novem- 
 ber 28 she left Nancy with her second son, Louis, 
 Marquis of Pont-a-Mousson, and travelled post-haste 
 into Provence. Again her presence kindled the most 
 enthusiastic expressions of commiseration for the lot 
 of the King and Count, and of devotion to his person 
 and to herself. Men and money poured in upon her. 
 She welcomed all, and accepted gratefully everybody's 
 contribution. 
 
 From Marseilles the Queen and her following 
 sailed to Genoa, where the Doge and the nobles gave 
 her a right royal reception, and volunteered help and 
 amity. Thence to Milan the intrepid traveller took 
 her way, where she gained over the Duke, and he
 
 RENtf D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 made Rent's cause his own. In Rome, Pope Euge- 
 nius IV. blessed her and her son, and conjured all 
 the Italian States to lend their aid. Her arrival at 
 Naples was so entirely unexpected by the Alfonsists 
 that they were not only checkmated in their attempt 
 on King Rene's inheritance, but were thrown into a 
 panic, from which they were unable to rally. 
 
 The Neapolitans of every grade and class welcomed 
 their new Queen and her five great galleys, filled with 
 the flower of Provence, Milan, and Genoa, with 
 every manifestation of joy and loyalty. Her charms 
 of person transported them, her intrepidity roused 
 them, and her gracious words delighted them. The 
 old love of Naples for the House of Anjou returned, 
 and every adherent of the Spanish King was cast out. 
 Queen Isabelle had very soon more serious work in 
 hand than graciously acknowledging the salutations of 
 the enthusiastic citizens. King Alfonso was at the 
 gates of Naples with a strong force on land and sea. 
 She in person assumed command of the loyal troops 
 in the capital, appointed trusty commanders, and 
 placed Naples in a good state of defence. Besieged 
 rigorously by the Spanish army, the Queen directed 
 sorties which were perfectly successful, and the enemy 
 retreated to a more respectful distance. In one of 
 these affrays, Doin Pedro, brother of the King of 
 Aragon, was slain, and Queen Isabelle, with a spirit 
 of chivalry worthy of a noble knight and a magnani- 
 mous Sovereign, offered his dead body royal sepulchral " 
 rites in the cathedral. 
 
 During Queen Isabelle's absence from Lorraine, 
 King Ren named their eldest son, Jean, now Duke of 
 Calabria, the traditional title of the heir to the 
 throne of Naples, as his Lieutenant - General in
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 125 
 
 Barrels and Lorraine, child though he was, not yet 
 ten years old. Nominally he was placed under the 
 tutelage and guardianship of Queen Yolande, who 
 made a progress to Nancy to assist in carrying out her 
 son's command, and to look after the two little 
 "orphaned" girls, Yolande and Marguerite, her 
 granddaughters. Most prudently she abstained, as 
 might have been expected from her high-toned char- 
 acter, from interfering in any affairs of State in these 
 two eastern duchies of her son's dominions. Four 
 high officials she selected to direct the policy of the 
 palace and safeguard the crown, all men of proven 
 probity and loyal disinterestedness, and to them she, 
 by Rene's wish, delegated the actual charge of the 
 young Duke : Jehan de Fenestranger, Grand Marshal ; 
 Gerard de Harancourt, Seneschal ; Jacques de Haran- 
 court, Bailli or Mayor of Nancy ; and Philippe de 
 Lenoncourt, tutor to the young Princes. 
 
 Queen Yolande having seen all these matters 
 settled, and having named Anne, Countess of Vaude*- 
 niont, governante of the two young Princesses, she 
 took her departure to Provence and Marseilles, there 
 to await the course of events in Naples. The ap- 
 pointment of a Vaudemont must have struck most 
 people as extraordinary. The Countess was mother 
 of the implacable Count Antoine, and it was due to 
 Queen Yolande's remarkable foresightedness that she 
 was chosen. She saw the perils ahead caused by the 
 number and dispersion of the dominions of the crowns 
 unfortunate King Rene had not yet put upon his head. 
 It appeared to her that Naples and Sicily would be 
 the chief appanage, and require the presence of the 
 Sovereign almost continuously. Anjou and Provence 
 might fall to the government of Rene's second son,
 
 126 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and then Bar and Lorraine would go to his daughters, 
 perhaps upon their marriage. Vaude"mont would 
 never relax his efforts to gain Lorraine. Might not a 
 matrimonial alliance between a son of his and a grand- 
 daughter of her own, thought the Queen, solve 
 amicably and profitably a very vexed question ? 
 
 All the while that Queen Isabelle was holding 
 Naples for her consort and keeping Alfonso of Aragon 
 in check, nothing was neglected which might hasten 
 the release of the royal captive. With commendable 
 astuteness Isabelle made overtures to her namesake 
 Isabelle, Duchess of Burgundy, and her efforts were 
 seconded on the spot by Queen Yolande. Isabelle of 
 Portugal was in disposition and tastes very much like 
 the late lamented Duchess of Lorraine much affected 
 by religion, by charity, by pity. The separation of 
 the King of Sicily -Anjou and Naples from his family, 
 and the sorrows of his Queen, appealed to her womanly 
 sympathy. She talked long and well to Duke 
 Philippe, and at last succeeded in gaining his signature 
 to a decree of pardon and an order of release for the 
 distinguished captive. Under her persuasion the 
 amount of the ransom was halved, and Rene's liberty 
 was unlimited. 
 
 King Rene of Sicily- Anjou and Naples was set free 
 from durance vile at Bracon on November 25, 1436. 
 No doubt this achievement was greatly due to the 
 urgent pressure of all the Sovereigns of France, 
 headed by King Charles VII. ; indeed, the Duke of 
 Burgundy had hardly any choice in the matter, for 
 Arthur de Richemont, brother of the Duke of 
 Brittany and Constable of France, who was the bearer 
 of the united royal protest, gave him plainly to under- 
 stand that the retention of Rene" at Bracon would
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 127 
 
 mean the immediate invasion and devastation of the 
 duchy. 
 
 Rene" went off at once to Nancy and Bar-le-Duc, 
 there to be welcomed by his subjects and to thank 
 personally his many warm friends and helpers. After 
 embracing his children, he hurried on to Angers, where 
 Queen Yolande greeted him tenderly and made him 
 rest and refresh himself. She had been busy, as was 
 her wont, in more matrimonial adventures, and now 
 she broached the subject of the betrothal of the young 
 Duke of Calabria, her eldest grandson. The bride 
 she had chosen for him, with Queen Isabelle's approval, 
 was the Princess Marie, a daughter of the Duke of 
 Bourbon, a little motherless girl who had been under 
 her care for some time. She was a granddaughter 
 of King John II. the Good, and niece and ward of the 
 Duke of Burgundy, who dowered her with 50,000 
 ecus d'or. 
 
 There was, however, not much time for King Rene* 
 to waste in festivities. He set off to thank King 
 Charles, the Duke of Brittany, and all the other 
 friendly Princes who had so greatly aided his deliver- 
 ance. Then he hastened by water, the usual method 
 of quick transit, down to his favourite Provence, 
 where the transports of delight with which he was 
 welcomed surpassed all former demonstrations. He 
 wanted men and money, and Provence was never 
 backward in contributions for her Count, for his 
 next move was to be to Naples, to embrace his noble 
 Queen and relieve her of her heavy responsibilities. 
 
 The usual course was taken by the royal galley. 
 Genoa was the rendezvous, as of old. The Genoese 
 gave their visitor a splendid reception. His romantic 
 career had greatly affected them, and now that they
 
 beheld his gracious person their delight knew no 
 bounds. Never had a royal visitor such an ovation 
 in Liguria. The famous Tommaso Fregoso, the 
 Doge, lodged him in the Ducal Palace, the streets 
 were wreathed in spring greenery, and all the maids 
 and matrons of the proud city combed out their rich 
 brown, lustrous locks of hair, jauntily fixed their 
 white lace veils with jewelled pins, and put on their 
 best attire and massive chains of gold. At the 
 entrance of the Piazza di San Lorenzo one hundred of 
 the fairest of the fair scattered flowers before King 
 Renews white steed of state, and six of the prettiest 
 and the noblest were dedicated to his personal wish 
 and disposition. This indeed was a Scriptural and a 
 patriarchal custom, but always duly observed in de- 
 corous and sensuous Genoa. But again pleasure had 
 to give way to business, and King Rene had the satis- 
 faction of sailing out of that famous harbour followed 
 by a goodly flotilla of fighting ships well found. 
 
 Rene was received at Naples tumultuously as 
 lawful King and Sovereign. Mounted on a great 
 black charger, crowned and habited in cloth of gold 
 and covered with the royal mantle of state of crimson 
 velvet and ermine, the sword of St. Januarius in 
 his hand, he rode through people, flowers, banners, 
 and huzzahs, right into the nave of the cathedral ; 
 there Queen Isabelle received her consort exultingly, 
 and with him knelt lowly for the benediction of the 
 Mass. That day marked an amazing contrast in the 
 fortunes of two men King Rene", the prisoner of 
 Bracon, seated upon the ancient throne of Naples, 
 and King Alfonso, the conqueror of Aragon, pacing 
 uneasily his prison chamber at Milan ! 
 
 The reunion of the royal couple was a happy thing
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 129 
 
 indeed, so often parted had they been and so sadly, 
 Isabelle had acted the part of a good woman and a 
 faithful spouse despite splenetic insinuations to the 
 contrary. Her position had been most trying in 
 anxious times, and among ill-disposed aspirants for 
 her favour. She knew intuitively who to trust of 
 those that expressed themselves most devoted to her 
 service, and no one ever was more zealously pre- 
 occupied with the interest of her friends than she. 
 Now came the time to award honours to the faithful 
 and the true, and King Rene deputed his Queen to 
 bestow the royal favours. The first to profit by 
 the new dispensation was, naturally, the widowed 
 Queen Margaret, who after the burial of her consort, 
 King Louis III., had sought refuge in Naples, under 
 the sheltering wing of her royal sister-in-law. Still 
 resplendent in her beauty and possessed of every 
 youthful grace, the young Queen was the object 
 of deep solicitude and affection. 
 
 The condition of the Two Sicilies was parlous ; 
 almost every commune was divided against itself on 
 the subject of the succession to the throne, and 
 almost daily were recorded deeds of cruelty and 
 aggression, pointing to the outbreak of serious 
 hostilities all over the dual kingdom. The blue and 
 white ensign of Anjou and the red and yellow banner 
 of Aragon were reared, not in friendly contest, but 
 in deadly feud. Under these circumstances Rene 
 judged it expedient for the Queen and their little 
 son Louis to go back to France, and Queen Margaret 
 refused to be separated from her sympathetic sister- 
 in-law. It was a pang to both again so soon to part, 
 but rulers of States are not like ordinary mortals ; 
 for public duties must take precedence of private
 
 130 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 interests. Isabelle's brief rule at Naples had done 
 wonders in the way of conciliation, and ^tienne 
 Pasquier did not exaggerate her virtues when he 
 wrote : " Cette vraye Amazone, que dans un corps de 
 femme portoit un cceur d'homme, fist tant d'actes 
 generaux pendant la prisonment de son mari, que 
 ceste piece este enchassee en lettres d'or dedans les 
 annales de Lorraine" All Naples shed tears at 
 their beloved Queen's departure. Margaret they 
 hardly knew, but the last Queen they had known, 
 Giovanna, was hated quite as thoroughly as Isabelle 
 was adored. 
 
 The galley bearing back to Marseilles those whom 
 he most loved had hardly passed beyond the horizon 
 of the Bay of Naples when Rene" took action. On 
 September 22 an Anjou herald appeared in the camp 
 of King Alfonso, and threw down King Renews blood- 
 stained glove as a challenge, first to a personal 
 encounter between the two Kings, and then to 
 a combat a I'outrance between the two armies. On 
 the part of Alfonso, who was on his way from his 
 Milan prison, the challenge was accepted by his chief 
 of the staff, who indicated the locality for the trials 
 of chivalry and force, the level country between Nola 
 and Arienzo, at the foot of Vesuvius. Single combat 
 was denied by Alfonso, and then Rene* attacked his 
 rival with all the forces at his command. Numerically 
 again, as at the stricken field of Bulgueville, the 
 Angevin army was much the stronger, for under 
 Renews banner marched the Milan-Genoese contingent, 
 with Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, at its head. 
 Rene's fleet, too, was at anchor in the bay, com- 
 manded by the intrepid Admiral Jehan de Beaufort, 
 to act in conjunction with the land forces of his King.
 
 1. " EMBARKMENT OF ' CUER ' FOR THE 'ISLAND OF LOVE* " 
 
 2. "'CUER' READING THE INSCRIPTION ON THE ENCHANTED FOUNTAIN" 
 
 From ' La Conqueste de Doulce Mercy." Written and illuminated by 
 King Rene, National Library, Paris 
 
 To face page 130
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 131 
 
 The Spanish army was better disciplined and better 
 furnished with artillery, and King Rene once more 
 had to bow to circumstances, and to look in vain for 
 Fortune's smile. His forces were cut in two and 
 slaughtered right and left, and he himself wounded 
 and all but captured, for he was not a leader to 
 skulk behind his men : he led the van, and was ever 
 in the thick of the fight. His appeal, " Anjou-Cecile ! 
 Amor Chevaliers /" was of no avail. He was beaten, 
 and fled with only two knights, and shut himself 
 in Castel Nuovo. A truce was signed, and the 
 King of Naples went off to report his defeat at 
 Rome, Florence, and Genoa. 
 
 Pope Eugenius IV. and the Emperor Joannes 
 Paleologos, who were both at Florence, received the 
 royal fugitive ardently, blessed him, and awarded 
 him and his heirs, disregarding the victory of King 
 Alfonso, the right to govern the Two Sicilies in 
 perpetuity. The Medici and other Florentines of mark 
 and wealth offered subsidies for the recovery of the 
 Neapolitan throne, and at Genoa and Milan men and 
 supplies were to be had for the asking ; but Rene had 
 had his fill of war, and bloodshed was now to him 
 abhorrent. " Too much blood," he remarked, " has 
 been shed already. We will rest awhile, and ask 
 God to pardon our sins." Rene returned to Marseilles 
 in 1442 a sadder and a wiser man. There he met 
 once more his Queen, to rejoice his stricken heart ; 
 but that heart, and hers too, tenderly bled again and 
 again, for not only did the melancholy news of his 
 good mother's death in Anjou shatter him, but 
 Isabelle and he had the terrible grief of parting with 
 their dearly-loved second son, the Marquis of Pont-a- 
 Mousson. Prince Louis, so promising, so handsome,
 
 and so loyal, they buried sadly : he was his mother's 
 favourite child, the companion of her triumphs and 
 her trials. 
 
 King Rene was called from his grief over the 
 tomb of his young son to Tours by Charles of France. 
 To the French Court had come Ambassadors, with 
 the Earl of Suffolk at their head, to treat for peace 
 between the two conflicting kingdoms. The French 
 King, with his usual lassitude, deputed to King Rene 
 the conduct of the deliberations, which ended honour- 
 ably for all parties concerned, in the guarantee of two 
 years' cessation of hostilities, with the acknowledg- 
 ment of in statu quo. Nearer home, however, 
 matters were not so stable ; the state of the allied 
 duchies was deplorable. So insecure were the roads 
 in Lorraine, infested by wandering bands of discon- 
 tented peasantry and ill-affected townspeople, that 
 travelling was attended with the utmost danger. 
 The higher the dignity of a wayfarer, the greater the 
 eagerness to attack and pilfer. Queen Isabelle was 
 herself the victim of a dastardly outrage. Journeying 
 forth soon after her dear son Louis's death, to pray 
 at his grave at Pont-a-Mousson, her cortege was 
 attacked by a party of marauders from Metz. They 
 compelled her to leave her litter, with its cloth of 
 gold curtains and luxurious cushions, and subjected 
 her to rough treatment in spite of her protestations. 
 
 "You villains!" she cried, "you know perfectly 
 who I am. How dare you offer this gross insult to 
 your Sovereign! Begone, and let me pass. You 
 shall richly pay for your temerity." Jeers and offen- 
 sive remarks greeted this haughty command. They 
 cared nothing for Isabelle nor her consort; indeed, 
 they were unrighteous allies of the Count of Vaude-
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 133 
 
 mont. The Duchess was stripped of her jewellery, 
 her cqffrets were rifled, and her servants beaten, and 
 then the miscreants made off. 
 
 The Queen hastily returned to Nancy, and laid the 
 matter before the Council, demanding satisfaction. 
 " Unless you, my lords," she said, " at once make a 
 strong representation to the Governor of Metz, I will 
 set off to Anjou, and bring the King back to recom- 
 pense the miscreants." All the chivalry of France 
 was shocked at this amazing outrage, and King 
 Charles, with Arthur de Richemont and a strong 
 force, hurried into Lorraine from Dauphine, deter- 
 mined to make an example of the gross behaviour 
 of the Messins. The city barricaded her gates, 
 sounded the tocsin, and prepared to resist, if might 
 be, the united forces of France. The besieged held 
 out for six months, flinging taunt on taunt against 
 the King and Queen. At last it fell, and the price 
 the rebels had to pay was onerous, besides the for- 
 feiture of all their charters and privileges. A general 
 amnesty was granted on February 27, 1445, in 
 Barrois as well as in Lorraine. The Messins 
 signalized their deliverance by offering to their liege 
 Lord complete allegiance, together with 25,000 ecus 
 d'or enclosed in a splendid gold and enamelled vase. 
 
 Rene now for the first time in his thirty years of 
 public service and command found himself in the 
 possession of that rare blessing, Peace, and he pre- 
 pared to celebrate it adequately. Isabelle, too, was 
 only too thankful for the respite ; her sorrows and 
 anxieties had wellnigh broken her courageous heart. 
 After she parted with her husband in the Bay of 
 Naples, she landed at Marseilles, and made all haste 
 to Angers, too late, indeed, to soothe the last
 
 134 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 moments of her noble mother-in-law, but drawn there 
 by the tranquillity of Anjou. There she gave herself 
 to the education of her two young daughters, to whom 
 she was happily reunited Marguerite just thirteen, 
 and Yolande a year younger. Rene again joined his 
 spouse, whom he loved so fondly, and in whose 
 honour he had adopted a new royal motto and cipher, 
 " Ardent Desir" below a burning brasier. They gave 
 themselves up to religious exercises, and led a calm 
 and retired life precious to them both after the 
 alarums of the past. The world was still very young 
 for them both Rene no more than thirty-seven, and 
 Isabelle two years his junior. 
 
 The most delightful ingredient in their full cup of 
 joy was the home-coming of their son and heir, Prince 
 Jean, Duke of Calabria and Lieutenant-General of 
 Barrois-Lorraine. During eleven strenuous years he 
 and his devoted parents had rarely met. He had 
 zealously, after their brave example, addressed himself 
 to his public duties, and had won golden opinions 
 from the loyal subjects of the throne. He was near- 
 ing his majority, and with him came his young wife 
 Marie, whose marriage had been but lately accom- 
 plished. They were stepping bravely together along 
 the marital way, which their grandparents and their 
 parents had traversed, unscathed by scandal and 
 beloved by all. 
 
 Great festivities were organized at Angers, Tarascon, 
 and Nancy, to celebrate the general peace, and in partic- 
 ular the betrothal of Princess Marguerite d'Anjou. A 
 magnificent tournament was held between Razilly and 
 Chinon in the summer of 1446, which attracted all 
 the most famous knights in France and beyond the 
 frontiers and an immense crowd of spectators. One
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 135 
 
 there was, and she one of the fairest of*the fair, came 
 riding beside her father, one of King Rene's dearest 
 friends, Count Guy de Laval ; and the King for the 
 first time set eyes upon lovely Jehanne, who was 
 destined to mingle her destiny with his right on to 
 his dying day. Rene caused " Le Chdtel de Joyeuse 
 Garde " to be built of wood richly adorned with paint- 
 ings, tapestries, and garlands, and for forty days jousts 
 and floral games engaged the attention of the gallant 
 and beauteous company. A very singular and popular 
 custom was inaugurated at the King's suggestion. 
 Four knights of proved probity crossed their lances 
 in the roadway beyond the Castle of Chinon. Cava- 
 liers, accompanied by their ladies fair, were made to 
 fight their way through and carry safe their sweet- 
 hearts. A faint heart lost his lady, a knight un- 
 horsed his horse, and a victorious competitor his sash 
 of knighthood, which was immediately tied to the 
 crupper of his fair one's palfrey. The King himself 
 took his place in the " Lists " in black armour ; his 
 mantle was of black velvet sewn with silver lilies of 
 Anjou, and his well-trained charger was black also. 
 Queen Isabelle and her ladies occupied a flower- 
 decked tribune, and with her was poor young Queen 
 Marguerite and her son's child-wife, Marie. They 
 were the Queens of the Tournament, but the damosel 
 Jehanne de Laval was " Queen of Beauty," scarce 
 thirteen years old. 
 
 Alas ! a deadly "bolt shot out of the blue." The 
 Duchess of Calabria had but just risen from child-bed ; 
 she was not strong enough to bear the excitement 
 and the toil of such tumultuous gaiety, and upon the 
 last day of the tournament she fainted in the royal 
 tribune, and breathed out her brief life before she
 
 136 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 could be borne to couch. Thus into life's sweetest 
 joys comes sadly too often the relentless bitterness of 
 sorrow. Faces which only a few short hours before 
 were wreathed in smiles were furrowed with the ravages 
 of grief ere the curfew sounded. The tournament ended 
 in a "Triumph of the Black Buffaloes." Happily, 
 perhaps, the child died too, and both sweet bodies 
 were consigned to one flower-decked grave in the 
 chapel garden of the Castle of Saumur, " la gentilte 
 et la bien assise," a paradise of fragrant trees and 
 pleasant prospects. 
 
 Dire news, too, reached Angers from Provence. 
 A winter of unparalleled inclemency was followed by 
 a famine and a pest, which decimated people and 
 domestic animals, and wrought havoc with the crops. 
 Rene and Isabelle took boat once more for their 
 southern province, and their " le bon roy" as he was 
 now called affectionately by his subjects, laid himself 
 out to alleviate his people's sufferings. Taxes were 
 remitted, the poor fed and clothed, and farms re- 
 stocked. " La bonte" he said, " est la premiere 
 grandeur des roys." People noted the King's grey 
 hair hair " white less by time than white through 
 trouble," as chroniclers have written. Trouble makes 
 all the world akin : the King and Queen bore their 
 people's, and they humbly shared their rulers' griefs. 
 
 The clouds cleared off that sunny land, and birds 
 once more sang in the meadows, and men and maids 
 were gay. Then it was Tarascon's turn to celebrate 
 the virtues of the Count and Countess of Provence. 
 A Provenal tournament was a celebration ne plus 
 ultra, and Rene made that of 1448 famous and 
 unique by his institution of the knightly " Ordre du 
 Croissant." To be sure, it was established at Angers,
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 137 
 
 whose warrior-patron, St. Maurice, was honoured as 
 guardian and exemplar of chivalry, and in whose 
 cathedral church the banners of the knights were 
 hung. The King himself drew up the statutes of 
 the Order. With characteristic and chivalrous 
 modesty, he named, not himself First Master, but chose 
 Guy de Laval for that honourable post. Conditions 
 of membership were dictated by religion, courtesy, 
 and charity, in harmony ; only knights of goodly birth 
 and unblemished reputation were eligible. They were 
 enjoined to hear Mass daily and to recite the daily 
 " Hours." Fraternal love was to be exemplified in 
 all dealings with their fellow-men at large. An 
 impious oath or an indecent jest was never to pass 
 their lips. Women and children were in a special 
 sense committed to their care. The poor and ailing 
 were to engage their best offices. Debts of every sort 
 and gambling under every guise were absolutely for- 
 bidden. With respect to the fair sex, the code of 
 rules had in golden letters the following order : "De 
 ne mesdire des femmes de quelques estats quelles soient 
 pour chose qui doibue d'advenir." The knights first 
 impanelled, having taken their oaths of obedience 
 and accepted service, departed from Anjou, and made 
 their rendezvous at the King's Castle of Tarascon on 
 August 11. Rene himself again entered the "Lists," 
 but champion honours were carried off by his son-in- 
 law, Ferri de Vaudemont, and Louis de Beauvais ; and 
 the Queen-Countess Isabelle placed floral crowns upon 
 their brows, a golden ring upon their right hands, and 
 received a kiss of homage upon her still smooth and 
 comely cheek. 
 
 Nancy was the scene of the most magnificent 
 gaieties Lorraine had ever beheld. The espousals of
 
 138 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the Princess Marguerite and King Henry VI. were 
 solemnized in the ancient Gothic church of St. Martin 
 at Pont-a-Mousson by Louis d'Harcourt, Bishop of 
 Toul. The King was represented by the gallant 
 Earl of Suffolk, one of the most famous Knights in 
 Europe. The ecclesiastical ceremony was rendered 
 all the more auspicious by the joint nuptials of the 
 Princess Yolande and Count Ferri de Vaudemont. 
 All France, Sovereigns, ladies, nobles, citizens, 
 thronged around the King and Queen ; their con- 
 gratulations were, however, restrained until the 
 actualities of the Vaudemont marriage were revealed. 
 To marry a dear child to the son of a man's worst 
 enemy appeared quixotic at the least, and few called 
 to mind that strange clause in Rene's charter of 
 release from Bracon. The King was, as Duke 
 Philippe of Burgundy had styled him, a man of his 
 word ; and if proof were wanted, then the appoint- 
 ment of the young bridegroom's mother, the Countess, 
 as governante of Rene's daughters furnished it. 
 Besides this, the presence of the Count himself at 
 the marriage of his son exhibited not only the recon- 
 ciliation of the two rivals for the throne of Lorraine, 
 but emphasized the innate chivalry of both. To be 
 sure, Antoine de Vaudemont was in ill-health, his 
 fighting days were over, and he was searching for 
 comfort and absolution before he faced his end ; and, 
 in truth, that end was nearer than he thought, for he 
 died six months after he had given his blessing to 
 Ferri and Yolande. 
 
 A pretty and characteristic story is told of the 
 loves of Ferri and Yolande. King Rene was wishful 
 that his daughter and future son-in-law should attain
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 139 
 
 more mature age before the consummation of Count 
 Antoine's wishes concerning them. The young 
 knight, " who was/' wrote Martial, " regarded among 
 men and youths much as Helen of Troy was among 
 her companions," a very handsome fellow, chafed 
 at delay, and, emboldened by the vows of his fiancee, 
 one dark, windy night he with two trusty comrades 
 broke into her boudoir, where she, ready for the 
 signal, awaited her lover. Romeo carried his 
 Juliet away to Clermont in Argone, and held 
 her till her father consented to their marriage. This 
 story is contained in an old manuscript, the handi- 
 work of Louis de Grasse, the Sire of Mas. 
 
 Splendid ftes covering eight full days followed 
 the Church ceremonies. The " Lists " were held in 
 the Grande Place of Nancy, in the presence of the 
 right worshipful company, headed by Kings Charles 
 and Rene and Queens Isabelle, Marie, and Margaret. 
 Quaintly Martial d'Auvergne wrote in " Les Vigiles 
 de Charles VIL": 
 
 " Les Eoynes de France, Seville, 
 La Fiancee et la Dauphine, 
 Et d'autres dames, belles filles, 
 Si enfirent devoir condigne." * 
 
 All the chdtelaines forsook their manoirs and took 
 the field-marital in force. Mars had come in strength, 
 Venus would join the fray, and victory was never 
 doubtful. If comely, gallant, doughty knights fell 
 not in deathly conflict in those " Lists " of love, their 
 hearts were captured by fair vanquishers all the same. 
 
 * "The Queens of France and Sicily, 
 The Bride and the Dauphine, 
 And many other dames of honour, 
 Compelled the homage of the men."
 
 140 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 " En gagea sans retour 
 Son cceur et sa libertd" 
 
 describes those battle-fields of Cupid's warfare ! 
 
 The pageantry of the tournament over, the panoply 
 of the encampment claimed the knightly company of 
 Nancy, and a mighty cavalcade ladies, too, in litter 
 and on palfrey ambled off serenely to the great wide 
 plains of Champagne, where Rene and Charles re- 
 viewed at Chalons-sur-Marne the united armies of all 
 the crowns. It was a sight which stirred all the 
 best blood in France, and spoke to her Sovereigns and 
 her statesmen of a new age, when the artifices of war 
 should give place to the arts of peace. Alas ! when 
 human things appear to promise peace and joy, there 
 ever comes over the scene the pall of Providence. 
 War again broke out between France and England, 
 but now the French held their own and more; and 
 King Rene, revived in military ardour, led the 
 victorious vanguard, and crowned his bays of triumph 
 by new palms of peace. 
 
 Sad news came to him, however, when in Normandy, 
 from his ancestral Angers. His devoted and dearly 
 loved Queen, Isabelle, was laid low with illness. 
 Stalking fever had crossed the castle moat and fixed 
 its baneful touch upon the royal chdtelaine. Do what 
 she would, and her will to the end was vigorous 
 enough, she could not shake off the deadly visitant. 
 She felt that her end was approaching unrelent- 
 lessly, and with admirable piety the noble, high-toned 
 Queen controlled her pains, and patiently prepared 
 herself to face her last foe with courageous resignation. 
 Her children were gathered by her bedside Jean 
 and Yolande in person, Marguerite in spirit, and
 
 ISABELLE DE LORRAINE 141 
 
 perhaps Louis, too, from his tomb at Pont-a-Mousson. 
 Quietly and prayerfully on February 28, 1453, she 
 passed away to join her babes in Paradise, and 
 " Black Angers " was plunged in deepest mourning. 
 
 The death of a great Queen deeply affects men and 
 women everywhere. Isabelle's name, like that of 
 " good Queen Yolande," had become a household word 
 in Europe far and wide. Everywhere tokens of 
 bereavement were displayed, and King Rene, the 
 royal widower, hastening home too late to close his 
 fond wife's eyes in death, wrote in his tablets : 
 " Since the life of my dear, dear wife has been cut 
 off by death, my heart has lost its love, for she was 
 the mainspring of my consolations." In every one 
 of his " Livres des Heures," and in other books and 
 places, the artist in the Sovereign painted and drew 
 the features and the figure of his Queen. 
 
 Their married life, chequered as it had been, 
 had been as happy as could be. Devoted to one 
 another with a rare force of faithfulness which knew 
 no flaw, Rene and Isabelle were examples for their 
 generation. No stone has ever been cast at either 
 of them. Nine children were born to them : four, 
 Charles, Rene, Anne, and Isabelle, died in infancy ; 
 Nicholas, their third son, was a twin with Yolande, 
 born in 1428 ; he had the title of Duke of Bar, but 
 died before his majority. Good Queen Isabelle was 
 buried in the Cathedral of Angers, where nearly 
 forty years later Rene's bones were laid beside her 
 ashes, to mingle in the common decay till the last 
 trump shall sound to wake the dead. 
 
 There cannot be a better summing up of her gifts, 
 her graces and her virtues than in the words of the
 
 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 sententious life's motto she herself composed, and 
 wrote in golden letters upon parchment, and gave to 
 each of her dear children : 
 
 "Si V Amour fault, la Foy n'est plus chdrie ; 
 Si Foy pdrit, I' Amour s'en va pdrie ; 
 Pour ce, les ay en devise liez 
 Amour et Foy." * 
 
 * " If Love fails, Faith becomes more precious ; 
 If Faith perishes, Love dies too ; 
 
 Whence Love and Faith together are my device."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 JEANNE D'ARC "LA PUCELLE," "LA BLANCHE REINE 
 
 DE FRANCE " 
 
 I. 
 
 " GIVE me Duke Rene de Barrels, the noble son of 
 good Queen Yolande, to guide me into France." 
 The request was made by a simple village maiden 
 aged not more than seventeen years, and the person- 
 age she addressed was Charles II., Duke of Lorraine. 
 It was an extraordinary request ; the occasion, too, 
 was extraordinary. 
 
 Born on the Feast of the Epiphany in the year 
 1412, of worthy peasants, at Domremy, in Alsace, 
 Jacques d'Arc and Isabelle Romee, his wife, Jeanne 
 was the younger of their two daughters ; she had 
 three brothers older than herself. Domremy was a 
 squalid little hamlet, like many another upon the 
 Meuse, boasting of the mother-church of the com- 
 mune a grim old building, but glorified by many 
 figures of holy saints in its coloured windows. The 
 nearest village was Maxey, upon the borders of 
 Lorraine. The villagers were in constant feud 
 Domremy for the King of France and her own Duke 
 at Nancy, Maxey for the Duke of Burgundy and the 
 hated English. Sieur Jacques d'Arc and his three 
 
 stalwart, hard-working sons were as ready with the 
 
 143 10
 
 144 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 pike as they were handy with the plough. Mere 
 Isabelle and her two daughters were zealous backers 
 of their menfolk. 
 
 Sieur Jacques was, as peasant farmers went, a man 
 of substance and well connected. He had saved a 
 goodly sum of money, and owned, perhaps, the biggest 
 flock of sheep in the country-side. Milch cows and 
 fattening oxen grazed his wide meadows. He was a 
 man of probity, and had served the ancestral office of 
 Maire of Domremy for many a year. Mere Isabelle 
 excelled in stitchery as well as in the rearing of 
 poultry and the cultivation of her fair garden plot. 
 When about to be delivered of her youngest child, 
 she dreamed three times that she should bear a girl, 
 and that she should become famous in her country's 
 history. The narrative goes on to say that many 
 unusual circumstances attended her child's nativity : 
 a fierce thunderstorm shook the dwelling, and 
 mysterious voices uttered the strange cry : " Aux 
 secours ! aux secours de la France /" 
 
 Jeanne, the little daughter, was duly christened by 
 the cur6, and from her mother's womb she was a 
 child of dedication St. Catherine and St. Margaret 
 were her spiritual sponsors. Precocious from her 
 weaning, both in physical growth and mental develop- 
 ment, she grew up a devotee at Mass and shrine. 
 She sought solitude and silence, and declined to share 
 her playmates' games. Other children thought her 
 odd, and old crones shook their heads and pitied 
 Sieur Jacques and his worthy spouse. Jeanne's 
 favourite resort was a thicket near her parents' home, 
 Le Bois Chenus it was called, an oak-wood grove 
 where her father's pigs greedily sought for acorns. 
 The Bois had, however, a weird repute ; it had been,
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 
 From a Fresco by E. Lepenveu. Pantheon, Paris 
 
 To face page 1 14
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 145 
 
 centuries before, a sacrificial site of heathen worship, 
 and the village folk avoided it at night, for they said 
 they saw strange figures under the trees and heard 
 strange sounds, in fact, the wood was haunted. 
 
 One summer's day in July, 1424, Jeanne d'Arc 
 was seated, as was her wont, upon an ancient fallen 
 menhir at the verge of the coppice. She was shell- 
 ing peas, and she also had her knitting by her. The 
 hour of the day was nearly that of the " Angelus," 
 when the frightened damsel heard an unusual rustling 
 of the oaken branches overhead, and somewhere out 
 of the tree or out of the sky voices sounded faintly 
 upon her ear. At the same time a strange lurid 
 light gleamed between her and the church-tower 
 across the meadow. Laying aside her occupation, 
 she listened breathlessly, almost in a trance, to what 
 the " Voices " said ; they were pitched in soothing 
 female treble accents. 
 
 " Jeanne soit bonne et sage enfant," said one ; and 
 another went on : "Fa souvent a Veglise" Surely 
 the heavenly speakers were Jeanne's holy guardians, 
 St. Catherine and St. Margaret. Jeanne was 
 riveted to the spot, and moved not till the twilight 
 brought her sister looking for her. Jeanne said 
 nothing, but for seven days in succession she sat 
 as at the first, and heard the same solemn words 
 repeated ; then on the seventh, it was Saturday, 
 another wonder appeared to her : a very glorious holy 
 one and a watcher, the great St. Michael, God's 
 warring archangel, in shining armour, stood before 
 her under the great oak-tree, and bade her give heed 
 to what he said. He told her eloquently and con- 
 vincingly the story of the sad state of France 
 devoured by enemies, torn by factions, her King a
 
 146 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 fugitive uncrowned. When the heavenly visitant 
 had finished his impassioned narrative, he bade 
 Jeanne kneel, and, touching her shoulder with his 
 flashing sword, said : " Jeanne va toy aux secours du 
 roy de France." 
 
 The girl swooned as soon as her ghostly visitor 
 had vanished, and so was found, and borne to her 
 couch by her brothers in alarm. In delirium for days 
 and nights, she kept on repeating what the archangel 
 had said, until, amid broken-hearted sobs, her grieving 
 parents counted her as mad. All the gossips of the 
 village and those from more distant homes shook 
 their heads sadly, and said more fervently their Ave 
 Marias. Jeanne was not mad, and after she had 
 recovered her usual demeanour she related to her 
 doubting father and mother and the good cure her 
 mysterious story. The good priest proposed to exor- 
 cise the evil spirit which he was convinced was in her. 
 Her father, a matter-of-fact sort of man, and 
 serious-minded, like all the peasant-folk of France, 
 thought a good thrashing was her deserts ; her 
 mother sided with her : she remembered the strange 
 cry at her Jeanne's birth. Jeanne heard all they 
 had to say, and kept silence, her protestations only 
 adding fuel to the fire of denunciation. She resumed 
 her usual avocations, but daily sat to hear the 
 " Voices," as she called her ghostly visitants, and 
 daily they repeated their strange instructions. She 
 spent much time upon her knees in the church, and 
 at last the cure, good man, gave heed to her infatua- 
 tion. " If this be from God," he said to himself, 
 " no man may stay her." He wondered, naturally, 
 how this quiet and devout village girl could ever be 
 the Divine instrument for the deliverance of France.
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 147 
 
 Jeanne's simplicity and sincerity, her earnestness 
 and good behaviour, however, gradually silenced un- 
 friendly critics ; and although most folk regarded her 
 as mad, many believed her story and watched 
 developments. The strange revelation of the maid 
 of Domremy travelled far and wide, and brought 
 many a neighbour and many a stranger to question 
 her. Among the rest came Sieur Durand Laxaert, 
 her mother's uncle by marriage a man of means, too, 
 and well known the country round. He questioned 
 Jeanne, he questioned her parents, he questioned the 
 village cure", and then he went off and told the 
 amazing story to his friend, Chevalier Robert de 
 Baudricourt, the Captain of Vaucouleurs, a market- 
 town in Champagne, not far from Domremy. The 
 gallant Captain listened attentively, but when the 
 story was completed he burst out laughing. " Why, 
 man," said he, " you and all of them are crazy ! Just 
 go back and box the child's ears soundly ; that's the 
 way to treat this sort of nonsense." 
 
 The matter dropped so far as the Chevalier was 
 concerned, but again, in the following January, Sieur 
 Laxaert approached Baudricourt, and asked him to 
 see his young neice. He consented, and Jeanne, 
 wearing her coarse red homespun kirtle and heavy 
 wooden shoes and her village girl's coif, was intro- 
 duced to the unbelieving Captain. He was dum- 
 founded by her appearance, for the lass was no village 
 hoyden. Her figure was slender, her features refined ; 
 her great brown eyes, staring into his face, told 
 only of simple faith and untarnished honour. Her 
 voice was low and sweet, and there was a something 
 eerie and incomprehensible about her which struck 
 the good man, and made him feel uncomfortable.
 
 148 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 When he asked her what she wanted, she promptly 
 replied : " I want to be led to the King of France." 
 
 " My child," de Baudricourt replied, " that I 
 cannot do ; but, if you wish, I will willingly take you 
 to Nancy, and lead you to the Duke, your sovereign 
 lord and mine. Prepare yourself at once for the 
 journey." 
 
 Amid the tears and protests of her parents and 
 her friends Jeanne started, as she was, upon her 
 eventful pilgrimage. At St. Nicholas de Pont, a 
 little town two leagues from Nancy, she asked to be 
 allowed to spend three hours in devotions in the 
 church. When she reappeared, her face was wet with 
 tears, and her long brown hair hung dishevelled over 
 her shoulders. She did not seem to care. Her gaze 
 was heavenward, and the only words she uttered 
 were : " En avant /" With Sieur Laxaert was a 
 comrade, a young man, Jehan de Novelonpont, better 
 known as Jehan de Metz, of good birth and knightly 
 carriage. He offered Jeanne his sword. She touched 
 the hilt, and, smiling sadly, said : " Alas ! young sir, 
 that blade will be required erelong to slay thy 
 country's foes and God's." Thus they entered the 
 capital of Lorraine. 
 
 Duke Charles received his strange visitor some- 
 what reluctantly. He was a man of shrewd common- 
 sense, intolerant of superstition, and impatient of 
 feminine assumptions as his consort, Duchess 
 Marguerite, learnt to her undoing. He asked curtly 
 about her home and her occult powers, and jokingly 
 invoked her aid in the cure of gout, to which he was 
 martyr, and from which he was then suffering 
 acutely. " This," said he, " shall be the test of your 
 pretensions to save France, Remove my pain, and
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 149 
 
 I will take you to the King." Jeanne shed tears, 
 and, straightening out her rough woolsey skirt, she 
 looked sadly up to heaven. At last she spoke : 
 " Take me not, noble Duke, for a common jongleuse. 
 First of all, noble Duke, I implore you to become 
 reconciled to the Duchess, your wife ; as for me, I 
 am the unworthy instrument of God to set King 
 Charles of France upon his throne and to scatter his 
 enemies." The Duke dismissed the maid with a 
 wave of his hand. " Take her away," he said ; " be 
 kind to her ; maybe I will see her again shortly." 
 " Jeanne," he added, " in a day or two you shall tell 
 your tale before some noble lords." 
 
 All over Lorraine and Barrois internecine war was 
 rife ; noble rose against noble, and yeoman and 
 peasant joined the fray. The most serious was the 
 rivalry of Rene, the young Duke of Bar, and 
 Antoine, Count of Vaudemont, concerning the rights 
 of succession to the dukedom of Lorraine. Metz, 
 into which de Vaudemont had thrown himself, was 
 invested by the Barrois troops, splendidly led by the 
 boy-warrior he was but twenty years of age. A 
 messenger from Charles requested a truce, and in- 
 vited both commanders to join him at Nancy to take 
 counsel with their peers upon the strange claims of 
 a shepherd-girl from Domremy. With Duke Rene" 
 rode a score of knights and nobles ; Count Antoine 
 was accompanied by a like company. Upon the morrow 
 of their arrival at the capital, Duke Charles 
 assembled them and others in the great courtyard 
 of the castle, and sent for Jeanne, who, still attired 
 in her peasant garb, knelt at his feet and kissed his 
 hand. Then she surveyed the assembly furtively, as 
 though prepared for insult or worse, and quietly
 
 150 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 repeated her strange story amid general scoffs and 
 impatience. One noble knight alone gave serious 
 heed, Rene, Duke of Bar. Duke Charles taunted 
 her with her inability to mount a horse, much more 
 to lead an army. 
 
 " Jeanne," said he, " thou hast never bestridden a 
 charger, thou canst not bear a lance !" 
 
 " Sire," she replied, "mount me, and see if I 
 cannot both ride and hold my own." 
 
 A quiet palfrey, the property of Duchess 
 Marguerite, was led into the courtyard by its 
 groom, but Jeanne refused to mount. "Give me," 
 she demanded, " the charger of that Prince yonder," 
 pointing to Rene" of Sicily-Anjou and Bar. The 
 Prince lifted her into the saddle, and his gentleness, 
 reverence, and good looks, differentiated him from the 
 rest of that knightly assemblage. 
 
 " What is thy name, brave Prince ?" she asked. 
 
 " Rene de Bar," he said. 
 
 "What!" the Maid replied, "the noble Duke of 
 Bar, the gallant son of good Queen Yolande of Anjou. 
 You shall be my escort into France." 
 
 With that she laid firm hold of the heavy lance, 
 offered by a young esquire, placed it correctly in 
 stay, and smartly gathered up the reins. Saluting 
 Dukes Charles and Rene*, she drove the heels of her 
 wooden shoes into the horse's sides, and dashed round 
 and round the courtyard, the lance in position, and 
 then out into the open. Astonishment marked each 
 noble countenance, and then loud applause greeted 
 this quite unexpected display ; it enlisted to her 
 cause most of the spectators, who had meant to cry 
 down the girl's ineptitude, but now were perfectly 
 ready to follow her. With difficulty Jeanne reined
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 151 
 
 in her mount, and slowly cantered into the courtyard 
 again. Saluting in correct knightly fashion the 
 Duke, her Sovereign, and beckoning Ren6 once more 
 to her side, she dismounted with his help, rendered 
 up her lance, and fell at Charles's feet. 
 
 The Duke gently raised the palpitating, girlish 
 form, and aloud exclaimed : " May God grant the 
 accomplishment of thy desires ! I see thou hast both 
 courage and intelligence." Jeanne then turned to 
 Rene, and, laying her trembling hand upon his arm, 
 looked up innocently but intently with her great 
 brown eyes, into his open, truthful face, and said : 
 " You, my Prince, will help me, I am sure. There is 
 none other here in whom I know I can put my whole 
 trust. You are like the blessed Michael who speaks 
 to me and strengthens me. You are a Christian 
 knight ; you will lead me into France." The Maid's 
 partiality for Rene de Bar gave rise, unworthily, to 
 evil gossip with respect to their mutual relations. 
 She was attracted to him by the tales of the country- 
 side. Domremy was so near to the scenes of his 
 military achievements in Lorraine that news of him 
 and his prowess affected greatly the younger folk. 
 The fact that he was the husband of their Princess 
 Isabelle, " the Pride of Lorraine," greatly added to 
 his local fame. 
 
 The noble company at the castle moved into the 
 hall of audience, and there Jeanne laid before them 
 fully all her loyal aims heaven-directed, as she said. 
 She told them, too, the story of the " Voices," and 
 craved their assistance in her enterprise. " We will 
 traverse France together," she exclaimed, " until we 
 find King Charles. We will crown him at Reims, 
 and we will then cast out our country's enemies.
 
 152 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret, will protect 
 us and our homes !" 
 
 This amazing speech by a young country girl 
 roused general enthusiasm, and the mysterious magic 
 of her voice and manner disarmed all opposition. 
 Each belted knight drew forth his steely blade, and, 
 tossing it on high, swore to be her henchman. 
 " Vive la nostre Royne! d has les Anglois /" they cried 
 aloud together. These acclamations hurtled stridently 
 through gallery, way-ward, and postern, and away 
 they flew in increased volume past the portcullis, till 
 every citizen in Nancy and the labourers in the fields 
 around joined in the ecstatic chorus : " Vive la nostre 
 Royne Jeanne /" Rich and poor, noble and simple, 
 and the children, too, pressed into the castle precincts 
 to catch a sight of the humble yet brave messenger 
 of God, and perchance to touch her person or her 
 dress, seeking infection from the virtue and valour 
 which possessed her. Jeanne's reception and recog- 
 nition at Nancy Castle attained the proportions of 
 a Bretagne pardon. Church-bells clanged for her, 
 priests blessed her, and relics of saints were exposed 
 with the Blessed Sacrament on her behalf. 
 
 Duke Rene, on his part, showed no hesitation in 
 accepting the high honour the inspired Maid had 
 paid him. He kissed her hand, a peasant's hand, 
 strange act for a royal knight ! smitten with the 
 girl's piety and devotion ; he, too, was religiously 
 affected. Jeanne became an heroic figure in his 
 estimation. What clean-minded lad is there, or has 
 ever been, who is not marvellously affected by a 
 handsome, dashing girl, irrespective of her rank in 
 life ? What traces some have seen of a tenderer 
 passion still than youthful admiration were surely
 
 tucr 
 
 c top cfi fo/f- f, 
 
 Titmice fi 
 
 Out Jt wciuHct jr Vu 
 
 JEANNE D'ARC EXPELLING GAY WOMEN FROM HER CAMP 
 From an Illuminated MS, National Library of Paris 
 
 To fact page 152
 
 JEANNE D 1 ARC 153 
 
 hard to diagnose in that first burst of emotional 
 romance : it may have bloomed later, but Rent's 
 heart was in the safe-keeping of Isabelle. Times 
 and manners then lent colour to the insinuation, 
 possibly, for love and lovers were freer then than 
 now from social conventions. Rene* departed for 
 Bar-le-Duc, to prepare for the expedition. He gave 
 immediate orders to raise the siege of three fortresses, 
 Metz, Ve'zelise, and Vaudemont, and, calling off the 
 troops encamped there, he returned quickly to Nancy, 
 to escort Jeanne to the King of France. He found 
 her arrayed in quasi-armour, with spurs on her mailed 
 boots ; her head alone was uncovered, save for the 
 glory of her abundant hair. She wore a sash of 
 white silk, the gift of Duchess Marguerite ; her 
 horse, too, had white silken favours. The cavalcade 
 started from the castle, Rene and Jeanne riding 
 side by side in front. Through byways they went, 
 an ever-increasing host of armed men and camp- 
 followers, avoiding notice as best they could, 
 marching by night, resting by day, to avoid the 
 scattered bands of English foemen. 
 
 The pilgrimage, for such it really was, partook 
 not only of a religious and a warlike character, for 
 Jeanne insisted on attending Mass en route, and 
 prevailed upon her escort to say their daily prayers, 
 but it exhibited elements of gaiety ; with Duke 
 Rene* rode a company of minstrels, with Jehan 
 Durant of Bar as their leader. To him Rene paid 
 30 gold florins a month " to make warlike melody 
 for keeping up my men's brave hearts," he said. 
 At Troyes, Jeanne and her escort were received 
 rapturously ; the Bishop placed in her hand a white 
 silken oriflamme, a banner made by ladies of the city,
 
 154 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and censed and blessed her, and so they won their 
 way to Tours. 
 
 Before entering that ancient loyal city, under 
 the special charge of the holy warrior St. Martin, 
 Jeanne requested Rene to send to the neighbouring 
 village of Fierbois, and " ask the cure" of the Church 
 of St. Catherine for a sword which hangs," she said, 
 " over the high-altar." It was a famous weapon, 
 although the doughty knight whose it had been was 
 unremembered. The blade was of finely tempered 
 steel, and richly damascened with golden crosses and 
 silver lilies the emblems of Jeanne's spiritual 
 sponsors. The sword itself, in size and shape, was 
 like St. Michael's own. She told Rene that the 
 "Voices" had revealed this relic to her, and had 
 bidden her hang it on her hip. At Tours, also, Rene 
 had news of the whereabouts of the King, who, sad 
 to say, was a fugitive in and out of his own dominions 
 and those of his neighbours. Charles VII. was at 
 Chinon, safe in its majestic castle much like that of 
 Windsor in extent, position, and distinction. 
 
 It came certainly as a grievous shock to all that 
 enthusiastic expedition to find the King, " poor as 
 a church mouse and defenceless as a rabbit," 
 engaged in frivolities and excesses. The Court at 
 Chinon was the maddest and the merriest in France. 
 Duke Ren6, true to his promise, at once sought out 
 the King, and arranged an interview with the Maid 
 of Domremy, although His Majesty at first refused 
 " to be troubled with a country wench." The meet- 
 ing was held in the Grand Logis of the enceinte of 
 the Chateau du Milieu. Chinon, indeed, had three 
 castles connected with one another : The Chateau de 
 St. Georges was a sort of advanced fortress, built
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 155 
 
 by Henri Plantagenet (Henry II. of England) in the 
 twelfth century, but greatly dilapidated 300 years 
 later ; the Chateau du Milieu, the most important 
 part of Chinon, contained the royal apartments ; and 
 the Chateau de Coudray, the most ancient, dating 
 from the time of the heroic Thibaut le Tricheur, 
 early in the tenth century. Henry II. died in 
 the Grand Logis, where King Charles VII. had 
 his temporary residence. In the Salle du Trone, 
 with its vast chimney-piece of sculptured stone and 
 its famous painted windows, the King summoned 
 his courtiers, and, disguised as an ordinary noble of 
 the Court, he mingled with them, giving out as his 
 reason that he should " test the wench's power of 
 divination. If she picks me out at once, then I will 
 hear what she has to say ; if not, I won't have any- 
 thing to do with her." 
 
 Jeanne was brought into the splendid apartment, 
 filled with the pageantry of France, and dazzling 
 enough to have disturbed any ordinary girl's equa- 
 nimity. She made, taught by Rene, an obeisance 
 to the empty throne, and then he told her she must 
 find the King among the company. Without a 
 moment's hesitation she went straight up to the 
 Sovereign incognito, bowed low, and said softly : 
 " Sire, you are Charles the Dauphin." Very much 
 astonished by Jeanne's appearance and demeanour, 
 and still more by her certainty as to his identity, 
 Charles acknowledged himself, and, leading the 
 unabashed damsel with Rene aside into the em- 
 brasure of a window, he asked her to give him her 
 message. This Jeanne did with candour and em- 
 phasis, and furthermore astounded " the Dauphin," 
 as she persisted in calling him, he had not been
 
 156 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 crowned King, of course, by " revealing," as he told 
 Rene afterwards, " certain secrets known only to 
 myself and God." What these " secrets " were has 
 puzzled curious inquirers. Probably they concerned 
 happenings during the King's youth, and affected the 
 question of his legitimacy. He, too, was at one 
 time proposed as the husband of the " Pride of 
 Lorraine," the heiress Isabelle. Anyhow, as known 
 to Jeanne d'Arc, they were the usual exaggerations 
 of Court and country gossip. Kings, knights, and 
 ladies, and their doings, ever cause peasants topics 
 for discussion. 
 
 " Gentle Dauphin," the Maid said, " I am sent to 
 you to tell you that you shall be crowned at Reims." 
 The Court was divided ; part held with la Tremouille, 
 the Chancellor, against Jeanne's pretensions, some 
 of the baser sort attempted to make sport of her 
 rusticity, but the majority sided with Duke Rene, 
 who was now more than ever impressed with the 
 bearing of his " Queen." 
 
 II. 
 
 All sorts of plans were propounded to test the 
 virtue and the devotion of the young Domremy 
 shepherdess. Rene and those of his following 
 denounced most of them as indecent and prepos- 
 terous, but he allowed two inquiries to be instituted : 
 one with reference to Jeanne's orthodoxy in religion, 
 and the other with respect to her personal chastity. 
 The King approved both these expedients, and 
 confided to Rene", youth though he was, their 
 superintendence and execution. 
 
 Still acting as Jeanne's escort, Rene took her and
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 157 
 
 a number of Court chaplains, together with the 
 worthy Cure of Domremy and Sieur Laxaert, both of 
 whom had been sent for from Lorraine, to Poitiers, 
 for examination by a special conclave of Bishops and 
 theologians. Poitiers was famous for its divinity 
 schools and its Ecole de Droit, wherein thousands 
 of students were instructed in doctrinal matters and 
 subjects of metaphysical science. The Holy See 
 had there an office of the Congregation of Rites 
 and a permanent secretariate of hagiology. The 
 quaint old capital of Poitou was also renowned 
 for the shrine of St. Radegonde, which attracted 
 annually vast numbers of pilgrims to kiss Le Pas 
 de Dieu, Christ's footprints, where he stood com- 
 muning with his gentle servant. Radegonde and 
 Jeanne had ground for mutual sympathy. Perhaps 
 Jeanne knew the story of her prototype. 
 
 Do what they would, the holy men of Poitiers 
 could not make Jeanne deviate ever so little from 
 the thread of her story. " The Voices," she said, 
 " speak to me daily, and I feel that my three saints 
 are with me constantly." She answered all their 
 questions fearlessly, and very greatly were they 
 impressed by her sincerity and amazed at her know- 
 ledge of divinity. No flaw was to be discovered in 
 her orthodoxy, nor did she yield at all to insinuations 
 of witchcraft. Indeed, the whole assembly was 
 affected by her religious enthusiasm, and a careful 
 precis was preserved of all that transpired during 
 the examination. This was, in truth, the first step 
 to the beatification of St. Jeanne d'Arc. 
 
 Returning to Chinon, the Maid awaited her 
 second ordeal the inquisition by a panel of matrons. 
 This delicate business was taken in hand by Queen
 
 158 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Yolande and certain ladies well known for probity 
 and prudence. Jeanne submitted herself gladly 
 enough to the " good mother " of her true knight, 
 Rene d'Anjou and Bar. They speedily reached a 
 decision respecting the character of the Maid of 
 Domremy. Emphatically they repudiated all sug- 
 gestions of immorality, and declared that Jeanne 
 d'Arc was a virgo intacta, " as chaste in mind and 
 body as the Holy Virgin herself." " La Pucelle," as 
 they styled her, " is," they affirmed, " a child of God, 
 the peculiar charge of St. Catherine and St. Margaret, 
 whose saintly virtues she desires to cultivate. She 
 is no witch, nor in the pay of any evil-minded persons. 
 She is directly inspired by God, and St. Michael 
 is her protector." 
 
 This testimony Queen Yolande delivered personally 
 to King Charles, and persuaded him to see the 
 Maid once more and converse more fully with her. 
 The result of this intercourse was amazing : Charles 
 became another man. The persuasions of his faithful 
 and devout consort, Queen Marie, had completely 
 failed to rouse him, and the exhortations of Queen 
 Yolande had no more than excited his curiosity, but 
 the village maid from Lorraine succeeded in inspiring 
 the trifling, inept Sovereign with new life and energy. 
 He sent for Rene, and named him his lieutenant, 
 and recommitted " La Pucelle" to his care. With 
 the young Duke was his trusty friend and Mentor, 
 Armaund Barbazan, one of the most perfect soldiers 
 and gentlemen in France, the precursor of another 
 knight " sans peur et sans reproche " Bayart. 
 Together they elaborated a plan of campaign which 
 would be in obedience to the mysterious " Voices " 
 of "La Pucelle." This they submitted to la Tre-
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 159 
 
 mouille, Dunois, " le Batard," and La Hire, Charles's 
 trusted counsellors. It was the latter, probably, who 
 uttered that veiled rebuke to the King : " Sire, I 
 never knew any Prince so happy in his losses as 
 you 1" 
 
 These sapient commanders agreed that the first 
 move in the new operations was the raising of the 
 siege of Orleans. The King acquiesced ; he, too, 
 had done his part, for he had, upon his own initiative, 
 detached the Duke of Burgundy from his alliance 
 with the English, and had thus very materially 
 prepared the way to Reims and his coronation. 
 Jeanne d'Arc was, of course, apprised of this decision, 
 and she was asked what part she proposed to take. 
 After a night-long vigil in the grand old ^church of 
 St. Maurice, where she held communion with the 
 "Voices," she told Rene that she should be by his 
 side "as leader of the vanguard." 
 
 The Maid had done very much upon the forced 
 march from Nancy to Chinon to reform the discipline 
 and the freedom of the soldiers. She forbade swear- 
 ing and the use of strong drink. Gambling of every 
 kind, and resort to fortune-telling mummers, she 
 penalized, as well as every other illicit distraction. 
 She expelled in person les files de joie the gay 
 women who hung upon the fringe of the army and 
 demoralized both officers and men. Daily she insisted 
 upon Mass being celebrated on the field of march, 
 and moved each man to offer his own orisons upon 
 his bended knee. Among her immediate attendants 
 were priests and acolytes strange comrades, perhaps, 
 for Duke Rene's minstrels ; but, then, the two cults, 
 Religion and Chivalry, were ever in intimate 
 
 affinity : all-honoured Blessed Mary first, and the 
 
 11
 
 160 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 saints of God, and all respected the persons of the 
 weaker sex around them. 
 
 It was a well-found, well-disciplined, and well-led 
 army that left the sheltering battlements of Chinon 
 on April 29, 1429 it was a momentous move. 
 Some in river barges, some in saddle, some afoot, 
 traversed the lovely spring-smiling valley of the 
 Loire. Forest echoes were awakened and church- 
 bells set chiming in response to holy litanies of 
 Church and lilting songs of chivalry. Peasants put 
 lighted candles on the lintels of doors and windows 
 of their rude hovels ; every castle and manoir dis- 
 played their banners and boomed their guns en route. 
 In the churches the Host was exposed on decorated 
 altars, and Miserere sung. 
 
 Before bidding farewell to King Charles, La 
 Pucelle, fully armed, cap-a-pie, in burnished steel 
 armour of Zaragoza damascened with gold, wherein 
 she had been clothed by Queen Yolande's royal 
 hands, took her place upon the foot-pace of the 
 high-altar of St. Maurice. She placed her white 
 oriflamme and her crimson- sheathed sword of Fierbois 
 upon the sacred stone for episcopal benediction, and 
 then, dedicating her mission and herself once more 
 solemnly to the God of battles, assumed her trophy 
 and her weapon. Led by Rene, she slowly passed 
 down the nave of the grand old church, and out by 
 the great portal, whence, mounting her strong white 
 charger, she rode off amid enthusiastic plaudits and 
 many hearty prayers, to put herself at the head of 
 the French host, and thus awaited the signal to 
 advance. 
 
 What a thrilling scene it must have been ! 
 Nothing in modern warfare could ever equal in
 
 JEANNE D'ARC AT THE SIEGE OF ORLEANS 
 From a Fresco by E. Lepenveu. Pantheon. Paris 
 
 To .face page 100
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 161 
 
 circumstance and emotion that pageant pilgrimage. 
 It was the last hope of France going forth to 
 conquer or to die. led by a young shepherd-girl and 
 a youthful royal knight. La Pucelle's absolute 
 reliance on the help of God, her remarkable courage, 
 and the spell she had cast over the King, his army, 
 and his Court, were all rendered more convincing to 
 the common mind by the magic of her personal 
 appearance. She was hailed as " Nostre Royne en 
 blanche!" The bright sun shone upon her resplen- 
 dent white armour, and the sharp breeze unfurled 
 her snow-white banner ; her white charger, too, 
 enhanced the tout ensemble. She rode the most 
 conspicuous object in that dazzling cavalcade, and no 
 wonder her followers regarded her as almost super- 
 natural. 
 
 At Tours and at Blois " Stations " were made for 
 absolution, and from the latter place Jeanne caused 
 Rene, in her name, to write an ultimatum to the 
 Duke of Bedford, the English Regent of France and 
 Generalissimo of the English army. She ordered 
 him and his co-commanders to cease devastating fair 
 France, sorely stricken as she was, and to avoid the 
 clash of arms by retiring before her Heaven-directed 
 forces. " Thou hast had," she said, " noble Duke, 
 thy fill of human bleed. Seek now the Divine 
 pardon, for nothing shall stay me till I have planted 
 my banner upon the walls of Orleans. Give back to 
 me the keys of all the towns you have seized, destroy 
 no more property, repent and retire." 
 
 Alas for human foresight ! human quarrels mar 
 heroic achievements : la Tremouille, Dunois, and 
 La Hire were not at one with one another each 
 sought his own ; but that being impossible, all three
 
 162 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 determined that they would master Rene", Barbazan, 
 and Jeanne. La Pucelle had made up her mind 
 to approach Orleans from the right bank of the 
 Loire ; but her rivals led their troops to the other 
 side, whence the fortifications could only be reached 
 by crossing the impregnable bridge or by boat. 
 Jeanne, however, was not to be denied, and she 
 determined to make an assault at once and at all 
 costs. Seeing herself misled, she summoned Rene 
 once more for council, and Guy de Laval, a young 
 knight, second only to Rene in devotion to La 
 Pucelle, joined the deliberations. A storming- 
 party was chosen, regardless of the opposition of 
 the three churlish commanders, and Jeanne put 
 herself at its head without any hesitation. Confi- 
 dence and enthusiasm prevailed : Jeanne stood upon 
 the broken bridge whilst Rene and Guy hammered 
 at the portcullis ; and thus upon May 8 Orleans 
 was captured. Among the wounded was the Maid 
 herself, not severely, to be sure, but the sight of her 
 blood lent frenzied prowess to her soldiery. With 
 her escort she rode through the streets crowded with 
 famished, suffering people, who blessed, nay, almost 
 worshipped, her. She halted at the cathedral of 
 Sainte Croix, and held communion with the " Voices," 
 and then she went to rest awhile in the humble abode 
 of Sieur Jacques Bouchier, an honest citizen attached 
 to the suite of the Duke of Orleans. Rene lodged 
 at the ducal palace. 
 
 The English withdrew to Paris, where a truce was 
 agreed to by Louis, Cardinal de Bar, in the name 
 of his nephew, Duke Rene a very singular arrange- 
 ment, but it was the efficient cause of a general sus- 
 pension of hostilities. Charles VII. called a council
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 168 
 
 of war at Blois, which decided that, as the way was 
 now absolutely open, La Pucelle should fulfil her 
 mysterious but triumphant mission by conducting 
 " the Dauphin " to his coronation. 
 
 A great wave of patriotism swept over France. 
 Men asked one another whether this was not the 
 prelude to deliverance from 300 years of foreign 
 aggression, and the first step towards the reforma- 
 tion of civil disorder. Charles rose to his magnificent 
 opportunity, and rallied all the French Sovereigns in 
 a league of peace and stability. Even the implacable 
 Duke of Burgundy, who hated Rene" de Bar and 
 Charles de Lorraine irreconcilably, was minded to 
 join in the general rapprochement. La Pucelle 
 dictated a letter to him, conjuring him to renounce 
 his petty jealousies for the love of Christ and 
 St. Mary, to make his peace complete with King 
 Charles of France, and to turn his hand against the 
 common enemy. " Come," she said, " with us to 
 Reims, there to cement the good-will of all good men 
 in France." The Duke actually made some prepara- 
 tions for the journey, but at the eleventh hour pride 
 got the better of his reason, and his hand never 
 grasped those of his brother Sovereigns nor that 
 of La Pucelle. Notwithstanding all France was 
 en route to Reims that July, attracted magnet-like 
 by the Maid's white steel mail and oriflamme. 
 
 The Cathedral of Reims, whose marvellous 
 " Glory of Mary " over the great western portal 
 Viollet le Due called " the most splendid piece of 
 Gothic architecture in the world," had been the 
 coronation theatre of all the Kings of France since 
 Henry I. in 1027 ; but no such ceremony had 
 equalled in interest and in grandeur that of July 17,
 
 164 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 1429. The summer sun awoke betimes the loyal 
 citizens and the thousands of strangers within their 
 gates ; the genial morning breeze ruffled out gay 
 banners and pageant garlands which decorated 
 lavishly each house and street, and soon the world 
 and his wife were on foot to the cathedral. 
 
 There was certainly very much more than a mere 
 suspicion of Jin bouquet in that fresh morning air ; 
 each worthy had filled his flask with generous vin de 
 la montaigne, with which to quaff jovially the good 
 healths of Charles and Jeanne and Rene, inseparable 
 in the popular mind. " Le Roy, La Pucelle, et le 
 preux Cavalier" that was the toast. 
 
 What a motley crowd it was ! Some, too, of the 
 hated English were there, courageously incognito ; 
 but, then, Reims was quite as cosmopolitan in the 
 fifteenth century as she is in the twentieth, with her 
 30,000 Yorkshire and Worcestershire wool- weavers. 
 Probably, however, no forced Yorkshire rhubarb 
 found its way then, as now, into the vats of the 
 vintners 1 
 
 It was a well-dressed crowd, for St. Frisette, 
 one of the patrons of the city, has all along had 
 her devotees, and no coiffeurs are so famous as those 
 of her romantic cult. Indeed, her influence in fashion 
 is for ever memoralized by the costumes and head- 
 gear, correctly chiselled, of the statues of the 
 cathedral. 
 
 Saints, prophets, kings, and queens, in stone, high 
 up in the galleries of the exterior of the cathedral, 
 looked down approvingly, or the reverse, upon the 
 rare show and its spectators. The gargoyles of 
 Reims were ever famous for their unusual benignity. 
 They were all animation and sparkled in the sun-
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 165 
 
 shine ; merriment became emphatic within the 
 floriated arches of the buttresses. In each a laugh- 
 ing angel in stone was exercising her witchery and 
 adding heavenly hilarity to the general good-humour. 
 The whole sacred building was enfdte; it is still the 
 merriest building in Christendom ; its sculptured 
 stones have imbibed the effervescence of rare cham- 
 pagne for centuries ! 
 
 Within the sacred building all was solemn and 
 restrained. Resplendent gem-like glass of the thir- 
 teenth century, skilfully leaded in the clerestory 
 windows of the nave, produced a chiaroscuro of 
 scintillating coloured light, wherein the spirits of 
 the mighty and the beauteous dead were mustering 
 to take, unseen, their sympathetic parts in the 
 gorgeous functions of the day. Freshly- worked 
 tapestries, covering the aisle walls, shared with the 
 vitreous glories the telling of pageant stories of 
 religion and romance. 
 
 The " Sacre" or coronation, of King Charles was 
 an unique ceremonial. Supported upon either hand 
 by the most distinguished Sovereign Princes of 
 France, Louis III., King of Sicily and Duke of 
 Anjou, and his brother Rene, Duke of Barrois and 
 heir-consort of Lorraine, he passed majestically up 
 the nave under the heavy golden canopy of state. 
 Another Anjou Prince, Charles, Duke of Maine, 
 nephew of Louis and Rene, bore the monarch's train 
 his cousins all. The Grand Peers, with one 
 exception, Burgundy, marched alongside in sovereign 
 dignity and pride. Strange it was that no royal 
 ladies graced the auspicious sacring. Queen Marie 
 bore no part ; she, indeed, remained at Bourges, and 
 recited her " Hours " in solitude. Neither Queen
 
 166 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Yolande of Sicily- Anjou nor Duchess Isabelle of Bar- 
 Lorraine was present, but the place of First Lady 
 was, for all that, occupied by a " Queen," the Queen 
 of the coronation " la Royne blanche Jeanne." 
 Such a " Queen " had never stood beside a Sovereign 
 kneeling for his crown before the high-altar of 
 Reims. The fabled fame of saintly Queen Clotilde 
 paled before the brilliant triumph of plain Jeanne 
 d'Arc. How she bore herself in this her hour of 
 miraculous victory, and what part she took in the 
 stately ceremonial, historians have scantily related, 
 and painters only imaginatively recorded : no precis 
 has come down to us, no artist made a sketch upon 
 the spot. 
 
 Immediately after the King and his royal sup- 
 porters walked with dignity La Pucelle, in her 
 flashing white armour. In her right hand she bore, 
 at the salute, the crimson-sheathed sword of St. 
 Catherine of Fierbois. Her head was bare, save 
 for her lustrous locks of hair ; but some pious souls 
 thought they saw a saint's nimbus around her brow ; 
 it was, perhaps, a ring of sunny halo a reflection 
 from her mail of steel, or a coronal of coloured glories 
 shot through the stained-glass windows. By the 
 Maid's side marched her young and true esquire, 
 Louis de Contes, bearing unfurled her magic 
 oriflamme. 
 
 It was said that Jeanne had not intended to take 
 any part in the actual coronation of her Sovereign ; 
 it was quite enough for her that Charles and she 
 had entered Reims together. She was resting 
 quietly and prayerfully, communing with her patron 
 saints, and listening, as was her daily wont, of course, 
 to the " Voices," within her modest chamber in the
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 167 
 
 humble hostelry, now the Maison Rouge, where 
 her parents from Domremy had put up, when Rene" 
 and a Sovereign's escort clattered up to the door and 
 commanded in the King's name the Maid's presence 
 within the cathedral. At once she donned her 
 armour, and, giving Rene" her hand, she walked with 
 him across the cathedral place to where the King 
 was awaiting her. 
 
 "The people," it is recorded, "looked on with 
 awe and wonder. Thus had actually come to pass 
 the fantastic vision that floated before the eyes of 
 the young village girl of Domremy, and had thrilled 
 all France." When La Pucelle had taken up her 
 station on the royal dais, she grasped her white 
 silken banner in her right hand, saying to those 
 around her : " This oriflamme hath shared the 
 dangers : it has a right to the glories !" That 
 ensign of victory still towers up aloft in the nave of 
 Reims Cathedral, above the very spot where Jeanne 
 stood and Charles was crowned an abiding mascot 
 of faith and chivalry. We may well imagine the 
 heroine casting her eyes over that splendid temple of 
 God and its occupants, and resting at last mes- 
 merically upon the glorified figures of her three 
 beloved holy ones beaming down upon her from the 
 choirs of saints in the clerestory windows. St. 
 Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret, were all 
 there, and their Master, too, for out and away from 
 the empyreal realm, and beyond the burning sun 
 of heaven, for the coronation of Charles VII. of 
 France at Reims was the apotheosis of Jeanne d'Arc 
 of Domremy. " The glory of God," as some said 
 who saw her, " there transformed the village maid into 
 a bride of Christ " a substantial Queen of Heaven.
 
 168 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Immediately after the anointing, the coronation, 
 and the other ritual acts, were complete, Jeanne 
 knelt down before her King, her eyes brimful of 
 tears, and said softly to him : " Gentle King, now 
 is fulfilled the pleasure of God. I pray you thank 
 Him humbly with me, and let us thank, too, the 
 good saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret, who 
 have so wonderfully aided us. Now my mission to 
 you, my King, is fulfilled, I pray you release me, 
 that I may depart with my parents to my simple 
 home. One thing only I crave : it is that my 
 beloved village shall be free for ever from taxation, 
 and that their land and tenements shall be retained 
 by my people. Sire, I bid you farewell." 
 
 A few days subsequent to the coronation, Charles 
 held a council of war at Reims to decide the plan 
 of operations against the enemies of France, and 
 he again sent Rene to the Maid's lodging to bid her 
 attend. " You have," said the King to Jeanne, 
 " not yet quite fulfilled the task you set yourself. 
 The English still possess our gates. I need your 
 presence and your services to rid France of her foes." 
 The Maid, sad at heart that more bloodshed had to 
 deluge the soil of the devastated land, had no choice 
 but to resume her martial garb, and once more to 
 mount her war-steed. The council was divided in 
 opinion : some agreed with la Tremouille, Dunois, 
 and La Hire, and others sided with Rene and 
 Barbazan, with them was Jeanne, and they pre- 
 vailed. An advance in force on Paris was the order 
 of the day. Upon August 13 Rene", with Jeanne, 
 led the vanguard of the King's forces across the 
 Marne. At Montpiloir a pitched battle was fought, 
 wherein Jeanne wrought terror in the breast of
 
 THE CORONATION OF KING CHARLES VII. AT REIMS CATHEDRAL 
 
 From a Fresco by E. Lepenveu. Pantheon, Paris 
 
 To face page 16S
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 169 
 
 superstitious foemen, and Rene covered himself with 
 glory. The pick of the English army, under the 
 Regent himself, the Duke of Bedford, was worsted, 
 after knightly encounters of noble champions and 
 prodigies of valour on both sides had been keenly 
 scored. Wherever the white oriflamme of La 
 Pucelle chanced to be advanced, there was panic ; 
 the English regarded her as a supernatural being 
 whom no human bravery could withstand. Defeat 
 became a rout, and ten days after leaving Reims 
 the victorious French army followed Jeanne and 
 Rene* into St. Denis and recovered the royal 
 sepulchres. 
 
 Next to popular and soldierly estimation of the 
 heroism of La Pucelle, was universal admiration 
 for the courage and resourcefulness of the young 
 Duke de Barrois. He with his brother, King Louis 
 of Sicily, were also the champions of the knightly 
 " Lists," although Jeanne had prayed her warrior not 
 to risk his neck in such encounters. Rene, indeed, 
 was the hero, as Jeanne was the heroine, of that 
 wonderful campaign. Only half the truth was told 
 of his abilities in that saying of the Maid : " Rene de 
 Bar is worth more than a squadron of cavalry !" 
 
 During these sanguinary operations two royal 
 ladies, each in her castle boudoir, at Angers and 
 at Nancy, were devoured with anxiety and appre- 
 hension : the mother and the wife of Rene " good " 
 Queen Yolande and " fair " Duchess Isabelle. Their 
 part was to watch and pray, for each was exercising 
 a lieutenant-generalcy for her absent hero. Very well 
 could they each have donned their coats of mail, like 
 Jeanne d'Arc, for each was to the manner born ; but 
 the closer ties and dearer of motherhood could not be
 
 170 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 renounced. Queen Marie also played nobly the 
 woman's part ; she had her family cares also, and, 
 now that her consort was like a lion roused, her tact 
 and love had much to do to restrain his ardour. 
 Charles was not a soldier born, nor had he been 
 trained in military command, so his presence in the 
 field was fraught with risk and danger ; his forte was 
 in reserve. Whilst Marie grasped the bridle of his 
 charger, Agnes Sorel loosened the girdle of his mail, 
 and he quietly reposed at Loches. 
 
 La Pucelle now assumed another r61e. By 
 heavenly advice she had been content to guide the 
 destiny of Charles ; now her " Voices " bade her 
 command in person the army of France against 
 the foe. The experienced military leaders, one and 
 all, were discounted, and on September 8 she took 
 actual command-in-chief, and opened the attack on 
 Paris. It was on the waning of that fe'te-day of the 
 Virgin that Jeanne, in all her flashing panoply of 
 war, scaled the first ladder raised against the Port 
 St. Denis ; but, alas ! before she could place her 
 foot upon the battlement her thigh was pierced by 
 an arrow, and she fell. Shades, too, of night were 
 falling, and Ren6 sounded the retreat, whilst many 
 a gallant heart trembled more for La Pucelle than 
 for the temporary check. Helped by Guy de Laval 
 and Jean de Clermont, as constant as himself, the 
 young chief of the staff placed tenderly the wounded 
 Maid upon a sumpter-horse, and himself led her to 
 the nuns' quarters at the Chapelle de St. Denis hard 
 by, and assisted to dress her wound. 
 
 Rene" rallied the flower of the French forces, and 
 many a grizzled warrior and many a beardless recruit 
 felt the influence of his enthusiasm whilst all were
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 171 
 
 ready to lay down their lives for La Pucelle, and 
 mingle their blood with hers. A quaint couplet says : 
 
 " La dit il mante la fibre bande 
 Que lefier Prince Rend commande !" 
 
 Paris fell, and Charles came to his own, whilst 
 Rene bade farewell to La Pucelle, and hurried off 
 to Bar-le-Duc, where brave and fair Isabelle was 
 holding her own and his with difficulty against 
 unscrupulous and unpatriotic factions. Jeanne felt 
 the absence of her most trusty ally keenly, and missed 
 his energetic counsels ; but she bravely resumed the 
 conduct of the war, instructed by her heavenly 
 patrons. A crisis, however, was approaching a 
 crisis which was momentous in its consequence for 
 herself. Called to give siege to Compiegne on May 24, 
 1430, she was taken prisoner, and the hopes of 
 France were wrecked. Without La Pucelle the 
 fight was impossible, and Rene had gone too ! 
 
 The rest of the story of La Pucelle is, alas ! 
 soon told. What she said to Charles, Duke of 
 Lorraine, at the outset of her mission might well be 
 said of her now that she was hors de combat: 
 " La lutte sera vive, mais fai le plan precis pour 
 triompher !" (The struggle will be fierce, but I have 
 a plan of certain victory !). It was said that Jeanne 
 was captured by some archers from Picardy, who 
 crept unseen between the legs of her escort. By 
 them handed over to John, Duke of Luxemburg, she 
 was sold to the English. The Tour de la Pucelle 
 still marks the spot. Not a hand in France was 
 raised to rescue the holy maiden. Charles himself, 
 who owed all to her, seems to have forgotten her 
 very soon after his return to Loches and to the arms 
 of his " belle des belles," Agnes Sorel. Rene" was fight-
 
 172 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 ing for his own in Lorraine and Bar, and could do 
 nothing for his heroine. La Pucelle was taken 
 from fortress to fortress, each prison being more 
 fearsome than the last. She was subjected to insult 
 and injury, treachery and outrage, and, deserted by 
 everyone, she remained reliant only upon God. Her 
 trial as an enemy and a sorceress was a mockery ; 
 even her own people turned against her ; her straight- 
 forward answers and her superhuman fortitude baffled 
 her judges. At last she was condemned and shut up 
 in a cage of iron, her feet fettered with irons, and her 
 body stripped almost to nakedness. Alas that God, 
 whose devoted servant she was, should have destined 
 her to this last stage of despair ! Through all her 
 bitter trials and sufferings she maintained an un- 
 daunted demeanour. Were her "Voices" hushed 
 now that she prayed for death ? When some English 
 bigots approached to taunt her, she answered meekly : 
 " Je sais bien que les Anglois me feront mourir " 
 (I know perfectly well that the English will put me 
 to death). 
 
 A year's captivity and cruelty, harsh and revolting, 
 found the spotless, unselfish, and pious " Maid of 
 Orleans " in her twentieth year alas ! so young to 
 die a human wreck ; but, mercifully, an end was 
 put to her sufferings at Rouen on May 30, 1431. 
 Burnt to death in the market-place, calling upon 
 Jesus, Mary, Michael, Catherine, and Margaret, 
 her fiendish murderers hardly allowed the fire to cool 
 before they raked up her poor grey ashes, and then 
 cast them with maledictions into the swirling Seine. 
 So perished Jeanne d'Arc, the child of God, the 
 deliverer of her country. Now her place is among 
 the saints : she is St. Jeanne d'Arc.
 
 JEANNE D'ARC 173 
 
 It was said that her heart was found intact after 
 the fire had burnt itself out, and that as one stooped 
 to pick it up a white dove fluttered before his face ! 
 ***** 
 
 111 news travels apace. Rene de Bar et Lorraine 
 heard of the tragedy at Rouen, and was broken- 
 hearted. He dismissed his captains, his courtiers, 
 and his minstrels, and shut himself up in his castle 
 at Clermont, where he chided his soul with tears and 
 fastings. His was the ' bitter cry : " Ma Royne 
 blanche, Jeanne, est mort helas ! ma Royne est 
 mort !" 
 
 The heart, too, of Charles, the King, reproached 
 him before he died ; he could never really have for- 
 gotten La Pucelle. A little girl was born to him 
 and Queen Marie six months after Jeanne's martyr- 
 dom ; her name was " Jeanne/' as he said, "en recon- 
 naissance et pour mes pe'che's." 
 
 In the Register of Taxes the space against Dom- 
 remy was left vacant until the great revolution, except 
 for the entry : " Neant, a cause de la Pucelle." Her 
 parents' cottage is still preserved, although the Bois 
 Chenus is no more. The memory of Jeanne d'Arc 
 will never die.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU " LA PETITE REINE DE BOURGES " 
 
 I. 
 
 " THE little Queen of Bourges," so called partly in 
 derision, partly in pity, but all the same one of the 
 noblest and best Queens who ever shared the sove- 
 reign throne of France : " noble," not so much in 
 gradation of rank as in distinction of character ; 
 " best," or " good," not in the sense of mock righteous- 
 ness, but in the interpretation of whole-heartedness. 
 
 Marie d'Anjou was the eldest daughter of King 
 Louis II. and Queen Yolande of Sicily- Anjou-Naples- 
 Provence. Born at Angers, October 14, 1404, she 
 and her younger brother, Rene, four years her junior, 
 grew up to love one another almost distractedly. So 
 intense was this fraternal affection that their solicitous 
 and resourceful mother viewed it with apprehension, 
 fearing its consequences, if left unchecked or un- 
 diverted into a more natural channel, the cloister. 
 It was no part of the excellent training the Queen 
 provided for her offspring to hide their futures under 
 the garb of religion ; she had lofty ambitions for all 
 her children, and those ambitions she lived to see 
 realized. 
 
 Marie d'Anjou's betrothal and marriage to Charles 
 
 174
 
 MARIE D ANJOU 
 Prom a Painting of the School of Jean Fouquet (1460). National Gallery, London 
 
 To face page 174
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 175 
 
 de Ponthieu, Dauphin of France, in 1422, was a 
 supreme master-stroke of statecraft which only such 
 a remarkable mother and Queen as Yolande of Sicily - 
 Anjou could effect. She, with all her prescience, 
 could not have forecast the future of France proper 
 and her many sovereign sister States, which was, in its 
 happy fruition, due to that far-seeing nuptial con- 
 tract. Marie's son, Louis XL, made France one 
 nation much as she is to-day. 
 
 When Queen Yolande so anxiously took charge of 
 the young Dauphin, and had him educated with her 
 own children, she was quite prepared for any mental 
 and physical development in her son-in-law which 
 might be expected to result from his unhappy parent- 
 age. No doubt she did what was possible to correct 
 faults of heredity and to develop such latent excel- 
 lencies as had not been wholly vitiated in the child's 
 infancy. Still, we may be sure she had a heart full 
 of trouble as she witnessed the degeneration of her 
 son-in-law from paths of probity and virtue. 
 
 In truth, the marriage of Princess Marie was, in a 
 strict sense, a sacrifice and an oblation. The mating 
 of her dearly loved daughter, a girl of unusual 
 promise, with a youth of evil ancestry and unworthy 
 predispositions must have cost the devoted mother 
 much. 
 
 Marie was remarkable for rare beauty of person 
 pale, with perfect features ; tall, with a graceful 
 figure, and distinguished by her regal carriage. 
 
 In personal appearance Charles was unattractive : 
 his figure was insignificant and ill-formed ; his head 
 was unduly large ; he had large feet and hands, 
 whilst his legs were short and bowed, and this caused 
 an ungraceful gait ; his face was sickly-looking and 
 
 12
 
 176 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 pock-marked, with a prominent nose, a wide and 
 sensual mouth, and a heavy jaw ; his eyes were small 
 and somewhat crisscross ; he had coarse dark hair 
 and heavy eyebrows. If his destiny had not been a 
 throne, he might just as well have found his career in 
 a stable. With all these personal disadvantages, 
 Charles was naturally warm-hearted and affectionate ; 
 he was possessed of a cool judgment, very affable and 
 considerate, and, when roused, a very lion in the way. 
 The marks of his evil mother's influence never left 
 him ; the crushing of his natural inclinations and 
 opportunities in childhood warped and unbalanced his 
 mental calibre. 
 
 It was said scoffingly of him by those who were 
 bereft of feeling : " Le Dauphin est un fou, fils d'un 
 insense et d'une prostituee."* Jean Juvenal des 
 Ursins perhaps went too far in the opposite direction, 
 for in 1433 he wrote in his "Chronicle" concerning 
 the King : " Sa vie est plaisante & Dieu ; il n'y-a- 
 en aucun vice."^ 
 
 The first notice we find of the life of Marie 
 d'Anjou, however, does not refer to her union with 
 Charles VII., but her betrothal, when only five years 
 old, to Jehan de Beaux, Prince of Taranto, her kins- 
 man. He was the son of the Prince of Taranto who 
 accompanied King Louis II., Marie's father, on his 
 romantic journey to Perpignan, in 1399, to welcome 
 Princess Yolanda d'Arragona. Descended in direct 
 line from Charles, first Duke of Anjou, younger 
 brother of St. Louis IX., his grandfather was 
 Philippe, second son of Charles III. and Marguerite 
 
 * "The Dauphin is a poor fool, the son of a madman and a 
 prostitute." 
 
 f "His manner of life is pleasant to God ; he has no vice,"
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 177 
 
 of France. Through the last-named Princess a sad stain 
 besmirched the shield of the silver lilies. Jehanne 
 and Blanche de Luxembourg, daughters of Otto IV., 
 Count of Burgundy, married respectively King 
 Philippe the " Tall " and King Charles the " Fair " 
 of France. Charged with witchcraft, they were 
 imprisoned for life in the Chateau de Dourdan, where 
 they were tonsured, scourged, and tortured although 
 they were the most beautiful and most highly 
 cultured women of their day together with their 
 sister-in-law Marguerite, but she returned to her 
 husband in 1314. Their terrible experiences were 
 made traditional in the family, and, naturally, did 
 not conduce to success in courtship. 
 
 No doubt the idea which fixed itself in the minds 
 of Louis II. and Yolande with respect to this 
 betrothal was the strengthening of the claims of 
 Anjou, of the younger line, upon the crown of 
 Naples, by the alliance of the two branches of the 
 house. Why this arrangement was set aside, or 
 when, it is hard to say. Some chroniclers aver that 
 the young Prince was drowned at sea off Taranto ; 
 others, that he had different views ; and, more likely 
 than all, others attribute the renunciation to the 
 action of Queen Yolande, who, directly she had 
 obtained charge of the person of the young Dauphin 
 Charles, determined a more brilliant match politically, 
 if a less attractive one psychologically. 
 
 Possibly Queen Yolande hardly realized, at the 
 date of that auspicious marriage, how its consumma- 
 tion would affect herself. High-toned as she was, 
 and assertive of Anjou's prestige, she could not know 
 that Queen Isabeau's absolute declension from recti- 
 tude would, by force of contrast alone, throw her
 
 178 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 own worthy aims into emphatic prominence. That 
 marriage was the opening of the portals of imperial 
 interest to the personal guidance of the strongest 
 mind and will in France. She became actually the 
 power on the throne, not behind it. Her hand 
 directed the issues of life and death between the rival 
 Powers France and England. Yolande became at 
 once the ruler of France and the dictator of her 
 foreign policy. What has history to say about all 
 this ? Nothing, or next to nothing. Historians, 
 the most narrow-minded and most easily biassed of 
 writers, have not cared to trace and teach the 
 ethics of the personality of this ruler of men and 
 States. 
 
 The genesis of the paramount influence of women 
 in the public and private life of France was un- 
 doubtedly in the reign of Charles VII. He was 
 successively in the hands of Isabeau, his unworthy 
 mother ; of Yolande, his noble mother-in-law ; of 
 Marie, his much-enduring wife ; and of Agnes Sorel, 
 his inspiring mistress. Happily for him, he was 
 withdrawn early from the immediate care of Queen 
 Isabeau, but her intrigues later on brought out the 
 latent bad elements of his character. What saving 
 grace was his was his through Yolande of Sicily- 
 Anjou. His wife and his chief mistress were given 
 him for two distinct purposes : Marie kept the wolf 
 from the door and emboldened her faint-hearted 
 spouse, whilst Agnes cheered his troubled spirit and 
 impelled his motive-power. There is a quatrain 
 of Francis I. which is interesting from the fact that 
 his versification leaves it doubtful whether Marie or 
 Agnes was actually his good genius : he names both in 
 the first line :
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 179 
 
 " Gentille Marie (Agnes), plus d'honnewr tu mdrite, 
 La cause 6tant de France recouvrer ; 
 Que ce que peut dedans un doitre ouvrer 
 Close nonain ou bien dewt hermite." * 
 
 Marie and Rene" d'Anjou and Charles de Ponthieu 
 were educated together, and for four years or more 
 were inseparable companions. The betrothal of 
 Charles and Marie was effected at the Palace of the 
 Louvre, December 18, 1413, in the presence of the 
 King and Queen of France and of the King and 
 Queen of Sicily- Anjou. Charles VI. was then still 
 King of France, and fully in possession of his senses. 
 His troubles, political and mental, ranged from 1417 
 to 1422, when he had become no more than nominal 
 Sovereign, driven from place to place, crushed, 
 depressed, and suffering. Until his malady became 
 hopeless, he was noted for his nobility of endurance, 
 his chivalry of deportment, and his unselfish devotion 
 to his duty. His Don Quixotic sort of life, however, 
 was a mixture of smiles and frowns joys and 
 sorrows. Such a wife and mother as Queen Isabeau 
 proved herself to be was quite enough to shatter the 
 patience and the peace of the most stolid of men. 
 There was not a more unhappy family in all France 
 than that of its principal Soveregin, nor a more 
 miserable home than that of its King. 
 
 Still, there were not wanting human touches which 
 paint the character of King Charles VI. in sympa- 
 thetic colours. In the King's room at the Castle of 
 Blois is a superb piece of tapestry, among many 
 others, embroidered with the " Story of the Seigneur 
 
 * " Gentle Marie (Agnes), thou hast gained all honour, 
 Of France the new life thou wast inspirer ; 
 But thou wast born to adorn the cloister, 
 Enclosed nun or dedicated sister."
 
 180 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN 
 
 and Chatelaine de Courrages." The " Annales 
 Franqais " recount the following narrative : " The 
 Seigneur de Courrages was called upon by the 
 Parliament of Paris to fight in the ' Lists ' with 
 a certain Knight, Jehan Le Gris, for the honour 
 of his wife, the Dame de Courrages. During the 
 absence of her spouse in the Holy Land, the fair 
 chatelaine gave her favours to an urgent lover, the 
 Seigneur Le Gris, and he made love to her, quite 
 naturally, in return. King Charles VI. was pre- 
 siding at a tournament, and he noted the presence of 
 the lady in question, but was amazed at her effrontery ; 
 for she was seated, superbly attired, in her state 
 chariot, in view of the whole assemblage, whereas 
 the custom of the time should have found her upon 
 her knees in her closet, praying for her good man. 
 The King despatched a herald to the impudent 
 hussy, with a message that ' it is inconceivable that 
 anyone lying under so grievous a reproach should 
 assume herself to be innocent till such time as that 
 innocence shall have been made apparent.' The 
 brazen dame was ordered at once to dismount from 
 her carriage and retire to her manoir. She was 
 unwilling to bow to the royal command, and, hearing 
 of this, the King sent another messenger, who was 
 instructed to conduct the fair and frail delinquent 
 beneath a scaffold, where she was ordered to cry 
 aloud to God for mercy, and to the King for 
 clemency. In the issue of arms, luckily for her, 
 fortune favoured her husband, who unhorsed his 
 adversary, and, after pinning him to the ground with 
 his sword, compelled him to confess the villainies he 
 had committed with his wife. Then the unfortunate 
 man was hurried off to the scaffold, beneath which
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 181 
 
 Dame de Courrages was humbly kneeling, and there 
 and then hung up by the neck by way of justification 
 of his miserable sweetheart." What happened to the 
 frail woman the chronicler has failed to tell ; probably 
 the Seigneur de Courrages took his erring wife home 
 and administered a well-deserved flagellation in the 
 privacy of his bedchamber, and condemned her to 
 a period of imprisonment in the family dungeon upon 
 a spare diet of bread and water ! Such was the 
 wholesome discipline for marital infidelity in the days 
 of chivalry ! 
 
 The marriage of Charles, Count of Ponthieu, and 
 Marie, Princess of Sicily- Anjou, was solemnized at 
 St. Martin at Tours, January 15, 1422. It was a 
 year of rejoicing in France, for on May Day her King 
 by descent, Charles VI., and her King by conquest, 
 Henry V., entered Paris riding side by side in a 
 splendid triumph of peace. Charles's reason had 
 returned to him with the return of happier days, and 
 although the spectre of Isabeau was beside him, he 
 managed to retain his senses and his vigour until 
 October 21, when death mercifully heralded a new 
 reign and a new regime in Paris. 
 
 The Dauphin and Dauphine spent their short 
 honeymoon at Loches and Bourges, whence they 
 were called to attend the Kings in Paris, and there 
 they remained till Charles VI. died. Thereafter 
 troubles once more devastated fair suffering France : 
 the peace was broken, and a broken band of fugitives 
 fled the capital. The Court sought refuge at Bourges. 
 
 " The King by misfortune in the warres grew so 
 behindhand, both in fame and estate, that amongst 
 other afflictions hee was subject to reproach and 
 poverty, so that he dined in his small chamber
 
 182 REN^l D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 attended only by his household servants. Pothou 
 and La Hire, coming to Chateaudun to ask for 
 succour, found him at table with no more than a 
 rump of mutton and two chickens. He had neither 
 wine nor dessert, and only two attendants, whilst his 
 carriage had no relay of horses and only two grooms. 
 He was reproached for his love of fair Agnes 
 (Sorel), but the Bishop of St. Denis reported that hee 
 loved her onely for her pleasing behaviour, eloquent 
 speech, and beauty ; and that he never used any 
 lascivious action unto her, nor never touched her 
 beneath the chin." 
 
 The Comptes de la Royne Marie record that the 
 King and Queen were reduced to eat their meals off 
 common pewter dishes, that they had little or no 
 change of linen, and that the Queen sold all her 
 jewels to purchase food and other necessaries. The 
 townsfolk of the neighbourhood as well as the 
 nobility contributed liberally to their Sovereigns' 
 wants. Jacques Cceur of Bourges in particular 
 rendered them hospitality, for he was accustomed to 
 send in daily the royal supper at his own expense. 
 Coeur was a merchant, a jeweller, and a wine-grower, 
 and waxed rich in trade, but never wavered in his 
 loyalty. He became Charles's treasurer, but after 
 advancing him nearly 300,000 gold crowns, he was 
 for some unknown reason cast into prison and con- 
 demned to execution and the confiscation of his goods. 
 Queen Marie pleaded for their faithful subject, and 
 gained his reprieve, but Jacques Coeur never recovered 
 his liberty nor his property. 
 
 A gory stain was dashed upon the lily shield of 
 France when the Duke of Burgundy was basely slain 
 by Tanneguy de Chatel in the King's presence. He
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 183 
 
 had been one of Charles's most devoted adherents, for 
 he it was who, in 1418, carried off the youthful 
 Dauphin, wrapped in a piece of arras, for safety to the 
 Bastile, and whence he was allowed to escape to 
 Poitiers. It was a time of terrible disaster. Paris 
 was in open revolution, and all the possessions of the 
 Crown were threatened with destruction. The 
 English were marching all over France unopposed, 
 for the French Court and Government were divided 
 by the feuds of rival leaders. On June 12 the 
 starving populace of the capital burnt the H6tel de 
 Ville, the Temple, and prison. Women were seized, 
 outraged, and killed, and 1,600 murdered bodies were 
 scattered in the streets and squares. The Count of 
 Armagnac was the chief supporter of the Dauphin's 
 party, but Queen Isabeau joined hands with Jean 
 " sans Peur," Duke of Burgundy, against her 
 husband, alas ! now quite imbecile, and her only 
 son. 
 
 A peace was patched up, and it was arranged that 
 the Dauphin and the Duke should meet for mutual 
 satisfaction at Montereau. The latter had no 
 suspicion of foul-play, and Charles had no inkling 
 of what was in de Chatel's mind. The meeting was 
 arranged upon the stone bridge crossing the Seine, on 
 September 10, 1419. There the Dauphin, in full 
 armour, awaited his rival's approach. The Duke 
 passed the two barriers on the bridge assured by the 
 words : " Come if you please, Monseigneur. Fear 
 not ; the Dauphin is awaiting you." At the young 
 Prince's feet the proud Jean knelt and did homage, 
 but Charles put out no hand to raise him graciously 
 nor paid him any compliment, but brusquely ex- 
 claimed : " Monseigneur, you and the Queen have
 
 184 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 disgraced France and me. I command you to leave 
 that wicked woman alone and go back in peace to 
 your dominions." 
 
 The Duke, astounded, rose, and was about to offer 
 some uncomplimentary reply, when he was struck 
 down by Tanneguy de Chatel with his battle-axe, as 
 he hissed out : " Thou art a traitor ! Go thy way, 
 base Burgundy !" Twenty swords leaped from their 
 scabbards and finished the dastardly deed, and Charles, 
 shocked beyond expression, mounted his horse and 
 galloped off. Queen Isabeau was at Troyes, where 
 she had been exiled by her son's advisers, and the 
 tragic death of her confederate roused the whole fury 
 of her nature. She assembled the chief citizens, and 
 made them an impassioned harangue : 
 
 " Consider the horrors, faults, and crimes, perpe- 
 trated in this kingdom of France by Charles, soi- 
 disant Dauphin of Vienne. It is here and now agreed 
 that our son Henry, King of England, and our dear 
 nephew, Philippe, Duke of Burgundy, shall not enter 
 into relations with the said Charles." 
 
 The assassination of the Duke of Burgundy 
 weighed heavily upon the conscience of Charles ; 
 he never concealed his wish that his mother's 
 colleague should come by his end, but he never put 
 his desire into exact words. 
 
 The year 1422 saw Marie d'Anjou seated, at 
 least metaphorically, upon the throne of France. 
 Both Kings of France died soon after her marriage, 
 Henry V. on August 31, and Charles VI. on 
 October 21, and Charles VII. and Marie were 
 proclaimed King and Queen of France at Mehun- 
 sur - Yevre in Berry on November 1 follow- 
 ing. They were crowned in Poitiers Cathedral on
 
 A BESIEGED CASTLE IN FRANCE 
 
 From a Miniature, MS. Fourteenth Century, " Valeur Maxime " 
 British Museum 
 
 To face page 184
 
 Christmas Day, where the new King had established 
 his Parliament. 
 
 The King and Queen made many progresses 
 through their circumscribed dominions. The first 
 was in the summer of 1423, when they made a 
 state entry also into Angers, and heard Mass at 
 the Cathedral of St. Maurice. They presented to 
 the Chapter two superb pieces of tapestry, depicting 
 the Old and New Testaments. The Queen's brother, 
 Louis III., was of course in Italy, but the Duke 
 of Bar-Lorraine and the Duchess Isabelle were there 
 supporting the Queen-mother Yolande in rendering 
 gracious hospitalities ; the citizens provided a 
 mystery-play, and the Court a tournament. The 
 royal couple were lodged in the castle, from the 
 gateway of which Queen Marie addressed the 
 assemblage of people : " Vos citoyens et habitans de 
 la mile. d'Angiers soyeant toujours loyaux et fideles 
 d vostre sovereyns, et aussi des beaulx amis vers la 
 couronne de France, laquelle je porte moi meme"* 
 Vociferous plaudits hailed this declamation, and both 
 Queen Yolande and Duke Rene made patriotic 
 addresses. 
 
 Five years later Charles and Marie entered 
 Anjou and took up their residence at Saumur, where 
 the King received the homage of no less a fellow- 
 Sovereign than the Duke of Brittany, this being 
 due to the tactful policy of the Queen-mother. 
 Charles also had a request to place before the loyal 
 Angevines : he wanted money and men to carry on 
 the ceaseless warfare against the English. In this 
 
 * "You noble citizens and good inhabitants of this worthy city 
 of Angers were ever famous for loyalty and fidelity to your 
 Sovereigns, and, moreover, the best of friends to the Crown of 
 France, which you see I wear.
 
 186 REN KANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 he admirably succeeded, and through Duke Rene 
 he gained help from Lorraine and Bar besides. 
 
 Marie, though the consort of a fugitive penniless 
 King, had a suite worthy of herself and of her 
 parentage and rank ; the Queen-mother saw to that. 
 Her Controller was Hardoin de Mailly, and her 
 Master of Horse Jacques Odon de Maulevrier, a 
 devoted friend of her brother, Duke Rene. The 
 Queen's four Dames d'Honneur were Catherine 
 Bourgoing, Airnee de Beauvais, Philippe de la 
 Rochefoucault, and Jeanne Sorel. Her Maids of 
 Honour were Marie du Couldray, Jeanne de la 
 Grosse, Catherine de Beauvais, Jeannett la Garrelle, 
 Hervee Catherine de Montplaie, and Jehanne 
 Biardelle, with three quite young girls whose Christian 
 names alone have been preserved Felize, Geffeline, 
 and Jaequette perhaps pet names. 
 
 Duke Rene, ever a liberal-minded and open-handed 
 Prince, gave each of his sister's ladies a robe of 
 richest aigneaulx fur, with crimson satin lining, and 
 twenty skins of martens for bordering their kirtle 
 bodices. Each robe cost 16 florins ( = 12), and was 
 supplied by the Queen-mother's furrier at Angers, 
 one Martin Chebiton. 
 
 The immodest fashions set by Queen Isabeau and 
 the ladies of her Court, and their outrageous modes 
 of headgear, did not go unrebuked by the better 
 sort of clergy. A very famous preaching friar, one 
 Thomas Correcte, a Carmelite monk from Brittany, 
 in particular inaugurated a crusade against feminine 
 extravagances through the North of France and in 
 Flanders during the second decade of the fifteenth 
 century. He further strenuously denounced the 
 dignified clergy who kept fashionable mistresses.
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 187 
 
 He was welcomed heartily by the burghers of the 
 towns through which he passed, and conducted to a 
 special pulpit erected in the market-place, adorned 
 with rich hangings and a gigantic crucifix. Guards 
 of honour and musicians were at his service, and, 
 in spite of opposition and natural predilections, the 
 clergy fell into line with the popular fancy, and rang 
 their bells on his arrival. His denunciations were 
 quite in accord with the feelings of the people, but 
 they incited the rougher element to take the law 
 into their own hands. Squads of youths paraded 
 the public thoroughfares in search of errant dames, 
 and no sooner had their gaze alighted upon a lady 
 of degree, coiffured & I'outrance, than a flight of 
 stones, deftly aimed, quickly made havoc of her 
 headgear. The popular cry, " Un hennin! un 
 hennin ! d has les hennins /" produced a panic, so 
 that the women dared hardly sally forth from their 
 own doors. It was said that the friar personally 
 organized these demonstrations, and even paid the 
 lads to disenchant the fair sex by forcibly pulling 
 down their hideous superstructures. At all events, 
 women with dishevelled heads and disordered attire 
 ran hither and thither helpless and defenceless. 
 The worthy and enthusiastic evangelist had, how- 
 ever, an alternative fashion with which modest 
 women might cover their heads and breasts. He 
 prescribed the universal habit of wearing plain 
 chapelles, the ordinary caps of peasant women. The 
 raid, however, ceased to terrify the determined 
 votaries of eccentricity in dress, and, as Monstrelet, 
 the historian, pithily puts it, " Snails, when anybody 
 passes near them, draw in their horns ; but when 
 the danger is past they put them forth again." The
 
 188 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 hennin, so called by Friar Correcte, became still 
 more gigantic and grotesque, although Queen Marie, 
 backed by her good mother, Queen Yolande, made loud 
 protests and refused their favours to transgressors. 
 
 With respect to indecency in dress, the preacher 
 insisted upon running a thick cord between the men 
 and women of his audiences. The mixing of the 
 sexes in public he gravely denounced, and the bare- 
 ness of women's breasts and the tightness of men's 
 hose exctied his most eloquent tirades. The reason 
 of the cord he quaintly phrased : " I perceive that 
 sly doings will be going on !" The King of Sicily, 
 Louis III., and Duke Rene, were quite in accord with 
 the friar's philippics ; but the " King of Bourges " 
 was another sort of man, and much of the coolness 
 which existed between himself and Queen Marie was 
 due to her moderation in dress and quietness of 
 manner. Charles, it was said, chanced to hear the 
 friar one day at Ponthieu, where he was in residence, 
 and ordered him to keep silence and depart. The 
 friar retired to his monastery after a year of 
 eloquence and exertions, but his animadversions upon 
 the lives of the higher clergy led to his being 
 summoned to Rome, to answer to certain charges 
 of breach of monkish discipline and errors of doctrine. 
 The poor man seems to have felt his position keenly, 
 so keenly, indeed, that to escape judgment he jumped 
 out of the window of his cell and decamped. Being 
 quickly captured, he was arraigned before the Holy 
 Office of the Inquisition, and condemned to be burnt 
 as a heretic. Perhaps he deserved punishment for 
 his unguarded language, but he paid dearly indeed 
 as a reformer of gay women's fashions and gross 
 parsons' passions !
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 189 
 
 The years 1427 and 1428 saw France plunged in 
 warfare. King Charles shook himself, metaphori- 
 cally, and registered a vow that he would drive out 
 every " desecrating English dog." He bestirred him- 
 self, and led forlorn hopes here and there, only to 
 meet with disaster ; and then he gave way to despair, 
 and declared that he would do no more for France or 
 for himself. Queen Marie, with true Anjou-Aragon 
 grit, chided him with his faint-heartedness, and one 
 day she surprised him greatly by appearing in a full 
 suit of armour and armed, and declared that " If you, 
 Charles of France, will not lead your troops, I will !" 
 Her example was contagious, for within a week scores 
 of loyal, devoted women assumed mail and stood for 
 the weal or woe of France. These heroic doings 
 were noised abroad, and possibly they had effect in a 
 very unexpected quarter, for in 1429 another heroine 
 appeared in armour from the eastern frontier of 
 France, and made good woman's claim to military 
 prowess. Thus quaintly wrote Monstrelet of her : 
 
 "In the course of this year (1429) a young girl 
 called Jehanne, about twenty years of age, and 
 dressed like a man, came to Charles, King of France, 
 at Chinon. She was born in the village of Droimy, 
 on the borders of Burgundy and Lorraine, not far 
 from Vaucouleurs. She had been for some time an 
 ostler and chambermaid at an inn, and had shown 
 much courage in riding horses to water and in other 
 feats unusual for young women to do. She called her- 
 self a ' Maiden inspired by the Divine Grace/ and said 
 that she was sent to restore Charles to his kingdom." 
 
 Very little has been recorded of what Queen Marie 
 felt and said concerning that strange visitor. Nobody 
 in all that recklessly gay Court at Chinon viewed the
 
 190 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 coming of the maid of Domremy more eagerly or 
 more hopefully than did she. She had failed to 
 rouse the King to strike a new blow for his throne, it 
 is true, but she anxiously prayed that this heaven- 
 sent village girl might be the means of doing so. 
 The Queen gave La Pucelle a most sympathetic 
 welcome. The mysteries of devotion and the dictates 
 of religion had in her a very reverent disciple. Apart- 
 ments were prepared for Jeanne's reception quite near 
 her own boudoir and private oratory, and its priest 
 was placed at her disposal. 
 
 If Jeanne was dumbfounded at the spectacle of a 
 King wholly apathetic to the duties of his high station, 
 and of a Court abandoned, in the midst of dire 
 disaster, to all the frivolities of the idle and the disso- 
 lute, she had at least one solace. The beautiful and 
 serious face of the young Queen was to her a comfort 
 and a stay. Looking from one bedizened beauty to 
 another in that fatuous assembly, her eyes fastened 
 themselves upon the one figure that was dissimilar to 
 the rest, the figure of a good woman, the daughter 
 of the good Queen Yolande. She looked to her like 
 what she conceived of her own saintly Margaret, of 
 the Bois de Chenus. Marie received her unsophisti- 
 cated visitor with emotion. She entered fully into 
 her story, and conversed daily with her in private 
 about herself, her home, her mission, and her 
 " voices," and thus she gained the girl's confidence 
 and her love. If Jeanne had conceived profound 
 veneration for Queen Yolande, she even called her 
 " my St. Catherine," her sentiments towards Queen 
 Marie were those of the most tender affection. Marie, 
 so near her own age, so modest, so simple, and so 
 true, became Jeanne's confidant and loving patroness.
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 191 
 
 To Marie the mere sight of the girl and her frank, 
 girlish ways was quite sufficient, had she sought for 
 proof positive, to dispel from her mind any suspicions 
 which may have been forced upon her about Jeanne's 
 relations with her dear brother, Rene* de Bar. Of 
 course, she knew him far too well to credit any tales 
 of faithlessness or dishonour on his part. He and 
 she had been, till he was carried off to Bar-le-Duc by 
 the good Cardinal Louis de Bar, the very dearest and 
 most intimate of playmates in and out of school. 
 Their intercourse had never ceased ; such never fails 
 between kindred souls, though parted by hemispheres. 
 Rene was a just man still, and a true knight. Jeanne 
 likened him to her own St. Michael. 
 
 All through Jeanne's ordeals, first the open scoffs 
 of the courtiers and servitors at Chinon, then the 
 covert jeers of the divines and busybodies at Poitiers, 
 and lastly the base insinuations of libertines and 
 adventurers, the Queen stood by La Pucelle. 
 Queen Yolande's panel of matrons found Marie's 
 tribute of the utmost value ; she staked her royal 
 prerogative upon the girl's absolute chastity, and the 
 prying, posturing Court bowed to her decision. 
 
 If Queen Yolande clothed the maid in shining 
 armour within the great Hall of Audience of Angers 
 Castle, on the eve of the advance upon Orleans, 
 Queen Marie knelt with her in prayer in the solemn 
 choir of Angers Cathedral from Vespers to Compline. 
 How much of her strength of will and the prompt- 
 ness of her action Jeanne d'Arc gained from the 
 whole-hearted favour of these two good Queens the 
 world may never know, but this much we all can 
 apprehend : that unselfish human sympathy is a more 
 
 mobile force than the uncertainties of Providence. ' 
 
 13
 
 192 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 We can never know why Queen Marie was denied 
 the satisfaction of witnessing and sharing in the 
 coronation of Charles at Reims. She was living 
 quietly at Bourges when the King set off for the 
 metropolitical cathedral under the conduct of La 
 Pucelle and of her brother Rene. She was prepared 
 for the expedition, and her robes of state were ready 
 for the ceremony, when suddenly Charles commanded 
 her to remain where she was, saying that the march 
 was full of dangers and quite impossible for the Queen 
 and her ladies. La Pucelle begged the King to 
 recall his prohibitions, saying that Queen Marie was 
 quite as worthy as was he to receive a crown. The 
 poor Queen put by her finery, perhaps not altogether 
 sorrowfully, and went to reflect awhile at Gien upon 
 the untowardness of human affairs in general and the 
 inconsequences of Charles in particular. Her parting 
 with Jeanne was affecting ; Queen and peasant em- 
 braced each other affectionately and never more 
 they met. 
 
 II. 
 
 After the disastrous battle of Bulgneville, Duchess 
 Isabelle of Lorraine set off to Vienne in Dauphine", a 
 province which ever remained faithful to the royal 
 house of France, where the Court of Charles VII. 
 was established, to claim his aid for her captive 
 husband languishing at Bracon. In her train went 
 her fairest Maid of Honour, Agnes Sorel, just twenty 
 years of age ; she was Mistress of the Robes to the 
 Duchess. She made an immediate impression upon 
 the jejune King, who urged Isabelle to allow her to 
 be transferred to the suite of his consort perhaps by 
 way of quid pro qyo. Queen Marie added her
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 193 
 
 entreaties to the monarch's suit. She had failed 
 completely to rouse her husband ; perhaps she 
 thought Agnes would be more successful. The 
 Duchess would not hear of the arrangement, and the 
 beauteous Maid of Honour was anything but eager to 
 be the creature of so unattractive a master. 
 
 Happier days, however, dawned both for King 
 Rene and for King Charles, and jousts, pageants, and 
 mystery-plays, were in full fling everywhere. At 
 Angers, in particular, everything was gay and merry 
 for the welcome of King Rene to his ancestral home, 
 after his duress at Tour de Bar, and of Queen 
 Isabelle. Agnes Sorel was still attached to her royal 
 mistress, and, although unmarried, she numbered her 
 lovers by the score. 
 
 Agnes Sorel, or Soreau, was born at Fromenteau, 
 on the verge of the forest of Fontainebleau, on 
 May 17, 1409. Her father was the Sieur Jehan 
 Soreau, and her mother Catherine de Maignelais, who 
 were quiet country people and occupied in agricul- 
 tural pursuits. She had a younger sister, Jehanne, to 
 whom she was devoted, and mothered her when Dame 
 Catherine died. Her uncle, Raoul de Maignelais, 
 followed the profession of arms, and made himself a 
 name as a dauntless warrior in the service of King 
 Charles VI. He had an only daughter, Antoinette, 
 born 1420, who, her mother dying when she was 
 very young, was confided to the care of her aunt, 
 Catherine Soreau, and was brought up by her with 
 her own little daughters. Nothing is positively 
 known about Agnes's girlhood, but in 1423 the two 
 cousins entered the service of Isabelle, the Duchess 
 of Bar-Lorraine. Bar-le-Duc, ever since the advent of 
 the famous Countess lolande, had been remarkable for
 
 194 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the number of lovely damsels and comely youths 
 from all parts of France attached to the " Court of 
 Love," under the patronage and maintenance of the 
 Dukes and Duchesses. The young Duchess appears 
 to have taken a particular fancy to fair Agnes, due 
 no doubt to the girl's physical beauty and mental 
 brilliance. Few maidens at that merry Court 
 excelled her in good looks, grace of figure, and 
 distinction of deportment. Bourdigne, the Court 
 chronicler, says " she was the most lovely girl in 
 France." She sang divinely, a natural gift, and 
 danced bewitchingly, and gave promise of a splendid 
 career. She was welcomed at Chinon with delight 
 both by the King and Queen. 
 
 Perhaps one reason why Agnes's presence was so 
 grateful to the taciturn and indolent monarch was 
 that she dressed so superbly, and yet so tastefully. 
 The Queen and her ladies were subject to strict 
 Court sartorial conventions, but the Demoiselle de 
 Fromenteau knew no such restrictions. One day 
 " la Belle des Belles" as everybody called her, 
 appeared as " Cleopatra," another as " Diana," and 
 a third as " Venus," and so on. Her costumes were 
 of the richest and the thinnest. Her abundant 
 beautiful brown hair, too, she dressed not only for 
 the hennin a la mode, bunched over the ears or 
 gathered into a chignon, but d la calotte galonnee : 
 frizzed out, or en simple re'sille in a net, or a tours, 
 thrown round and round her head in massive coils. 
 Agnes was short of stature, but she made up for 
 this by wearing Venetian zilve, or high pattens, 
 beautifully embroidered with silk and pearls. Her 
 decolUtage was never vulgar or immodest, like that 
 of the King's mother, but her well-formed bust was
 
 KING RENK AND HIS COURT 
 From a Miniature by King Rene in his " Breviary." Musee de 1' Arsenal, Paris 
 
 To. face page 194
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 195 
 
 covered lightly by white lace or thinnest gauze. A 
 string of pearls usually embraced her well-shaped 
 throat. One article of clothing was peculiarly her 
 own invention. Whilst the ladies of the Court, and 
 even Queen Marie herself, wore serge chemises, hers 
 were of fine Flemish linen. Very many of her 
 tasteful fancies were taken up by the ladies about 
 her, and Queen Marie herself followed suit by dis- 
 carding the daily use of the hennin and the stiff and 
 heavy fur borders of her kirtle. She, too, had hair 
 as fair as that of Agnes, and she was privately quite 
 as proud of it as was her Dame d'Honneur, for so " la 
 Belle des Belles " had become. 
 
 A pretty story is told of " la Belle des Belles " 
 with respect to the melancholy moods of King 
 Charles. One day Charles was more than usually 
 depressed, and, try how she would, Queen Marie 
 could not cheer him ; so she sent for Agnes, who at 
 once ran to her mistress, and, then entering the 
 King's presence, knelt at his feet and fondled his 
 knees. " Sire," she said, " when I was a very little 
 girl a soothsayer told my mother that I should be 
 the plaything of a King who would be the most 
 valiant in Europe. I thought that your Majesty 
 was such an one, but I find that I am mistaken. 
 Perhaps I ought to have sought the Court of Henry 
 rather than that of Charles !" The King frowned, 
 but the bantering words had struck home, and he 
 raised himself and Agnes, and, kissing her affection- 
 ately, replied : " No, my sweet, you have no need to 
 seek Henry. I am your valiant King !" 
 
 Agnes held Charles under a spell. She was his 
 " Queen of Hearts "; he denied her nothing, her will 
 was his. Her influence was complete, and if the
 
 196 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 poor neglected Queen had thrown upon her frail 
 shoulders the heavy weight of sovereignty, it was 
 fond Agnes's fair hair that wore the light crown of 
 gaiety. Her tact and unselfishness were remarkable ; 
 every domestic squabble and every State imbroglio 
 were quietly and swiftly settled when she joined the 
 fray. Charles could not do enough for his sweet- 
 heart. Besides costly presents of jewellery and 
 clothes, he bestowed upon her the county of Pen- 
 thievre, the lordships of Roquecesiere, Issoudon, and 
 Vernon, with the Castle of Breaute and its great 
 woods of pine-trees. 
 
 Agnes had by Charles four daughters ; the 
 youngest died in infancy, but the rest grew up, like 
 their mother, famed for good looks and attractive 
 manners, and were legitimatized and married well. 
 Catherine de France, the eldest, wedded, in 1464, 
 Jacques de Breze, Comte de Maulevrier, and became 
 the accomplished chatelaine of his splendid castle near 
 Saumur. Alas for the joys of married life ! the 
 Count, himself unfaithful and intolerant, grew 
 suspicious of his wife's conduct, she had attracted 
 the attention of King Rene", among others, accused 
 her of adultery, and stabbed her as she was sallying 
 forth one dark November day, 1477, bent upon an 
 errand of charity. Their son, Louis de Breze, 
 became the husband of the celebrated Diane de 
 Poitiers, in 1572, before her liaison with King 
 Henry II. Marguerite de France married, in 1458, 
 Seigneur Olivier de Coetivi, and died in 1473 ; and 
 Jeanne de France became the wife of Antoine de 
 Benil, Comte de Sancerre, and received from the 
 King, her father, a dot of 40,000 ecus tf'or. 
 
 These three daughters were born and educated as
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 197 
 
 Princesses of the Royal House, in conformity with 
 the existent code of morals. Queen Marie not only 
 made no demur at their status, but, acting upon the 
 advice of good Queen Yolande, her mother, treated 
 them in every respect as she did her own offspring. 
 When Agnes's second daughter was married, the 
 Queen stood by her and gave her rich wedding 
 presents. Certainly she was not subjected to the 
 indignity of sharing hearth and home with her 
 husband's mistress. Dame Agnes Sorel resided at 
 her own Castle de Breaute-sur-Marne, and there she 
 bore him her family. The castle was a bijou resi- 
 dence, a great favourite of Charles, and Agnes 
 made it a habitation of beauty, adorned not alone by 
 her own gracious presence, but by the attendance of 
 a brilliant Court, quite outrivalling that of the modest 
 Queen, and filled her rooms and galleries with the 
 countless beautiful and costly gifts of her former 
 devoted mistress, Duchess Isabelle. 
 
 Agnes's ascendancy over Charles VII. was purely 
 erotic. She exercised no influence whatever upon 
 the affairs of state, or, indeed, upon anything but what 
 ministered to his personal pleasure and amusement. 
 However, she was useful, and indeed invaluable, on 
 more than one occasion of danger and suspicion. 
 Unreservedly devoted to her paramour, she was 
 sensitive of any dereliction of duty and of any 
 appearance of intrigue. To her was solely due the 
 detection of the conspiracy of 1449, which, fomented 
 by the Dauphin, threatened the life of the King. 
 
 Marie inspired the fervent love of her son, Louis 
 the Dauphin, as she did, in truth, the devotion of all 
 her children. When a stripling of fourteen, he 
 championed his mother against his father's mistress ;
 
 198 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and when Agnes made a disparaging remark affect- 
 ing the Queen, the lad immediately boxed her ears, 
 and warned her never to repeat the offence in his 
 hearing ! From that day Louis hated " la Belle des 
 Belles," and never tired of checking her assumptions. 
 He even dared to protest personally before his father 
 against the King's neglect of the Queen and his 
 partiality for her Lady of Honour. Charles on one 
 occasion took his son's strictures seriously to heart, 
 sent for Marie, bewailed his infidelity, and craved her 
 pardon. But the wanton monarch's day of righteous- 
 ness was short, for he very soon forgot his son's 
 vehemence, and went on fondling his favourite. 
 
 " La Belle des Belles " died in childbed on 
 February 18, 1450. Her end was quite unexpected, 
 for she had gone on a visit of pleasure to her cousin, 
 Antoinette de Maignelais, the Baroness of Ville- 
 requier, at the Castle of Mesnil la Belle, near the 
 far-famed Abbey of Jumieges in Normandy. Her 
 husband, Andre de Villerequier, was Chamberlain to 
 Charles VII., who presented her at her bridal, as a 
 wedding gift, the three islands, Oleron, Marennes, 
 and Auvert, at the mouth of the River Charente. 
 Floral games and spectacles were engaging the 
 attention of the merry party assembled at the 
 castle, and Agnes Sorel was the gayest of the gay, 
 but unfortunately, tripping upon the sash of her 
 gown, she fell heavily to the ground. She was 
 carried tenderly to her chamber, and at once her life 
 was despaired of. She had barely time to make her 
 confession, and then, calling to mind the example 
 of St. Mary Magdalene, she called aloud to Heaven 
 for pardon of her sins and for the prayers of those 
 standing by. She heard Mass and received the Last
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 199 
 
 Sacraments, and painfully passed away in her cousin's 
 arms. The distracted Baroness laid the dead head 
 of the lovely Agnes gently upon the pillow, closed 
 the eyes which had spell-bound King Charles and 
 many more besides, and, weeping bitterly, exclaimed : 
 " The good God has taken away my Agnes because 
 He feared she would never lose her beauty." 
 
 King Charles was not with his sweetheart in her 
 death, but he grieved and rocked himself in woe. 
 " Because she was what she was," he sobbed, " for 
 that I mourn." He hastened to Jumieges, and 
 with every mark of sincere affection he assisted in 
 placing his Agnes in her coffin. Her heart he had 
 enclosed in a costly gold vase, which he carried 
 about with him wherever he went, and when he 
 died it was deposited by his command beneath a 
 black marble slab in front of the high-altar of 
 Jumieges, with the simple epitaph : " Agnes Seurelle 
 Dame de Breaute." Fair Agnes's body, still 
 comely in death, was ultimately translated by Charles 
 to Loches, and interred in the basement of the King's 
 Apartments. Her tomb, surmounted by a statue, 
 was erected by her royal lover. Upon a block marble 
 bed reclines a white marble effigy of "la Belle des 
 Belles" evidently sculptured after life. The fascina- 
 ting features with her sweet smile are beautifully 
 chiselled, and the graceful figure lightly covered by 
 a long chemise admirably exhibits her exquisitely- 
 proportioned form. 
 
 Agnes, in a will she made a year before her 
 death, directed that her body should rest at Jumieges, 
 and she bequeathed 1,000 ecus d'or ( = 500) to 
 the monastery for Masses for the rest of her soul. 
 She had for years been a munificent benefactress to
 
 200 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the clergy of the abbey. When Charles had joined 
 his sweetheart in the Paradise of Love, the ungrate- 
 ful monks were desirous of removing Agnes's heart 
 and its memorial tablet, on the score that she had 
 led an immoral life ; but Louis XL, in spite of his 
 fierce hatred of his father's mistress, reproved the 
 religious, and warned them that, if they determined 
 to cast out her remains, they must also divest them- 
 selves of the gifts and legacies of their patroness. 
 " If you," the new King said, " disturb her ashes, I 
 shall expect you to hand over to me the gold ecus." 
 Needless perhaps to say, the worldly-wise Canons 
 kept the money and the heart. 
 
 The death of Agnes Sorel had a terrible effect upon 
 the subsequent life of Charles the King. She and 
 Queen Marie between them had managed to keep 
 him free from amorous imbroglios, but now, with 
 only his wife's protestations to guard him, he gave 
 way to immoderate indulgences, and he, to quote the 
 French, " enlardit sa vie de tenir males femmes en 
 son hostel !" 
 
 III. 
 
 " Everything must be sacrificed for the glory of 
 France !" was no empty, echoing cry in a desert ; it 
 was the pleading and persistent cry of a devoted 
 wife and a patriotic Queen. Into the ears of the 
 King of France and into the ears of everybody who 
 was even in the smallest degree likely to be able 
 to do anything at all for her beloved country, the 
 admirable Queen Marie poured her complaint. She 
 stood for the expulsion of the English invaders of 
 her native soil, and for the composure of the feuds 
 and jealousies of the French Sovereigns and nobles.
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 201 
 
 " God and reason," she went on to exclaim, " are on 
 my side ; rouse you like men and fight !" Surely he 
 is a coward or a simpleton in whose heart a woman's 
 voice and a woman's taunts fail to enkindle en- 
 thusiasm. All France flocked to do homage to the 
 " little Queen of Bourges," to kiss her hand, and to 
 lay their swords at the feet of the King. From 
 Loches to Chinon and Tours, right down the river 
 valley of the Rhone, and throughout Dauphine, that 
 voice went echoing. The new campaign was hers, 
 hers the credit, hers the glory, for great deeds were 
 done that shamed men's apathy. 
 
 Alas ! her enthusiasm found faint response in 
 Charles. A skit of the time denounced him thus : 
 " Nouvelle du Roy nullement ; ne que se il fust a 
 Rom/me one Jherusalemme !" " The King is of no 
 use whatever ; he might as well be at Home or at 
 Jerusalem !" Still, the Queen did not fail for loyal 
 soldiers nor for consummate captains ; first and fore- 
 most was her beloved brother Rene, now King of 
 Sicily- Anjou. 
 
 But now enemies more terrible than the hated 
 English, more insidious than the squabbling Princes, 
 stalked the broad plains of suffering France the 
 three fell sisters, famine, flood, and fever. The price 
 of foodstuffs rose portentously ; wheat, butter, oil, 
 and cheese, were a hundred times dearer than their 
 usual cost. Men grovelled like pigs for offal, and 
 women and children laid themselves down to die 
 just where they were. Queen Marie's tender heart 
 grieved sorely for her people's misery. She sold 
 what jewellery she had left, and pawned her available 
 property to minister to the prevailing want. And 
 then a new terror seized the land the rivers were
 
 202 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 in flood, and what stocks and crops the famine had 
 left were washed away, and beggary stared the 
 nation in the face. The Queen instituted pilgrimages 
 of women to celebrated shrines, and she herself put 
 on the deepest mourning and spent her time in 
 prayer. All seemed to be of no avail to stay the 
 afflicting hand of Heaven, for no sooner were the 
 waters abated than the scourge of fever was let loose 
 on the devoted land of France, and corpses were 
 flung out of echoing doorways and left for chance 
 burial, or to be the prey of scavaging dogs. Had 
 the Day of Judgment dawned ? men asked each other, 
 whilst they promptly covered their mouths against 
 the infection. Delirium would have seized all the 
 remnants of the population had not the intrepid 
 Queen ridden up and down, risking her own precious 
 life and appealing to one and all to be courageous, 
 bear all, and hope for better days. 
 
 Marie had happy days and proud to cancel days 
 of gloom and penury. Toulouse was en fete. ; it was 
 the month of May, 1435, best loved of all the 
 children of Mary ; and she made a stately entry 
 into that ancient, loyal city with the King by her 
 side. Oddly enough, she was mounted on pillion 
 behind her young son, the Dauphin Louis, then a lad 
 of twelve. Her vesture was superb a blue brocaded 
 satin robe, bordered heavily with royal ermine. She 
 was de'colletee, her bosom covered with jewels and 
 chains of gold. Upon her head, rising out of a 
 regal diadem of flashing gems, she wore a chaperon, 
 a hood of fine white cambric shaped like a crescent, 
 raised at the points, and lightly covered with a thin 
 white gauze veil. Her hair was bunched over her 
 ears, and carried in a golden jewelled net. Her feet
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 203 
 
 were shod in white, gold-embroidered kid, and she 
 wore, after her mother's fashion, jewelled white kid 
 gloves. Four Chamberlains, also mounted, held a 
 state canopy of cloth of gold and white plumes over 
 their royal mistress and her white charger. 
 
 A bright day dawned for Queen Marie. It was 
 the Festival of the Forerunner, June 24, 1436, and 
 the ancient and loyal city of Tours was decked for the 
 royal nuptials of the Dauphin. The King and Queen 
 of France with the good Queen Yolande and their 
 suite awaited at the Chateau du Plessis-les-Tours 
 the arrival of the young bridal couple. Louis had 
 gone to meet his bride at Saumur ; he was but a boy 
 of thirteen, small, ill-looking, and not too clever. 
 Princess Margaret, daughter of James I. of Scotland, 
 with a following of Scottish nobles and Maids of 
 Honour, a tall, sprightly girl of twelve, vastly enjoyed 
 her voyage, and clapped her hands delightedly at the 
 flowers and fruits of Anjou. She embraced her little 
 husband-to-be, and took him by the hand as they 
 stepped on board the state barge in waiting at the 
 river quay. 
 
 Among the bevy of fair maidens who welcomed 
 the royal bride was Jehanne de Laval, who was 
 attached to the suite of the Dauphiness. The grand 
 hall of the castle and state-rooms were hung with 
 tapestry and lengths of cloth of gold. There the 
 Sovereigns were seated on a canopied dais, wearing 
 their crowns and robes of state. The little Princess 
 entered the Presence somewhat nervously, still hold- 
 ing the hand of the young Dauphin, and chaperoned 
 by her Scottish Mistress of the Robes. Making a 
 graceful obeisance, Margaret advanced with childlike 
 confidence, and Queen Marie, rising, went to greet
 
 204 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 her young daughter-in-law ; she embraced her 
 tenderly, and introduced her to the King and to 
 Queen Yolande. The courtiers pressed forward to 
 kiss the Princess's hand, and many costly gifts 
 were laid at her feet. Wearied at length with the 
 ceremonies, Queen Marie conducted her interesting 
 visitor to her own apartments, where dinner was 
 served. 
 
 The bells of all the churches in Tours set up merry 
 j anglings at dawn next day, and the cathedral was 
 crowded by a goodly company of wedding guests. 
 The King and the two Queens were seated on their 
 thrones. Charles wore a black velvet doublet and 
 hose, his berretta was of red, and he bore round his 
 neck a decoration sent from the King of Scotland. 
 The Queen was arrayed in crimson velvet and ermine. 
 She wore an abbreviated hennin with a fine lace 
 fall ; her hair was embroidered with gold. The 
 young Prince was in blue and silver, his bride in 
 bridal white. Everybody bore wedding favours 
 Scottish heather and French lilies entwined with 
 white satin ribbons. The Archbishop of Reims per- 
 formed the ceremony, accompanied by a number of 
 Bishops and dignified clergy. 
 
 Margaret at once became a great favourite with 
 the King and Queen. Her Northern vigour and 
 sweet manners were good credentials ; but, unhappily, 
 the young bridegroom from the first took a dislike 
 to his consort. She was never happy when he was 
 present, and her furtive eyes searched in vain for 
 tokens of affection and camaraderie. " There was 
 no one," wrote Philippe de Commines a few years 
 later, " in all the world whom she dreaded more than 
 the Dauphin." Her life was indeed a sad one ;
 
 B B
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 205 
 
 neglected by her husband, misunderstood and dis- 
 esteemed at Court, the poor young Dauphiness passed 
 her time mostly with Queen Marie and in futile 
 regrets for her dear, dear home in Scotland. 
 
 Her death came about most unexpectedly, for she 
 was discovered poisoned, rumour had it by her 
 spouse, in her boudoir at Sarry-le-Chateau, on 
 August 16, 1444, an ill-used wife of no more than 
 twenty years of age. Princess Margaret's fate was 
 as sad as sad could be too young to die. Her last 
 words, the most pathetic ever uttered by an 
 unhappy woman, were addressed to her faithful 
 chaperon : "A curse on life ! don't speak to me 
 about it !" No child, perhaps happily, was born of 
 that ill-starred marriage. 
 
 No one wept more bitterly at this mischance than 
 tender-hearted Queen Marie. She loved her son to 
 distraction, and he loved her as greatly in return ; 
 and she had learned to love Margaret too, but 
 nothing that she could say moved Louis to love, 
 honour, and comfort, his young wife. Calm, crafty, 
 and selfish, like his father, and vindictive, Louis's 
 character may be succinctly stated as he himself 
 wrote it : " The King knows not how to rule who 
 knows not how to dissemble. ... If my cap should 
 know my thoughts, I would burn it !" 
 
 Queen Marie's other son, Charles, Due de Berry, 
 the last of all her surviving children, born December 
 28, 1446, was a Prince of no strength of character. 
 Easily led by others, he became involved in endless 
 imbrooiios. and aided and abetted his elder brother 
 
 O ' 
 
 the Dauphin, in his unfilial conduct towards their 
 father. Created Duke of Guienne and Duke of 
 Normandy in 1469, after the expulsion of the
 
 206 REN6 D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 English, he was a source of constant anxiety and 
 trouble to his mother. The Queen of Sicily- Anjou, 
 Isabel le de Lorraine, his godmother, with King 
 Rene", took the young Prince in hand, but he did 
 not well repay their solicitude. Immoral, dissipated, 
 and in debt, Charles de Berry spent his time in 
 debauches and intrigues ; he was own grandson of 
 Isabeau the Infamous. Among his many mistresses, 
 Derouillee de Montereau, widow of Louis d'Amboise, 
 exercised the greatest influence. She, too, was the 
 cause of his death, for at lunch one day she placed 
 a peach in his wineglass, and she challenged Charles 
 to bite the fruit with her. Her half she swallowed, 
 and she fell dead in a few minutes, whilst her royal 
 paramour lingered in acute suffering for three whole 
 days, and at last succumbed to the poison on May 28, 
 1472. Whether she caused the fruit to be poisoned 
 we know not ; most likely she knew all about it, and 
 only followed in the steps of those whose immorality 
 turns love to hate and sanctity to madness. This 
 was a characteristic of society in the Renaissance, the 
 cloven hoof of the old Adam showing beneath the 
 sumptuous garments of the new man. 
 
 As might very well have been expected at a Court 
 of self-seekers and sycophants, the integrity and un- 
 selfishness of the Queen were goads to slander and 
 aids to hypocrisy. She was assailed on account of 
 her absolute faithfulness to the marriage bond and for 
 her want of personal ambition. Roue's could not 
 understand her ; mondaines would not tolerate her ; 
 the King's favourites and mistresses, not Agnes 
 Sorel, be it said, strove all they could to poison his 
 mind against his consort. The names of many 
 prominent Princes and courtiers were linked scandal-
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 207 
 
 ously with the Queen's. Arthur de Bichemont, son 
 of Duke Jehan VI. of Brittany, the Constable of 
 France ; Pierre de Giac de la Tremouille, Captain of 
 the King's Guards ; Etienne Louvet, President of the 
 Privy Council ; and the Count of Dunois, better 
 known as the " Bastard of Orleans," were all said to 
 have shared the Queen's confidences and her favours. 
 The latter was thrown, indeed, very much with Her 
 Majesty, and ranked among the Princes of the Royal 
 House. Son of the assassinated Duke of Orleans by 
 an unknown mother, the Duchess brought him up 
 along with her own children, and she hoped he would 
 live to avenge his father's death. The " Bastard " 
 was the playmate of the children of King Louis II. 
 of Sicily-Anjou and Queen Yolande, and he and 
 the Princess Marie were much drawn to one 
 another. 
 
 The two young people were one day in the gardens 
 of the Hotel de St. Pol along with the Cointe de 
 Ponthieu, Charles VII., and the Princes and Prin- 
 cesses of Sicily-Anjou, when the Count, wearied of 
 his forced attentions to the Princess Marie, sauntered 
 away by himself. Xaintrailles followed him and 
 remonstrated with him for his coolness to his fiancee. 
 Charles replied that they were not fully betrothed, 
 and that he did not admire and did not love Marie. 
 Xaintrailles told Dunois what the Count had said, and 
 Dunois, with a scornful laugh, exclaimed : " One 
 must be dull and blind indeed not to be smitten by 
 her eyes the most beautiful eyes in the whole world, 
 and quite incapable of seeing the faults of others." 
 Dunois was very much in love with the Princess, and 
 did not conceal his passion, so much so that when he 
 kissed her hand, as he often did, he also lifted the 
 
 14
 
 208 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 hem of her skirt and implanted a kiss there, as a 
 lover's token of humility. 
 
 Dunois contrived tStes-a-tete as often as he could 
 with his sweetheart, as he called Marie d'Anjou. 
 One day, it is said, Charles passed down a sheltered 
 path in the gardens, and his companion pointed out 
 to him a couple love-making in a secluded arbour. 
 They chided him with the feebleness of his suit, and 
 told him it would serve him right if Marie married 
 Dunois. He said he did not care a bit if she did or 
 if she did not. They were all mere children the 
 Count sixteen, Marie fifteen, and Dunois of a like 
 age. The intimacy between the Princess and her 
 lover became embarrassing to the whole Court, but 
 time went on, and developments were awaited by the 
 curious and intriguing. A summer's day came when 
 some ladies of the Court went wandering about 
 searching for shady shelters. Right away from the 
 palace, near a springing fountain, they came upon a 
 crossing in the path, and there in the sandy dust 
 they read, written by a stick or something : 
 
 " Destin qui va m'unir d'une dternelle chaine 
 
 A I'objed de ma haine 
 Cruel destin y arrache de mon cceur 
 Une trop vive ardeur." * 
 
 Puzzling over the meaning of this strange verse, 
 the ladies beheld the Princess hastening to where 
 they stood. With heightened colour she asked them : 
 " What are you doing here ? Why are you not with 
 the Queen of Sicily ?" Then effacing the writing 
 
 * " Fate which would rivet me with a perpetual chain 
 
 To the object of my deep disdain 
 O, cruel fate ! which would snatch from my poor 
 
 worn heart 
 A passion full of ardour on my part."
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 209 
 
 with her foot, she added : "I cannot think why I did 
 not efface those words ; I have committed an indis- 
 cretion. But take note I did not name the unhappy 
 person who wrote them." The romance went on un- 
 checked. Dunois, still under age, very adroitly con- 
 trived to remove the suspicions his conduct had 
 aroused in the mind of Queen Yolande, and Marie 
 took dutifully and silently the maternal reproofs. 
 Then came the death of Charles VI., and Princess 
 Marie was proclaimed Queen of France. With more 
 than a sigh, almost a broken heart, she set herself 
 to play her part as a virtuous woman and as a loyal 
 spouse. Dunois did not renounce his devotion to the 
 Queen, and she never forgot the love she had borne 
 him a Prince the very antithesis of her husband, 
 remarkable for personal beauty and mental accom- 
 plishment, just the sort of man all women love. Daily 
 she poured out her soul before the altar of her private 
 chapel for strength to be true and faithful, and victory 
 was hers ; but it cost her dear. 
 
 " Car en vertuewe souffrance, 
 Au temps du commun desarroy, 
 Elle a nwnstre plus de vaillance 
 Que sage prince on fier roy." * 
 
 This fascinating story of the loves of Count Dunois 
 d'Orleans and Princess Marie d'Anjou was worked up 
 by fanatics into a culpable liaison of the Queen. It 
 grew in vile misrepresentation, and swelled in garbled 
 facts until it became abhorrent in the ears of all 
 decent-minded people. Some of Charles's legitimate 
 
 * " In point of virtuous suffering, 
 At times of deep alarms, 
 She exhibited more daring 
 Than wise prince or king in arms."
 
 210 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 children were said to have been fathered by the 
 Count. The Queen very wisely refrained from 
 making replies to the evil stories, the only sensible 
 way of dealing with them. " Exempt," as wrote 
 Varillas, " not only from the faults of the Court, but 
 still more from suspicion that she had any part 
 therein, she had all the same to suffer from the 
 poison of calumny." On the other hand, Marie 
 suffered in patience the disdain and unfaithfulness of 
 the King, and returned his evil with her good. Her 
 entire life was a scene of sacrifice and an arena of 
 benevolence. 
 
 Marie, in her quiet, unobtrusive way, did very 
 much for the correction of morals in Court and 
 country. Due to her representation, Charles at Toul 
 abolished the obscene Fete des Fous, which was 
 observed through his dominions. It was a scandalous 
 exhibition, an indecent orgy, shared in alike by laity 
 and clergy. The latter chose a local Pope or Bishop, 
 to whom for the time the actual Bishop of the 
 diocese rendered up the attributes of his office. The 
 mock prelate was enthroned in the cathedral, and 
 then a wild scene of profanity was witnessed. Men 
 and women dressed as buffoons, many exposing their 
 nakedness without shame, joined in licentious dances 
 and blasphemous songs, and gorged themselves with 
 roast pork and other coarse viands and intoxicating 
 beverages served upon the altars. In the holy 
 censers were burnt common corks and bits of leather ; 
 the holy-water stoups were used for nameless in- 
 decencies ; and promiscuous prostitution made each 
 sacred edifice a brothel and a Gehenna. 
 
 Early in the year 1457 Ambassadors from Duke 
 Ladislaus of Austria came to France to ask from
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 211 
 
 Charles VII. the hand of his youngest daughter, 
 Madeleine, a girl of fourteen, and dowered with 
 beauty if not with wealth. Passing through Lorraine 
 and Bar, King Rene greeted them, entertained them 
 handsomely, and accompanied them to Tours. The 
 King and Queen of France were at the castle with 
 their three daughters, Jeanne ; Yolande, the wife of 
 Amadeo IX., Duke of Savoy ; and Madeleine, and 
 a numerous and distinguished suite. In the Grand 
 Salle twelve long tables were placed, each seating 
 seven guests. At the first were the two Kings and 
 the Queens with the three Princesses and the Duke 
 of Savoy. The Masters of Ceremonies were the 
 Counts Gaston de Foix, Dunois, and de la Marche, 
 with the Grand Seneschal of France. It was a 
 typical entertainment lavish, long, and laborious. 
 The first course consisted of white hypocras and 
 "rosties" hors d'ceuvres (?) served in crystal vessels. 
 The second course offered grands pdtes de chapons 
 & haute grasse, with boars' tongues, and accompanied 
 by seven kinds of soup all served on plates of silver. 
 The third course presented all kinds of game-birds 
 with venison and boars' heads served on silver dishes. 
 The fourth course was des petites oyseaux on toast 
 and spit, with prunes and salads, set forth on dishes 
 of silver gilt. The fifth course consisted of tarts, 
 orange trifles, candied lemons, and many sorts of 
 sweetmeats, beautifully arranged on plates and stands 
 of coloured jewelled glass. The sixth and last course 
 was hypocras again, but red, served with oublies 
 perhaps macaroons and wafers. 
 
 The wines which accompanied this regal menu, 
 unhappily, are not mentioned by the chronicler, but 
 the name of Tours in connection with delicacies of
 
 REN D' ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the palate has always been a cachet of excellence ; 
 its cuisine and its cellars are still unsurpassed in 
 France. The banquet was accompanied by minstrelsy 
 and masque. King Rene" himself arranged the 
 musical programme ; indeed, he brought with him 
 some of his famous troubadours. After dinner the 
 august company disposed themselves, some to the 
 merry dance, some to the quiet tetes-&-tte, and some 
 to cards then so fashionable and so much beloved 
 by the King and Queen of France. A very famous 
 pack was used, the Queens of the suit being Isabeau 
 for " Hearts," Marie for " Clubs," Agnes Sorel for 
 " Diamonds," and Jeanne d'Arc for " Spades," 
 Kinged respectively by Charles VI., Louis III., 
 Charles VII., and Rene" ; and the Knaves, Xain- 
 trailles, La Hire, Dunois, and Barbazan a quaint 
 conceit ! 
 
 Upon the death of Louis III., his sister, Queen 
 Marie, came in for a considerable fortune renounced, 
 be it said, by that most loving of all brothers, Rene, 
 in her behalf. It was said that the new Duke 
 assigned the whole of his revenues from Anjou to 
 the use of his sister. He settled certain estates upon 
 her which she very quickly and cleverly turned to 
 good account. In person the Queen visited her new 
 properties, dressed plainly in black and without 
 ceremony, inquired into the condition of the labourers 
 and the promise of the harvest, and then, calling to 
 her assistance the well-known financier of Bourges, 
 Jacques Cceur, opened out business relations with 
 England. The vineyards of Anjou at least, those 
 bordering the Loire were among the most fruitful 
 in France. These the Ministers of the Queen 
 exploited, and opened out a very profitable export
 
 MARIE D'ANJOU 213 
 
 trade from the port of La Rochelle. The sweet 
 white vinous brandies of Annis became established 
 favourites of English palates. Anjou cheese, too, 
 was excellent ; it still is made from milk of Anjou 
 cows and goats. CrSme de Blois was famous long 
 before Roquefort, Cantal, or Brie, came into request, 
 and with fresh butter was exported largely to 
 Southampton, much to the profit of Queen Marie's 
 exchequer. 
 
 These homely touches introduce the student of 
 " La Vie Prive'e des Frangais " to a charming hobby 
 of the good Queen Marie her love of animals and 
 birds. In the Comptes de Roy Rene is a letter 
 to the Agents of the Audit; it is dated July 16, 
 1458, and is as follows : 
 
 " By Command of the Queen. 
 
 " WELL-BELOVED AND RIGHT TRUSTY, 
 
 " We have noted that our brother the King 
 of Sicily (Rene) has in his house at Rivetes, of which 
 you, Guillaume Bernart, have the superintendence, 
 some cocks and hens of good strain, and that they 
 are very fine, as we have seen. If you are well 
 disposed, then, the messenger can bring us a cock 
 and a hen, with a broody hen and her chicks. You 
 will see that they are in good condition. Do not be 
 at all fearful of displeasing our royal brother, for we 
 shall make him both pleased and happy. 
 
 " Dearly beloved, may Our Lord protect you. 
 Written at our Castle of Chinon, XVI. day of July, 
 
 1458. 
 
 " MARIE." 
 
 King Rene" had a farm at Rivetes, and from an 
 inventory dated November 12, 1458, we learn that
 
 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 he had " 69 che's d'animaille (heads of stock), 
 1 jument (mare), 1 poulain (colt), 42 che's de pour- 
 ceaux (pigs), and much poultry." Rivetes, with its 
 forest of chestnuts, was situated between the rivers 
 Loire and Anthion, at no great distance from Angers. 
 Rene had also wild beasts and birds a vast 
 menagerie at Rivetes and Recule'e. His keeper of 
 lions and leopards in 1476 was Benoist Bagonet, 
 and of his eagles and peacocks, Vissuel Gosmes. He 
 had also at Reculee a Court fool, Triboullet. They 
 were all very pleasant fellows, and helped to amuse 
 the King and Queen and their guests. 
 
 King Charles VII. died at his favourite castle of 
 Mehun-sur-Yevre, July 22, 1461. He had suffered 
 for a considerable time from an incurable ulcer in his 
 mouth, which denied him the pleasure and necessity 
 of eating. In his last illness Marie was at Chinon ; 
 he cried piteously for her to come to him: "Marie, 
 ma Marie!" She hastened to Mehun, and was in 
 time to hold his hand and moisten his heated brow, 
 and quietly he died in her arms the arms of the 
 truest of wives and noblest of queens. Charles was 
 buried in the royal vaults at St. Denis, and 
 Louis XL, his son, reigned in his stead. Devoted 
 to his mother, her widowhood was lightened by his 
 affectionate regard. His father's death made no 
 difference in her royal state ; the King placed his 
 mother before his wife Charlotte of Savoy. 
 
 Queen Marie bore her consort twelve children ; 
 six died in infancy. Her two sons were Louis and 
 Charles ; her daughters, who survived, Catherine, 
 Jeanne, Yolande, and Madeleine. She survived 
 Charles but two short years. Enguerrand de 
 Monstrelet speaks thus of her death, which occurred
 
 MARIE D n ANJOU 215 
 
 near Poitiers, November 23, 1463: "There passed 
 away from this world Marie of Anjou and France. 
 . . . She bore all through her life the character of a 
 good and devout woman, ever generous and patient." 
 Her death was not unexpected, for through trouble, 
 sorrow, and fasting, her frame had become emaciated 
 and her pulse beat slow ; she died actually from 
 prostration. Her end was very peaceful in the 
 silent cloisters of the Abbey of Chastilliers in Poitou. 
 She had but just returned from a pilgrimage to 
 the Gallician shrine of Santiago da Compostella. 
 Her body was embalmed and translated in solemn 
 guise to St. Denis, and laid beside that of her 
 husband. Her devotion to him had not ceased at 
 his death, for she had endowed twelve altars in the 
 chief cities of France proper for the offering of 
 Masses for the repose of his soul. Every month she 
 made the practice of visiting the royal tomb at St. 
 Denis to hear Mass and pray for him. At Bourges, 
 of sad and chastened memory, the widowed Queen 
 founded in honour of her consort three considerable 
 benevolent institutions a hospital for the sick poor, 
 a refuge for poor pilgrims, and an orphanage for 
 illegitimate children. 
 
 Queen Marie's transparent faithfulness and absolute 
 unselfishness is outlined in a famous saying of hers 
 with respect to her relations with King Charles : 
 " He is my lord and master ; he has entire power 
 over all my actions, and I have none over his." Her 
 whole-hearted devotion and her heroic courage have 
 raised Marie d' Anjou far above the ordinary level of 
 her sex, and have elevated her to the very highest 
 throne among the Queens of France.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI " SI COMME A REGINA 
 
 GIOVANNA !" 
 
 I. 
 
 " LIKE Queen Giovanna " was, alas ! a common saying 
 in the Two Sicilies what time Giovanna II. was Queen 
 of Naples. A term of immeasurable reprobation, it 
 implied the stripping of the woman of every shred of 
 moral character, the baring of the Queen of every 
 claim to honour. If Isabeau of Bavaria was the 
 worst Queen-consort, then Giovanna II. was the 
 worst Queen-regnant, perhaps, the world has ever 
 seen. Her story needs telling truthfully with care. 
 
 Giovanna II., Queen of Naples, was the only sur- 
 viving daughter of Charles III., " Carlo della 
 Pace" King of Naples and Count of Provence. Her 
 mother was Margaret, daughter of her great-uncle 
 Charles, Duke of Durazzo ; hence her parents were 
 cousins, and were both in the direct line of succession 
 from Charles I., Count of Anjou, the fourth son of 
 King Louis IX., St. Louis of France, who had 
 married Beatrix, Countess of Provence in her own 
 right. Giovanna had seven brothers and sisters, all 
 of whom died in infancy except Ladislaus, born in 
 1376 ; she was his senior by five years, having first 
 
 seen the light of day on April 27, 1371. 
 
 216
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI AS THE VIRGIN MARY 
 
 From a Painting by Antonio Solario (" Lo'Zingaro "). (Circa 1420.) 
 National Museum, Naples 
 
 face page 216
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 217 
 
 The Queen's father's predecessor as occupant of 
 the throne of Naples had been his second cousin, 
 Giovanna I., the eldest surviving grandchild of King 
 Robert, " Roberto il Buono e Saggio" She died 
 childless in 1382, although twice married, first to 
 Andrew, King of Hungary, and secondly to Lodovico, 
 Prince of Taranto. By her will she purposely passed 
 over the Princes of the Durazzo family, and named as 
 her successor Louis II. d'Anjou, King of Sicily and 
 Jerusalem and Count of Provence. The Queen's 
 first marriage was celebrated September 24, 1333, 
 when she was only seven years old, her boy-husband 
 being fifteen. The Pope created Prince Andrew 
 King of Naples six years later, upon his succession to 
 the throne of Hungary. Without the slightest com- 
 punction, Charles, son of Lodovico, Count of Gravina, 
 seized his cousin's empty throne, and maintained him- 
 self thereupon for five years, his little daughter Gio- 
 vanna being just ten years of age. The death of 
 Queen Giovanna I. was due to the instigation of 
 Charles. He entered Naples at the head of a strong 
 force of cavalry, seized the palace, and took the 
 Queen prisoner. She was conducted to the Castle of 
 Muro, overlooking the road from Naples to Melfi, 
 and there, with her lover, Otto of Brunswick, suffo- 
 cated under a feather bed by two Hungarian soldiers. 
 This outrage was committed in revenge for the death 
 of King Andrew, which was ordered by Giovanna I., 
 his consort. 
 
 Charles III., King of Naples, died in 1386, leaving 
 to his son Ladislaus the royal succession, with his 
 widow, Queen Margaret, as Regent. They with the 
 Princess Giovanna, sixteen years of age, were fugitives 
 from castle to castle, pursued by the troops of Louis
 
 218 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 d'Anjou. Nevertheless, Margaret was an astute 
 mother, for when Ladislaus was eighteen years old 
 she espoused him to Constance, daughter of the Count 
 of Clermont in Sicily, a very wealthy heiress. What 
 matrimonial projects were hatched or addled on behalf 
 of Princess Giovanna during her father's lifetime we 
 know not, but almost the first matter taken in hand 
 by King Ladislaus was an advantageous marriage for 
 his sister. This was a very complicated business. 
 First of all, neither he nor she cared very much for 
 matrimony ; he was a libertine, and she shared his 
 freedom and his depravity. Next, each suitor for the 
 hand of Giovanna retired disgusted by the loose 
 morals of the Neapolitan Court and by the avarice of 
 the King and his sister. However, at length a match 
 was arranged between the Princess and Prince 
 William, son of Leopold III., Duke of Austria. The 
 actual nuptials, however, were postponed for one 
 reason or another until 1403, when Giovanna had 
 reached the considerable age of thirty- two. The 
 princely couple went off to Austria, where they 
 remained more or less unhappy until 1406, when the 
 Prince died suddenly and suspiciously, many said by 
 the hand or direction of his ill-conditioned wife. 
 
 The widow returned at once to Naples to fill the 
 place of honour vacated by her brother's wife, his 
 second consort, Maria di Lusignan. Queen Constance 
 he had divorced in 1391, and married the daughter 
 of the King of Cyprus the same year. The ostensible 
 reason for rejecting Constance was the failure of her 
 father to pay her dowry. She was a lovely girl and 
 virtuous, a rare quality at that time, and became 
 the idol of the Court. Queen Maria had scarcely 
 been seated on the throne, when she also fell from her
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 219 
 
 high station. Ladislaus said she was delicate and in 
 consumption, and no wife for him. One day, when 
 she and the King were assisting at Mass in the 
 cathedral, she heard with the utmost astonishment 
 and dismay the Archbishop read a Bull of Pope 
 Boniface IX. annulling her marriage with Ladislaus. 
 At the conclusion of the citation the prelate advanced 
 to the Queen's throne and demanded her wedding- 
 ring. Too stupefied to resist, the pledge of her 
 married state was torn from her finger, and she was 
 carried away to a remote convent under the care of 
 two aged nuns. Three years after this outrage the 
 King relented of his cruelty, and married her to one 
 Andrea di Capua, one of his favourites. He took a 
 third wife in 1406, Marie d'Enghien, the widow of 
 Raimondo d'Orsini, some six months after the return 
 of his sister from Austria. She is said to have sur- 
 vived Ladislaus. Some letters of hers are preserved 
 at Conversano, near Bari, in the Benedictine convent. 
 
 The advance of Louis d'Anjou upon the capital 
 roused Ladislaus to action, and he hastily gathered 
 together an undisciplined army, and set forth to 
 withstand his rival to the throne. A decisive battle 
 was fought at Rocca Secca, May 19, 1411, wherein 
 Ladislaus's troops were routed, but Louis failed to 
 follow up his advantage, and Ladislaus retained his 
 throne and continued his debauches. 
 
 Early in 1412 Queen Margaret, mother of the 
 King and of Giovanna, died somewhat suddenly. 
 She and her entourage had taken refuge from a 
 visitation of plague, which spared neither prince nor 
 peasant, at her villa at Acquamela, six miles from 
 Salerno. She was buried privately in the Cathedral 
 of Salerno, in the crypt over against the marble
 
 220 REN:6 D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 sarcophagus which contained the ashes of St. 
 Matthew. Whatever influence she may have exerted 
 during the youth of her son and daughter for their 
 good was speedily dissipated, and as soon as Ladislaus 
 had obtained the crown he took steps to circum- 
 scribe the liberty of his mother. She appealed to 
 her daughter Giovanna for sympathy, but found 
 none, and the poor old Queen, who had survived her 
 consort, Charles, for six -and -twenty years, was 
 consigned to the Convent of the Annunciation, " so 
 as to be out of the way of mischief," as her daughter 
 phrased it. The natural role of mother was entirely 
 out of place in a palace or at a Court ruled by a 
 libertine and a prostitute. 
 
 Ladislaus died sadly and alone. His unnatural 
 sister refused to be with him, and all his butterfly 
 courtesans gave to themselves wing when sickness 
 and death entered the royal palace. He died 
 August 6, 1414, leaving no lawful offspring by his 
 three wives, but a numerous family of natural children. 
 No Salic Law governed the succession to the throne 
 in the kingdom of Naples, consequently Giovanna 
 became Queen. 
 
 The widowed Queen Giovanna had not married 
 again, although she counted lovers by the score ; 
 but within a few months of her accession she took 
 steps to ally herself with a Prince who should be 
 the handsomest and wittiest of the time. This 
 determination of Giovanna was noised abroad all over 
 the capitals and Courts of Europe, and forthwith a 
 troop of eligible suitors passed through the ports 
 of Marseilles and Genoa, each bent on taking the 
 ribald Queen at her word. The romance reads like 
 a fairy tale, for each princeling and prince was put
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 
 
 through his paces to show his qualifications in person 
 and in purse ; for, desperately wicked as she was, the 
 Queen had a commercial sense, and her exchequer 
 stood sorely in need of replenishment. Taken for all 
 in all, Juan d'Arragona, son of King Ferdinand, was 
 the champion of physical beauty, knightly courtesy, 
 and financial competence ; but he was no more than 
 a precocious lad of seventeen, whilst the Queen was 
 forty-five. A matrimonial union was ruled to be 
 impossible, and the pride of Aragon would not suffer 
 a scion of her royal house to become the plaything 
 of a lewd Queen. 
 
 Giovanna very unwillingly transferred her affec- 
 tions to an older suitor, the champion, if we may 
 so write, of the heavy weights, Jacques de Bourbon, 
 Comte de la Marche, of the Royal House of France, 
 and their nuptials were celebrated in the Cathedral 
 of Naples on August 10, 1415. He very soon 
 discovered that, strong man as he was, he had a 
 wily woman to contend with. He began to assert 
 his marital rights, and required Giovanna to accord 
 him equal honours with herself; at the same time he 
 utterly failed in the reformation of the conduct of 
 his wife. She served herself upon him as she willed, 
 but she mostly willed to serve him not at all, and 
 to transfer her favours, as before their marriage, 
 indiscriminately to whilom paramours. Like a lion 
 wounded in his den, Roy Jacques, for so he called 
 himself, struck out at his supplanters, and, with his 
 past-master knowledge of the rapier and its uses, he 
 pricked to death not one but many lovers of the 
 Queen. The Neapolitans were man for man with 
 Giovanna, and indignant with her consort. Strange 
 to say, perhaps, for us who read the story of the
 
 222 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 time, evil royal communications had wholly corrupted 
 the morals and the manners of all classes in the 
 realm. 
 
 Incited by toadies and sycophants, G-iovanna at 
 last took the upper hand against her spouse, and on 
 September 13, 1416, little more than a year after 
 their marriage, she ordered his imprisonment in 
 the Castella dell' Ovo, a fortress of such strength that 
 Froissart said : " None but the devil can take it !" 
 Thence, however, he escaped, but with a price upon 
 his head, fixed by his inconstant mistress, and 
 took up his residence at Besanqon, with the white 
 cord of St. Francis d'Assisi round his loins. There 
 he died, having renounced the world, the flesh, and 
 the devil, a wiser and a disillusioned man, in 1 436. 
 
 Giovanna, released from the bonds of matrimony, 
 greatly to her relief, gave herself unreservedly into 
 the arms of every man dare-devil enough to risk the 
 consequences. Of these, perhaps the first whose 
 name and maldoings chroniclers have preserved was 
 Pandolfo Alopo, a base-born athlete, a very hand- 
 some follow, and a seductive guitarist to boot. He 
 responded to his royal mistress's amours, and she 
 appointed him Seneschal of the kingdom, with 
 authority to use her signet-ring. Very soon, mentally 
 and morally undisciplined as he was, he exceeded the 
 length of Giovanna's tether, by exciting her jealousy 
 with respect to her Maids of Honour. Short was his 
 shrift. Seized, bound, and tortured with nameless 
 indignity and cruelty, his mutilated body was cast 
 into the sea off the fair island of Nisida, where the 
 vicious vixen held orgies equal in atrocity and 
 bestiality to those of Tiberius in Capri. 
 
 Sforza da Colignola stepped gaily in the bloody
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 
 
 footmarks of Alopo. He was the chief of the 
 Queen's pages, and had been reared under her eye 
 and at her will ; he had, moreover, a fell influence 
 over his mistress, as witness time out of mind, ever 
 since his teens, of her enormities. He, indeed, 
 gained the upper hand of Giovanna, and, being an 
 adept in martial exercises, held his own against all 
 comers. For a time he left the intimate service of 
 the Queen, and became a soldier of fortune, winning 
 laurels and prizes all along his way. Secretly he 
 sympathized with the claims of the House of Anjou, 
 judging shrewdly enough that under the white lilies 
 of Louis he would have a better hold upon his 
 position at the Court of Naples than he would under 
 the red bars of Alfonso of Aragon. 
 
 Giovanna felt the thraldom of Sforza's strength of 
 character and his knowledge of her past, and because 
 no one seemed willing to take her at her word, and 
 rid her of his presence, she turned herself about and 
 fixed her confidence on Sergianni Caracciolo. Upon 
 him she showered riches and honours, but in return 
 he made himself her master. 
 
 The Queen's choice of favourites was not, however, 
 confined to men of merit or of high degree. Every 
 good-looking youth or well-favoured man upon whom 
 her eyes chanced to rest was enrolled in her house- 
 hold. She frequented athletic meetings incognita to 
 view the personal qualifications of vigorous youths, 
 and spent her evenings in surreptitious visits to her 
 stables and her kennels. The men of her choice 
 were offered no alternative, but when the guilty 
 intercourse was consummated the lucky-luckless 
 companion of her couch was expected to commit 
 
 suicide or for ever leave his home on pain of 
 
 15
 
 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 imprisonment and torture if he tarried four-and- 
 twenty hours. 
 
 Perhaps no figure of a man fascinated Queen 
 Giovanna more completely than did the handsome 
 person of Bartolommeo Collcone of Bergamo. His 
 family had become impoverished by the bitter feuds of 
 the Guelphs and Ghibellines, so at eighteen the young 
 lad bid his parents farewell and started off to win his 
 way in military adventures. He travelled south to 
 Naples, and at twenty was as lusty and as strong 
 as any man he met. Of a strict habit of body, he 
 performed feats none others dared. Giovanna sent 
 for the good-looking stranger, and pittied him against 
 the ablest youths of Naples. In leaping, running, 
 and casting of heavy weights, no one could snrpass 
 him. Instantly the Queen fell in love with him, and 
 appointed him her esquire, with ready access to her 
 boudoir, where she denied him nothing. His final 
 reward was the cloister of St. Francis d'Assisi, 
 which became his prison, and his mouth was sealed. 
 How he escaped torture no one has recorded. 
 
 It would be long, and certainly distasteful, to give 
 a full list of all those who shared the vampire caresses 
 of the peccant Queen ; but brief is her story of how 
 Giovanna destroyed the fair fame of her house and 
 the honour of her country. Of her it was written : 
 " Ultima Durazzajiet destructio regnum " (" The last 
 Durazzo shall destroy the kingdom "). 
 
 II. 
 
 Whilst Giovanna was thus prostituting herself and 
 her kingdom, and Alfonso of Aragon was biding his 
 time, a movement was on foot in Anjou and Provence,
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 225 
 
 under the strong hand of Queen Yolande, to win back 
 the rights her husband had abandoned to the succes- 
 sion of the Neapolitan crown. Her eldest son, a 
 boy not yet out of school, should place that crown 
 once more upon the head of an Angevine Sovereign 
 or perish in the attempt. Men and arms and allies 
 were all requisitioned, and elaborate preparations were 
 made at Marseilles and Genoa for the embarkation of 
 the " army of Naples." 
 
 The expedition of Louis III. to Naples was hurried 
 forward in consequence of the breach between Queen 
 Giovanna and the nobles of Naples. Her disregard 
 of their allegiance, and her appointment to all the 
 more important posts under the Crown of men of 
 obscure origin who had commended themselves to her 
 by their physical charms and coarse obscenities, caused 
 a disruption in the political economy of the kingdom. 
 The Queen was deaf to the expostulations of her 
 Barons, and ordered them severally to their estates, 
 where, fuming with indignation, they armed their 
 retainers and stood ready for any emergency. The 
 arrogance of King Alfonso drove many would-be 
 adherents into the camp of his Angevine rival, and 
 an influential deputation of aggrieved dignitaries made 
 its way to Marseilles to tender to Yolande, the Queen 
 of Sicily and the mother of Anjou, their homage, and 
 to assure her of their cordial support for the youthful 
 King if only she would permit him to show himself at 
 the head of an overawing force before the capital. 
 
 There is a romantic story concerning King Louis's 
 journey to Naples told by Jehan Charantais, esquire 
 to the King, in a letter to Queen Yolande. The 
 fleet of Genoese and Proven9al galleons was driven by 
 adverse winds, it is related, and sought refuge under
 
 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the high cliffs of Sicily. Whilst weather-bound, the 
 young Prince landed with a company of knights in 
 search of adventures. As they came ashore a number 
 of girls greeted them with showers of roses, and tossed 
 them handfuls of kisses. One, more daring than the 
 rest, ran up to the youthful Sovereign, wholly ignorant 
 of his identity, and gave him a nosegay of crimson 
 blooms tied with a lovers' knot of blue ribbon. 
 Accepting the good-omened offering, Louis loosened 
 his surcoat to insert the fragrant spray, when his 
 kingly medallion fell out at the foot of the damsel. 
 She at once picked it up and ran away, laughing 
 provokingly. The Prince followed her, caught her, 
 recovered his badge of sovereignty, and gave his 
 captive in exchange a sounding kiss. But Leonora, 
 such was her name, had discovered who he was. 
 
 That same day a missive was brought aboard the 
 flagship by a Sicilian fisherman. It was in Leonora's 
 handwriting, and bore her signature. She told him 
 she was about to be sent to Naples by her parents as 
 a Maid of Honour to the Queen. She had very 
 much disliked the idea, and had refused to go, because 
 Giovanna was the daughter of a usurper, as was 
 reported, and because she bore so evil a character. 
 " Now," she added, " that I have seen and spoken to 
 my King, and have received his embraces, I am ready 
 to go at all hazards and do my utmost in his cause." 
 
 Louis dillydallied with his Sicilian mermaid, and 
 their loves continued for wellnigh a fortnight before 
 his fleet was ready to put to sea again. Fair Leonora, 
 too, took her departure, saying, as she bid adieu to 
 her lover : " We shall meet, dear Prince, again in the 
 Queen's boudoir." 
 
 Louis III., a well-grown lad of seventeen, and as
 
 
 KING RENE RECEIVING THE HOMAGE OF A VASSAL, 1469 
 From a Miniature, MS. Fifteenth Century. National Library, Paris 
 
 To face page 226
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 227 
 
 manly as he was fit mentally, arrived off the city of 
 Naples on August 15, 1420, to maintain his right to 
 the throne more bravely and more successfully than 
 either his father or his grandfather had done. He 
 had just fallen in with the fleet of the King of 
 Aragon, but in defeating his hereditary enemy his 
 own flotilla was so greatly worsted that he was unable 
 to take the city by storm. He landed, however, and 
 betook himself to Aversa to present his homage to 
 Queen Giovanna. Shocked by her lustful overtures, 
 he departed precipitately to Rome, and there bided 
 his time. The Queen's failure to seduce the young 
 Sovereign threw her once more into the arms of 
 King Alfonso, whom she formally proclaimed her heir 
 on September 24 the same year. Three years 
 passed whilst the adherents of the House of Anjou 
 suffered forfeiture of goods, liberty of person, and 
 many cruel punishments and tortures. 
 
 Alfonso, a natural son of King Ferdinand the Just, 
 King of Aragon and Sicily, was forty years of age, 
 remarkably handsome, talented and capable, ambitious, 
 but generous and devoted to the fair sex. He was, 
 however, entirely unresponsive to the amorous ap- 
 proaches of the Queen. His rejection, his scorn, and 
 his independence of action, roused in Giovanna keen 
 feelings of resentment. She had named him heir to 
 Naples ; she could just as easily disinherit and discard 
 him. On June 24, 1423, good St. John the 
 Baptist's Day, a festival of major obligation in the 
 Church, the Queen caused proclamation to be made 
 at Mass and in the markets that, " owing to the 
 incompetence and pretensions of the King of Aragon, 
 he is thereby disinherited, and is no longer to be 
 recognized as successor to the throne of Naples." A
 
 228 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 plot, indeed, or more correctly plots, were revealed 
 to Giovanna whereby Alfonso was implicated in a 
 conspiracy to seize the Queen's person, imprison her, 
 and ultimately to poison her. On May 22 of the 
 same year he had taken the bold step of arresting 
 Gianni Caracciolo, the Queen's chief favourite. This 
 roused Giovanna to action. She ordered Caracciolo's 
 immediate release, and bade Alfonso quit Naples at 
 once, or remain at his peril. Greatly to her surprise 
 and relief, he took his departure, and left the field 
 open to his youthful rival. 
 
 The Queen's next step was to send to Rome, and 
 invite her " beloved cousin," as she called Louis, to 
 return to her assistance in driving the Aragonese out 
 of Naples, and to accept the succession to her throne. 
 She bade him to have no fear of misunderstandings 
 of the past, but to regard herself as nothing more 
 than a well-intentioned relative. 
 
 Louis, now grown to manhood, with ripened 
 experience of warlike tactics and political strife, and, 
 be it said, of women and their ways, entered Naples 
 in state on April 10, 1424. His arrival in Southern 
 Italy cheered the desponding spirits of the Angevine 
 party and roused their zeal. Adherents flocked to 
 the banner he set up, and men and arms were ready 
 at his beck and call. A very important personage 
 allied himself with the young King - adventurer 
 none other than Sforza, the famous condottiere. 
 He gathered around him a considerable number of 
 distinguished malcontents and disappointed favourites 
 of the Queen, who in no way concealed their inten- 
 tion of revenging the insults she had heaped upon 
 them, as soon as they gained a promising opportunity. 
 News of this determination very soon reached
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 229 
 
 Giovanna's ears, and she shut herself up in her 
 palace with her maidens and her toadies, and declined 
 to receive King Louis or his envoys. At the same 
 time she summoned to her presence Braccio Forte- 
 braccio di Mantova, another 'of her renowned con- 
 dottieri, and Constable of Sicily, the avowed rival and 
 enemy of Sforza, and suffering under a decree of 
 excommunication of Pope Martin V. 
 
 Leonora, immediately in attendance on the Queen, 
 managed very skilfully to convey intelligence of all 
 that passed in Giovanna's secret councils to her royal 
 lover. She told him that, in spite of her recent 
 proclamation, the Queen had sent her favourite 
 Court Seneschal, Gianni Caracciolo, to the King of 
 Aragon to implore him to come and rescue her, and 
 put the coalition to flight. She asked Alfonso to 
 accept the title and estates of Duke of Calabria, as 
 appertaining to the heir-presumptive to the Neapolitan 
 throne. This daring courtier pressed his attentions 
 upon the Queen, demanding not only a share of her 
 bed, but a share of her throne. Leonora told Louis 
 all the ins and outs of this intrigue, and warned him 
 to be on the alert ; for should Caracciolo's presump- 
 tion become known in Naples, there would be a 
 general revolution. Sforza, on his side, was not 
 prepared to allow his rival Hercules an unquestioned 
 victory at Court. He demanded admission to the 
 palace, and an interview with the Queen, before 
 whom he challenged Caracciolo to mortal combat. 
 
 Giovanna was delighted that such redoubtable 
 champions should worst each other on her account. 
 Her vanity was flattered and that is a happy condi- 
 tion for a scheming woman. Undoubtedly she most 
 favoured Caracciolo, but Sforza's fine physique
 
 280 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 appealed to her irresistibly, and she fanned his 
 passion. If Caracciolo was for the moment master 
 of her heart, Sforza was master of her future, and 
 she was happy. One day she invited the rivals to 
 join her in the chase, and she rode between them. 
 She cared little for hunting save as an incentive to 
 amorous relations. Tiring soon of the exercise, 
 she expressed a wish to dismount and saunter in 
 the forest glades, but her mood lead to an extra- 
 ordinary contest. Caracciolo threw himself at once 
 off his mount, and gave the Queen his hand to rid 
 her of her pommel. Sforza, seeing his advantage, 
 pressed his horse against the Queen's and seized her 
 other hand. Each hero pulled his hardest, until 
 Giovanna was compelled to cry aloud for pain ! 
 Then, slipping quietly down, she ordered Sforza to 
 release her. This token of non-preference excited the 
 condottieres passion. "If Caracciolo," he hissed 
 out, " had not been so clumsy, your Majesty would 
 not have been so greatly disarranged !" 
 
 " It is not you," replied the Queen, " that should 
 dare to regulate my conduct, or, for the matter of 
 that, your rival's. Hold your tongue and leave me ; 
 your presence is not grateful just now !" 
 
 " As you will, madam," said Sforza fiercely. 
 " Yes, I will leave you with the favourite of your 
 heart, but you ought to know that you cannot treat 
 thus a man like me !" Then he turned to Caracciolo, 
 and exclaimed in a tone of scornful disdain : " As 
 for you, I advise you to use all your wits and all 
 your resources, for you will stand in need of them !" 
 
 Giovanna was on that day absolutely overcome 
 by her physical passions. She cared for nothing, 
 and the last sight the enraged Sforza had of her was
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI S31 
 
 locked in her lover's arms and reclining on a mossy 
 bed, lost to the world around. The erring Queen 
 speedily came to her senses with respect to the posi- 
 tion Sfoza had taken up ; and when she learnt that 
 he had thrown in his lot for better or for worse with 
 Louis III., under a pretext, she despatched Caracciolo 
 to Rome to claim the Papal reversal of his excom- 
 munication, and to assure the Pope of her filial 
 devotion to the Holy See. Before he departed, 
 Giovanna required him to deliver up his sword as 
 Seneschal of the kingdom, which she promptly offered 
 as a bribe to Sforza. 
 
 Meanwhile Leonora had not been idle. She had 
 spoken to the Queen often and passionately about 
 the comeliness and the gallantry of her hero, con- 
 trasting his buoyant physical excellences with the 
 blaze proportions of Alfonso, not knowing that he 
 had rejected Giovanna's lustful overtures, until 
 she expressed herself desirous of confirming his 
 appointment as her heir. Leonora wrote thus to 
 King Louis : " Come not yet to the palace ; but 
 arm your fleet, and recruit what troops you can. 
 Sforza is loyal, but Caracciolo is your enemy, and he 
 is powerful. Besides him you have to reckon with 
 Braccio and with King Alfonso. You have need 
 of prudence and daring." 
 
 The position of affairs, so far as the Queen was 
 personally concerned, was perilous in the extreme. 
 On one hand, the King of Aragon did not hide his 
 intention of capturing her, and consigning her and 
 her maidens and men to a castle in Catalonia, and 
 then he would be absolute master of the kingdom of 
 Naples. On the other hand, Louis, aided by Sforza, 
 whom she had so grievously outraged, was determined
 
 232 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 to win back his ancestral inheritance, Queen or no 
 Queen, but he in no way threatened her life or 
 liberty. The Queen fled with her Court to the 
 Castle of Capua, and there established herself. Sforza 
 followed her, and, whilst avowedly protecting his 
 Queen, made her his prisoner, and then, with the 
 assistance of the fleet of King Louis, caused Alfonso, 
 who with Braccio was investing the city of Naples, 
 to seek refuge in Castel Nuovo, whence he set sail to 
 Aragon for reinforcements and supplies. 
 
 Leonora, still with the Queen and still devoted 
 to the cause of King Louis, wrote to him again, 
 bidding him adventure himself to Aversa, whither 
 Giovanna retired after the departure of King Alfonso. 
 There Louis found her, and, in spite of advancing 
 years and the disordered life she had led, noted her 
 good looks, her grace of manner and of speech, and her 
 general attractiveness. " Her eyes," wrote Leonora, 
 " flashed wonderfully, and her cheeks reddened pas- 
 sionately directly she beheld again her good-looking 
 young cousin." Giovanna greeted him at the top of 
 the grand staircase of the palace, and addressed him 
 in gushing terms : " The brave deeds you have 
 accomplished, gallant Prince," she said, " have added 
 greatly to your renown. Enter, victorious King, my 
 peaceful abode, take a well-merited repose, and receive 
 from me, your devoted admirer, the homage of a 
 thankful Princess, who is greatly charmed at behold- 
 ing you in full possession of your lawful estate." 
 Extending her hand, she led the young King to the 
 apartments which had been prepared for him. 
 
 Louis, bowing profoundly, deprecated the services 
 which had gained such honours as the Queen had 
 bestowed upon him. " I have achieved success in
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 
 
 your name, Madam, and for your pleasure," he replied. 
 They supped together, and then, bidding all the 
 company and the servants to withdraw, she conversed 
 with her visitor upon every subject that came upper- 
 most in her mind, but eventually laid herself open 
 to receive the supreme pleasure she had in contem- 
 plation. Louis was inflexible, and all her tenderness 
 and affection found no response. At last she said : 
 " I do not know what more I can do. You, Sire, 
 accept gladly the rights your arms have won, but 
 what is more precious still you refuse these arms 
 of mine which are ready to do your will and 
 pleasure." 
 
 Giovanna then lowered her gaze and sat mute, 
 awaiting Louis's reply with palpitating breast. She 
 might very well have hummed the kissing song of 
 Ronsard : 
 
 " On soil d'un baiser sec, ou d'un baiser humide, 
 D'un baiser court, ou d'un baiser qui guide 
 Jjdme dessuz la bouche, et laisse trespasser 
 Le baiseur." * 
 
 " No, madam," at last spoke the young Prince, 
 greatly embarrassed by the Queen's words and 
 looks, " it shall never be said that I seek the means 
 for impairing your royal prerogative ; you shall retain 
 that, I pray, in its entirety so long as Providence 
 sees good to preserve you to your people." Then he 
 politely withdrew from the chamber and sought his 
 own lodging. Again on the morrow the King and 
 Queen dined together privately. Giovanna was 
 dressed superbly in royal robes and wore priceless 
 
 * " Maybe the kiss is cold, maybe it's warm ; 
 A kiss and off, or a kiss that clings, 
 And guides the ardent lover 'neath the lips 
 Till he finds no way to escape."
 
 234 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 jewels, but her manner was strangely marked by 
 languor and vexation. Their conversation was forced 
 and restrained in turn. After the repast they 
 adjourned together to the lovely gardens of the 
 palace, which were brilliantly illuminated and filled 
 with a numerous and festive company. The best 
 musicians of the capital and the most excellent 
 jongleurs of foreign and native fame forgathered 
 to do honour to the royal guest. Dances and flirta- 
 tions were the order of the evening, and among the 
 Queen's maidens was the lovely girl from Sicily, 
 Leonora. Louis saw her immediately, and it was 
 not very long before they were tete-a-tete in a grotto 
 hidden from public gaze. 
 
 The royal romance reached a climax when Louis 
 avowed himself the devoted admirer and lover of the 
 girl. He even proposed a clandestine marriage, but 
 Leonora begged him with tears not to press his suit. 
 She revealed to him the real character of her mistress, 
 and warned him that if Giovanna became conversant 
 with the liaison, then she herself would be done 
 to death, and he, Louis, would probably be assas- 
 sinated. " You may," she said, " refuse to marry 
 the Queen, but she will never pardon you if you 
 marry anybody else." 
 
 Again, the third day of Louis's visit to Aversa, 
 the Queen arranged meals and meetings alone with 
 the Prince, whose morals and whose manhood she 
 was striving so consumedly to seduce. The Queen's 
 eyes had in them not alone the lure of lust, but the 
 flash of passion and the flame of resentment. Louis 
 again excused himself her presence, and, making his 
 way to his tryst with Leonora, heard as he approached 
 the grotto the high-toned voice of Giovanna beat-
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 235 
 
 ing down the frightened protests of his innamorata 
 they were together in the grotto ! The Prince 
 revealed himself, only to meet the scornful invectives 
 of the jealous Queen. She demanded to know the 
 nature of Louis's relations with her serving-maid, 
 and when she had heard the story she turned upon 
 Leonora like a tiger. Louis stepped before the 
 terrified girl, and bade Giovanna abate her fury and 
 not lay hands upon a woman whom he loved. 
 " Leonora has done more than you, madam," he ex- 
 claimed, " to mount me on the throne of Naples, 
 and you shall not cause me to descend there- 
 from !" 
 
 The Queen, at last realizing the manner of man 
 with whom she had to deal, was intimidated by his 
 boldness, and presently she left the grotto. Leonora 
 still refused Louis's proposition, and before the day 
 dawned she had taken her flight from A versa, and 
 was well on her w r ay to Rome, to claim sanctuary. 
 She wrote a farewell letter to her royal lover, which 
 a faithful dependent of her father safely conveyed 
 to Naples. King Louis offered the old man every 
 possible inducement to reveal the hiding-place of his 
 young mistress, but he never broke the seal of secrecy 
 which Leonora placed upon him, and Louis and 
 Leonora never met again. 
 
 Louis managed to evade the embraces and the 
 advances of the Queen. He had been espoused to 
 the Princess Margaret of Savoy, and although he 
 used the liberty of a vigorous and a level-headed 
 young manhood under the silver-feathered aegis of 
 Prince Cupid, he was not forgetful of his troth. 
 Having broken the back of the opposition of Alfonso 
 of Aragon, and being confident of the support of
 
 236 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Genoa and Milan, he lived in comparative comfort 
 and peace ; but he withdrew into Calabria, where he 
 was for a time, at all events, safe from the intrigues 
 of Giovanna. During this interval the young King 
 made repeated visits both to Angers and Chambery, 
 to greet his devoted mother, revive the sweet 
 memories of his boyhood, and to cultivate the love 
 of his fiance'e Margaret, now growing rapidly to 
 womanhood. 
 
 The whole of France was once again in a ferment. 
 The English, driving all before them, captured almost 
 all the possessions of the Crown. Charles VII. was 
 a fugitive, and his consort Marie, Louis's beloved 
 sister, broken-hearted. Rene, his younger brother, 
 was fighting for his own in Bar and Lorraine. With 
 the chivalry and self-sacrifice which distinguished all 
 the children of Louis II. and Yolande, he placed his 
 sword at the disposal of his brother-in-law, and fell 
 into line with the defenders of his native soil. None 
 of the French King's allies held themselves more 
 stoutly, nor were anything like so dependable, as was 
 the young King of Sicily and Naples. His royal 
 person and his coroneted helmet were ever foremost 
 in the battle ; his bravery was inspiring. When 
 matters seemed to be hopeless and the flame of 
 France's honour appeared to be extinguished, the 
 miraculous mission of the Maid of Domremy cheered 
 the hearts of all true patriots. She chose Rene" as her 
 preux chevalier, and her place was at the head of the 
 troops under his orders. Louis III. had another 
 post of danger to fill ; he and his command were 
 told off to keep watchful eyes upon the movements of 
 the Duke of Burgundy. By his excellent strategy 
 he kept the English apart from their allies, and
 
 KING LADISLAUS AND QUEEN GIOVANNA II. 
 
 From a Monument by A. Ciccione. Church of San Giovanni 
 a Carbonara, Naples 
 
 To face page 23t>
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 237 
 
 rendered the co-operation of the Burgundians im- 
 possible. 
 
 The relief of Orleans was followed by the amalga- 
 mation of the two French armies, led so brilliantly 
 by the Angevine royal brothers, and the victorious 
 hosts of France swept Charles and his Court along 
 with them triumphantly to his Sacre at Reims. 
 Released from his duties as coadjutor to the King 
 of France, Louis returned south again, and at Geneva 
 he and Margherita di Savoia were united in the 
 bonds of matrimony. The royal couple left imme- 
 diately for Marseilles, and sailed away to Naples, 
 accompanied by a strong squadron of war-galleys of 
 Venice and Genoa ; for the Venetians, recognizing the 
 courage and the ability of the young King, and 
 desirous of gaining some of the commercial profits 
 of Neapolitan trade, joined their forces to the banner 
 of the Angevine King of Naples. 
 
 Once more in his capital he discovered Queen 
 Giovanna wholly under the influence of Gianni 
 Caracciolo, who had assumed regal attributes, and 
 was personally carrying on an intrigue to supplant 
 his authority. Louis immediately sent for the 
 usurper, asked him about his pretensions, and warned 
 him that if the Queen, as he said, had named him 
 her Lieutenant-General, he (Louis) was his undoubted 
 Sovereign. Caracciolo took the King's assumption 
 of his kingly rights quite nonchalantly, and replied 
 insolently that as long as Giovanna lived he was the 
 mouthpiece of her Government. 
 
 The favourite of the Queen was not a persona 
 grata at her Court. His arrogance and presumption 
 raised up enemies on every side ; in particular, the 
 old nobility looked askance upon a courtier of his low
 
 238 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 origin. Sergianni was by name a Caracciolo, by birth 
 the son of a common woman so it was said. The 
 Queen's Mistress of the Robes was Covella RufFo, 
 Duchess of Sessa, her husband was a pretender to 
 the crown, and she voiced the palace discontent. 
 She boldly demanded of Giovanna the immediate 
 disgrace of her Seneschal, and proclaimed the Court 
 preference for King Louis and his fascinating consort 
 Margherita. The Queen indignantly stood by 
 Caracciolo, and forbade the Duchess to name the 
 matter again. Within ten days, it was August 25, 
 1432, the body of the favourite was picked up by 
 brethren of the Misericordia and given decent burial. 
 In the dead man's heart, plunged up to the hilt, was 
 the jewelled poniard of the Duchess of Sessa ! The 
 incident passed, for the Queen deemed it inexpedient 
 to ask for explanations ; besides, she had become 
 wearied by the obsequiousness of her Minister, and 
 she had other fish to fry ! With rare commercial 
 acumen, she seized all Caracciolo's belongings, most 
 of them he had received from herself, and actually, 
 with feminine inconsequence, shared them with the 
 Duchess ! 
 
 III. 
 
 Whilst Louis was strengthening his position at 
 Naples, Duke Rene of Bar and Lorraine was 
 languishing in the Tour de Bar at Bracon, vanquished 
 at Bulgneville and crushed by the Duke of 
 Burgundy. Louis added his protest against his 
 brother's retention in captivity to that of all the 
 Sovereigns and peers of France, and his appeal was 
 carried by Queen Margherita to her father, the Duke
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 239 
 
 of Savoy, whose influence was great with the Court 
 of Burgundy. Rene's release on parole for a year 
 was largely due to the intercession of his brother. 
 Giovanna expressed a wish to see " my other cousin 
 of Anjou," as she put it, and Louis pressed his 
 brother to bend his steps to Naples and recruit 
 his health and spirits in the sunny, merry South. 
 The Duke's first step, however, was to hurry off to 
 Nancy to fold his heroic wife Isabelle and darling 
 children to his breast ; here, too, to regulate many 
 affairs of State awaiting his decision. To Angers 
 next he boated, to pay his filial homage to his 
 courageous, resourceful mother, Queen Yolande, and 
 to relieve her of some of the worry of government. 
 Rene', too, had much business to do at the Court of 
 King Charles of France, and his loyal, devoted subjects 
 in Provence demanded his presence. So passed nearly 
 the whole of his twelvemonth's grace. 
 
 Giovanna's reception of her " cousin " was affec- 
 tionate in the extreme, and she was warm in her 
 admiration of " another handsome Prince of Anjou." 
 
 Nothing, however, would suit her until Rene became 
 her guest, and as such he went through all the weird 
 experience of his elder brother. It mattered not to the 
 Queen that he was a married man with a loving wife 
 and dear children ; what mattered to her was that he 
 was good-looking, brave, and gallant. To be sure, 
 Rene's serious manner disconcerted her, and his 
 artistic tastes bored her, but under his studious 
 courtesy she tried to believe that he was hiding a 
 lively response to her amorous advances. In the 
 presence of " il galantuomo Re," by which term she 
 always saluted Louis, Giovanna named Ren6 second 
 
 heir to her kingdom, and successor to the title and 
 
 16
 
 240 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 estates of the duchy of Calabria. She carefully 
 refrained from inquiries about Duchess Isabelle ; 
 indeed, she ignored her existence altogether, and in 
 this line of conduct she was quite consistent, for she 
 had declined to receive the young Queen Margherita 
 when Louis entered Naples with her in state. 
 
 Ren, however, was instrumental, whilst under 
 the fascination of Queen Giovanna, in effecting two 
 matters of importance for the kingdom of Naples 
 and its people. She had instructed Giovanni 
 Capistrani, a perfervid son of Rome, and at the same 
 time an admirer of the Queen, whom she had 
 appointed Court Chamberlain, to persecute the Jews 
 and drive them away from Naples ; all such as 
 refused exile he was ordered to put to death. Rene 
 interposed in the interpretation of these decrees, and 
 gained the Queen's consent to allow the persecuted 
 race to remain on two conditions : (1) That they 
 should not exact unjust usury ; and (2) that they 
 should be marked by a yellow cross to differentiate 
 them from the Christian subjects of the Crown. 
 Rene" further suggested to Giovanna that the Church 
 needed her patronage, that she herself would go the 
 way of all flesh, and that some accommodation with 
 Heaven was very desirable. The Queen laughed his 
 counsel to scorn, and badgered him for a crusader 
 and a churchling, but his words went home 
 even to her hardened, sensuous heart. Capistrani's 
 unexpected action, moreover, greatly moved her ; he 
 resigned his Court offices and emoluments, and 
 meekly entered a monastery of St. Francis d'Assisi. 
 
 Duke Ren returned to his prison at Dijon, and 
 King Louis took his bride off to Cosenzn, the capital 
 of Calabria, where a second marriage was celebrated
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 241 
 
 on August 15, 1433, to allay the scruples of preju- 
 diced adherents of the Neapolitan throne. A rumour 
 had been spread, originating, it was said, with the 
 Queen herself, which affirmed that Margherita was 
 not the wife, but the mistress, of the royal Duke ! 
 Eighteen short months of marital bliss were enjoyed 
 by Louis and Margherita, broken, alas ! by a fresh 
 attack by Alfonso in force on Naples. A naval 
 battle off Gaeta, 1434, ended disastrously for the 
 fleet of Aragon. Arrayed against it were the allied 
 forces of Genoa, Venice, Florence, and Milan. 
 Alfonso and his brother Juan were taken prisoners, 
 and carried off to Milan by Duke Filippo Maria. 
 Then a blow fell on the young Queen and upon the 
 whole kingdom of Naples, which made itself felt 
 even in the morbid heart of Queen Giovanna. King 
 Louis caught fever besieging the city of Taranto, 
 and was borne swiftly off to Cosenza, where he 
 died, in his own fond Queen's arms, on November 
 15, 1434. Few Princes have made themselves so 
 universally loved as Louis III. of Sicily and Naples, 
 and never were there so many sad hearts and tearful 
 eyes in the kingdom of Naples as when his beloved 
 body was laid out for burial in the Cathedral of 
 Cosenza. 
 
 Giovanna never again recovered her spirits ; to be 
 sure, she did not renounce her evil ways, but she set 
 about in a hurry to put into execution Duke Renews 
 suggestions. Among belated pious deeds, she rebuilt 
 and refounded the Church of Santa Maria dell' 
 Annunziata by way of penance for her bad life, and 
 there she was buried in front of the high-altar. A 
 simple slab of marble points out, in the absence of 
 a grandiose monument, the place of her sepulture.
 
 242 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 She died February 2, 1435, and no woman wept for 
 her, and no man felt grieved. If it is true that " the 
 evil which men do dies with them," then we must 
 not rake up the tainting memories of an evil past. 
 Giovanna II., Queen of Naples, has passed to her 
 last account, and before Heaven's tribunal will she 
 stand, alongside with the victims of her vampire- 
 love. Faraglia, in his " Storia, della Regina Giovanna, 
 II. d'Angio" makes a brave attempt to whitewash 
 the character of the Queen, and he records many 
 interesting details in her daily life. " Every morn- 
 ing," he says, " she rose with the sun, spent one hour 
 at Mass and private devotions ; then she applied 
 herself to the study of music and literature ; at noon 
 she breakfasted, generally alone, the afternoon she 
 gave to exercise, and before dinner she bathed in a 
 bath supplied with the milk of one hundred asses." 
 Apparently the Queen gave no time to affairs of 
 State, and she had not much leisure for company. 
 Undoubtedly Queen Giovanna was the friend of art 
 and craft, but only so far as their exponents helped 
 to enhance her own attractions and luxuries. Antonio 
 Solario " II Zingaro " was her favourite painter, 
 and, by the oddest of irrational conventions, he has 
 represented her in an altar-piece as the Virgin Mary 
 with the Infant Christ, and surrounded by a court of 
 saints ! 
 
 With what feelings the news of the death of 
 Louis III. at Cosenza was received by Rene in his 
 prison chamber at Tour de Bar we may well imagine. 
 The hold of his house upon the kingdom of Naples 
 was, of course, of the weakest ; and if the late King 
 upon the spot, free to move what troops and stores 
 he had at will, was unable to retain command of
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 243 
 
 Naples, how could a captive Prince away in Burgundy 
 hope to enforce successfully his claim as his brother's 
 heir ? 
 
 In Provence and Anjou and beyond the borders of 
 his dominions, with Bar and Lorraine, and with the 
 sympathy and assistance of friendly Sovereigns and 
 Princes at home and abroad, he had, of course, 
 numberless loyal subjects, friends, and allies, but 
 among them all not one could enthuse his cause as 
 he could himself in person. Three devoted Prin- 
 cesses, Yolande, Isabelle, and Marguerite, were 
 doing all they could to free him from his captivity. 
 Their efforts were in the schools of sympathy and 
 politics, but they could not lead troops or command a 
 victorious army. No doubt Rene was depressed and 
 in despair at the apparent paralysis of all effective 
 assistance. Then came the crushing intelligence that 
 Giovanna, the Queen of Naples, was dead, and that 
 he (Rene") was de facto King. This must have made 
 him desperate. He had no resources, and there 
 appeared no possibility of his obtaining possession of 
 his rights. How he chafed and fumed as he paced 
 his spacious chamber, and how defiantly he must have 
 gazed through its barred windows and at its closed 
 door ! Duke Rene's brain must have reeled. 
 
 Relief, however, came in quite an unexpected sort 
 of way. One morning the bolts of his door were 
 noisily shot back, and upon the threshold he beheld 
 two foreign gentlemen unknown to him. They knelt 
 and kissed his hand ; then they offered him a permit 
 from the Duke of Burgundy, a sealed letter from 
 Duchess (now Queen) Isabelle, and a great official 
 despatch from the lately deceased Queen Giovanna. 
 The two emissaries were devoted adherents to the
 
 244 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 House of Anjou-Provence Baron Charles de Mon- 
 telar and Signore Vidal di Cabarus. They came, as 
 their credentials ordered, directly from the deathbed 
 of the Queen, to tell him from her that, " for the sake 
 of the love I had for King Louis, now, alas ! 
 departed, I chose his noble brother Rene as my 
 heir and successor. Long live King Rene' !" Into 
 his hand the two gentlemen delivered the Sovereign's 
 medallion and its royal chain of gold, and again they 
 did obeisance to their new Sovereign. 
 
 Rend accepted their homage chivalrously, if sorrow- 
 fully, but his eye wandered to the smaller packet held 
 by di Cabarus, for he saw it was addressed to him in 
 his dear wife's handwriting. Tearing open the cover, 
 he read with tears in his eyes the startling news that 
 
 " Even whilst thou, my fond spouse, readest these 
 presents, I, thy loyal wife and royal consort, am 
 setting off at once, well mounted and numerously 
 attended, to Marseilles to take shipping for Naples, 
 there to receive in thy name the homage of the 
 Estates and to assume the government. I am taking 
 with me our second boy, Louis, with Yolande and 
 Marguerite, to show them to thy Neapolitan subjects, 
 but Jean I shall send to thee to comfort thee, by the 
 grace of the Duke of Burgundy. My sweet mother 
 will accompany him to cheer thee and to tell thee of 
 my good estate. Fare thee well, beloved. 
 
 " Your ISABELLE. 
 
 "Ax NANCY, 1434." 
 
 Isabelle had learned promptness and wisdom from 
 her good mother-in-law, Queen Yolande, as well as 
 decision and courage from her father, Duke Charles, 
 and all these royal virtues she exhibited magnificently 
 at this extraordinary juncture. The two Neapolitan
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 245 
 
 envoys had, it appeared, gone direct to Nancy to 
 learn their new Queen's pleasure, and had thus 
 become the bearers of her exhilarating mandate. 
 Rene received the intelligence of the masterful action 
 of his spouse with mixed feelings. He knelt at his 
 prie-dieu, and thanked God and the saints for the 
 noble self-sacrifice of his wife ; then, rising proudly 
 from his knees, he embraced his two visitors, bestowed 
 upon each a ring from his own fingers, and gave them 
 instructions to carry his duty to the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy, praying for his instant release, and then to 
 proceed to Marseilles to convey to Queen Isabelle his 
 blessing and his approval of her splendid enterprise. 
 No sooner was he left to himself once more than he 
 collapsed, weeping like a child and chiding his Maker 
 and his captor in language lurid and forcible. The 
 irony of his position nearly drove him mad. 
 
 Queen Isabelle landed at Naples in due course, 
 and became the object of an extraordinary outburst 
 of enthusiasm. Hailed as Queen, and with King 
 Renews name ever reverberating from loyal lip to 
 loyal lip, she made no mistake, she had no illusions, 
 for she faced the fact at once that there were other 
 claimants for the vacant throne and the uneasy 
 crown. The King of Aragon she knew as a tradi- 
 tional rival, and with him she had to deal most 
 seriously and methodically. He, indeed, directly 
 news of the Queen's death reached him, had seized 
 the Castle of Gaeta, and thence had issued a proc- 
 lamation claiming the vacant throne. The Duke of 
 Sessa, the husband of Queen Giovanna's favourite 
 confidante, Duchess Sancia, claimed the throne as 
 representing, in descent from Robert, Count of 
 Avellino, her second husband, Maria of Calabria-
 
 246 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Durazzo, sister of Queen G-iovanna I. The Prince 
 of Taranto, grand-nephew of Giovanna I.'s third 
 husband and of her sister Maria's third spouse, the 
 Emperor of Constantinople, entered his claims to 
 the whole kingdom. He pretended also that King 
 Louis III., Rent's brother, had before his death at 
 Cosenza made him his heir of all Calabria. From 
 a distant kingdom came still another claimant. 
 The King of Hungary, Andrew, first consort of 
 Giovanna I., had by her a son, it was affirmed, but 
 who it was alleged had died in infancy. This child, 
 it was maintained, was living, now grown to man's 
 estate. The child who died, and was buried as the 
 Queen's son, was the son of a servant in the royal 
 suite, whilst the young Prince was removed from his 
 mother's care and carried off to Hungary, and thus 
 reared. 
 
 Isabelle brushed all these claims aside, save that 
 of Alfonso, who alone of the pretenders to the 
 crown was prepared to take up, as he had done for 
 years, the rights of Aragon in Naples, by force of 
 arms. Everywhere throughout the kingdom the 
 Anjou dynasty was popular ; the country people 
 swore by Louis III., and acclaimed the proclamation 
 of Rene\ The army alone was disaffected, and was 
 corrupted by Spanish gold. The royal treasury at 
 Naples was empty, the pay of the loyal troops was 
 in arrears ; corruption and fraud filled every depart- 
 ment of State. The country gentry and peasantry 
 were ruined ; they had been taxed and supertaxed 
 by the minions of Queen Giovanna II. From Provence 
 and Anjou not much monetary help could be expected, 
 and Lorraine and Bar were impoverished. All France 
 was suffering from the wreck of the Hundred Years'
 
 GUARINI DA VERONA PRESENTING HIS TRANSLATION OF STRABO'S WORK ON 
 GEOGRAPHY TO KING RENE 
 
 From a Miniature by King Rene. Albi Library 
 
 To face page 246
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 247 
 
 War. Rent's ransom required almost every penny 
 Yolande, Isabelle, and Marguerite, could raise by love 
 and threat. What could be done ? 
 
 The new Queen had come to Naples to claim and 
 hold the kingdom for her husband, and she made up 
 her mind that she would try every expedient to that 
 end, cost what it might. To steal and to borrow 
 were not lines of conduct that appealed to her, but 
 she could beg, and beg she did. Upon this circum- 
 stance historians have fastened, and have written 
 more or less eloquently in praise of a dauntless 
 Queen. After making up her mind to this course 
 of action, Isabelle at once put it into operation, and 
 an immense sensation was created in the city when 
 their beautiful and virtuous Queen, clothed simply 
 in native Neapolitan garb, without jewels or marks 
 of royalty, took her place morning by morning 
 outside the palace, in the open square, a macaroni 
 basket in her fair, white, ringless hands, and there 
 pleaded eloquently, in her sweet and musical voice, 
 for contributions for the honour of the King and for 
 the defence of the city. By her side, clad in 
 Neapolitan costumes, were her three little children 
 innocent, fresh, and comely. " It was," wrote a 
 chronicler, "a spectacle to move the heart and soul 
 of a marble statue if such it hath. A Queen of 
 high degree and impeccability humbling herself for 
 her new country's good. Looking upon her and her 
 children, one conjured up the base contrast offered 
 to our outraged nature by the late Queen, of 
 infamous memory." 
 
 Money flowed in fast and full, and the wicker 
 cash-box daily carried almost more weight of copper 
 and silver, and of articles of jewellery, than the fine
 
 248 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 strength of the virago Queen could support. Isabelle 
 set about a thorough overhauling of the resources of 
 the national exchequer. She personally rallied troops, 
 and inspected militarily her recruits ; arrears of pay 
 were forthcoming, and the better-disposed men of 
 affairs she intuitively selected, and thus purged the 
 seats of government. The King of Aragon, amazed 
 at Isabelle's courage and ability, refrained from 
 attacking Naples. " I'll fight with men," he said, 
 " not with a woman !" he exclaimed. " Let us see 
 what she will do." 
 
 The state of Naples in general, and of the Court 
 in particular, was worse than that of any Augean 
 stable. Indeed, of Court, strictly speaking, there was 
 none, for the less disreputable nobles had long ago 
 gone away to their country estates, taking the seeds 
 of corruption with them to sow among their tenantry. 
 The coteries which gathered around the abandoned 
 Queen like eagles round a carcass were split up into 
 murderous, lustful parties, and divided among evil- 
 conditioned brothels. Every man was every woman's 
 prey, and every woman at the mercy of a libertine. 
 The whole city was a colossal orgie, and its inhabi- 
 tants sunk in the slough of unmitigated filth. The 
 turpitude of Pompeii found a parallel in the un- 
 righteousness of Naples. To pull aside the veil which 
 merciful Time has placed over those years of banality 
 and crime would be a sacrilege. 
 
 " Down among the dead men let them lie !" 
 
 Queen Isabelle, aghast, pulled her veil more closely 
 over her fair features, fixed her teeth, and clenched 
 her hands. Giovanna and all her doings were taboo 
 to her, and by the example and precept of a good
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 249 
 
 woman she gradually accomplished what appeared to 
 be a Herculean task she brought the Neapolitans 
 to their senses. Mind, in those rapidly pulsating 
 Southern natures, quickly controls action, and the 
 human animal is not all bad even when so predestined 
 by Providence. Isabelle's administration of the 
 kingdom of Naples during the three years of her 
 sole government was by way of being a moral 
 renascene of humanity, and, when Rene joined his 
 noble consort, the roses which decorated his triumphal 
 entry were richly perfumed by his wife's sweet cul- 
 ture. 
 
 The prisoner of Bracon was set unconditionally 
 free in 1437, and he hurried away to Marseilles, 
 passing through his beloved country of Provence, 
 hailed everywhere and by everyone with ecstatic 
 devotion. At his port of departure for Naples he 
 was met by Queen Yolande. Never was there a 
 more affecting scene : the mother, still bearing 
 traces of her early beauty and grace, bowed down 
 with grief and aged prematurely ; the son grown 
 older than his age under the rigours, mental and 
 physical, of his long imprisonment, but still devoted, 
 grateful, and chivalrous. Yolande had fain pressed 
 Rene" to remain in France and comfort her declining 
 years, for, were they parted, she felt that she never 
 more should fold him to her heart a heart pierced 
 deeply by the premature death of Louis. Yet she 
 played the Spartan mother, not spectacularly but 
 sincerely, and, hushing the sobs of parting, she bravely 
 waved the King of Naples her last farewell. His 
 father and his brother had both traversed the way 
 Rene was taking ; their experience would doubtless 
 be his.
 
 250 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Rene had a great reception at Naples, and his joy 
 was unclouded when he embraced his noble wife and 
 his four young children, with tears coursing down his 
 cheeks. His recognition as Sovereign was celebrated 
 in the cathedral. There he and Isabelle knelt hand 
 in hand in thankful confidence. Not long did the 
 new T King remain in the bosorn of his family. Alfonso 
 broke his parole, and prepared a fresh expedition to 
 attack Naples. Rene went off at once to Rome, 
 Florence, Venice, Genoa, and Milan, to rally help in 
 his emergency. During his captivity the King of 
 Aragon had played the cards so adroitly that he had 
 succeeded in detaching the Duke, his captor, from 
 the triple alliance. Moreover, he gained over to his 
 side Pope Eugenius IV. by promising to make Sicily 
 a fief of the Church. The Aragonese attack failed, 
 though the forces at King Rene's command suffered 
 terribly. 
 
 At this juncture Queen Isabelle and her children, 
 except the heir to the throne, returned to France, 
 much against her will, but obedient to her royal 
 consort's wishes. Jean, Duke of Calabria, now a 
 promising lad of nearly thirteen, remained with his 
 father at the post of danger. Alfonso was by no 
 means discouraged ; he intended to be master of 
 Naples cost him what it might. In 1440 and 1441 
 he made fresh assaults on Naples and other seaports 
 of the Calabrian peninsula. All of these Rene 
 resisted triumphantly, but at Troia, on October 21 
 in the latter year, Alfonso in person defeated Rene's 
 army under the command of Sforza and Sanseverino, 
 and made good his footing in the kingdom of Naples. 
 He further pressed home his attack upon the capital 
 by seizing the island of Ischia, where he compelled
 
 GIOVANNA II. DA NAPOLI 251 
 
 the women, whether married or not, to wed his 
 victorious soldiers. Rene wearied of the contest ; 
 he had been warring for twenty years, and he 
 yearned for repose. The Neapolitans quickly took 
 his measure, and his indecision and slackness of 
 energy disheartened his principal supporters. His 
 troops fell away from him, and when, in May, 1442, 
 the King of Aragon once more summoned the capital 
 to surrender, Rene meekly handed over the keys to 
 his enemy, and made his escape to Marseilles. 
 Alfonso on June 2 entered Naples in triumph, and 
 put an end to the rule of the Angevine Kings. 
 
 Alfonso has been styled "the Magnanimous"; 
 perhaps " the Philosopher " would fit his character 
 better. He was a student of metaphysics and a 
 classicist to boot, and, moreover, he had a ready wit. 
 He hated dancing and frivolity, and once remarked 
 that "a man who danced only differed from a fool 
 because his folly was shorter 1" An ideal domestic 
 menage appeared to him to be "a blind wife and a 
 deaf husband." His treasurer was one day giving 
 out scrip for 20,000 ducats, when an officer 
 standing by exclaimed : " Alack, if I only had that 
 amount I should be a happy man !" " Take it," 
 replied the King ! 
 
 Nevertheless, Alfonso was hated by his new 
 subjects quite as thoroughly as Rene" had been 
 beloved. The war dragged on ; in Calabria the 
 Prince of Taranto raised once more the banner of 
 Anjou, and Giovanni Toreglia, a cousin of Lucrezia 
 d'Alagni, Alfonso's last mistress, seized Ischia for 
 Jean, Duke of Calabria, Rene's eldest son. Rene 
 himself made two more attempts to regain Giovanna's 
 inheritance : in 1458 and 1461 ; but Charles VII.
 
 252 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and Louis XI. each failed him in turn with reinforce- 
 ments. Last of all, Jean, Duke of Calabria, was 
 decisively defeated at Troia in 1462 by Ferdinand I., 
 Alfonso's bastard son, who succeeded to the throne 
 of Naples after his father's death in 1458, a man 
 treacherous and vindictive, and a libertine. " Sic 
 transit gloria mundi " may be written as a footnote 
 to the story of Naples in the fifteenth century.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU "THE MOST INTREPID OP QUEENS " 
 
 I. 
 
 " MARGARET OF ANJOU was the loveliest, the best- 
 educated, and the most fearless Princess in Christen- 
 dom !" High praise indeed, but not more than her 
 due, and universally accorded her by every historian 
 who has undertaken to chronicle her character and 
 career. 
 
 Born at the Castle of Pont-a-Mousson, one of 
 the finest in all Lorraine, and a favourite residence 
 of her father and mother, on March 23, 1429, 
 Margaret was the youngest child of Rene, Duke of 
 Bar, and Isabelle of Lorraine his wife. Her father 
 was far away from his home when this pretty babe 
 first smiled upon her sweet mother. He was escort- 
 ing La Pucelle to Chinon, and leading the troops 
 of Charles VII. to victory. Her mother was 
 Lieutenant-General of the duchies a devoted and 
 heroic spouse. The little girl's cradle was rocked 
 amid the rivalries and hostilities of the Houses of 
 Lorraine and Vaudemont. She was the child of 
 Mars. She was baptized by Henri de Ville, Bishop 
 of Toul, who had just been created, by the Emperor 
 
 Sigismund, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. 
 
 253
 
 254 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 The Bishop was a trusty friend of Duke Rene in 
 shower and shine. 
 
 That ducal nursery, where faithful Theophaine la 
 Magine bore maternal nursing sway, was a merry 
 one ; for Margaret's brothers Jean, Louis, and little 
 Nicholas, twin with her only sister Yolande, were 
 all vigorous youngsters. Then, besides these legiti- 
 mate children, the Castle of Bar-le-Duc sheltered 
 another Jean and Blanche and Madeleine, born to 
 their father out of wedlock. The ducal sepulchre 
 had given rest to two other baby boys, Charles and 
 Rene, own brothers to little Margaret. 
 
 Margaret's experience of the joys and sorrows of 
 the world began at a very early age. Her doting 
 father was a captive away at Dijon under the 
 rigorous hand of the Duke of Burgundy, and Duchess 
 Isabelle was up and about seeking his deliverance. 
 Rene and she had succeeded Charles II. as Duke and 
 Duchess of Lorraine the same year that saw the 
 Tour de Bar receive its distinguished prisoner, and 
 upon Isabelle fell all the complications and difficulties 
 attending the succession. To be sure, she had the 
 very able help of the Dowager Duchess, her own 
 dear mother Marguerite, godmother of her little girl, 
 but the first consideration in her mind was her 
 husband's liberty. Handing over the reins of govern- 
 ment to Duchess Marguerite and the Council of 
 State, Isabelle betook herself to the Court of 
 Charles VII. to claim his assistance and interference. 
 With her she took her two little daughters Yolande, 
 only three years old, and Margaret, but two. Her 
 sons were sent to Burgundy to stand as hostages at 
 the Duke's orders, and little Nicholas remained with 
 his grandmother at Nancy.
 
 MARGUERITE D ANJOTT 
 From a Miniature by King Rene, in " Le Livre des Heures " 
 
 To fact pay* 254
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 255 
 
 At Vienne, where the French Court was at the 
 time, having gone south from Reims and the corona- 
 tion, the King gave his brother-in-law's consort a 
 very hearty greeting, but he hesitated to commit 
 himself to action which might ferment once more 
 evil blood between his people and the Burgundians. 
 Isabelle held by their hands, as she pleaded for her 
 dear husband, her two baby girls, and Charles's 
 indecision was overcome by little Margaret, then a 
 dauntless infant, who ran up to him and insisted 
 upon being nursed upon his knee and kissed. A 
 child's instinctive disingenuousness is affected by 
 magnetic natures regardless of conventions and pro- 
 prieties ; how often and often again is this proved 
 to be axiomatic ! That interview was memorable 
 for the meeting of Charles with a woman to be sure, 
 then a girl who would in after-years affect him and 
 his considerably. Agnes Sorel was in attendance 
 upon the Duchess Isabelle. Charles beheld her for 
 the first time, and her face and figure haunted him 
 for good and ill many a long day. 
 
 Not content with winning over the King of France 
 to intercede for the liberation of her consort, the 
 Duchess returned to Lorraine, and went off at once 
 to Vaude'mont to plead with Count Antoine, the 
 Duke of Burgundy's brother, in the same cause. 
 Vaudemont agreed to assist his kinswoman, but 
 upon one chief condition, among others that she 
 would consent to Yolande, her eldest daughter, being 
 betrothed to his eldest son Ferri. There was, of 
 course, method in this extraordinary proposal, for 
 the child was only three years of age, and it was 
 this : He, the Count, claimed Lorraine, by the Salic 
 
 Law, as first heir male against Isabelle. What- 
 
 17
 
 256 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 ever might eventuate, his son married to Rene's 
 daughter would be an additional lien upon the 
 duchy. This policy also commended itself to 
 Isabelle's prudential mind, and she gave a qualitative 
 consent dependent upon confirmation by Duke Rene 
 later on. The Count added a rider to the stipulation, 
 and that was the committal of the girl to the care 
 of his wife, the Countess, for education and training. 
 This, too, the Duchess accepted, although it cost 
 her sore to part with her dear child. Margaret and 
 Nicholas alone remained to solace her ; but Isabelle 
 was far too strong a character to spend much time 
 in comforting or being comforted. Whilst Rene was 
 in durance vile she could not remain idle ; so off she 
 went, taking Margaret and Nicholas with her, to 
 the Castle of Tarascon, in order to enlist the sym- 
 pathies and services of Rene's devoted Provencals. 
 
 Isabelle's coming into Provence provoked remark- 
 able demonstrations on the part of the warm- 
 hearted and loyal subjects of the county. Trou- 
 badours and glee maidens flocked to the Rhone 
 shore ; they sang, they danced, they ate, they drank, 
 and laid floral offerings and votive crowns at the feet 
 of their Countess and her tender children. Bonfires 
 blazed from shore to shore, and echoes of the rejoic- 
 ings might have been carried by the warm south wind 
 right into the dungeoned ears of their beloved Count. 
 Whilst Duchess Isabelle was in residence at Tarascon 
 negotiations were already on foot for the betrothal 
 of little Margaret. An eligible suitor arrived, the 
 young Pierre de Luxembourg, eldest son of the Count 
 of St. Pol, whose esquire, by a singular coincidence, 
 happened to be the recipient at Bulgneville of 
 Duke Rene's sword. Arrangements for the cere-
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 257 
 
 mony of espousal were, however, rudely interrupted 
 by a serious outbreak of plague, and Isabelle 
 and her children fled to Marseilles, where they 
 remained till Rene joined them, released upon a 
 year's parole. 
 
 When Rene was proclaimed King of Sicily, 
 Naples, and Jerusalem, Duke of Anjou, and Count 
 of Provence, upon the premature death of his elder 
 brother, Louis III., at Cosenza, Isabelle was again 
 at Marseilles, on her way to take possession of her 
 husband's rights in Naples. Such pageants and 
 spectacles at those exhibited in her honour by the 
 exuberant Marseillais that city had never seen. She 
 rode through ranks on ranks of cheering citizens, 
 in a great state chariot covered with crimson and 
 gold, and wearing a queenly crown upon her head, 
 and with her were Jean, her eldest son, and Margaret 
 and Nicholas. The little Princess captivated every- 
 body by her naivete and the graceful kissing of her 
 little hand. Margaret sent kisses flying through 
 every street, winning all men's loyalty and the love 
 of all the boys. 
 
 Queen Isabelle and her children took up their 
 residence at the Palace of Capua. Queen Giovanna 
 offered her the new royal palace in Naples, but 
 Isabelle's instinct was not in error when she chose 
 to dwell a little distance from the royal hussy. 
 There King Rene joined his family, bringing with 
 him both Louis, his second son, and Yolande. The 
 reunion was the happiest that could be. Upon the 
 King devolved, of course, the onus of government, 
 with the co-operation of Queen Giovanna. Queen 
 Isabelle, relieved from the trammels of the executive, 
 had now a much-longed-for respite in which to give
 
 258 REN D 1 ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 attention to the neglected education of her children. 
 She constituted herself their teacher-in-chief, but 
 called to her assistance the very noted writer of 
 French romance, Antoine de Salle. Alas ! it was a 
 brief interlude indeed, for the studies had hardly 
 had time to affect the young pupils when the King 
 of Aragon resumed his hostile demonstration against 
 the Angevine dynasty, and Rene and his were 
 locked in the grip of war. Very unwillingly Queen 
 Isabelle agreed to return to France with her children, 
 Naples being an armed camp and the whole country 
 in a turmoil. They wended their way leisurely to 
 Anjou, and not to Lorraine. Two reasons dictated 
 this course. Angers was the capital par excellence 
 of the .dominions of the King of Sicily- Anjou, the 
 ancestral seat of his house, and Anjou was more 
 favourably conditioned than Lorraine or Bar for the 
 completion of the training of the royal children. 
 Queen Yolande was only too delighted to welcome 
 her brave daughter-in-law and to caress her beloved 
 grandchildren. She went off to the Castle of 
 Saumur, her favourite residence, and the walls of the 
 grim Castle of Angers once more resounded to the 
 merry laughter of childish games. Sadly enough 
 those joyous sounds yielded place to saddest dirges 
 when Prince Nicholas, not yet ten years old, died 
 suddenly of poison. This was the first break by 
 Death into that home circle. 
 
 The King and Queen were again in residence at 
 the Castle of Tarascon in 1443, and there, on 
 February 2, they received an imposing mission from 
 the Duke of Burgundy, headed by Guillaume 
 Harancourt, Bishop of Verdun, the Seigneurs Pierre 
 de Beaupremont and Adolphe de Charny, with
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 250 
 
 Antoine de Gaudel^ the Duke's principal secretary. 
 They came to Tarascon to negotiate a marriage 
 between the Duke's nephew, Charles de Borugges, 
 son of Philippe, Count of Nevers, and the Princess 
 Margaret. This bridegroom expectant had been very 
 much in the matrimonial market before accepting the 
 choice of his uncle. His first fiancee was Jeanne, 
 daughter of Robert, Count de la Marche ; she gave 
 place to Anne, Duchess of Austria ; and she in turn 
 was passed over before the greater charms of the 
 Angevine Princess. The contract of betrothal with 
 Pierre de Luxembourg was cancelled, and Charles de 
 Nevers was the choice of Rene and Isabelle. 
 
 The date for signing the marriage contract was 
 fixed, February 4, and to all the articles the King 
 and Queen readily assented. The dowry was 
 50,000 livres, but how that large sum was to be 
 raised neither Rene nor Isabelle had the slightest 
 idea ; they had exhausted their exchequer in the 
 fruitless fight for Naples. The Duke of Burgundy, 
 acting as next of kin to the bridegroom-elect, promised 
 to settle a jointure of 40,000 livres on Margaret. 
 Rene had put forward a plea that the Duke should 
 forego 80,000 ecus d'or, which was due on loans, and 
 Philippe agreed, receiving as further security and 
 indemnity to the towns of Neufchateau, Preny, and 
 Longwy, already in pawn to him, the Castles of 
 Clermont, Varennes, and Renne, all in Argone. A 
 secret clause was, however, at the eleventh hour 
 foisted upon the Angevine Sovereigns a pro- 
 ceeding quite in accordance with the proverbial 
 cunning of the Court of Burgundy. It stipulated 
 that the children of Charles and Margaret should 
 be heirs - presumptive of Sicilv - Anjou - Provence,
 
 260 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Lorraine, and Bar, to the exclusion of the issue of 
 Ferri and Yolande de Vauddmont. 
 
 The judicial mind of King Rene would not let his 
 consent to this article be recorded until he had con- 
 sulted both the Count de Vaudemont and King 
 Charles of France. The former indignantly inter- 
 viewed the Duke of Burgundy, and stated his deter- 
 mination to oppose the proposed marriage. Charles 
 resented the stipulation upon the ground of its 
 injustice, and warned his brother-in-law not to agree 
 to any such proposals. The marriage contract was 
 not signed, and, whilst acrimonious negotiations were 
 carried on both at Dijon and Vienne, another and a 
 very much more illustrious suitor of the hand of 
 Princess Margaret appeared upon the scene, no less a 
 person than Henry VI., King of England and France. 
 
 When the matter was first mooted, it was thought 
 nothing of by the King and Queen of Sicily, because 
 Henry had been all but betrothed to Isabelle, the 
 daughter of the Count of Armagnac, to whom he 
 owed so very much in earlier days. Indeed, the 
 gossip went so far as to link the English King's name 
 in turn with all three daughters of the Count the 
 loveliest girls in France : " Three Graces of Armag- 
 nac " they were called. Henry had sent his favourite 
 painter, Hans of Antwerp, to paint the three comely 
 sisters, and his handiwork was so acceptable to the 
 royal young bachelor that he sat and gazed at them 
 for long, changing the order of their arrangement to 
 see which face of the beauteous three made the 
 most passionate appeal. The Armagnac marriage was 
 backed by all the influence of the Duke of Gloucester, 
 the younger of the King's uncles, and lately Lord 
 Protector of England.
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 261 
 
 What drew Margaret of Anjou into the orbit of 
 Henry of England was that she had gone on a visit 
 to her aunt, Queen Marie of France, and had at the 
 French Court created quite a sensation. She was 
 nearly fourteen years of age, and gave fascinating 
 indications of those charms of mind and person which 
 made her " the most lovely, the best-educated, and 
 the most fearless Princess in Christendom." 
 
 Cardinal Beaufort was also a visitor at King 
 Charles's castle at Chinon, and was immensely moved 
 by Margaret's appearance and accomplishments. He 
 also detected her latent strength of character, and 
 certain traits therein which marked her unerringly as 
 the counterfoil of his royal pupil and master's mental 
 and moral weaknesses. The Cardinal returned to 
 England full of the charms of the young Princess, 
 and descanted upon them so enthusiastically to the 
 King that Henry was in a perfect fever to behold the 
 beauteous Princess for himself. His amorous appe- 
 tite was further stimulated by conversations he quite 
 accidentally had with one Jules Champchevier, a 
 prisoner of war on parole from Anjou, lodging with 
 Sir John Falstaff, in attendance upon the King. 
 Champchevier was sent off to Saumur to obtain, if 
 possible, a portrait of the bewitching young Princess. 
 The King wished her to be painted quite simply and 
 naturally "in a plain kirtle, her face unpainted, and 
 her hair in coils." He required information about 
 " her height, her form, the colour of her skin, her 
 hair, her eyes, and what size of hand she hath." 
 
 Champchevier was taken prisoner on landing in 
 France, and threatened with death for breaking his 
 parole whilst executing the royal commission ; but 
 news reaching Charles VII. of the'unfortunate fellow's
 
 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 predicament, he laughed heartily at the situation 
 when he learned the reason of his mission, and forth- 
 with ordered his release. The idea of a matrimonial 
 contract between his royal rival and his royal niece 
 opened His Majesty's eyes to possibilities created 
 thereby of a satisfactory peace between the two 
 countries. Once more, and how many times before 
 and since ! a royal maiden's heart contained the key 
 to great political issues. 
 
 The portrait was painted exactly to order perhaps, 
 and quite correctly, with a little artistic embellish- 
 ment. The beauty of Nature is always enhanced by 
 the decorative features of art. Henry was charmed 
 with the sweet face he gazed and gazed upon, quite 
 putting into the shade the other reigning beauties of 
 his heart. He was himself as comely as might be, 
 just four-and-twenty, highly educated, his mind un- 
 usually refined. In thought and deed he was pure 
 and devout, and very shy of strange women. Upon 
 the latter head he was emphatic, for when at Court 
 or elsewhere he beheld women with open bosoms 
 d VIsabeau de Baviere he was shocked, and turned 
 away his face, muttering : " Oh fie ! oh fie ! ye be 
 much to blame !" His earnest wish was marriage, 
 not concubinage. The King's choice very soon 
 became noised abroad, and the Court became agitated 
 and divided. The Duke of Gloucester, the King's 
 next of kin and heir-presumptive to the throne, 
 championed the Armagnac match, whilst Cardinal 
 Beaufort and the Earl of Suffolk decided for Margaret 
 of Anjou. 
 
 There was, however, an obstacle in the way, quite 
 consistently with the proverbial rugged course of all 
 true love ; the Count of Nevers refused to release
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 263 
 
 his fiancee. He was prepared, he averred, to cancel 
 the contentious clause in the marriage contract, made 
 at Tarascon, and not to insist upon anything deroga- 
 tory to the dignity of King Rene and his elder 
 daughter, the Countess Ferri de Vaude'mont. The 
 prospect to Rene of such an auspicious union, how- 
 ever, which would place his daughter upon one of the 
 greatest of European thrones, was too dazzling to be 
 ignored, and the outcome of the imbroglio was the 
 assembling in January, 1444, of a mixed Commission, 
 representing England, France, Anjou, and Bur- 
 gundy, at Tours, whereat two protocols were framed : 
 a treaty for a two years' peace, and a marriage agree- 
 ment between the King of England and the Princess 
 of Anjou. This was signed on May 28 of the same 
 year. The marriage contract thus drawn out was 
 very favourable to the House of Sicily- Anjou : Henry 
 asked for no dowry, but required only the rights 
 transmitted to King Rene by Queen Yolande with 
 respect to the kingdom of Minorca. Henry further 
 agreed to the retrocession of Le Mans and other points 
 in Anjou held by the English. 
 
 To the Earl of Suffolk, the leading English pleni- 
 potentiary, was mainly due the successful issue of the 
 conference. Henry created him Marquis and Grand 
 Seneschal of the Royal Household. The King further- 
 more despatched to him an autograph letter to the 
 following effect : " As you have lately, by the Divine 
 favour and grace, in our name, and for us, engaged 
 verbally the excellent, magnificent, and very bright 
 Margaret, the second daughter of the King of Sicily, 
 and sworn that we shall contract marriage with her, 
 we consent thereto, and will that she be conveyed to 
 us over the seas at our expense." Arrangements were
 
 264 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 forthwith made for the immediate marriage of the 
 Princess. Suffolk, one of the handsomest and most 
 cultivated men of the day, though now verging on 
 fifty years of age, headed a majestic embassy to 
 Nancy, where the Sicily -Anjou Court was in resi- 
 dence. He bore with him a dispensation from his 
 royal master to act as his proxy at the nuptial cere- 
 mony, and to receive in his name the hand of his 
 fascinating bride. It was indeed a notable function, 
 and held in the ancient cathedral of Tours, whereat 
 all that was royal, noble, brave, and beautiful, for- 
 gathered. The witnesses for Margaret were the 
 King and Queen of France, the King and Queen of 
 Sicily-Anjou, and the Duke and Duchess of Calabria, 
 with the Dauphin Louis. The Princess's supporters 
 were the Duke of Alenon, the most gallant and most 
 accomplished Prince in France, and the Marquis of 
 Suffolk, the premier noble of England. Upon the 
 latter's consort, the clever Marchioness, devolved the 
 duties of Mistress of the Robes. 
 
 That day, February 27, 1445, was a red-letter 
 day in the annals of all three kingdoms. Louis 
 d'Harcourt, Bishop of Toul, was chief celebrant, 
 assisted by half the prelates of France, and Cardinal 
 Beaufort was in choir to administer the Papal 
 benediction. The young Queen's Maids of Honour 
 were the two most lovely girls in France Jehanne 
 de Laval, in the suite of Queen Marie, and Agnes 
 Sorel, in that of Queen Isabelle. It was a singular 
 and delightful coincidence that these two lovely 
 damsels were in evidence on that auspicious 
 day ; for were they not the charming cynosures re- 
 spectively of two pairs of kingly eyes Rene and 
 Charles !
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOTT 265 
 
 The interest and the importance of the celebration 
 was heightened considerably by the fact that there 
 was a double wedding : Count Ferri de Vaude"mont 
 and Princess Yolande of Sicily- Anjou were united in 
 the bonds of matrimony immediately after the nuptials 
 of the new Queen. Fetes and festivities were carried 
 out right royally for eight whole days and nights. 
 The " Lists " were held in the great wide Place de 
 Carriere in Nancy. Charles and Rene" met in 
 amicable conflict, but it was the former's lance which 
 was tossed up, and Rene gained the guerdon, which 
 he presented gallantly enough to his sister, the Queen 
 of France. The champion of champions, however, 
 was none other than Pierre de Luxembourg, the 
 earliest fiancee of Queen Margaret, and he had the 
 happy satisfaction of receiving the victor's crest of 
 honour from her hands now another's ! Minstrelsy 
 and the stage also lent their aid to the general 
 rejoicings. King Rene* was already styled the 
 " Royal Troubadour," and he rallied his melodious, 
 merry men in a goodly phalanx, whilst he himself 
 led the music in person and recited his own new 
 marriage poem. The theatre proper had only very 
 recently been established in France. Church 
 mysteries and pageant plays had had their vogue, 
 when, in 1402, Charles VI. granted his charter to 
 " La Confr&rerie de la Passion," a company, or 
 guild, of masons, carpenters, saddlers, and other 
 craftsmen, and women, which he established at the 
 village of St. Maur, near Vincennes. These merry 
 fellows introduced to their distinguished audience, in 
 the Castle of Nancy, secular travesties of the well- 
 worn religious spectacles, and won the heartiest 
 applause. King Rene personally, through the
 
 266 KEN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 gracious hands of the royal bride, decorated the 
 actors with gay ribbons and medallions. 
 
 The dress of the right royal company was, as may 
 well be supposed, sumptuous in the extreme ; but 
 among the wearers of rich attire a pathetic note was 
 struck, when it was mooted that royal Margaret 
 had been dressed for her bridal by Queen Marie, her 
 aunt, because her own parents were too much im- 
 poverished to supply suitable marriage robes ! The 
 bride's dress was mainly that worn by Queen Marie 
 herself, twenty-three years before, at her own nuptials 
 with Charles VII. The kirtle was of cloth of gold 
 cunningly embroidered with the white lilies of France 
 the same for Anjou ; the robe of state was of 
 crimson velvet bordered with ermine, which also 
 formed the trimming of the stomacher she wore. 
 Her hair was dressed a I'Angloise, its rich golden 
 coils being crowned with a royal diadem, almost the 
 only jewel of Queen Yolande's treasury which had 
 not been sold or pawned. The little Queen was 
 slight of build and short of stature for her age ; very 
 fair of skin, with a peachy blush ; her eyes light 
 blue, her hair a golden auburn ; her whole face and 
 figure lent themselves to delightful expression and 
 graceful pose. Above all, she was very self-possessed, 
 and gave all beholders the impression of abilityand 
 decision beyond the average. 
 
 With respect to King Rene's inability to provide 
 a fitting trousseau for his daughter, there is an entry 
 in the Comptes de Roy Rene which indicates that 
 he was not unmindful of the sartorial requirements of 
 his family. Under date September 11, 1442, is an 
 order, addressed to Guillaume de la Planche, mer- 
 chant of Angers, for 1 1 aulnes of cloth of gold, em-
 
 MARGUERITE D\ANJOU 267 
 
 broidered in crimson and pleated, at 3 ecus per aulne, 
 with a suite of trimming to cost 30 livres. At 
 the same time Fra^ois Castargis, furrier of Angers, 
 is directed to supply ten dozen finest marten skins at 
 a cost of 15 7s. 6d., and to pack and despatch 
 them to the care of the Seigneur de Precigny 
 at Saumur, " for dresses for Madame Margaret." 
 This de Precigny was Bertrand de Beauvau, 
 who married King Rene's natural daughter Blanche 
 d'Anjou. 
 
 At the wedding of Henry VI. and Margaret at 
 Tours and Nancy, the courtiers were very richly attired 
 in short jackets or tunics of pleated brocade trimmed 
 with silk fringes ; their body hose was of parti- 
 coloured spun silk to match their tunics. Their shoes 
 were made long, of white kid with high heels, and 
 were laced with golden thread. Calves where skimpy 
 were padded, and narrow shoulders were puffed out. 
 They wore long pendent sleeves, pricked and furred. 
 Their hair, generally worn a la Nazarene, hung in 
 thick straight locks upon their shoulders, cut square 
 over the forehead. A small berretta, with a heron's 
 plume and a jewelled brooch, completed the costume. 
 Chains of gold and jewels were worn at will. The 
 ladies of the Court wore short kirtles or petticoats, 
 with long bunched-up trains of silk brocade in two 
 contrasting colours ; cloth of gold was reserved for 
 dames of royal degree. Strict rules were observed 
 in the wearing of fur its quality and its breadth ; 
 ermine was reserved for royalty. Their gloves were 
 long-fingered, and their shoes long-toed, the points 
 of each being caught up with thin golden chains to 
 their garters " un chose ridicule et absude" as 
 Paradin wrote. The salient mark adopted by the
 
 268 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 ladies of fashion was noted in their coiffures. The 
 popular name, or, rather, the name of scorn, thanks 
 to Father Thomas of Brittany, for the astounding 
 headgear a la mode, " hennin" was in select circles 
 called en papillons " butterflied." Some ladies had 
 double horns like the mitres of Bishops, some had 
 round redoubts " comme les donjons," some were half- 
 rnoon shape, and some like hearts, whilst many goodly 
 dames made themselves still more ridiculous by wear- 
 ing miniature windmills ! All these erections were 
 made of white stiffened linen, built up on frameworks 
 of wicker and carton. Over all floquarts, thin gauze 
 veils, were gently cast. Collars of jewels and ropes 
 of pearls were de rigueur, and most of the ladies 
 wore badges of chivalry the guerdons of their lords 
 and sweethearts. One very pretty conceit was intro- 
 duced at the time of Queen Margaret's marriage 
 a dainty holder for the necessary pocket-handkerchief. 
 This took the shape of a small heart of gold suspended 
 from an enamelled white marguerite, and hung 
 at the side of the jewelled cincture. The ladies' 
 shoes were richly embroidered with seed-pearls 
 and gold thread. Rings were worn outside the 
 gloves. 
 
 Among the suite sent by Henry to attend upon 
 his bride were the Countess of Shrewsbury and 
 the Lady Emma de Scales, with five Barons and 
 Baronesses of the realm. In attendance, too, was 
 Scrivener William Andrews, Private Secretary to the 
 King, who acted as juris-consult at the signing of 
 the marriage registers. In his diary he wrote : 
 " Never have I seen or heard of a young Princess 
 so greatly loved and admired." 
 
 Upon the ninth day after the marriage ceremony
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 269 
 
 Queen Margaret took a tearful but brave farewell 
 of her fond parents and of the princely company, and 
 King Rene* committed her proudly, yet regretfully, 
 to the care of the Marquis of Suffolk. An imposing 
 cavalcade accompanied the parting Queen ; indeed, 
 all Nancy, noble and bourgeois, rich and poor, turned 
 out to do honour to Her Majesty. King Charles 
 and Queen Marie went as far as Toul, and then bade 
 their niece adieu. Charles was strangely sad, and 
 said with a deep-drawn sigh : "I seem to have done 
 nothing for you, my well-beloved niece, in placing 
 you upon one of the greatest thrones in Europe, but 
 it certainly is worthy of possessing you as Queen." 
 Queen Marie's farewell was very affecting : " I bid 
 you God-speed, my best-loved niece. I am sure I 
 do not know what we shall do without you. I weep 
 for you, my child !" 
 
 King Rene and Queen Isabelle travelled with their 
 dear daughter right on to Bar-le-Duc, where the 
 cortege was enthusiastically received, and where a 
 rest was called over the Sunday, and parents and 
 daughter partook of the Communion. Then, on the 
 morrow, Margaret broke down completely at the 
 parting, and both Rene and Isabelle gave way to 
 sobs and tears. If the prospect of the royal marriage 
 had been pleasant to them all, its realization and the 
 future filled their hearts with apprehension. A 
 dearly loved child was now to make her way all 
 alone among strangers too young to go so far from 
 home, but too good to err. 
 
 " Je fais peur pour vou$, ma fille" cried the 
 sorrowing father, " en yous plaqant sur un des plus 
 grands trdnes de Chretiente ; que le bon Dieu vous 
 gardiez. Pour moi et pour votre mere, nous sommes
 
 270 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 tons les deux desoles"* Queen Isabelle's heart was 
 too full for words. She folded her child to her 
 bosom, and the two wept together. It was Margaret 
 who first dried her tears, and said bravely : " N'ayez 
 aucun regret pour moi; je serai votre file, la plus 
 devoue'e pour jamais. Si mon corps vequt en Angle- 
 terre, mon dme restera trousjours en France avec 
 la vdtre"^ 
 
 Bare-headed, King Rene stood at the castle portal 
 till Margaret and her escort had faded from his sight ; 
 then he and the Queen shut themselves up in their 
 apartments and gave way to their pent-up feelings. 
 Travelling as the Queen of England, Margaret had 
 now for her supporters her brother, the Duke of 
 Calabria, the Duke of Aleiiqon, and the courteous 
 Marquis of Suffolk. Leisurely enough the company 
 traversed the fertile fields of Champagne, ever aiming 
 for the north French coast. Besides a strong escort 
 of soldiery, in the royal train were seventeen knights 
 and two esquire-carvers, sixty-five esquires, twenty 
 grooms, and 174 servitors of all kinds, and with 
 them serving-maids and dressers. At every stopping- 
 place heartiest greetings awaited the young Queen, 
 and Princes and nobles knelt to pay their homage. 
 The English garrisons en route were forward in their 
 loyal salutations ; their new Queen was the pledge 
 of a greatly-yearned-for entente cordiale. 
 
 At Nantes the Duke of York, King Henry's near 
 
 * " I am fearful for you, my daughter, in placing you upon one 
 of the mightiest thrones in Christendom ; may the good God 
 protect you. As for me and your mother, we are filled with desola- 
 tion." 
 
 t " Do not feel any regret for me ; I shall be always your most 
 devoted daughter. If my body dwells in England, my soul shall 
 rest always in France with yours."
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 271 
 
 kinsman, and the representative of the older line of 
 the English Royal House, received the Queen, and 
 entertained her in the castle of the French Kings. 
 On March 23 the royal progress ended at Rouen, 
 where a week's rest was called. Bicknoke, in his 
 " Computus" has enumerated several curious items 
 in the bill of costs which covered the lengthy journey 
 from Lorraine. The Barons and Baronesses of the 
 Queen's suite received each four shillings and six- 
 pence a day, the knights had half a crown each a 
 day, and, at the tail of the following, the grooms 
 were paid no more than fourpence per diem. At 
 Rouen the Queen paid four shillings and ninepence 
 for fourteen pairs of shoes to give to certain poor 
 women of the town. She also made many purchases 
 of second-hand silver plate from a silversmith, 
 Jean Tubande by name. The articles were chiefly 
 cups and plates which bore the arms of Henry, 
 Count of Luxembourg, father of her first fiance. 
 These escutcheons the Queen had removed, and in 
 place of them marguerites were engraved. The 
 Queen, moreover, came short of ready cash, so she 
 pawned some of her real silver wedding presents to 
 the Marchioness of Suffolk, that she might have the 
 wherewithal for gifts to the seamen on her transport 
 to England. 
 
 The royal party embarked in river boats, and made 
 for Honfleur, where the Cokke John, a great galley, 
 was waiting off the port. Such a stormy passage 
 as that which was the prelude to Queen Margaret's 
 triumphant progress to the English capital had 
 hardly been exceeded for fury in the memory of the 
 most ancient mariners. Thunder and lightning and 
 sheets of ice-cold water threatened to destroy the 
 
 18
 
 272 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 stately craft and to engulf her lordly fares. After 
 beating about in the Channel for one whole day 
 and night, with utmost difficulty the harbour of 
 Porchester was attained on April 10. 
 
 It was rather hard upon the Queen's impoverished 
 exchequer that she should have been called upon to 
 pay 5 4s. lOd. for her pilot, 13 6s. 8d. for new 
 hawsers, and 9 7s. for alterations and repairs in 
 the vessel. 
 
 The terrified young Queen had never beheld the 
 angry sea before nor tasted its misery, and she was 
 utterly prostrated in her state-room, and wept and 
 cried for her mother and to God for help. The 
 Marquis raised her inanimate form gently in his arms, 
 and wading bravely to land through the scudding 
 sea-foam, he bore his precious burden, march- 
 ing manfully along the fresh-rush-strewn streets of 
 the little fishing town. King Henry was at Winches- 
 ter, anxiously awaiting couriers who should gladden 
 his ears by the news of his royal bride's arrival, and 
 he galloped off at once to greet her at the Goddes 
 House of Southwick, whither she was borne for 
 rest and treatment. Unhappily, Margaret had con- 
 tracted some infectious complaint, perhaps chicken- 
 pox, and, very tantalizing for herself and Henry, 
 their meeting was postponed until her illness had 
 abated. 
 
 At the priory church of St. Mary and All Saints 
 the ceremony of the English espousal was celebrated 
 by Cardinal Kemp, and Henry placed upon Mar- 
 garet's finger the ring which he had worn at his 
 coronation in Paris eighteen years before. If the 
 King was charmed by the portrait of his Queen, he 
 was transported with joy and passion when he beheld
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 273 
 
 and embraced beauteous Margaret. The half of her 
 excellence had not been revealed in pigment ; she 
 was more, much more, lovely and attractive than he 
 had imagined. Preparations for the state nuptials 
 were hurried forward, and also for the coronation of 
 the Queen, and Henry with his bride rowed on to 
 Southampton, saluted as they passed 'by all the 
 shipping in the Solent. Two Genoese galleys in 
 particular were gaily festooned and manned, and as 
 the royal barge swept by seven trumpeters blew a 
 wedding fanfare, and then the crews shouted their 
 loud "Evviva." Margaret insisted on sending for the 
 two captains of the foreign crafts, and gave them 
 1 3s. 4d. " for plaieing so merrielie my musique " 
 so the Queen phrased it. Another heavy item in 
 the cost of her progress was her doctor's fee ; Maistre 
 Franqois of Nancy claimed 5 9s. 2d. for his pro- 
 fessional services upon the journey. A further delay 
 was caused in the completion of the nuptial arrange- 
 ments by reason of the poverty of the Queen's ward 
 robe. Her trousseau was quite unworthy of her 
 rank, and Henry, although himself as poor as a 
 King might be, despatched messengers to London 
 to summon Margaret Chamberlayne, a famous tire- 
 worker, and a number of craftswomen with sumptuous 
 materials for the wedding gown. The King, indeed, 
 had to pawn his own jewellery and plate to furnish 
 sufficient funds for the double ceremony. 
 
 Henry of England and Margaret of Anjou were 
 married by Cardinal Beaufort in the abbey church 
 of Titchfield on April 22. The bride was just 
 sixteen years of age already a woman, but with the 
 heart of a man. Most extraordinary presents were 
 showered upon the young Queen : a lion in a cage,
 
 274 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 a score of hedgehogs, a dozen thick all-wool blankets, 
 two tuns of English wine, a suit of bronze silver 
 armour, several chairs, two of state, five young 
 lambs' fleeces, and so forth. Then the royal progress 
 began to the capital. Halfway between Fareham 
 and London the Duke of Gloucester, with 500 armed 
 and superbly mounted retainers, greeted the King 
 and Queen, and conducted them to the palace at 
 Greenwich. Triumphal arches spanned the road, 
 and maidens scattered spring blossoms before the 
 royal couple. 
 
 On May 30 the King and Queen quitted Black- 
 heath for Westminster, passing many notable pageant 
 spectacles " Noah's Ark," " Grace," " God's Chan- 
 cellor," " St. Margaret," the " Heavenly Jerusalem," 
 and so forth all marshalled in their honour. Some- 
 what wearied by the dust and the shaking of her 
 chariot, and deafened by the plaudits of the crowds, 
 Margaret was handed down by the King, at the 
 great west door of the royal abbey. Her entry was 
 accompanied by minstrelsy, for King Rene had 
 sent over for the ceremonial a large company of the 
 troubadours and glee maidens of Bar, Lorraine, and 
 Provence, under the orders of his Groom of the 
 Stole, Sire Jehan d'Escose. The cost of this expe- 
 dition ran up to nearly 100, a great sum for the 
 poor King of Sicily to disburse. 
 
 King Henry spared no expense, but ran still more 
 heavily into debt to make the crowning of his Queen 
 magnificent. Rarely had such a gallant and splendid 
 company gathered for a royal wedding. Everybody 
 wore the Queen's badge a red-tipped daisy. Three 
 days were set apart for tournaments between Palace 
 Yard and Broad Sanctuary, whereat the new Queen
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 275 
 
 presided, wearing the Queen-consort's jewelled crown 
 of England. 
 
 Margaret was now de facto and de jure Queen of 
 England and mistress of her destiny her husband's, 
 also. What a unique elevation it was for a young 
 girl of sixteen, all alone among strangers, rivals, and 
 adventurers 1 A false step seemed inevitable ; indeed, 
 absolute rectitude and tactfulness of conduct under 
 the exigeant circumstances which surrounded her 
 would have tried the grit of the stoutest mind and 
 the grasp of the strongest hand. Dubbed " La 
 Franqaise" by men and women jealous of the King 
 and of herself, she had to steer her course amid 
 endless pitfalls placed in her way. Warfare and 
 politics were the two chief contentions of the day. 
 As for the first, she (Margaret) was its mascot, and 
 warriors laid down their arms at her feet ; but with 
 respect to the wordy warfare of parties and their 
 intrigues and plots the young Queen danced upon 
 the thinnest ice, and unconsciously she slipped. 
 She gave herself into the hands, quite naturally, of 
 the party which held first to the King and herself, 
 as opposed to that which sought initially self-interest. 
 The Duke of Gloucester was the leader of the loyal 
 section of her lieges, and to him the young Queen 
 turned for light and leading. 
 
 Very soon the impress of Margaret's strong 
 character made itself felt in every quarter. She 
 spared neither the Duke of York himself, nor any 
 other rival to her own Lord and King ; but what 
 could a child still in her teens do against the cabals 
 of crafty and influential foes ? Henry was as weak 
 as water ; he hated political questions, caring very 
 much more, of course, for peaceful intercourse with
 
 276 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 his fascinating spouse, and for the delights of leisure 
 and learning, than for the turmoil of Parliament and 
 the vexed questions of the day. York held Henry 
 in his hand, but Margaret was a doughty nut to 
 crack, and she kept him in his proper place. 
 
 Letters written from Sheen and Windsor to 
 Queen Isabelle by her loving daughter show how 
 happy was her state. Henry's passionate love she 
 returned as passionately, and their loves made for 
 peace both at home and abroad. Literary pursuits 
 and benevolent aims were in both their minds : the 
 King founded Eton College, and King's College, 
 Cambridge, in 1446 ; the Queen, Queen's College, 
 Cambridge. Together they invited Italian, French, 
 and Flemish craftsmen to settle in England, and teach 
 their ignorant but not unwilling subjects some of the 
 arts of peace. The poor were relieved, the naked 
 clothed, the hungry fed ; but when all estates of the 
 realm seemed secure and in prosperty, the dark spectre 
 of sedition rose at the beck and call of the Duke' 
 of York. King Henry had to rouse himself and lay 
 low the insurrection of Jack Cade and 30,000 
 mislead Kentish men. This was the beginning of 
 troubles. 
 
 II. 
 
 For some little time Margaret had detected signs 
 in her consort's speech and manner that caused her the 
 gravest solicitude. She had witnessed the mental de- 
 pression and lassitude of her uncle, the King of France, 
 and she had grieved for her beloved aunt's (Queen 
 Marie's) anxieties. The insanity of King Charles VI., 
 too, had been one of the sad family histories of her 
 school days in Anjou. Now she was faced with a
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 277 
 
 trouble far away more terrible than any of these. In 
 1453 the King's memory began to fail, he was bereft 
 of feeling, and gradually he lost his power of walking. 
 The malady, indeed, had shown itself during the 
 Christmas revels at Greenwich. The Queen was 
 already broken-hearted by the news she received from 
 France of the critical state of her mother's health, 
 and when, on March 5, she heard of her death, poor 
 Margaret was indeed disconsolate. In pain she 
 turned to Henry for comfort, but he failed to com- 
 prehend her sorrow. All around were men and 
 women intriguing against herself and him ; alone she 
 had to bear her trouble, and the trouble was intensified 
 in pathos by the fact that she was at last enceinte. 
 Would her child be stillborn, she asked herself many 
 a time ; how could she expect otherwise when so 
 utterly cast down ? Then she realized the loneliness 
 of a throne. The menace of the Duke of York was 
 a scourge to wear her down, and his denunciation of 
 her barrenness an unspeakable affront. 
 
 Crushed indeed she was, and yet she had to play 
 the man ; for she was both King and Queen of 
 England, and while she lived she determined that 
 none should sap her authority. Henry subsided 
 into imbecility, but Margaret's will matched and 
 vanquished York's, although he was proclaimed 
 " Protector of the Realm and Church." The year 
 sped on, but it brought joy to the sad heart of the 
 lonely Queen, and the whole nation shared her 
 happiness. On October 1 1 she brought forth her 
 first-born child, a son and heir, a fact of the vastest 
 importance for all concerned, friend and foe. York 
 at once denounced the child for a changeling ; but the 
 nation would not have it so, and he was christened
 
 278 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Edward publicly at Westminster, and created Prince 
 of Wales, so named because his birthday was that of 
 the holy King St. Edward. 
 
 Alas ! the King could not be roused sufficiently 
 to recognize his son, nor, indeed, his wife, and this 
 was construed by York and his party as proof con- 
 clusive against the truth of the Queen's accouche- 
 ment. At the same time they threw out insinuations 
 against her character with respect to relations with 
 many prominent men of her entourage. 
 
 The chivalrous spirit of the Queen felt York's 
 false imputations crushingly. Her convalescence was 
 retarded, and when she came to be churched at the 
 Abbey of Westminster, she was almost too prostrate 
 to go through the ceremony. Like the noble woman 
 that she was, she roused herself ; and when she 
 beheld the distinguished and numerous suite await- 
 ing her, the forty most influential peeresses in the 
 land, she took heart, and was herself once more. 
 She assumed her costly churching robe. It was of 
 white, gold-embroidered silk and was bordered with 
 500 sable pelts, and it had cost 554 16s. 8d. 
 
 The Duke's despicable conduct was flouted when 
 Christmas next came round, for on the Feast of the 
 Nativity the Queen presented herself holding her 
 babe in her arms before the King. To her unspeak- 
 able joy, Henry held out his hands and drew her and 
 the infant Prince to his breast, and out loud thanked 
 God for the recovery of his reason and acknowledged 
 the child as his. York was away on mischief bent, 
 and Margaret did not fail to make use of the oppor- 
 tunity for checkmating his unworthy aspirations. 
 She took the King to the Parliament, then sitting, 
 and at his command and in his presence the decree
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 279 
 
 appointing York Protector of the kingdom was 
 revoked, and Henry, Margaret, and Edward, assumed 
 their orthodox positions. This step was the first 
 move in the great war game which devastated the 
 whole realm, and ended, alas ! in the absolute undoing 
 of the King, the Queen, and the Prince. York, 
 hearing what had transpired at Westminster, hurried 
 from the Welsh border with 5,000 armed followers. 
 The King met him at St. Albans, and ordered him to 
 disband his troop and salute the royal banner. The 
 Duke refused to obey only on impossible conditions. 
 
 But what of King Rene and Queen Isabelle ? 
 Their hearts were torn asunder, we may be sure, at 
 the contemplation of their Margaret's peril. They 
 were powerless to assist her save by their whole 
 soul's sympathy ; besides, they were faced by a con- 
 trariety of facts. The all too brief " truce of Mar- 
 garet " was broken in 1449, and Rene was summoned 
 to support King Charles and fight against the 
 servants of her consort, her subjects too, for, 
 spite of being " La JFrangaise" she had won all hearts 
 in bonnie England. A beautiful girl and a brave is 
 unmatchable ! Fortune of war favoured the French- 
 Anjou colours, and Charles became master of Nor- 
 mandy and all English-held North France. Guienne, 
 too, was yielded to the valiant young Duke of 
 Calabria. Moreover, the war-galleys of " Le Petit Roy 
 de Bourges " scoured the Channel, and gained prizes 
 and renown for Charles and Rene" off the English 
 coast. 
 
 Somerset's defeat was a loss of credit, however, to 
 Queen Margaret, and York of course made the most 
 of it. He boasted that, " as Henry was fitter 
 for a cell than a throne, and had transferred his
 
 280 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 authority to Margaret, the affairs of the kingdom 
 could not be managed by a Frenchwoman, who cared 
 only for her own power and profit." To placate this 
 arrogance the Queen made a tactless move : she 
 named the Duke Governor of Ireland, thus adding to 
 his prestige and opportunity. Talbot's death at 
 Albany further weakened the King's authority and 
 Margaret's strategy. 
 
 Upon the death of Queen Isabelle, so deeply 
 mourned, not alone by her daughter in England, but 
 by all the chivalry of France, Rene devolved his 
 authority in Bar and Lorraine upon Jean, Duke of 
 Calabria, intending to withdraw gradually from the 
 responsibilities of government. His efforts, however, 
 were discounted by the entreaties of Francesco 
 Sforza, Duke of Milan, and his Florentine allies, that 
 he should again take up arms and appear in the field 
 against King Alfonso of Aragon and the Venetians 
 who were supporting him. Rene was victorious, but 
 the palm of triumph was withered in his hand by the 
 news that reached him on his way back to France : 
 civil war had broken out in England, and Margaret 
 was in command of the Lancastrians. Margaret, so 
 lovely, so cultivated, and so fearless, was adding 
 lustre to the heroic deeds of the House of Anjou but 
 what terrible risks she ran ! The initial victory at 
 Wakefield was tarnished by the irony of circum- 
 stances, and, though decreed by her in the moment of 
 her emphatic triumph, York's grey head speared upon 
 the walls of York must have shocked her sense of 
 magnanimity. 
 
 Margaret led her troops in person, they wor- 
 shipped the ground she trod, but her splendid 
 courage was of no avail at the second battle of
 
 atter faict 
 
 KING KENE WRITING HIS POEM, " LE MORTEFIEMENT DE VAINE PLAISANCE " 
 From the Frontispiece painted by King Rene 
 
 To face page 280
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 281 
 
 St. Albans. Henry was deposed, and York's eldest 
 son, the Earl of March, was proclaimed King as 
 Edward IV. Margaret never accepted defeat ; she 
 quailed not, but off she went with her little son, who 
 was never parted from her side, to Yorkshire and the 
 North. 
 
 " Love Lady-Day " was the quaint if somewhat 
 hypocritical name bestowed by general consent upon 
 March 25, 1458. On that auspicious Lady-Day a 
 very notable assemblage gathered together at the 
 Palace of Westminster. The Queen had personally 
 summoned the leaders of the rival factions to meet 
 the King and accompany him and herself in proces- 
 sion to St. Paul's, to crave from on high the spirit 
 of conciliation. The streets were crowded with loyal 
 and appreciative citizens, whose delight knew no 
 bounds as they witnessed pass before them the King 
 in his crown, his horse's bridle held by a " White 
 Rose" knight and a "Red." Then followed the 
 Queen in a litter, escorted by the new Duke of York, 
 Somerset hand in hand with Salisbury, Essex with 
 Warwick, and others in order of precedence. No 
 man was armed, no woman feared, and joy-bells tossed 
 themselves over and over again, swung by stalwart 
 ringers. Te Deum was sung, but as the progress 
 turned westward rumblings of thunder made wise- 
 acres shake their heads, and in sooth they had good 
 cause, as matters chanced, at the dire omen. 
 
 Warwick was the bSte noire of the reconciliation. 
 By instinct and preference a plotter-royal, he incurred 
 the Queen's suspicion by a system of sea-piracy he 
 established, and because of inconsiderate language 
 about the elder line of Plantagenet. An unfortunate 
 street fracas led to Warwick's imprisonment. He
 
 282 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 was too proud to plead guilty, the Queen too jealous 
 to release him. York and Salisbury at once enrolled 
 their retainers, and stood ready to deliver Warwick. 
 The fruits of the reconciliation fell instantly to the 
 ground, and the complement of " Love Lady-Day " 
 was renunciation and conflict a Voutrance. Before 
 the fresh outbreak of hostilities, whilst the King 
 retired for rest and quietude to St. Albans Abbey, 
 the Queen, accompanied by the baby Prince, made a 
 progress through the Midlands. The child's winning 
 ways touched every heart, and when he distributed 
 to struggling hands everywhere the cognizance of his 
 patron saint, St. Edward, little silver swans, 
 everybody swore to be his henchman and to stand by 
 Henry and Margaret. Salisbury hung upon the 
 skirts of the Queen's cortege, and Margaret inquired 
 his business. His curt reply determined her to 
 demand his body, alive or dead. At Bloreheath 
 adherents of both sides met, and then Margaret had 
 her baptism of blood ; her own was tinged with 
 warriors' strains from Charlemagne of old, and in her 
 veins the old lion sprang up phoenix-like. Margaret 
 saw red. She offered two courses only to her 
 rebellious and disaffected subjects, submission or 
 death no quarter. Alas ! her experience was the 
 common one, the faithlessness of friends. 
 
 The Battle of Northampton, on July 10, 1460, 
 was lost by the treachery of Lord Grey de Ruthen. 
 The Queen and Prince were posted upon an eminence 
 to view the fight, and her military instinct detected 
 the base defection whereby Warwick was enabled to 
 take the King's army in the rear. Henry was 
 captured before her eyes, and Margaret, powerless 
 to retrieve the disaster, fled with her boy at once to
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 283 
 
 the North. By a circuitous route they reached the 
 impregnable walls of Harlech Castle. Henry was 
 led in mock triumph to the Tower, whence Warwick 
 had the effrontery to demand the custody of the 
 persons of the Queen and Prince. Margaret 
 expressed her indignation at the insult emphatically, 
 but, waiting not to bandy useless words, she hurried 
 off to Scotland to seek sympathy and assistance. 
 Meanwhile the Duke of York formally claimed the 
 crown. Margaret's response was impressive. With- 
 out difficulty she roused Scottish enthusiasm, 
 generally so slow to move, and, sweeping across the 
 border, she gathered in her train an army of 60,000 
 men, and appeared before the gates of York. There 
 she called a plenary council of lords, to whom she 
 expressed her determination " to rest not till I have 
 entered London and set free the King." 
 
 York, taken by surprise, hastened to meet the 
 valiant Queen, and found her encamped at Wakefield. 
 Warned of his approach, she sent heralds to his 
 quarters, who in her name defied the Duke " to 
 meet her in honest, open fight." He held back, and 
 then she poured the vials of her scorn upon his head : 
 " Doth want of courage," she exclaimed, " allow thee 
 to be browbeaten by a woman fie on thee, thou 
 traitor !" The battle was joined on December 30, 
 and gained in less than half an hour. A troop of 
 horse, headed by young Lord Clifford, and followed 
 immediately by the Queen, mounted and armed, 
 made an impetuous dash to where the Duke's 
 standard hung heavy in the still, damp air. It they 
 captured, and forthwith threw it over Margaret's 
 knees, and with his sword Clifford struck the rebel 
 leader down from his horse, and slew him as he lay
 
 284 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 at Margaret's feet. In a trice he had severed the 
 head of her mortal enemy, and upon his knee he 
 offered the ghastly trophy to his Queen. " Madam," 
 he said, " the war is over ; here is the King's 
 ransom !" The Queen turned sick at the terrible 
 sight, and hysterically sobbed and laughed alternately, 
 and she screamed aloud when soldiers stuffed the 
 blood-dripping head into a common chaff-sack. Lord 
 Clifford she knighted on the spot, using his own 
 gory sword ; then she ordered York's head to be 
 carried off to York, and placed on the city's southern 
 gateway. 
 
 Salisbury was also hors de combat, wounded and 
 a prisoner, and by the Queen's orders he was beheaded 
 on the field of battle, for he would not yield his 
 sword and word, and his head was placed by the side 
 of his leader's. In a moment, too, of justifiable 
 vengeance, the Queen directed that space should be 
 left on that carrion portal for two other traitors' 
 heads Warwick's and March's. " There," she said, 
 " they all four shall dangle till the rain and the sun 
 and the birds have consumed them warnings to all 
 and sundry who shall hereafter raise voice and hand 
 against their liege." 
 
 Margaret pushed south, and at St. Albans, on 
 February 17, met Warwick, with the King in his 
 camp. The issue was soon decided ; 2,000 Yorkists 
 were slain, and Henry and Margaret were united 
 once more. Lord Montague discovered him alone 
 seated under a tree. Clifford galloped off to the 
 Queen to tell her the good news, and, bereft of kirtle 
 and veil and every sign of royalty, she rushed as she 
 was to where the King was awaiting her. He bade 
 her kneel before he embraced her, and gave her
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 285 
 
 then and there the knightly accolade, as well as to 
 his son, who had run as hard as he could after his 
 mother, and he also knighted sixty worthy, loyal 
 gentlemen. All entered the abbey church for Te Deum 
 and Benediction, and then the royal pair sought the 
 monastery for rest and food. Leaving Henry at his 
 devotions, and the Prince to cheer him, Margaret 
 again mounted her charger and marched straight on 
 London, where York's eldest son, Edward, Earl of 
 March, a lad of eighteen, had been proclaimed King 
 as Edward IV. Perhaps over-confident, and at all 
 events uncompromising in her intention to punish 
 the disloyal and rebel citizens, she failed to post her 
 army advantageously, although she had 60,000 men 
 against Warwick's 40,000. At Towton the fates 
 were once more against her, and she, with the King 
 and the Prince, fled for their lives to Newcastle, and 
 over the border to the friendly Court of the Queen 
 Regent, Margaret. Henry was established in royal 
 state at Kirkcudbright, and the Queen and Prince at 
 Dunfermline, and there the little fellow, just eight 
 years of age, was betrothed to the young King's 
 sister, Margaret. 
 
 Margaret was really happy in her new home, and, 
 resourceful as she was and never cast down, she 
 turned her attention to peaceful pursuits, and in par- 
 ticular interested herself in the local industry of 
 wool-weaving. She had seen her father's and her 
 mother's interest, in her happy days in Lorraine and 
 Anjou, in the craftsmen and craftswomen about 
 them, and her own skilful fingers had busied them- 
 selves in homely, peaceful avocations. Margaret 
 endeared herself to her Fifeshire friends, as she 
 usually did to all who were fortunate enough to be
 
 286 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 thrown into contact with her, and they sang of 
 
 her : 
 
 " God bless Margaret of Anjou, 
 For she taught Dunfermline how to sew." 
 
 It was said, too, of Margaret, that " if she had 
 not been destined to play the r6le of Bellona, she 
 would have glorified that of Minerva." The Earl of 
 March, to whom she never allowed the style of 
 Edward IV., was wont to repeat his quaint joke : 
 " Margaret is more to be feared when a fugitive 
 than all the leaders of Lancaster put together !" 
 
 On April 16, 1462, Queen Margaret bade adieu to 
 her consort at Kirkcudbright, and with her son and 
 suite, in four well-found Scottish galleys, set sail for 
 France. She landed at Ecluse in Brittany, after 
 more perils on the sea, and was cordially welcomed 
 by Duke Francis, who gave her 12,000 livres. 
 Thence she made straight to Chinon, of happy 
 memories, to interview King Louis, who had just 
 been crowned at Reims, upon the death of his father, 
 Charles VII. There she was folded in the loving 
 arms of her dear aunt, Queen Marie ; and what a 
 meeting that was for both royal ladies ! They had 
 not seen each other since that auspicious wedding- 
 day sixteen years before. Then they were both in 
 the heyday of prosperity ; now both were crushed by 
 Providence Marie flouted by her ill-conditioned, 
 jealous daughter-in-law, Charlotte de Savoy, now 
 Queen-consort of France, and Margaret a fugitive ! 
 
 Louis played a double game a cruel one indeed, 
 and insincere so far as Margaret was concerned. He 
 spoke to her fairly, but his mind was with the usurp- 
 ing King of England. Under one pretext or another 
 he delayed his reply to her plea for assistance, but at
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 287 
 
 length, in desperation, Margaret pledged Jersey with 
 him for 2,000 French bowmen. King Rene* was in 
 Provence, but, taking a hint from Louis that his 
 presence would be undesirable just then in Anjou, he 
 sent for his daughter to join him at Aix. This was 
 impossible ; for Margaret time was all too valuable, 
 and she set sail for Scotland on October 10. With 
 her went a few single-hearted knights, but of all the 
 hosts of admirers and loyal followers of sixteen years 
 before, only one of mark wore his badge of chivalry 
 consistently the gallant and accomplished Pierre de 
 Breze", a preux chevalier indeed, the forerunner of 
 Bay art, and like him " sans peur et sans reproche" 
 
 Again the elements were not only unpropitious, 
 but malevolent. Escaping the vigilance of Edward's 
 cruisers, and the rebel guns of Tynemouth, basely 
 trained upon their Queen, her ships were wrecked 
 on Holy Island. There 500 of her troops were 
 massacred, and Margaret and de Breze, and a very 
 meagre following, put to sea in a fisherman's open 
 boat which landed them on Bamborough sands. The 
 banner of Henry of Lancaster, once more raised 
 aloft by Margaret, magnet - like drew all the 
 northern counties, and in spite of Somerset's deser- 
 tion the Queen soon found herself at the head of 
 a formidable army, with the King beside her and the 
 Prince. Once more at Hexham fickle fortune failed 
 the intrepid Queen. Henry was again a captive, but 
 Margaret and Edward made good their escape over 
 the Scottish border. 
 
 How often, when human affairs appear most 
 desperate, and all hope and effort are thrown away, 
 help comes from some unexpected quarter ! So it 
 was in Queen Margaret's experience. There is a 
 
 19
 
 288 RENtf D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 romantic tale with respect to her flight from Hex- 
 ham's stricken field the story of the robber. 
 Whether one or more outlaws waylaid and robbed 
 the fugitives it matters not, but, stripped of every- 
 thing but the clothes they wore, Queen and Prince 
 were in dismal straits. Wonder of wonders ! a 
 messenger followed Margaret from no less a person 
 than the Duke of Burgundy, the inveterate enemy 
 of her house, the friend and ally of the English in 
 France. The message was in effect an invitation to 
 the Queen and Prince to Flanders the splendid 
 appanage of ducal Burgundy. Margaret's implacable 
 foes, the winds and seas, were waiting for their 
 prey, and nearly secured their quarry as she tossed 
 to and fro across the wild North Sea on her way to 
 meet Philippe. Landing on the Flemish coast on 
 July 31, when storm and tempest should never 
 have appeared, with utmost difficulty, the Queen 
 presented a sorry figure. No badge or symbol of 
 royalty marked her worn-out figure ; she was clad 
 meanly in a coarse short worsted skirt robette 
 without chemise or shawl, her stockings low down on 
 her heels, her hair dishevelled and unveiled. Who 
 could have recognized in that chastened traveller 
 " the loveliest woman in Christendom "? 
 
 True to his loyal devotion, Sieur Pierre de Breze 
 was with his Queen poor as herself, he had, he 
 said, " spent 50,000 crowns for nothing" and a 
 faithful valet, Louis Carbonelle, and no more than 
 seven women-dresses. At once the Duke was 
 apprised of Margaret's coming ; but, being on a 
 pilgrimage to Our Lady of Boulogne, he sent his 
 apologies by Philippe Pot, Seigneur de la Roche 
 and a Knight of the Golden Fleece, bidding the
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 289 
 
 Queen welcome, and saying that he would present 
 his homage to her shortly if she would proceed direct 
 to Bruges. 
 
 That progress was a nightmare, an " Inferno," a 
 masquerade what you will : the Queen of England 
 clad in rags, her hair untired, seated in a common 
 country bullock-cart, drawn by a pair of sorry steeds, 
 mocked all the way along as " Une Merrie Moll" 
 " Une Naufrage'e !" " Une Sorciere de Vent!" The 
 Comte de Charolois, heir to the duchy, met her 
 Majesty at the digue, saluted her with all reverence, 
 and conducted her to the Castle of St. Pol. On the 
 morrow the Duke of Burgundy arrived, and at once 
 went to the Queen's lodgings to pay his homage. 
 Right in the middle of the street, where Margaret 
 stood to greet him, with a courtly bow he swept the 
 ground with the drooping plume of his berretta, 
 whilst the Queen curtsied in her abbreviated gown 
 twice majestically. Never was there a finer piece of 
 royal burlesque enacted! 
 
 Margaret caught the Duke by the arm as he was 
 about to give the kiss of etiquette. " Thanks, my 
 cousin," she said ; " now I am, perhaps, in no fit 
 mind for compliments. I seek your aid for Henry 
 and our son, and I beseech you, by the love of Our 
 Lady, not to credit the abominable tales which have 
 been circulated touching me." The Duke did not 
 commit himself, but generously gave his " sweet 
 cousin" 2,000 golden crowns, wherewith "to fit 
 your Majesty with proper raiment," he said, and a 
 fine diamond to wear for him. The next day the 
 Duchess of Bourbon, Philippe's sister, visited Queen 
 Margaret, and in her she found a sincere and 
 sympathizing confidante. She set before the Duchess
 
 290 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 all the sad facts of her impoverished condition, and 
 told her all about the hardships she and her spouse 
 and son had met with in England. " We were 
 reduced," she said, " on one occasion to one herring 
 among three, and not more bread than would suffice 
 for five days' nourishment." She went on to say 
 that once at Mass, at Dunfermline, she had no coin 
 for the offertory, and she asked an archer of the 
 King of Scotland, kneeling near her, for a farthing, 
 which he most reluctantly gave her. 
 
 " Alas !" replied the weeping Duchess, " no Queen 
 save your Majesty has been so hardly dealt with by 
 Providence ; but now we must offer you, sweet cousin, 
 some consolation for your sufferings." One more 
 affecting speech of the heroic Queen must be recorded. 
 " When on the day of my espousal," she said, " I 
 gathered the rose of England, I was quite well aware 
 that I should have to wear it whole with all its 
 thorns !" 
 
 The Duchess, true to her word, organized splendid 
 ftes at the Castle of St. Pol in honour of the royal 
 refugees, and Margaret, now attired as became her 
 lofty station, put on one side her cruel anxieties, and 
 yielded herself to the pleasures and humours of the 
 festivities. They put her in mind of the gay tourna- 
 ments in her happy home the Court of her good 
 father, King Rene". 
 
 Henry was all the while a prisoner in the Tower, 
 and Margaret's tender heart bled on his account. 
 She for the moment was without resources, and she 
 had to bide her time. She knew that that time would 
 come, and never for a moment did she lend herself to 
 unprofitable despair. The Duke stood by her, a friend 
 in need, and bestowed both money and an escort upon
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 291 
 
 his royal visitor. In the spring of 1463 she and the 
 Prince were welcomed in Bar-le-Duc by King Rene 
 and his Court, though it cost Margaret a pang to see 
 her one-time Maid of Honour, Jehanne de Laval, in 
 her dear mother's place. 
 
 Six months passed all too swiftly under the hos- 
 pitable roofs of her brother Jean, Duke of Calabria, 
 and now actual Duke of Lorraine as well, and of 
 her sister Yolande, Countess of Vaudemont. Then 
 widowed Queen Marie sent an urgent summons for 
 her favourite niece to pay her a visit at Amboise in 
 Touraine, and there most happily Margaret forgot her 
 troubles, and looked more hopefully than ever to the 
 future. 
 
 King Rene's affairs were in hopeless confusion, and 
 his interests and resources were drained by his son's 
 campaign in Italy. He could offer nothing but a 
 loving father's whole-hearted love and protection to his 
 unfortunate daughter and his little grandson, the 
 pride and joy of his life. He breathed out his deep 
 feelings in two elegant canticles eloquent of Mar- 
 garet's woes. His example set all the poets singing 
 sweetly of the Lancastrian Queen ; her beauty and 
 her accomplishments, her troubles and her fortitude, 
 appealed to them mightily. They sought, too, to 
 cheer the riven soul of their liege lord and poet leader : 
 
 " Rouse thee, King Rene ! rouse thee, good Rene ! 
 
 Let not sorrow all thy spirits beguile. 
 Thy dear daughter, brave spouse of King Henry, 
 Tho' sadly she wept still she coaxes a smile." 
 
 All that Rene was able to do for his royal daughter 
 was to establish her and her son at his castle of 
 Kuerere, near St. Mihil's by Verdun in Lorraine, 
 with 2,000 Hvres to carry on the education of the
 
 292 REN D^ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Prince. Sir John Fortescue, a soldier of fortune, 
 was appointed his tutor. He was a devoted adherent 
 of the Red Rose. " We are," he wrote, " reduced to 
 great poverty, and the Queen with difficulty sus- 
 taineth us in meat and drink." 
 
 Louis XI., who had refused to have anything to do 
 with his unfortunate cousin, Queen Margaret, at last 
 agreed to meet her at Tours in December, 1469, and 
 with her he invited King Rene ; Jean, Duke of 
 Calabria and Lorraine ; and her sister Yolande, with 
 her husband, Ferri, Count of Vaudemont, " to con- 
 sider," as he put it, " what may or may not be done." 
 Louis treated Margaret with scant ceremony. Whilst 
 discussions were going on, startling news came from 
 England which very much altered the situation. The 
 North and Midlands had again risen against Edward, 
 and Warwick had gone over to the Lancastrians. 
 Edward was a prisoner at Middleham Castle, and 
 Warwick was virtually King of England ! The 
 diversion was, however, of short duration, for in a 
 few weeks Edward managed to escape. And now it 
 was Warwick's turn to fly. He sought the French 
 Court, and confided in Louis, who, sinister and 
 scheming as he was always, saw a way to help 
 Margaret and still be on the winning side. The 
 King proposed an interview between the Queen and 
 the Earl, with a view to a reconciliation. Margaret 
 rejected indignantly the proposal. " The Earl of 
 Warwick," she exclaimed, " has pierced my heart 
 with wounds that can never be healed. They will 
 bleed till the Day of Judgment. He hath done 
 things which I can never forgive." 
 
 The King was, however, determined that his idea 
 of a rapprochement between the Lancastrians and
 
 s
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 293 
 
 the wing of the Yorkists who looked to Warwick for 
 light and leading should be realized, and he urged his 
 view so emphatically upon Margaret that at last she 
 agreed to meet Warwick, but upon one condition : 
 that " he shall unsay before your Majesty and the 
 King of Sicily, my father, all that he has foully 
 uttered about me and the Prince, and shall swear to 
 repeat the same at Paul's Cross in London later." 
 
 Warwick, to the amazement of Louis, agreed to this 
 condition, and forthwith presented himself most 
 humbly to the Queen upon his knees. Swordless, 
 gloveless, and uncovered, he sought pardon for his 
 evil conduct, and prayed her to accept him as her true 
 henchman and devoted lieutenant. Margaret seemed 
 stunned by this extraordinary volte-face, and kept the 
 Earl upon his knees quite a long time before she 
 vouchsafed a reply. At last she extended her hand 
 for him to kiss, and he, further, servilely kissed the fur 
 hem of her robe. Then he laid his plans before the 
 august company for releasing the King and placing 
 him once more upon his throne. He next called on 
 King Louis and King Rene to stand surety for the 
 performance of his purpose. He said he could com- 
 mand immediately 50,000 men to fight under his 
 orders, and he craved the presence of the Queen in 
 the saddle by his side. 
 
 With Warwick was the Earl of Oxford and other 
 leaders of his party, who all knelt in homage to the 
 Queen and craved her clemency. To Oxford she at 
 once extended her hand. " Your pardon, my lord," 
 she said, " is right easy. What wrongs you have done 
 me are cancelled by what you have borne for King 
 Henry." The conference at Tours was adjourned, 
 and resumed at the Castle of Angers ; and then
 
 294 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Louis had another startling proposition to lay before 
 Queen Margaret : no less than the betrothal of Prince 
 Edward, now a well-grown and handsome lad of 
 seventeen, to the Earl of Warwick's daughter 
 Anne ! Margaret flared up at once. " Impossible !" 
 she said. " What ! will he indeed give his daughter 
 to my royal son, whom he has so often branded as 
 the offspring of adultery or fraud ! By God's name, 
 that can never be !" 
 
 For a whole fortnight Margaret stood her ground. 
 She could not agree to this extraordinary proposal ; 
 but then the peaceful, fatherly insistence of Rene 
 caused her to relent, but not before she roundly rated 
 her good sire for his pusillanimity and too ready 
 credence. Meanwhile the Countess of Warwick and 
 her daughter had arrived at Amboise, and had been 
 most ostentatiously received by King Louis. Then 
 happened, by happy coincidence, an event vastly 
 important to the King of France the birth of an 
 heir. Queen Charlotte was delivered of a son, the 
 future Charles VIII., on June 30. Nothing would 
 content the King but Prince Edward and Anne 
 Neville must be among the child's sponsors. At the 
 same time, to influence Queen Margaret, Warwick, at 
 Louis's suggestion, made a solemn asseveration in the 
 cathedral church of Angers : " Upon this fragment of 
 the True Cross I promise to be true to King Henry VI. 
 of England ; to Queen Margaret, his spouse ; and to 
 the Prince of Wales, his true and only son ; and to go 
 back at once to England, raise 50,000 men, and 
 restore the King to his honours." Louis gave him 
 46,000 gold crowns and 2,000 French archers, and at 
 the same time asked Queen Margaret to accept the 
 charge of his young daughter Anne whilst he was 
 away.
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 295 
 
 Margaret could not stand out any longer, and so, 
 immediately after the baptismal ceremony, where 
 she herself held her little royal nephew at the font, 
 Edward, Prince of Wales, and Anne Neville were 
 betrothed with gorgeous ceremonial in the Chapel of 
 St. Florentin, within the Castle of Amboise, in the 
 presence of nearly all the Sovereigns of France and 
 their Courts. 
 
 " The Prince," so said the chroniclers, " is one of the 
 handsomest and most accomplished Princes in Europe, 
 tall, fair like his mother, and with her soft voice and 
 courteous carriage, was well pleased with his pretty 
 and sprightly fiancee." People sought to belittle the 
 match, and called it a mesalliance; but the bride's 
 great-grandmother was Joanna Beaufort, daughter 
 of Prince John of Ghent, Edward III.'s third son. 
 She married the Earl of Westmoreland. In Queen 
 Margaret's estimation, what certainly did weigh 
 very considerably was the fact that her daughter-in- 
 law-to-be was one of the wealthiest heiresses in 
 England. The august company went on to Angers 
 after the double ceremony, at the desire of Queen 
 Margaret, who insisted that a Prince of Wales could 
 only be married in his ancestral dominions. She 
 cited the intention of King Rene to leave to her and 
 her heirs the duchy of Anjou, and so she claimed 
 it as already English territory. Louis acceded to 
 her whim. He could afford to wait and watch the 
 course of events. The marriage of Prince Edward 
 and the Lady Anne was consequently solemnized, on 
 August 15, in the Cathedral of St. Maurice, which 
 had witnessed so many royal functions. 
 
 The Earl of Warwick, accompanied by the Duke 
 of Clarence, grandson of King Henry IV., departed
 
 296 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 immediately for England, to make good his brave 
 words and prove his loyalty. His proclamation in 
 favour of Henry, Margaret, and Edward, produced 
 an immense sensation, and in a couple of days he 
 found himself in command of 70,000 men, all crying, 
 " A Henry ! A Henry I" Edward IV. immediately 
 left the capital and sought the friendly shores of 
 Holland, and Warwick was, without a blow being 
 struck, master of the kingdom. His first step was 
 to send the Bishop of Winchester to the Tower, to 
 clothe King Henry in regal robes, and conduct him 
 with the Sovereign's escort to the Palace of West- 
 minster. On October 1 3 the King went to St. Paul's, 
 wearing once more his crown. Louis ordered Te 
 Deum to be sung in every church in France, and 
 went in person to the Castle of Saumur to salute 
 Queen Margaret. Early in November the Queen, 
 with the Prince and Princess of Wales and a very 
 distinguished following, set out for Paris, on their 
 way to London. Every town through which the 
 royal cortege passed was gaily decorated, and the 
 hearty plaudits of the thronging inhabitants were 
 mingled with the joy peals of all the bells. 
 
 Harfleur once more was fixed upon as the port 
 of passage, and once more the Channel churned and 
 a tempest fell upon the royal flotilla. Nobody has 
 been able to explain why Margaret of England was 
 so persistently persecuted by the divinities of the 
 weather. Twice they put back to port, and then, 
 after tossing about for sixteen whole days and nights, 
 they made Weymouth, a passage ordinarily of no 
 more than as many hours, and landed on April 13. 
 That day was indeed ill-omened for the cause Queen 
 Margaret had at heart, and for which she had suffered
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 297 
 
 such appalling vicissitudes. The Battle of Barnet 
 was fought and lost ; Warwick was killed, and King 
 Henry was again a prisoner. Verily, Queen Mar- 
 garet's star was a blaze of disasters ! 
 
 The terrible news staggered the courageous Queen ; 
 she swooned, but soon recovered her usual equanimity, 
 although out of the bitterness of her soul she sobbed : 
 " Better die right out, methinks, than exist so in- 
 securely !" She appeared to have no plan of action, 
 for such a disaster seemed to be impossible ; so, to 
 gain time for thought and effort, she moved herself 
 and those she loved into the safe sanctuary of Beaulieu 
 Abbey. There Somerset and many other notable 
 fugitives forgathered. To them she counselled retreat 
 " Till Providence," she said, " ordereth better luck." 
 The Prince now for the first time asserted himself, 
 and, with his mother's daring, gave an emphatic " No." 
 At Bath a goodly array of soldiers rallied to the 
 royal standard, and Margaret determined to cross the 
 Severn and join her forces to Jasper Tudor 's army 
 of sturdy loyal Welshmen. The Duke of Gloucester 
 opposed her advance, and so she turned aside to 
 Tewkesbury, and there encamped. 
 
 The morrow (May 4, 1471) was to be the darkest 
 in all the chequered career of Margaret of Anjou 
 and England. Sweet Pentecost though it was, the 
 spirit of comfort belied, failed the fated Queen once 
 more. With early dawn fell aslant the springtide 
 sunbeams a rain of feathered hail. Battle was joined, 
 each man at his post save one, the perjured Lord 
 Wenlock. His command, in the centre of Queen 
 Margaret's forces, lacked its leader, and Somerset 
 rode off to find him. At a low brothel he discovered 
 the miscreant drinking with and fondling loose
 
 298 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 wenches. " Traitor !" cried the Duke ; " die, thou 
 scoundrel !" And he clove his head in two. This 
 defection caused irretrievable disaster ; still, the 
 Prince of Wales did prodigies of valour, and so did 
 many more ; but he was felled from his horse, and 
 the " Hope of England " was lead captive to 
 victorious Edward's tent. Received with every 
 mark of discourtesy, the heart of the chivalrous 
 young Prince must have quailed as he stood before 
 the arch-enemy of his house, but he had very little 
 time for reflection. 
 
 " How durst thou, changeling, presumptuously 
 enter my dominions with banners displayed against 
 me ?" demanded Edward. 
 
 " To recover my father's crown, the heritage of 
 my ancestors," bravely replied the Prince. 
 
 " Speakest thou thus to me, thou upstart ! See, 
 I smite thee on thy bastard mouth !" roughly ex- 
 claimed the conqueror, and with that he demeaned 
 himself and the crown he fought for by cowardly 
 and savagely striking with his mailed fist the unsus- 
 pecting and unarmed Prince. This treacherous blow 
 was the signal to the titled scoundrels standing by 
 for a murderous attack upon the Prince of Wales. 
 He fell crying fearlessly : " A Henry ! A Henry !" 
 pierced by many daggers. It was a dark deed and 
 dastardly ; its stain no course of years will ever cleanse, 
 and Edward IV. is for all time " Bloody Edward." 
 
 Queen Margaret, seeing the hopelessness of the 
 conflict, and fearing the worst had happened to the 
 Prince, for he never came to cheer her, took the 
 Princess and fled to a convent hard by the battle- 
 field, and there lay concealed. Edward, yielding to 
 the base instincts of a cruel nature, very soon got
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 299 
 
 news of Margaret's hiding-place, and with a demoni- 
 acal scowl, " Ah, ah !" he cried out, " we've settled 
 the cub ; now for the she-wolf!" 
 
 The Queen was dragged from her hiding-place, 
 and borne to Edward's quarters, where, like the 
 brute he was, he reviled and insulted her. 
 
 " Slay me, thou bloodthirsty wretch, if thou wilt ! 
 I care not for death at thy desecrating hands ! May 
 God strike thee, as He will !" she exclaimed. 
 
 Margaret was sent to the Tower, but not to her 
 husband ; they were kept apart, and the Princess of 
 Wales was delivered over to the care of her uncle, the 
 Archbishop of York. But even so Edward's malice 
 was not exhausted. The Queen was conducted with- 
 out honour, or even decency, in the suite of Edward 
 on his return to the capital. At Coventry, of all 
 places for further outrage, a place so greatly agree- 
 able to Henry and herself, ill-fated Margaret was 
 subjected to personal insults from her vanquisher. 
 In reply she reviled him, and thrust him with abhor- 
 rence from her. In revenge he ordered her to be 
 fastened upon a common sumpter horse, and he 
 ordered a placard to be placed on her breast, 
 " This is Queen Margaret, good lieges," and her 
 hands were tied behind her back. Thus was the 
 most valiant, most unselfish, and most loyal Queen 
 that England ever had led to grace the mock 
 triumph of a royal murderer. She was thrust into 
 the foulest dungeon of the grim Tower, and there 
 remained, bereft of food, of service, and wellnigh of 
 reason, too, for seven dreary, weary months. 
 
 The day after her incarceration King Henry's 
 dead body was discovered in his cell. Gloucester, 
 it was said, had killed him ; but Edward was, if
 
 300 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 not the actual murderer, privy to the deed. Queen 
 Margaret, hearing in her dark, foul den the heavy 
 tramp of men-at-arms, scrambled up to the bars 
 of her little window, and beheld, what probably 
 Edward meant she should, the corpse of her slaugh- 
 tered husband borne past for burial. No ceremony 
 of any kind accompanied that mournful passing. At 
 St. Paul's, Henry's body was exposed in a chapel 
 of the crypt, and then it found merciful sepulture in 
 the God's-acre at Chertsey Abbey. 
 
 That her beloved son, her one and only hope, 
 was dead as well, heart-broken Margaret gathered 
 amid ribald blasphemies of the intoxicated soldiery as 
 she was borne to London in that " Triumph." Now 
 was she bereft indeed, and nothing seemed so desir- 
 able as death ; indeed, she resigned herself, and pre- 
 pared herself for execution at any moment, at any 
 savage hint of her consort's supplanter on England's 
 throne accursed Edward ! It was, however, not to 
 be supposed that King Louis of France or King 
 Rene* of Sicily- Anjou should silently condone the 
 unhalting cruelty of a bloodthirsty monarch, especially 
 when the person and the honour of a French Princess 
 were at stake. 
 
 III. 
 
 Efforts were made, more or less feeble, for the 
 delivery of the incarcerated Queen by Louis, fearful 
 of offence to the Yorkist King, and by Rene", who 
 had no resources with which to back up his appeal. 
 Anyhow, Margaret was, at the Christmas following 
 the fatal battle, released from durance vile, and con- 
 signed to the care of the Duchess-Dowager of 
 Somerset, one of her earliest friends, and went to
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 301 
 
 live under her wing at Wallingford. Edward made 
 her the beggarly grant of 5 marks weekly for the 
 support of herself and two maid-servants ! There 
 Margaret remained for five years, each one more 
 intolerable than its predecessor. 
 
 At the Peace of Picquigny, August 29, 1475, 
 between Louis and Edward, the latter agreed to 
 accept a ransom of 50,000 gold crowns for the 
 widowed Queen. This compact was not an act of 
 grace on the part of Louis so much as a quid pro 
 quo. He insisted upon Rene ceding Provence to the 
 crown of France, upon his death, by way of payment 
 of the ransom. Still, in this matter Edward was as 
 good as his bond, and directly the first instalment of 
 the amount was paid in London to John Howard, 
 Edward's Treasurer, Margaret was conducted to Sand- 
 wich, not without indignity, and placed upon a 
 common fishing-boat. Landing at Dieppe, January 
 14, 1476, she was taken on to Rouen, where she 
 received the following affecting letter from her 
 sorrowing father, King Ren6 : 
 
 " Ma fille, que Dieu vous assiste dans vos conseils, 
 car cest rarement des hommes gu'il faut en attendre 
 dans les revers de fortune. Lorsque vous desirierez 
 moins ressentir vos peines, pensez aux miennes ; elles 
 sont grandes, mafille, et pourtant je vous console."* 
 
 True enough, the troubles and reverses of King 
 Ren6 were more than fall to the lot of most men of 
 high culture and degree ; but what of Queen Margaret's 
 
 * " My child, may God assist thee in thy counsels, for rarely do 
 men render help in times of fortune's reverses. When you desire 
 to resent your trials the least, think of mine ; they are great, my 
 child, and therefore I wish to console you."
 
 302 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 shipwreck ? For nearly thirty years she had endured 
 experiences which had tried no other Queen half so 
 hardly ; and all the while she had set a unique 
 example of devotion, loyalty, courage, and endurance, 
 unexampled in history. There never was a truer 
 wife, a more self-sacrificing mother, a more intrepid 
 and a nobler Queen, than Margaret of Anjou. 
 
 From Rouen the Queen sent a message to King 
 Louis, desiring to see him ; but he, knowing well her 
 desperate case, and seeing no likelihood of profit 
 accruing to himself, coward-like, evaded an interview. 
 His miserable aunt might forage for herself, for all 
 he cared, and go where she listed, but not to Paris 
 nor Amboise. With bent head and slow feet, the 
 great heroine of the Wars of the Roses, broken like 
 a pitcher at a fountain, took her lonely way no more 
 in gallant cavalcade, but almost in funereal cortege, 
 to Anjou and Angers the cradle of her race. 
 
 At Reculee father and daughter once more 
 embraced each other. Alas, what a sorrowful meet- 
 ing that was, and how mixed their feelings ! 
 Margaret's filial duty conquered the reproaches she 
 had prepared, and Rene"s tears and silence spoke 
 more loudly than words of regret could do. Provi- 
 dence had been cruel to them both. Rene" loved 
 Reculee for its peace and solitude, and there Margaret 
 should repose awhile and recover mind and body. 
 No prettier resort was there in all Anjou than the 
 Maison de Reculee " Reculee " Rene named it, a 
 place of " recoil " from the buffetings of fate. He 
 had purchased the estate, in 1465, from one Colin, an 
 Angers butcher, for 300 ecus d'or, and had greatly 
 enjoyed laying out the estate and erecting a bijou 
 residence. His paintings and his sculptures, his
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 303 
 
 books, his music scores, his miniatures, and all his 
 artistic hobbies, he lavished there for himself and fair 
 Queen Jehanne. They often dropped down the 
 Maine in a pleasure barge, and landed in the sedges, 
 full of warblers and wild life. Reculee was but a 
 league or two from Angers. Hard by the manoir 
 was the sheltered and picturesque hermitage of La 
 Baumette, a shrine of St. Baume, patroness of 
 Provence, and hither Rene and Margaret resorted 
 daily for prayer and meditation. 
 
 Margaret's home-coming was sad enough, but her 
 demeanour was rather that of defiance than of 
 patience. Her pride had been laid low by her suffer- 
 ings and ill-treatment, but not slain ; and when she 
 heard of the treachery and chicanery of the King of 
 France in entering Angers in force, and proclaiming 
 himself Sovereign of Anjou, her scorn knew no 
 bounds, and she chided her father for his pusillanimity, 
 and reproached him for his dilettante life. His 
 sedentary pleasures and his artistic tastes bored her 
 cruelly ; she despised his peaceful handiwork, and 
 craved his strong arm once more in the fight. If 
 England was lost to her, Anjou and Provence should 
 not be ; this was her grim determination, and she 
 roused herself for action and foray. Like a lioness at 
 bay, she fought out to a finish strenuously her troubled 
 life, away from stricken fields and gruesome dungeons. 
 Rene felt his daughter's strictures more acutely than 
 he said ; indeed, they fell like blows of sharp poniards 
 upon his wounded heart. The deaths of all his near 
 relatives, sons and daughters, and his son-in-law, 
 Ferri de Vaudemont, saddening as they were, were 
 as nothing to the vituperations of Margaret now 
 almost a frenzied recluse. King Rene sank at last, 
 
 20
 
 304 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 wearied, heart-broken, yet trustful in his God, into 
 his mortal resting-place, and Queen Margaret retired 
 to the Castle of Dampiere, near Saumur, the modest 
 manoir of a devoted servant of her father's house, 
 the Sieur Franois de la Vignolles, of Moraens, to 
 end her dire days of woe. 
 
 Her father left her what he could, impoverished 
 as he was : 1,000 gold crowns and the Castle of 
 Queniez an inconsiderable estate between Angers 
 and Saumur. Rene* wrote to Louis a few months 
 before his death, commending Margaret to his care 
 and charity, and this is how the King of France 
 executed the trust, so characteristic of his greed and 
 cunning. He negotiated with Margaret the sale of 
 her reversionary rights in Lorraine, Anjou, Maine, 
 Provence, and Barrois, for an annual income of 
 600 livres. The deed was executed at Reculee, 
 November 19, 1480, but Louis never paid the 
 annuity ! One purpose Margaret had in view in this 
 arrangement was the recovery of the bodies of her 
 husband and son, that she might give them decent 
 burial. Edward IV. would not allow this seemly 
 duty, and the bones of the illustrious dead were left 
 dishonoured and unnoted. 
 
 Margaret's nature would not allow of comfort. 
 She was devoured with regret and consumed by 
 revenge ; she spent the last two years of her stormy 
 life in fretting and fuming over the disasters of her 
 family. Her whole appearance and her manner 
 changed. No longer lovely, as when she stepped on 
 England's inhospitable shore, she became shrunk, 
 aged, and pallid. The ravenings of her spirit had 
 indeed transformed her into the "grim grey wolf of 
 Anjou." She became leprous and hideous " the
 
 MARGUERITE D'ANJOU 305 
 
 most hideous Princess in Europe," one might write. 
 Gently but firmly she had to be restrained, lest she 
 should do herself some harm and injure others. 
 Alas ! Margaret of Anjou came to her death, not in 
 the halo of sanctity, but in the mist of mental 
 obscurity, and thus she died alone perhaps un- 
 lamented, and certainly misjudged by posterity. 
 Near her end languor and paralysis seized her, and 
 she passed away unconsciously on August 25, 1482. 
 
 Above the chief portal of his castle De la Vignolles 
 put up this epitaph : 
 
 " In the year 1480 Margaret of Anjou and Queen 
 of England, daughter of Rene, King of Naples, Sicily, 
 and Jerusalem, forced to abandon her kingdom after 
 having courageously borne herself in a great number 
 of encounters and in twelve pitched battles, deprived 
 of the rights of her family, spoiled of all her posses- 
 sions, without means of support and without help, 
 found a resting-place in this manoir, the home of 
 Fran9ois de la Vignolles, an old and faithful servant 
 of her father. She died here August 25, 1482, aged 
 no more than fifty-three years. Upon whose soul 
 may Christ Jesus have pity." 
 
 All that remained of this remarkable woman was 
 interred without ceremony in the Cathedral of 
 Angers. She was laid, it was said, by her father's 
 side, but no inscription, no mark of any kind, records 
 the fact. No one knows exactly where to bow the 
 head in reverence and bend the knee in homage to the 
 memory of Great Queen Margaret. In a very few 
 words, however, are summed up in the " Paston 
 Letters," No. 275, the character of Margaret 
 d' Anjou : " The Queen is a grete and stronge 
 laborid woman, for she spareth noo peyne to save 
 hir things."
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL " THE LADY OF THE CREST " 
 
 I. 
 
 THERE are roses at Christmas as well as at mid- 
 summer, and although the pale single blossoms of the 
 winter festival have not the fragrance of the floral 
 queens of the month of Mary, they are roses all the 
 same. All roses, though, have thorns, or their petals 
 are crinkled and their leaves torn. In the Temple 
 Gardens, as the story goes, once on a time two rival 
 warriors met, and plucked, one a white, and one a red, 
 rose from the bushes. They stuck them in their 
 caps, and so carried them to battle, fierce and long 
 the deadly Wars of the Roses. The story of the 
 rose heroine of those troubled scenes, the intrepid 
 Queen Margaret, we have learnt ; now we must read 
 the narrative of another Queen of Roses, La Demoi- 
 selle Jehanne de Laval, and of her nigh fifty -years- 
 old bridegroom, le bon Roy Rene, a Christmas rose. 
 
 " May and December " we call such nuptials. But 
 never mind. The monarch and the maid went very 
 well together, and for them literally came true, "Roses, 
 roses, all the way." He the great red standard rose 
 of Provence, she the nestling, creeping, sweet wild- 
 rose of Laval, mingled their renown and charm for 
 the pleasure of all ages. 
 
 306
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 
 
 From a Painting by King Rene, finished by Nicholas de Froment (1475-76) 
 at Aix Cathedral 
 
 To face page 306
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 307 
 
 Jehanne, or Jeanne, de Laval, "a very beautiful 
 woman and superbly dressed " this is a succinct and 
 alluring description of one of the most fascinating 
 beauties, as lovely in mind as in body, be it said, 
 who ever took her gracious path across the pages of 
 sentimental biography. Born at the Castle of Auray, 
 of which now not a stone is standing, in Brittany, 
 overlooking the tempestuous Atlantic and the Druid 
 fable-land of Carnac-Locmariaker, on November 10, 
 1433, Jehanne was the fifth child of Guy XIII., 
 Count of Laval, and his wife, Isabelle de Bretagne, 
 whose father was Jean VI., Duke of Brittany, 
 and mother Princess Joanna of France, sister of 
 Charles VII. The House of Laval was very famous 
 in the annals of mediaeval France, and linked by 
 auspicious marriages to all the Sovereign Princes of 
 the land. The first Count was a Baron of Charle- 
 magne a " Guy," the unalterable prenominate of all 
 the line. Their castle was founded by that King of 
 romance and chivalry, King Arthur, and each succeed- 
 ing occupant made good his claim to the gilded spurs 
 of knighthood either on a stricken field or in a 
 crusade to Palestine ; they were war-lords all. Laval 
 was their principal stronghold, midway between 
 Kennes and Le Mans, where the machicolated 
 donjon of the Seigneurs of La Tre"mouille, upon its 
 isolated rock, dominates the smiling countryside. 
 
 The full title of the lordly Guys was Counts of 
 Laval, Vitre, Gaure, and Montfort all in Brittany. 
 Count Guy XIII. had ten children by his consort 
 Isabelle : Guy, who succeeded him as Guy XIV. ; 
 Pierre, Duke and Archbishop of Reims ; Yolande, 
 sponsored by Queen Yolande of Sicily-Anjou, and 
 twice married, last to Charles of Anjou, King Rene's
 
 308 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 brother ; Fran9oise, who only survived her birth 
 fourteen days ; Jehanne, or Jeanne ; Anne, died in 
 infancy ; Artuse, who died unmarried at Marseilles 
 in 1467 ; Helene, wife of Jehan de Malestroit, son of 
 the Bishop of Nantes by his mistress, Isabel Kaer ; 
 and Louise, who married Edward, Count of Pen- 
 thievre. Guy XIII., inconsolable for the loss of the 
 mother of his children, sought comfort in another 
 matrimonial venture, and for his second wife took 
 Frangoise, daughter of Jacques de Dinan, Seigneur 
 of Chateaubriant and Grand Butler at the Court of 
 King Charles VI. She bore him three children, 
 Pierre, Fra^ois, and Jacques, so Jehanne was a 
 member of a large and, we may presume, a happy 
 family. Little Jehanne was baptized in the Audience 
 Hall of the Castle of Auray by Amaury de la Motte, 
 Bishop of Vannes. 
 
 There is rarely very much to record of the early 
 years of any girl's life, and Jehanne de Laval was no 
 exception. A maiden was only made conspicuous by 
 an early betrothal, and for that her parents worked 
 assiduously. Jehanne was an exception to the rule 
 of precocious marriages, for no one appears to have 
 claimed her hand and heart until she was past her 
 majority, and suitors probably regarded her as a 
 negligible quantity. Jehanne, however, was not 
 wanting in her entree upon the world of men and 
 manners, and we make her acquaintance when not 
 more than fourteen years of age, as she comes forward 
 curvetting upon a blanche haguene'c at a royal 
 tournament. 
 
 This was King Rene's Anjou tournament, famous, 
 with those in Lorraine and Provence, as the most 
 brilliant ever seen in France. The " Lists" in the
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 309 
 
 Anjou tournament were held in turn at Angers, 
 Chinon, and Saumur, and it was at the latter gather- 
 ing of chivalry, in 1446, that every knight and squire, 
 every dame and damsel, turned in amazement as they 
 beheld " a very young girl of most graceful shape 
 and bearing, covered with a thin veil, and wearing 
 silken garments sparkling with precious stones, riding 
 most easily up to the tribune of honour." The 
 colours of her habit were blue and white blue, as 
 tender as her eyes ; white, fair as her skin. The 
 reins and crupper of her palfrey were decked with 
 ribbons, blue and white, and he bore nodding feathers 
 upon his head-piece. At each side walked her 
 brothers Guy and Pierre, decked, too, in Laval 
 colours, the most good-looking and best dressed of 
 all the pages, holding the horse's snaffle. By way of 
 suite there rode behind Jehanne de Laval, for such 
 was the beauteous maiden's name, four maids of 
 honour, each one a comely feature of a picture 
 pageant. Amid exclamations of admiration and 
 most pleasant greetings, the charming cavalcade de- 
 scribed the circuit of the festival ground, and then its 
 " Queen " leaped lightly to her feet, and, advancing 
 to the royal stand, made curtsies to the Queens of 
 Sicily and France, and to Charles and Rene", their 
 royal consorts. 
 
 Young knights and old came flocking round the 
 " Fairy Queen/' and she, naive and winsome, cast 
 furtive glances here and there, until her bonnie blue 
 eyes fastened themselves upon the young Count of 
 Nevers, and he delightedly stepped forth to cavalier 
 her to her seat amid the throng of beauty and fair 
 fame upon the ladies' seats of honour. He was still 
 a parti in spite of his rejection as suitor for the hand
 
 of Princess Margaret, and his handsome looks and 
 gallant bearing stood him in good stead where 
 amorous maidens forgathered. King Rene, ever 
 susceptible to female charms, both of mind and body, 
 did not behold the fair Demoiselle de Laval un- 
 moved ; he had a tender spot in his great loving 
 heart for any attractive damsel ; what healthy- 
 minded man has not ? He could not know that that 
 pretty, clever hand, which so skilfully managed her 
 curvetting cob, would one day take his in hers for 
 better, and not for worse ! 
 
 The coming of young Jehanne de Laval to the 
 tournament at Saumur provided the sensation of the 
 day's exploits. The highest honour, which the 
 assembled knights before the encounters in the 
 " Lists " began could confer, was hers by universal 
 acclamation. She was to be the lady bearer of the 
 champion's crest, and, as " Queen of Queens," to 
 affix the coveted guerdon of victory upon the helm 
 of the most successful knight. This election was 
 preceded by a characteristic observance, true to the 
 pure spirit of chivalry. Each knight had to kneel 
 before an altar for the blessing of his weapons, and 
 for the mental registration of his suffrage for the 
 " Queen." She was " the lady of his thought." So, 
 certainly, the beauteous apparition of the young 
 daughter of Guy de Laval caused many a misgiving 
 in the hearts of gallant men. The " Lady " each had 
 chosen none divulged by name, but, all the same, 
 Cupid had done so to the ears of curious friends 
 and foes. The wholesale desertion of their chosen 
 divinities might very well account for hard looks and 
 frowns from emulous maidens : all we know, is not 
 gold that glitters 1
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 311 
 
 The precious gage d' amour et de guerre, the 
 champion's crest, took the form of a small gold 
 crown, heavily jewelled, from which sprang, retained 
 by wires of gold, three pure white curled feathers of 
 the crested heron. It was awarded to the knight 
 whose bearing in the " Lists " had been the most 
 gallant, and whose victories over adversaries had 
 been most effective, and who had thereby gained the 
 unanimous votes of the tournament judges. Other 
 prizes there were of scarcely less distinction : the 
 first, a golden lance in miniature, to the knight who ad- 
 ministered the most brilliant blow and in the shortest 
 time ; the second, a rich ruby valued at 1,000 ecus 
 d'or, for mounting in his helm, for the breaker of 
 the most lances ; and the third, a pure diamond of a 
 similar value, for him who lasted out the longest 
 before being vanquished by his opponent's lance. 
 
 The " Bringing in the Champion's Crest" was a 
 remarkably pretty ceremony. The " Queen of 
 Beauty," attended by two maids of honour, all clad 
 in full state robes, with towering hennins, and wear- 
 ing superb jewels and ornaments, were escorted to a 
 chamber of preparation, within the castle, imme- 
 diately before the closing banquet of the tournament. 
 There a procession was marshalled ; pages of the 
 contestant knights, arrayed in their proper colours 
 and wearing ermine mantles, danced gaily before the 
 " Queen of Beauty," and knelt as she advanced, 
 bearing the flashing crest upon an embroidered scarf. 
 Pursuivants, heralds, and kings-of-arms, swelled the 
 glittering progress with tabards, wands, and crowns. 
 Masters of the ceremony were in attendance on the 
 " Queen." All moved with grace and dignity to the 
 banqueting-hall, which they traversed up to the royal
 
 312 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 dais, accompanied by attendants bearing great flaring 
 torches and waxen candles. Everybody rose at the 
 entry of the procession, and the Prince of highest 
 rank handed the " Queen " to her special seat, whence 
 she might receive the homage of the knightly com- 
 pany, and bestow upon the champion the crest she 
 bore. Strident music and the blare of brazen horns 
 filled the great hall, and the high-pitched roof re- 
 echoed the plaudits of the company. 
 
 The " Grand Prix " was gained neither by King 
 Rene nor by King Charles. The former, indeed, caused 
 a sensation by appearing in black tournament 
 armour, his shield studded with silver spangles ; his 
 lance was black, and his charger caparisoned in a 
 black housing, which trailed the ground. Rene" was 
 mourning still for his good mother, Queen Yolande, 
 and for his second son of promise rare, Louis, 
 Marquis of Pont-a-Mousson. The " Champion of 
 Champions " was not the Count of Nevers, perhaps 
 to Jehanne's regret, but Louis de Beauvau ; whilst 
 the second prize fell to Robert de Florigny, and the 
 third to Ferri de Vaudemont. These famous tourna- 
 ments did not lack the assistance by illustration of 
 painters ; Jehanot le Flament, better known nowa- 
 days as Jan van Eyck, King Rene"s master at 
 Bar-le-Duc, was in attendance on his royal pupil, 
 and painted at least two considerable pictures of the 
 pageants. Alas ! those valuable paintings are lost 
 to us. 
 
 Well, the " Lists " were over, and the world 
 and his wife resumed their usual avocations, and 
 Jehanne de Laval went home once more with her 
 parents, to finish her education and to be pro- 
 vided with a husband. And now the chroniclers
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 313 
 
 of such events as matrimony fail us. Very well we 
 might have expected the announcement of the " Fairy 
 Queen's " betrothal immediately after that famous 
 tournament. But no and in vain we search for the 
 reason. Jehanne was not espoused. Some have 
 said that Count Guy, seeing King Renews unconcealed 
 admiration for his captivating little daughter, and 
 bearing to his beloved companion in peace and war 
 well-worn confidence, conceived a romantic dream. 
 Queen Isabelle was said to be very delicate. She 
 might die young, and then Jehanne might be Rene's 
 solace and his love ! Whether the King and the 
 maiden met again and often we do not know. Very 
 likely indeed they did, for Jehanne and Margaret 
 d'Anjou were playmates, and Laval was not so very 
 far from Angers. This is a dream, of course. 
 
 There is a touching story which connects Jehanne 
 de Laval with another Margaret Margaret of Scot- 
 land, the virtuous and accomplished spouse of Louis 
 the Dauphin, and a great favourite with King Charles 
 and Queen Marie. The unhappy Princess died of 
 poison at Sarry-le-Chateau on August 16, 1445 
 poison administered, it was understood, by her un- 
 scrupulous husband. She was only twenty-three 
 years of age, but had been Dauphiness for eight 
 years years of neglect and cruelty. Among the 
 suite which gathered around the bonnie Scottish 
 Princess were young girls, and of these one was 
 Jehanne de Laval, of whom Margaret made a special 
 pet, and shared with her her meals and leisure. 
 Some candies were given to the children by the 
 Princess, who rejected them as tasting bitter. Mar- 
 garet, to allay their mistrust, ate a number, and she 
 sickened and died. Her last words were : " A curse
 
 314 REN D^ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 on life ! Don't trouble me about it," This lamen- 
 table cry was drawn from her through the false 
 aspersions on her honour raked up against her 
 by her husband. Marriage was indeed a failure to 
 Margaret of Scotland, for " there was no one she 
 dreaded," says de Commines, " like my lord the 
 Dauphin." 
 
 The next scene wherein Jehanne de Laval is 
 recorded to have been a participant was the obse- 
 quies of Queen Isabelle of Sicily- Anjou and Naples. 
 We may, however, be quite certain that she was not 
 absent very far what time that excellent Princess was 
 in Angers attending to the education of her family. 
 They were all of near age to the daughter of Count 
 Guy. Yolande d' Anjou was five years her senior, 
 and Margaret no more than four. Be this as it may, 
 King Rene, anyhow, was not very much in Anjou ; 
 his brain and hands were full of warlike things, and 
 embarrassed by lack of means. 
 
 Ren6 d' Anjou, King and Duke, the preux chevalier 
 of all the beautiful women in his dominions, did not 
 fail to excite feelings of admiration and of a profounder 
 passion in the pulsating hearts of the amorous women 
 and girls of Genoa. There he was received with 
 acclamations by warrior men, and with kisses by 
 their wives and sweethearts. A foreign Prince, 
 especially if he had gained renown in love and war, 
 was always welcomed enthusiastically by the strong- 
 blooded Ligurians. The customary characteristic 
 offering of the city, a maiden or two of high birth, 
 was at the King's disposal. Their names, alas ! have 
 not been recorded, but Rene" showed his appreciation 
 of his host's magnificent and patriarchal hospitality 
 by despatching, on November 10, 1447, four splendid
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 315 
 
 collars of beaten gold, with medallions of himself, to 
 Tommaso Spinola, Giacomo Fiesco, Tommaso Fregoso, 
 and Francesco Doria, fathers of his innamorate. The 
 historians of Genoa all wrote sententiously of the 
 royal visitor : " Every woman, even the poorest, put 
 on a new guise, pure white raiment, in compliment 
 to the Holy Maid's lieutenant, and all wore ornaments 
 of pure gold in token of their love for her, and for him 
 their favour. Tournament, dance, and song, made 
 the city a rare paradise of joy." The daughters of 
 Genoa, true daughters of Eve, ever evoked the 
 encomiums of all, as the following quaint quintet, in 
 perhaps dubious parlance, affirms : 
 
 " Le Donne son Santi in Chiesa, 
 Angele in Istrada, 
 Diavole in Casa, 
 Civette alia Finestra, 
 Gassi alia Porta."* 
 
 On Monday, March 5,1453, when the Queen's burial 
 casket was borne under its silken canopy through the 
 streets of Angers, twenty fair daughters of Anjou 
 and the adjoining States strewed white flowers in 
 the way. Their leader was Jehanne de Laval, now 
 grown to womanhood, fresh and sweet. She had 
 loved the lamented Queen, and learned much from 
 her gentle ways and her heroism, and she grieved for 
 the bereavement of King Rene and his children. 
 Companions in love and comrades in sorrow cling 
 equally to one another, and those who rejoice together 
 in the sunshine compassionate each other in the shade. 
 Pity is the tender veil of Cupid's favours. 
 
 * " Women are Saints in Church, 
 Angels in the Street, 
 Devils at Home, 
 Owls in the Window, 
 Magpies at the Door."
 
 316 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 II. 
 
 King Rent's grief at the untimely death of his 
 devoted spouse completely unstrung the man and 
 disabled the monarch. He gave himself away to 
 tears and melancholy, from which even the embraces 
 of his children failed to rouse him. His Ministers 
 and courtiers viewed the desolation of their Sovereign 
 with sincere and deep concern, for it threatened to 
 unnerve him permanently for the arduous duties of 
 his station. A consultation was held at Angers by 
 the Barons and nobles of Anjou, Maine, Lorraine, 
 Barrois, and Provence, with respect to their beloved 
 Sovereign's prostration, and a unanimous decision was 
 reached a second marriage with a young consort, 
 comely, cultivated, and of good fame. A petition 
 was presented to the King praying him to yield to the 
 advice of his " right loyal lieges," that he should look 
 out for some noble and virtuous "pucelle qui fust d son 
 gre" They add : " We have found just such une tres 
 belle fille nomme'e Jehanne de Laval, wise, well- 
 conditioned, and of adult age, and we know that she 
 is ready to become the spouse of our very good lord." 
 
 The sorrowful King took heart of grace, acceded 
 to his subjects' agreeable suggestion, and, knowing 
 well himself all young Jehanne's charms, despatched 
 forthwith a gallant embassy to his old friend, Count 
 Guy, demanding the hand of his beauteous daughter. 
 Only one bar appeared to stop the course of true 
 love, for such Rene's was for Jehanne, the disparity 
 of age : he was forty-seven, she twenty-two. This 
 was soon dismissed, and " May " and " December " 
 were betrothed in the August month of ripe red gold.
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 317 
 
 Articles of marriage were signed at Angers on Sep- 
 tember 3, 1455 by Seigneur de Couldray, Captain of 
 the Guard ; Guy de Laval ; Louis de Beauvau ; the 
 Counts of Vendome and Tancarville ; the Seigneur de 
 Lohere ; Raoul de Bosket ; and Olivier de Feschal 
 whereby the bride's dot was fixed at 40,000 ecus d'or 
 (circa 2,000). The marriage ceremony was cele- 
 brated at the abbey church of St. Nicholas d' Angers 
 on September 1 6 by Cardinal de Foix, Archbishop of 
 Aries, in the presence of Bishops and deputations 
 from every part of King Rene's dominions. The 
 wedding ceremony was notable for the appearance of 
 the bride's young brother Pierre, a boy of eleven 
 years of age, habited in full episcopal vestments. He 
 was nominal Archbishop of Reims and Bishop of 
 St. Brieux and St. Malo. 
 
 The citizens of Angers received their new Queen 
 " en grant joye et lyesse" but, notwithstanding the 
 general satisfaction, the Court became grave and 
 serious, and, to universal astonishment, there were 
 neither tournaments for the nobles nor junketings for 
 the poorer people. The heart of the King was still 
 sore ; he seemed disinclined for festivities, and sought 
 solitude and devotional exercises ; his spirit was 
 acharne sad within him. " Had he," people asked, 
 " renounced the pleasures he so loved for ever ?" 
 Rene found relief from the tension of his feelings in 
 the composition of a moral allegory which he entitled 
 "Le Mortefiement de Vaine Plaisance," which he dedi- 
 cated to his confessor, Jean Bernard, Bishop of Tours. 
 It is by way of being a dialogue between a soul 
 devoured by love divine and a heart full of earthly 
 vanities. Other dramatis persona are introduced at 
 intervals : " Fear of God ;" " Divine Justice ;"
 
 318 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 " Faith," " Hope," and "Sovereign Love," with " True 
 Contrition." Midway in the lengthy poem is a " sim- 
 ilitude," accompanied by a very beautiful drawing, 
 showing a Queen, perhaps Isabelle, seated open- 
 bosomed in a country waggon, bareheaded, her crown 
 upon her knees. The two horses are tandem-harnessed, 
 the wheeler bestridden by a rider with a thong in hand, 
 the leader turning sharply round. Thus did Rene's 
 poetic imagination picture his loss and his woe. The 
 dedication is most touching : " Considering that the 
 course of life runs like a river, without stopping or 
 running back, it is necessary to do good deeds to earn 
 a sweet repose. I set myself to write this book for the 
 love of the Redeemer, but, that my work may be useful 
 for all, I tell in plain speech the conflict of the soul and 
 heart." 
 
 The royal couple left Angers immediately after 
 their marriage, and spent the month's honeymoon at 
 the Castle of Launay les Saumur. Then they set 
 off for Provence, and reached Aries early in Novem- 
 ber. This was the prelude to an entirely new course 
 of life which King Rene had in his mind. For thirty 
 years and more he had courted the smiles of Fortune 
 in the arena of arms, and she had only given him 
 frowns. His courage and his chivalry had met with 
 scant success. Hopes disappointed and finances 
 wasted, he was a wiser if a poorer man ; but now the 
 residue of his days and enterprises should be dif- 
 ferently expended. Peace has its triumphs as well 
 as war. Poets and writers, troubadours and musi- 
 cians, artists and craftsmen, farmers and sportsmen, 
 and peasants and fishermen, were peaceful folk ; with 
 such would he throw in his lot a roi-patron, a roi- 
 faineant, would he be !
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 319 
 
 The journey to the south was, as usual, by river 
 barge up the winding sylvan Loire to Roanne, and 
 thence & portage to Valence, and on by water past 
 Montelimart, Orange, and Avignon. The King, like 
 other rulers in France, maintained a fleet of vessels for 
 trade and pleasure upon the splendid waterways. It 
 was, of course, a royal progress such as Rene and 
 his father and brother, and Queen Yolande, his 
 venerated mother, had often made, and very cordial 
 were the greetings by the way. At Aries, where 
 the King and Queen were rapturously received, they 
 found awaiting them deputations from every consider- 
 able place in Provence, each bearing goodly offerings 
 to their liege lord and lady. Aries presented 400 
 ecus d'or in two enamelled gold flasks, and six chased 
 cups of silver ; Aix, two great bowls of silver em- 
 bossed and jewelled, six silver cups, and three goblets 
 of gold ; Marseilles, 200 ecus d'or, to be spent in 
 buying fine wax, at the pleasure of the Queen, a 
 treasured possession, and four silver cups ; Avignon, 
 twelve enamelled silver cups and two gold goblets ; 
 Tarascon, a great gold ewer and six small goblets 
 and so on. Formalities completed and Te Deum 
 sung, Rene" and Jehanne went off to Aix, there to 
 settle and to arrange their household affairs. In 
 recognition of this auspicious visit to Provence, the 
 King created his consort Countess of Les Baux, with 
 proprietary rights in that ancient stronghold. 
 
 The ancient family had become extinct in the 
 comely person of Countess Alix, a helpless girl 
 placed under the guardianship of her uncle, Robert 
 de Beaufort, better known as " Le Fle'au de Pro- 
 vence," the leader of a band of ruffians designated 
 " Les Tards- Venus" Fair Alix died unmarried in 
 
 21
 
 1426, and the county of Les Baux passed to 
 Louis III. d'Anjou, King Rene's brother. For 
 Jehanne de Laval her loving spouse repaired and 
 decorated the ruinous old castle. The pleasure- 
 grounds were laid out by Rene, and the " Pavilion 
 de la Royne Jehanne " erected, a true " Pavilion 
 d'Amour," wherein he and she could repose and 
 utter sweet nothings to one another, and revive also 
 some of the fascinating observances of the once 
 famous " Court of Love " of Les Baux. Spirits of 
 former Countess - Presidents of Chapters of the 
 Troubadours flitted to and fro the " Chamber of the 
 Rose." The beauteous if fateful sisters, Etiennette 
 and Douce, gracious spouses of two fierce rival 
 Counts, Raymond des Baux and Berenger de Barce- 
 lona, but rivals in the poems and dances of the 
 troubadours, away in the twelfth century, looked down, 
 perhaps, from the eerie thrones in " II Paradiso " 
 upon the new Queen of Beauty. The girlish figure, 
 too, of Cecile des Baux, " La Passe Rose," the fairest 
 beauty of them all, sought, a century later, the 
 spiritual companionship of Alix, the last of the 
 chatelaines, with her to observe the graceful figure of 
 Queen Jehanne. Memories of lovely women and the 
 romances of their lives appealed irresistibly to the 
 royal troubadour ; he could picture the gay crowds 
 in the games of Love. Dark deeds, too the clash 
 of weapons and the stealthy poniard ; the smothered 
 cries from the oubliettes, and the defiant oaths of men 
 in irons : these the imaginative poet-monarch could 
 most easily re-create. A thought-moving memento 
 of a vivid and lurid past was brought to light not 
 so many years ago in a coffin discovered in the crypt 
 of the ruined church of St. Catherine it was a
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 
 
 woman's long soft golden hair cut off at the roots. 
 To whom did this cabelladuro d'or belong ? Some 
 beauty done to death, perhaps, or peacefully fallen 
 upon sleep in the dim, dim past ? Or was it, as it 
 may have been, the chevelure of that beautiful young 
 Italian girl in the suite of Queen Jehanne, who 
 married at Les Baux the Queen's Seneschal, and died 
 or ever that day's curfew sounded ? The " Pavilion 
 de la Royne Jehanne" with its miniature dome 
 and delicate frieze, supported on Ionic columns, 
 still stands, but hidden away amid cornstalks and 
 verdure, whilst, alas ! nothing whatever remains of 
 the Queen's gardens, where courtier cavaliers flirted 
 and toyed withher Maids of Honour. Jehanne loved 
 Les Baux almost as much as she did her Laval 
 barony of Beaufort, and Rene" loved it, too, for 
 her sake. 
 
 Early in the springtide which followed the settle- 
 ment of the King and Queen in Provence, they 
 sought the peaceful charms of the country-side, and 
 made their way, accompanied by a very limited suite, 
 to the neighbourhood of Tarascon. The stately 
 castle, so lately Rene's favourite abode, had little 
 attraction for ruralizing royalty, so they packed 
 themselves into a modest bastide, or farmstead, upon 
 the kingly estate, Pertuis, not far from Cadenet, 
 below Mont Luberon. Its position was delightful, 
 overlooking the turbulent river Durance, with its 
 strewn verdure-grown rocks and boulders, and its 
 banks lined by sedges, willows, and alders, hiding 
 many a still pool of trout. There the royal couple 
 wandered forth hand in hand, quite unattended, amid 
 the growing vines and chestnut woods, conversing 
 with all the country-folk they met, sharing with
 
 322 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 them their homely fare, and watching delightedly 
 their rural games and dances. Many a time Rene, 
 with Jehanne as his happy assessor, sat upon old 
 saules, or willow stumps, under a spreading tree, to 
 receive requests and discern disputes, dispensing royal 
 justice with the simple hand of equity. 
 
 The life they led was an ideal one a dream, an 
 inspiring fantasy. The songs of birds, the brush of 
 wings of butterflies, the thousand and one mysterious 
 sounds of animated, sun-cheered Nature, and the 
 scent of spring narcissi, with the glowing glories of 
 anemones, seemed all to be in harmony with the 
 fresh greenery of tree and crop, the gambols of young 
 lambs, and the cooing of sweetheart doves. The 
 King and Queen became for the nonce shepherd 
 and shepherdess ; Jehanne was nymph of the 
 bosquets, Rene* her impassioned Apollo, his heart's 
 wounds healed at last, his soul's new hopes at bud. 
 The Muse of Poetry dwelt also in that pleasant 
 fairy-land, and her voice, rustling the zephyr-moved 
 foliage, reached the poetic nature of the agrestical 
 King, and out of his sympathetic brain came the 
 impulse of the hand which penned one of the most 
 delicate and affecting " Pastorals " that ever man 
 produced. 
 
 The scene is laid in the meadows of the royal 
 country house, where shepherds and shepherdesses 
 and toilers in the soil, vigorous and fair, are 
 giving themselves away to the joys of pastoral revels. 
 Chancing that way is a pilgrim, newly come from 
 recording his vows at the shrine of N6tre Dame de 
 Larghet. Looking ahead, the penitent beholds the 
 entrancing vision, and, whilst he brushes away the 
 assiduous attentions of a big bumble-bee, he is con-
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 323 
 
 scious of voices murmuring close at hand. It is but 
 the love-chat of a lovelorn lad and lass, seated by a 
 dripping fountain of the rivulet. Behind them is the 
 stump of a great forest king with no more than one 
 lean branch to show its life. The youth vanishes 
 mysteriously, but the girl beckons caressingly to the 
 wandering pilgrim, and she invites him with dulcet 
 voice : 
 
 "Begnatdt, men environ 
 De la souche ; et nous asseon, 
 Gy toy et moy !" * 
 
 The shy wanderer approaches diffidently, and then 
 the maiden opens her little luncheon basket, which 
 hangs from her shoulders by blue silken ribbons, and 
 eats a portion of a roll ; to him she offers the 
 remainder. The fascination of the moment overrides 
 all scruples, and Regnault, as she has called him, 
 kneels at his enchantress's feet, strokes her hands and 
 arms, and protests his love. The damsel is willy- 
 nilly, and naively cries : " All fall in love, and all 
 fall out ; and so may you, fair sir, for aught I know !" 
 Carried away by the vehemence of his passion, 
 Regnault tries to seize the girl and press his hot 
 lips upon hers, so coral pink ; but she evades him, 
 slips from his grasp, and, presto ! she has vanished. 
 All dazy-wazy Regnault rises, holds out his hands 
 beseechingly, and then, folding them upon his breast, 
 with bowed head he seeks once more the mountain 
 shrine, and before our sweet Lady of Consolation 
 pours out his heart and his soul. Compline still finds 
 him saying his Aves, and Night covers him with her 
 
 * " Regnault, come thee near 
 This tree ; have no fear, 
 Only thee and me !"
 
 324 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 restful shroud ; his last words are addressed to his 
 meadow nymph : 
 
 " Tamer ay trh parfaiclment, 
 Du bon du Cuer si loyaument, 
 Que ne te fauldray nulkment 
 Jusques a mart" * 
 
 This very beautiful poem the royal lover entitled 
 " Regnault et Jehanneton" or " Les Amours du Ber- 
 geron et de la Bergeronne" a play, of course, upon his 
 own name and Queen Jehanne's. At the end of the 
 manuscript Rene drew a very pretty design side by 
 side two shields of arms, his and Jehanne's, united by 
 a royal crown ; his supporter, on the left, une souche, 
 the stump of a forest tree, with one flourishing 
 foliaged branch bearing a censer of burning incense ; 
 her supporter, on the right, a chestnut-tree in full 
 flower, and on a branch two royal paroquets love- 
 birds ! 
 
 In 1457 the poet-King put forth an allegory of 
 chivalry which he called " La Conqueste de Doulce 
 Mercy par le Cuer d' Amour espris." The conceit of 
 the story is just a simple knight, youthful, 
 vigorous, and a true lover of women, setting forth 
 for the devotion he holds for his mistress to endure 
 perilous adventures. Rene himself is, of course, the 
 hero of the poem, the intrepid soldier of Naples, the 
 heroic prisoner of Bulgneville. 
 
 The opening of the poem reveals " le Bon Roy " one 
 night wakeful, and suffering heartache " Mortie 
 dormant en resverie." It appeared to him that his 
 
 * " I love thee perfectly, 
 
 From bottom of my heart ; 
 
 I will never fail thee 
 
 Till death us two shall part."
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 325 
 
 heart left his breast, and that " Vif Desire" whispered 
 
 gently : 
 
 "Si, Doulce Mercy, 
 Desires de povoir avoir, 
 II fault que tu faces devoir 
 Par la force d'armes I'acquerir." * 
 
 " Vif Desire " then armed " Cuer " with a blade 
 of steel, keen and bright, a helmet stamped with 
 amorous thoughts bearing the crest of hope, three 
 blooms of " N'oubliez mye" Then led gently forth, 
 he meets " Franc Vouloir" tall and strong, and 
 fully armed for all emergencies ; and putting spurs to 
 his charger, he goes off at a gallop with his com- 
 panions. Over hill and dale they dash, until they 
 come in view of a lovely damsel 
 
 "plaiesante et blonde 
 Et de tous biens la plus parfaict du monde." 
 
 After passing through a weird forest, they emerge 
 upon a smiling valley, where they behold a sumptuous 
 palace. On approaching, they see a very splendid 
 column of jasper, and after dismounting they read 
 the inscription carved thereon : 
 
 " A vous, tous Cuers gentHz et gradeux, 
 Qui conqudrir voulez pour valori mieulx 
 Du Dieu a" Amour et de vos Dames aussi 
 Doulce grace el eureuse mercy. 
 N'ayez en vous changement de pensee 
 Pour delaissier vos premieres amours, 
 Soiez loyaux sans varier tousjours, 
 Pitie pur vous ne sera par laste." 
 
 Whilst pondering over this epithet, a very beautiful 
 woman approaches them, splendidly attired in royal 
 
 * " If, True Chivalry, 
 
 Thou wouldst have power, 
 Then thy metal try 
 And by arms acquire."
 
 326 RENti D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 robes, and seizes hold of the reins of " Franc 
 Vouloir's " steed. " Cuer " at once turns to her, and, 
 kneeling, kisses her hand and asks her name. 
 "Douce Esperance" she replies, "and I greet you, 
 worthy gentlemen, and desire to set you on your 
 way. Directed by this gracious lady, they reach the 
 shores of a great lake or sea, and, moored by the 
 water's edge, they espy a little sailing vessel, and in 
 it two lovely maidens "Fiance" and " Actente" 
 about whom " Douce Esperance " had spoken. 
 Leaving their mounts to wander free, the travellers 
 board the frail craft, and, presto ! they are at the 
 glorious temple of the Isle of Love. The day passes 
 dillydally ; they all sup together, and the sweet, soft- 
 shadows hide their repose. Other characters are 
 "Bel Accueil" "Franchise" " Piete" "Faux Sem- 
 blant," and " Largesse "; and the allegory ends, as all 
 should do, in the complete victory of Cupid. 
 
 The year that Louis XL, by his greed and 
 treachery, drove his noble uncle, " le Bon Roy Rene" 
 out of Anjou was one of trial and embarrassment for 
 the King of Sicily. At first his feelings, outraged 
 by the infamous behaviour of the son of his best- 
 loved sister, Queen Marie, got the better of his 
 equanimity, and he gave way to indignant protests ; 
 but when a man is in his sixties he learns to put up 
 with base affronts. Rene learned by sad experience 
 to measure hypocrites by their professions, but to 
 leave their castigation to posterity. He accepted 
 philosophically, adverse circumstances as they arose 
 and not only checked the expression of his own senti- 
 ments, but discouraged reprisals on the part of his 
 impatient and indignant subjects. With this same 
 restraint the poet- King put forth a sententious
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 327 
 
 drama, which he entitled " L'Abuze en Court "; we 
 may translate it, perhaps, " The Victim of Circum- 
 stances." Its theme may be gauged as follows : 
 Within the shady portal of an ancient church, the 
 pavement strewn with the persons of the blind and 
 crippled seeking alms, a pious wayfarer beheld an 
 oldish man whose silken though shabby attire spoke 
 of better days. His doublet was torn and his long 
 poniard broken, his light brown hair streaked with 
 silver strands, and his pouch poorly furnished. The 
 wayfarer speaks kindly to the victim of Providence : 
 
 " Mon gentil homme, Dieu vous garde, 
 Et vous doint ce que deseriez. 
 Pardonnez moi, je vous en prie, 
 Et me dictez par courtousie 
 De vostre vie le renom 
 Que vous estez et vostre nom." * 
 
 L'Abuze politely replies : 
 
 " Sire / pourquoi le demandez 
 C'est raison que je vous le dye. 
 J'ay nom sans que riens en mesdye 
 Le pouvre homme abuzt en court" 
 
 Then he goes on to tell his story the story of his 
 life's adversity, a biograph of Rene's. In happy days, 
 now past, he had his amours and his ambitions, his 
 military exploits and his acts of peace. Much of his 
 time he had spent unselfishly caring for others, whose 
 weal depleted his purse and embarrassed his affairs 
 until he was forced to settle with his creditors. The 
 narrative is worked out in dialogue by the con- 
 
 * ' ' My good fellow, God protect you, 
 
 And grant you all that now you desire. 
 Forgive me fully, now I pray you, 
 And tell me something of your despair. 
 By your courtesy I would your name, 
 And your life's story and deeds of fame.'
 
 328 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 course of many speakers among them a great lady, 
 " La Court " Providence, and two demoiselles of pity 
 "Abuz" Wantoncy, and "Folcuideo" Mockery. 
 
 The mise en scene varies as the tension, and the 
 vicissitudes of human life are presented under every 
 aspect. The poem is a " morality," as that term was 
 erstwhile understood. 
 
 The end of the whole matter is summed up charac- 
 teristically as follows : 
 
 " J 'ay pascience ! 
 Et pour vostre paine et salaire 
 Y-a-t-il aulcun qw y pense ? 
 Pour a voz layers satisfaire 
 Que avez vous ? 
 
 J'ay pascience /" * 
 
 Rene and Jehanne went to Provence in 1473 in 
 the guise of fugitives. The Angevines deplored 
 excessively this exile ; they loved both King and 
 Queen, and Louis and all his works they hated 
 cordially. Rene saw no other course to follow. He 
 was heavily cast down by family afflictions. Jean, 
 his noble eldest son, was dead ; dead, too, were 
 Charles d'Anjou, his brother, and Nicholas, his dear 
 grandson, and Ferri de Vauddmont. He sought 
 peace and consolation, and Provence and the Pro- 
 vengaux offered both most loyally. 
 
 The story of Louis's perfidy may be shortly told. 
 In 1474 Rene proclaimed Charles de Maine, his 
 nephew, his heir to Anjou-Provence, regardless of 
 the French King's presumptions. Louis summoned 
 
 * " Patience is mine ! 
 For your ailing and for your health, 
 Is there anything for which you pine 
 Openly to gain, or by your stealth, 
 What would you ? 
 
 Patience is mine !"
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 329 
 
 his uncle to Paris to answer before the Parliament. 
 Something of a compromise was come to, for Louis 
 said he should be content for Charles to be pro- 
 claimed Duke and Count, but after him he or his 
 heirs would annex both duchy and county to France. 
 
 It had always been the policy of Sovereigns to 
 encourage knight-errantry and tournaments, for the 
 competitors who assembled became lieges of the lord. 
 The names and performances of candidates were 
 inscribed on parchment rolls with gold and enamels ; 
 these were read out aloud by tabarded heralds. The 
 champions were escorted in pageants to be decorated 
 by the Queen or Lady President of the " Lists " a 
 graduation, so to speak, in a world- wide University of 
 chivalry. In 1453 Duke Philippe of Burgundy 
 instituted a very singular festival, " The Pageant of 
 the Pheasant," in which knights were made to swear 
 for Church and fame. The oath ran as follows : 
 "I N. swear before God, my Creator, in the first 
 place ; the ever-glorious Mary, His mother ; and, 
 lastly, before these ladies of the tournament and the 
 Pheasant, to be a true and Christian knight." The 
 Pheasant was the emblem of fecundity, the mascot of 
 would-be brides and mothers ! 
 
 Troubadours and " Courts of Love " were comple- 
 ments of warlike deeds on stricken field or in tilting- 
 joust. The Provencal seigneurs and their ladies lived 
 in lonely castles, with nothing on earth to do. 
 Provence was the cradle of the troubadours. Every 
 troubadour had to choose the lady of his passion ; she 
 might return it or not, as she chose. It was Guil- 
 laume de Poitou, a very famous troubadour, who gave 
 the maxim : "If you propose a game of love, I am 
 not too foolish to refuse, but I shall choose the side
 
 330 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 that is the best." All this appealed to King Rene", 
 and his bent fell in distinctly with that of the famous 
 troubadours of the past. His poetic and sentimental 
 nature found reflective expression in the old " Magali" 
 of the popular melodies of Provence : 
 
 " Magali ma tant amado, 
 Mete la tete au fenestroun, 
 Esecuto un pan aguesto subado 
 De Tambourine, de Fiouloun 
 Esplein estello paramount, 
 L'Auro os tournado 
 Mattes estello paliran 
 Quand te verraut." 
 
 This was the spirit of the life to which King Rene 
 introduced his young and beauteous consort a 
 romantic existence which appealed forcibly to the 
 sweet instincts of the royal bride. Her response 
 was the joy of Rene's heart ; if denied the fruit of 
 sexual love, he and she were productive of the issue 
 of kindred souls. They lived for one another in an 
 elysium of bliss, chaste and unalloyed, with no 
 qualms of conscience and no aftermath of reproach. 
 
 Rene's love of Jehanne became a passion ; her 
 freshness and animation and the evenness of her dis- 
 position were to him like so many springs of invigora- 
 ting water, whence, quaffing, he ever rose to new 
 activities. She became the inspirer of his poetry, the 
 spur in his official duties, and the pivot of his 
 benevolence. He was never tired of extolling her 
 virtues in prose and verse, nor of painting her in 
 miniature and in large. It was said that he always 
 carried about with him wherever he went her portrait, 
 which he himself painted upon a small oval piece of 
 walnut wood let into a locket frame of chiselled gold 
 and enamel. More than this, his most treasured
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 331 
 
 trophy of the " Lists " the lance with which he 
 unseated Charles VII. at the nuptial tournament for 
 Queen Marguerite d'Anjou contained an orifice 
 wherein he inserted another likeness of " la bonne 
 Jehanne." In the inventory of his garderobe at 
 Angers Castle we read : " Item, Ung bois de lance 
 creux, ou il y a dedans un rollet de parchemin, 
 auquel c'est dedans la portraicture de la Royne de 
 Sidle."* 
 
 The Comptes de Roi Rene, filling very many 
 folios, wherein are noted household, State, and 
 private expenses and other correlative matters, were 
 stored in the Chambre des Comptes which Rene 
 caused to be built at Angers Castle. A suite of 
 apartments facing the river was used for the trans- 
 action of business matters and for the deposit of 
 valuable documents. Here, too, was the King's 
 council-chamber, whilst in the gardens stretching in 
 front along the river-side were cages and caves, 
 wherein were kept many lions and strange beasts 
 the collection of which became a royal hobby. 
 Beyond the spacious buildings at the centre of the 
 gardens was a pavilion which Rene used as a study 
 and a sanctum, wherein he spent much of his leisure 
 time dreaming, reading, and writing. Here he kept 
 a register of artists and artisans, noting their several 
 qualifications, their works, and their honorariums and 
 salaries. He had a sort of school of architect- 
 surveyors who, under his personal direction, prepared 
 plans and projections of all the works, public and 
 private, in which he was interested markets, bridges, 
 fountains, cottages, etc. 
 
 * "Item, A hollow lance pole wherein there is a roll of parch- 
 ment upon which is a portrait of the Queen of Sicily."
 
 332 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 A work at Angers in which he took the greatest 
 interest, and on which he lavished large sums of 
 money, was the erection and decoration of a chapel 
 within the Cathedral of St. Maurice, which he dedi- 
 cated to the ever-blessed memory of St. Bernardin, his 
 cherished friend and confessor. 
 
 Giovanni della Porta was born at Massa di Carrara 
 at the close of 1384. He took the cord and cowl of 
 St. Francis d'Assisi, and was sent with other brethren 
 of the Order to evangelize the people of Marseilles. 
 He became attached to the household of King 
 Louis II., Rene's father, and thus an intimacy sprang 
 up between the two. He accompanied Rene on all 
 his expeditions to Italy, and remained in priestly 
 attendance upon him when at home. The good man 
 died of fever at Aquila in Calabria in 1449, and 
 Rene", ever grateful to his mentor and spiritual father, 
 in 1450 prevailed upon Pope Nicholas V. to order 
 his canonization. Certain miracles said to have been 
 wrought at his tomb in Southern Italy, and weird 
 happenings as his body was translated to Anjou, 
 convinced the Curia of his sanctity. His memorial 
 chapel at Angers was a sumptuous erection, and in its 
 adornment the King took an active part, painting the 
 glass windows and the altar and its reredos. Before 
 the resting-place of the dead saint's corpse Rene" 
 directed a funeral chamber to be made, wherein he 
 subsequently ordered by his will that his heart should 
 be deposited. This was an action truly characteristic 
 of " le bon Roy." He had so often unburdened himself 
 to the saint, and from him had obtained not only 
 absolution, but direction, that their two hearts beat 
 in accord in life, and in death they were also joined. 
 
 Not only did the heart of Rene rest near St. Ber-
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 333 
 
 nardin, but the hearts also, each in its golden 
 casket, of Jehanne and the valiant and chivalrous 
 Jean de Calabria, Renews eldest son. 
 
 King Ren6 and Queen Jehanne were pious folk 
 indeed. At Marseilles, at Tarascon, and at Aix 
 itself, they assisted humbly at Church festivals, pro- 
 cessions, and pilgrimages. The lives and loves of 
 the humble home at Bethany in Palestine, tran- 
 shipped to the reverent shores of tuneful Provence, 
 kindled the affection and the reverence of one and 
 all. The feasts of " Les Maries" St. Marthe de 
 Tarasque, and of St. Maximin, good Lazarus's dis- 
 ciple, were honoured by enthusiastic annual devotions. 
 No one tired of hearing of those saintly lives, and 
 no sacrifice was too great to show the heart's de- 
 votion. King Rene" and his consort's offerings took 
 the form of costly reliquaries in gold, enamels, and 
 jewels, depositories upon high -altars for holy relics. 
 The royal couple assisted at the translation of St. 
 Martha's relics to Tarascon, May 10, 1458. In 
 1461 from Aix went a splendid casket to the 
 collegiate church of St. George at Nancy, in pious 
 memory of that redoubtable warrior and of the gentle 
 Isabelle de Lorraine. It was intended for the 
 encasement of a thigh - bone of the Knight of 
 Cappadocia. The King and Queen in 1473 pre- 
 sented another precious reliquary to the Church of 
 St. Nicholas du Port at Angers, and with it they 
 bestowed upon the clergy the unique gift of an arm 
 and a hand of the saint. Twelve leagues from Aix is 
 the curious little town of St. Maximin, where, in the 
 thirteenth-century church, built by Charles II. of 
 Naples and Provence, ancestor of Queen Giovanna II., 
 are preserved the sacred bones of St. Mary Mag-
 
 334 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 dalen. The skull, it is said, has still a small fragment 
 of flesh adhering where Christ touched her forehead. 
 Here, too, the kingly couple bestowed a golden 
 reliquary for the saint's right arm and founded a 
 perpetual Mass. This sad saint of Christ, the 
 repentant one, ever had great influence with Rene 
 and his royal consort. Not content with listening 
 to her sweet voice, perhaps an imagination, after 
 all, in the streets of Marseilles (as the King himself 
 has depicted), in a beauteous retreat near Angers 
 he fixed a sweet shrine, La Baumette, or Bausome, 
 near Reculee, where he founded a hermitage, " La 
 Madeleine de St. Baumette." This was partly in 
 honour of " St. Baume," as the Magdalen, the 
 patroness of Provence was familiarly called. In the 
 chapel the King painted a picture of St. Bernardin 
 hearing confession perhaps his own. 
 
 If Rene* had lost the crown of Naples, another 
 crown was shortly laid at his feet. In 1469 the 
 Grand Council of Barcelona rejected Juan II. as 
 King of Catalonia. He was brother of Alfonso V., 
 Renews rival and conqueror in Naples, but unpopular 
 and blind, and somewhat unready. His wife, the 
 courageous Queen Blanche of Navarre, had taken 
 his place in line of battle, and was enthusiastically 
 beloved by the Catalonians ; she died, unhappily, in 
 1468, of a cancer or of poison, so it was rumoured, 
 and with her died the love of Juan's subjects. The 
 vacant throne was offered with one accord to King 
 Ren6 of Sicily- Anjou, the son of the beloved and 
 venerated Princess Yolanda, who had been brought 
 up at Barcelona, the only child of old King Juan I. 
 Rene*, in accepting the graceful tribute to his dear 
 mother's claim and person, placed his son Jean de
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 335 
 
 Calabria in the hands of the Catalonians, and begged 
 them, his own age being far advanced, and his son in 
 his prime and a famous warrior, to proclaim him in 
 his stead. Jean was acclaimed generally, and hastened 
 to Barcelona to assume his crown, being backed by 
 Louis XL with a money subsidy and a strong force of 
 men. The landing of the new King was a scene of 
 uproarious rejoicing. His princely qualities appealed 
 to them, and his grandmother had been their own 
 Princess. People struggled to embrace his knees 
 as he rode to the castle ; they kissed the harness of 
 his charger, and ladies tossed valuable rings and 
 jewellery with their flowers and their kisses sweet. 
 
 Alas for the joys of nations and of individuals ! 
 when things are rosiest, and all tend to good and 
 peace and prosperity, there swoops down the insa- 
 tiable mower with his scythe, to garner what men can 
 least well spare. King Juan III. of Catalonia and 
 Calabria had not been installed in the kingdom of 
 his grandmother more than one short year, when he 
 fell ill of plague or poison, the two fellest foes to 
 Sovereigns then, and died at Barcelona on Decem- 
 ber 13, 1470. He had fought for his father's 
 cause and his own right nobly in Italy, defeating 
 Ferdinand d'Aragon, Alfonso's son, at Sarno in 
 1460, but, beaten at Troia, he fled to Ischia. 
 
 The Castle of Beaufort was built upon a lofty rock 
 rising above the Loire, overlooking the whole of that 
 fertile and lovely valley ; from its battlements both 
 Angers and Saumur were visible. King Rene" pur- 
 chased it and its estate in 1469 for 30,000 gold 
 crowns, and assigned it as part of Queen Jehanne's 
 fortune. After the King's death and burial, and 
 when she had taken a sad and affectionate farewell 
 
 22
 
 336 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 of her devoted people in Provence, the royal widow 
 settled down in this attractive residence, and there 
 spent the residue of her life. The Comptes contain many 
 items for building materials, decoration, and furniture, 
 showing King Rene's anxiety to make his dear wife's 
 bijou residence a very real pleasaunce for her. 
 
 Rene indeed was a master-builder, not merely in 
 the way of a hobby, but practically and in many 
 places. He studied the works of Leon Battista 
 Alberti and other famous architects, and entertained 
 and employed numbers of Italian sculptors. Pietro 
 da Milano was one of these ; he was engaged princi- 
 pally in Barrois, and there added the duties of 
 director of revels to his other artistic occupations. 
 Marble busts of Rene and Jehanne, of Queen 
 Margaret of England and her unhappy son Edward, 
 Prince of Wales, of Ferri de Vaudemont and Yolande, 
 with their young son Rene, and many others, found 
 expression under Pietro's skilful chisel. In the 
 " Farce des Pastoureaux" acted at the Palace of 
 Bar-le-Duc in August, 1463, King Rene provided 
 costly dresses for his clever little namesake grandson, 
 then twelve years old, and for the rest of the juvenile 
 cast ; these were made by Noel Bontault, after 
 Pietro da Milano's designs. The King and his 
 Court were then in residence at the Castle of Louppy, 
 which he had repaired along with the castles of 
 Clermont en Argonne, de Koeurs, and Bonconville, 
 and where he received and comforted his miserable 
 daughter, the heroic consort of Henry VI. Queen 
 Jehanne's ministrations to the forlorn Queen were 
 tenderly rendered and gratefully received. She is 
 credited with the characteristically graceful acts of 
 reclothing the fugitive, and according to Queen
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 337 
 
 Margaret precedence and homage. King Rene's 
 handiwork in all these enterprises was varied and 
 extensive. He painted the windows, he carved 
 the escutcheons of arms, and he fashioned the 
 hinges and locks of the doors. The Comptes 
 prove by very many entries his royal excellence as a 
 craftsman as well as an artist. Scarcely a church in 
 Barrois, Lorraine, Anjou, and Provence, but bore 
 evidence of the kingly artistry. Perhaps his two 
 specialities were glass working and decorating, and 
 wool and silk weaving and embroidery. 
 
 One of the most admirable works of the King and 
 Queen, for Jehanne was not only the amanuensis of 
 her husband, but his inspirer also, was the concep- 
 tion and the elaboration of the procession of the 
 " Fete Dieu " and " Les Jeux de la Tarasque" This 
 pageant originated in the mind of Rene when, as a 
 youth, he witnessed with emotion in 1427, at Bar-le- 
 Duc, " La Mystere de la Passion" under the direction 
 of Conrad Bayer, Bishop of Metz. Thirty years of 
 war and travel did not banish the impression the 
 young Christian warrior gained, and from time to 
 time in Anjou and elsewhere he composed rondeaux, 
 ballades, and chansons, in a masque or mystery which 
 he called " Le Roy Avenir." In 1474 the King and 
 Queen assisted at Aix at the first rendition of " Les 
 Jeux de la Fete Dieu." This was preceded by " La 
 Procession du Sacre" the Procession of the Sacred 
 Host. All the clergy, nobles, troubadours, pretty 
 women, and gallant knights, of Provence assisted, and 
 all the trade corporations took part. Everybody in 
 the procession carried upon the tip of a white wand 
 a piece of pain beni. Each section of the cortege 
 was a moving spectacle or pageant. The first section,
 
 338 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 by acclamation, exhibited " Lon Grand Juee dels 
 Diables " the Grand Play of the Devils. The devils 
 were black and red and green, and every youth's 
 ambition was to figure as a Prince of Darkness ; 
 indeed, in later times a young fellow based his claim 
 to be a devil on the fact that his father and all his 
 ancestors had been devils, so " cest pourquoi ne le 
 serrais je pas /" 
 
 To "the Devils" succeeded "the Magi," "the 
 Innocents of Bethlehem," " the Apostles," " the 
 Queen of Sheba and Solomon," and other tableaux 
 movants from Scriptural sources. Most amusing were 
 " The Play of the Jews," represented by human cats 
 a reference to the features characteristic of the 
 race ; " Les Chevaux fringants," hobby - horses 
 played by four - and - twenty children, dressed as 
 knights of the " Lists "; a masque of morris-dancers. 
 The two last spectacles were lugubrious : " The Com- 
 pany of Lepers " and " The March of Death." 
 
 The revels filled five whole days in and out of 
 church, through and through the streets and squares, 
 and out into the open pleasure-grounds. Prizes were 
 awarded, honours bestowed, and profits made, and 
 everybody was the better for the prodigality of " le 
 bon Roy " and the graciousness of " la bonne Royne" 
 
 Rene" had been in early life remarkable for his 
 simple tastes and abstemiousness in food and drink, 
 and Queen Isabelle was equally careful in personal 
 matters. Their lives were passed in strenuous times 
 when self-denial required great sacrifices of individual 
 indulgences. Isabelle was a soldier's wife, Jehanne 
 the consort of a statesman when life's battle had 
 given way to the ease of peace. Both were attractive 
 women, few their superiors, but Isabelle's hand was
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 339 
 
 upon the hilt of the sword and the snaffle of the 
 charger. Jehanne's held the mirror of fashion and 
 the goblet of pleasure. After Rene and Jehanne 
 had arranged their domestic settlement in Provence, 
 at once their Court became noted for its magnificent 
 hospitality. Rene employed the first master-cook of 
 the day, Maestro Guillaume Real, as his Master of 
 the Household. People nicknamed him " Courgon," 
 as marshal of the courses of a banquet, rather than 
 "Soupqon," the secret of each ! The royal repasts were 
 arranged as spectacles ; at the cross high table were 
 placed the hosts and guests of honour, and at tables 
 down the hall other guests were accommodated. The 
 walls were hung with silver and crystal sconces full 
 of torches or tapers, and the trophies of war and the 
 chase belonging to the house were there displayed. 
 The covers and the service were as rich and costly 
 as could be. Gold, enamels, crystals, rare faience, 
 and other art treasures, were used with lavish 
 taste. 
 
 Each course was proclaimed heraldically by blasts 
 of horns and motets from the music gallery. The 
 high table was served by knights and men of rank, 
 who bore the splendid bowls and dishes upon napery 
 of cloth of gold. The richer viands were enclosed in 
 golden caskets, and the keys offered to the guests, 
 who in turn unlocked them and took or refused their 
 contents. Some of the confections have not their 
 parallel to-day. One table, for example, was made to 
 represent a stag-hunt, another a village revel, one 
 a castle with a moat of rare vintage, another an 
 abbey church with bells pealing and hidden children 
 singing. Small animals and birds, and actually grow- 
 ing trees and flowers, were used. The roast and
 
 340 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the dessert were the pieces de resistance ; each was 
 carried up the hall in gay procession with much 
 ceremonious bowing, and guarded by archers of the 
 guard in gorgeous liveries. At the sight of any very 
 splendid and appealing course the whole lordly 
 company were wont to burst out into song a well- 
 known and lengthy chanson ; it was called " Le 
 Sauve-garde de ma Vie." 
 
 Over the anticlimax of the feast the kindly 
 chroniclers usually draw a discreet veil, for warriors 
 in the field were vanquished in the hall, and beauties 
 beloved in the boudoir were forgotten in the debauch. 
 We may suppose rightfully, however, that the 
 hospitalities of Rene and Jehanne never caused a 
 flush of shame or a prick of scorn. They aimed at 
 and happily succeeded in proving that " il ny pas au 
 monde de royaute comparable au bonheur d'etre aime 
 d'elle," as the King prettily termed it. 
 
 For twenty-five years the simple delights of a 
 useful domestic life were serenely enjoyed by the happy 
 King and Queen. Their spirit of contentedness 
 hallowed the homes of their people, and Provence 
 became a paradise of peace. Certainly the want of 
 children caused Jehanne many a pang, but the 
 devotion of a good husband, one so accomplished, so 
 unselfish, and so universally beloved, was a real 
 compensation, and she had learned the lesson of 
 mingled weal and woe. She found congenial occupa- 
 tion in furthering the good intentions of the King 
 and in ministering to all in need around her. She 
 had, nevertheless, quasi-maternal cares, for in the 
 palace at Aix and in other royal residences were 
 several children and young people of both sexes, 
 besides the three acknowledged bastards by conven-
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 341 
 
 tion, who could lay claim to royal parentage. Some 
 of these are mentioned in Les Comptes as receiving 
 alimony and gifts from Rene. An entry on July 8, 
 1466, records the gift to Demoiselle Odille of a 
 pelisse of marten fur. She was then somewhere about 
 twenty years of age, but had charge of the King's 
 rings and jewellery under the eye of Sieur Guillaume 
 de Remerville, the Treasurer of the Household. 
 Rene had married her, in 1460, to Gaspare Spinola, 
 a Genoese attendant in his train, who died in 1465, 
 leaving his child-widow to the care of her father. 
 Another child is also named, Helene, " la petite 
 Helene" as Rene called her, an attractive little 
 creature, " singing like a lark and dancing like a 
 gazelle," who died on her fifteenth birthday, in the 
 year 1469. The King liked to have her near him 
 at meal-times, when he fondled her affectionately, 
 " comme ma vraie fille" 
 
 Besides these family cares, Queen Jehanne devoted 
 much of her time to feminine industries. In the 
 convents, in the workshops, in the fields, were poor 
 girls and women needing assistance and encourage- 
 ment. The example of "good Queen Yolande " was 
 ever before her eyes, and she strove to make herself 
 not only mistress of their hearts, but of their 
 occupations. Spinning, weaving, embroidering, and 
 generally all needlework, found her an accomplished 
 executant. She, too, could use her brush and palette, 
 in miniature and in large, and her chisel and mallet 
 both in wood and stone, and she was a very excellent 
 artificer in gold and silver work. Her benefactions 
 were on the most liberal and most catholic scale ; no 
 good cause was overlooked, and when she came to 
 make her will, paragraph after paragraph was taken
 
 342 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 up by bequests to charitable institutions and to 
 cherished needy individuals. If less devout than 
 her sister-in-law, Queen Marie, and less religiously 
 exercised, Queen Jehanne was a model daughter of 
 the Church, and none recognized this more com- 
 pletely than His Holiness the Pope, who bestowed 
 upon her the precious decoration of the Golden 
 Rose, " for virtue as a spouse and benevolence as 
 a Queen." 
 
 Approaching her jubilee, an anxious period for 
 many women, the good Queen fell away in health, 
 and appeared to be sickening for her end. Poison 
 was hinted at, but in all probability she suffered, not 
 from poison designedly administered, but from the 
 poison of the atmosphere, laden time out of mind, 
 in those low-lying lands near the mouths of the 
 Rhine, with the seeds of disease the dreaded plague 
 and black-death. 
 
 Happily, Jehanne was able, through her robust 
 constitution and abstemious way of life, to throw off 
 the evil effects of her malady ; but no sooner had she 
 regained her accustomed vigour than a crushing sorrow 
 came to her the mortal illness of her cherished 
 spouse, King Rene. His was a green old age, with 
 his venerable but erect figure and his winning if 
 somewhat melancholy expression. His blue eyes and 
 gracious aspect drew forth confidence all round, and 
 his gentle voice and genial manners excited true 
 affection. Dressed almost with monkish severity in 
 a great long coat of black silk or velvet, with a heavy 
 collar and revers of brown squirrel fur, and wearing a 
 girdle with a crucifix and beads, his long white hair 
 was capped by a simple velvet berretta, and he 
 displayed neither jewels nor decorations, only his
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 343 
 
 Sovereign's badge and chain of gold. He was a typical 
 father of his people. 
 
 Struck down mysteriously one day at Mass in the 
 Cathedral of Aix by a stalking epidemic, he had not 
 spared himself in visits of condolence to the stricken 
 and bereaved, in the springtide of 1480, the King 
 was borne tenderly to the palace. No more tender 
 nurse could there be than his devoted consort. She 
 took her station at once at his bedside, and, laying her 
 head upon his pillow, she cheered and solaced him as 
 none other could ; only did she rouse herself for 
 needful ablutions, for food, and for the saying of the 
 " Hours " in the oratory. With her was a little 
 maiden, Rene's grandchild Marguerite, thirteen years 
 of age, Yolande de Vaude'mont's daughter, a great 
 pet of Queen Jehanne. The child had the sweetest 
 of sweet voices, a quality very precious in the 
 estimation of the King, and she soothed his suffer- 
 ings and refreshed his weaknesses by childish songs 
 and minstrelsy, whilst she stroked his withered hands 
 and in them placed her own. 
 
 At dawn of day, July 1 0, amid the rustling of the 
 summer foliage outside the wide-open windows of the 
 palace, came whisperings from the sick-room soft, 
 low, and sad : " Le bon Roy est mort /" It was gently 
 told to the weeping Queen by the royal physicians, but 
 her Ladies of Honour in the anteroom caught the 
 ominous news besides. They stole outside the heavy 
 arras and told the terrible secret to the valets and 
 men-at-arms ; then it flashed out through the galleries 
 and across the courtyards, and stayed the janitors of 
 the gates as they prepared to open them as usual for 
 the new day's life. " Le bon Roy est mort /" soon was 
 echoed through the city streets, and tears and prot-
 
 344 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 estations of affection and tender souvenirs of regret 
 found full utterance. " Le bon Roy is mort /" was 
 like the knell of doom. No one could realize it or 
 prophesy. 
 
 HI. 
 
 No one has told us of Queen Jehanne's sorrow 
 better so. No stranger ever shares a full heart's 
 loss. Broken, but submissive and self-sustained, her 
 consort's fortitude in distress had come to her as well ; 
 she failed not at the moment of her trial. With her 
 own hands she led the last offices of reverent duty to 
 the dead. Shrouded in a simple white linen shift, 
 but covered with the crimson and ermine mantle of 
 state, they laid their deceased Sovereign upon the 
 canopied bed of Estate, moved to the centre of the 
 great hall. The Queen herself had closed his eyes, 
 and now she arranged his hands. In them she placed 
 a costly ruby cross he had given her at her marriage ; 
 at his feet she laid the " Livre des Heures" which 
 was also his nuptial gift ; and then she placed around 
 his neck the Sovereign's jewel, there was no heir to 
 wear it, alas ! and last of all she knelt and sprinkled 
 holy water on his corpse. 
 
 Every door and window was set wide ajar that, 
 night or day, all might see and pray and bless. Dusk 
 fell on that long, long day, but the crowd of loving 
 servants and subjects still surged along reverently to 
 pay their last respects ; and so night fell and passed, 
 not in the peaceful hush of slumber, but with 
 smothered tread of painful feet and the smothered 
 sob of woe. 
 
 All Aix was hung in black, and on July 14 the
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 345 
 
 streets were lined by weeping citizens as the funeral 
 cortege of " le bon Roy " passed to the Cathedral of 
 St. Sauveur. The burial casket, after the requiem 
 and Court ceremonies, was placed, not in a tomb 
 direct, but in a chapelle ardente, and watches of 
 religious mounted guard and prayed. Soon the wish 
 of their venerated Sovereign was made public prop- 
 erty, and then, amid fresh lamentations lest Aix 
 should lose his remains, appeals were made to Queen 
 Jehanne. She was deeply affected, but remained 
 quiet and resigned. She could not reverse her 
 husband's will, but she could allow his body to 
 remain awhile where it was. With this the authori- 
 ties had to be content, and forthwith, to strengthen 
 their hold upon that sacred casket, steps were 
 taken to erect a splendid monument and tomb. An 
 embassy was sent off at once to Rome to ask for a 
 " Bull " whereby the late Sovereign's directions as to 
 the place of sepulture might be laid aside. Aix was 
 not so much jealous of Angers as she was devoted to 
 her King. 
 
 In accordance with the marital customs of the 
 time, King Rene had a mistress perhaps more than 
 one, but one at least whose name has been pre- 
 served by chroniclers, Marie de la Chapelle, a respect- 
 able middle-class woman of Provence. Whether " de 
 la Chapelle " was a sobriquet or not is not clear ; 
 probably it was so, and given her later on in life 
 after the artist King had painted her wearing a 
 chapelle, or black velvet hood, in a diptych, wherein 
 he faces her, which he kept secretly in his own 
 studio. It is said that she did not really love Rene, 
 but liked to rule him and to direct the royal house- 
 hold. She was exigeant, too, for the legitimatizing
 
 346 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 of the three children she bore the King, whom Rene 
 had always duly acknowledged as his. These were 
 Jean, " le Bdtard d' Angers" created, after the 
 premature death of Prince Louis, Marquis de Pont- 
 a-Mousson and Seigneur of St. Cannot ; Blanche ; and 
 Madeleine. Jean married Isabelle, daughter of Ray- 
 mond de Glandevez, Ambassador to the Pope, pro- 
 Governor of Genoa, and Grand Master of France. 
 Blanche d'Anjou married Bertrand de Beauvau, 
 Seigneur de Precigny, Master of the Court of Angers 
 and Seneschal of Anjou. He was in 1462 appointed 
 President of Provence. His father was Seigneur de 
 Rochette. Rene gave his daughter the estate of 
 Mirabeau in Poitou, which he purchased in 1488. 
 In the Comptes du Roy Rene is the record of a 
 gift to Blanche of a gold mirror worth 20 ecus d'or, 
 under date January 12, 1488, and the same year, on 
 March 18, she received a large table diamond from 
 her father, which unfortunately she lost when playing 
 in a farce before the Court on the following Jour de 
 VAn. The precious bauble was found by a monk, 
 Alfonso de la Rocque, Prior of the monastery of Les 
 Anges d'Aix, and restored on payment of a tun of red 
 wine. The discovery was only made known, it 
 appears, through the confessional ; the good friar 
 had qualms about not making known his find. This 
 Blanche d'Anjou was educated at Beaucaire by Demoi- 
 selle Collette, a worker in furs, who received many 
 costly gifts from King Rene. It has been sought to 
 prove that Marie de la Chapelle was this Demoiselle 
 Collette. Among the King's gift were homely objects, 
 too. His Comptes, under April 4, 1447, record 
 " three Cannes of fine holland cloth ; two ditto fine 
 muslin, and five black silk velvet for a head-dress."
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 347 
 
 Another gift to Blanche d'Anjou, on May 16, 1447, 
 was hair for a rigotter, a coiffure postiche for which the 
 King paid 7 florins to Marguerite, wife of Jehan 
 Augier, at Beaucaire. Again Blanche was the 
 recipient of her father's generosity, for on June 7 
 the same year he gave her a cincture of wrought 
 silver which cost 1 1 florins. 
 
 Before Blanche married the Seigneur de Precigny 
 he had buried three wives, and he himself was buried 
 with them at Angers in October, 1474. She died 
 prematurely in giving birth to a child, April 1 1 , 
 1470, no more than twenty-one years of age. Made- 
 leine, Rene's second illegitimate daughter, married 
 Louis Jehan, Seigneur de Belleneve, Chamberlain to 
 Charles VIII. of France when Dauphin. He gave 
 him for his marriage 15,000 florins, that he might 
 " espouse worthily ma cousine" as he calls her. 
 Louis XII. gave her on her widowhood a sum of 
 12,000 florins. 
 
 On the death of King Rene, his eldest daughter, 
 Yolande, Countess of Vaudemont, claimed and assumed 
 the title of Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem, Naples, and 
 Aragon, but took no steps to enforce her claim upon 
 that vulture monarch, Louis XL, who at once seized 
 upon the lands of his uncle, and styled himself Duke 
 of Anjou and Count of Provence. Countess Yolande 
 was her father's child, tender and retiring. She 
 craved the charms of the quiet life, and consequently, 
 at the convocation of the Estates of Anjou and 
 Provence, she renounced her title, and made it over 
 to her son Rene. He had already taken up the 
 gauntlet of his grandfather, and given proof of the 
 sterling qualities of his ancestry. The duchy of 
 Lorraine and that of Bar were his through his
 
 348 REN D^ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 mother also, and as Duke of Lorraine Rene II. is 
 known to historians. Countess Yolande died at 
 Nancy February 21, 1483. Rene II. was the 
 Prince whom his father, Ferri de Vaude"mont, insisted 
 should make a pilgrimage from Vezelay, famous in 
 the history of Thomas a Becket, the capital of Le 
 Morvan, to Jerusalem with one foot booted, the other 
 bare, and, as he went, to distribute to every poor 
 person he met 12 livres by way of satisfaction for 
 small sums he himself had borrowed and had not paid 
 back surely a wide stretch of fatherly authority and 
 the law of substitution ! 
 
 The widowed Queen lost little time in settling her 
 affairs in Provence, for she was minded to go to 
 Anjou with her precious dead ; indeed, Rene had 
 expressed a wish to that effect. She carefully sur- 
 veyed the names of all the people Rene loved and of 
 those who loved him most nearly too. To each and 
 all some token was sent or given ; she spared few 
 things for herself. Churches, institutions, schools, 
 guilds, and all public bodies, received mementoes of 
 the dead monarch. To Jehanne came many pangs at 
 parting. She had learned to love the gentle Pro- 
 ven9als, and they had not failed to return her regard 
 most warmly. At last her preparations were com- 
 pleted, and she spent a day and night in the cathedral 
 by the casket of her dear dead, and then sorrowfully 
 she took her journey to distant Anjou, home to her 
 kith and kin. 
 
 King Rene in his will speaks thus of his beloved 
 Queen : " Because Jehanne has loved me, so I do 
 and shall love her as my dearest wife till death. Her 
 virtues and her goodness to me I cannot forget, nor 
 her loving services which she has rendered me for so
 
 RENK D ANJOU 
 
 (Circa 1470) 
 Painted by himself on wood. Aix Library 
 
 To face page 348
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 349 
 
 Jong a time. I will that she shall have unrestricted 
 liberty of action to settle, when I am dead, where she 
 will. ... I give to her the county of Beaufort ; the 
 castle and estate of Mirabeau ; the town of Aubagne ; 
 the castles of San Remy, Pertuis, and Les Baux, 
 with my bastides in and about Aix and at Marseilles, 
 with all their furniture and appurtenances." King 
 Rene also specially bequeathed to Jehanne his most 
 valuable jewels : collars of diamonds ; " le grand et le 
 petit bulay" rubies, with sprays of gold and gems ;* 
 his diamonds " a la cesse" uncut and strung (?) ; his 
 plates and caskets of gold ; his great bowls of gold ; 
 his great trays of silver ; and his precious goblet and 
 ewer of gold encrusted with jewels ; and many other 
 splendid precious objects. 
 
 With respect to the body of King Rene, it has 
 been chronicled that the Queen before leaving Aix 
 made secret arrangements for its translation to 
 Angers. She feared a hostile demonstration if open 
 measures were taken. She took into her confidence 
 a priest belonging to the cathedral chapter, and they 
 together worked out a plan which was put into 
 operation after Queen Jehanne had arrived at 
 Angers. She sent two of her most trusty atten- 
 dants, Jehan de Pastis and Jacquemain de Mahiers, 
 with an imposing suite, conveying a letter to the 
 Archbishop of Aix asking for the heart of Rene. 
 The priestly confidant was at the service of the 
 envoys, and they very cleverly contrived to secrete 
 the casket with the King's body in a royal chariot 
 which the Queen had commanded to be laden with 
 certain dresses and properties she had left behind, and 
 
 * " Le grand bulay" was a famous ruby, richly mounted, which he 
 had bought for 18,000 florins ( = 7,000).
 
 350 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 in particular the pall she had worked with her own 
 hand, and which was still covering the dead King's 
 coffin. The precious burden was driven to a secluded 
 backwater of the Rhone, and there embarked upon a 
 great royal barge ; and so King Rene's body passed 
 through France once more, as he had so often done 
 in life. The disembarknient of the royal corpse was 
 effected at Ponts-de-Ce, across the Loire, a few miles 
 out of Angers, and thence the second obsequies were 
 conducted with splendid ceremonies and amid universal 
 tokens of joy and sorrow of his Angevine subjects. 
 The heart was with the body, but the entrails were 
 left at Aix in the cathedral. 
 
 This was the last public appearance of Queen 
 Jehanne. She retired to her Castle of Beaufort, and 
 there she spent the residue of her life, eighteen long 
 and solitary years years never idle, never self- 
 indulgent, years loyal to the fond memory of her 
 spouse, years yearning for reunion. The day Jehanne 
 entered her new home was St. Luke's festival, 1481, 
 the second summer of the year, when the last grapes 
 hang ripened upon the vines, and the year's vintage 
 is gathered in. Perhaps the simile from Nature 
 enforced itself upon the widowed Queen's sympathetic 
 mind. Her harvest was now that of the quiet eye ; 
 its growth had been when eye met eye hers and 
 Rene's ; now was approaching the winter of her life, 
 when her work was to be finished and her rest full- 
 garnered. 
 
 Jehanne chose as the companions of her widow- 
 hood three trusty servitors Rene de Breslay, her 
 Seneschal ; Thibault de Cosse", her Master of the 
 Household ; and Bernard de Praneas, her Confessor. 
 She spent her time in prayer and charity. She
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 351 
 
 established hostels for poor people, for pilgrims and 
 the sick ; schools for children left orphans, and for 
 those cast upon the world by miserable parents. 
 Besides these pious works, the good Queen preserved 
 her interest in such arts and crafts as she and Rene 
 had encouraged in Provence. She studied once more 
 books and sciences he had loved, she painted 
 miniatures, composed madrigals and hymns, and sang 
 and played as she had done for him, and her pen 
 became that of the ready writer. She translated 
 Guillaume de Guillerville's tragedy, " The Pilgrimage 
 of Human Life "; " The Soul separated from the 
 Body," a poem by Jehan Galoppez, a priest of 
 Angers and her Private Secretary ; and a moraliza- 
 tion upon " The Certainty of Paradise." All her 
 works were, however, in prose, which, she said 
 " conserves le sens et les images, mais deliverez moi 
 du martelage et des grimaces de ce baragouin /" * 
 
 Perhaps the action which most endeared the 
 memory of the good Queen to the hearts and minds 
 of the people about her was the extraordinary pains 
 she took to alleviate taxation and to readjust tribute. 
 When Rene took over the estate in 1471, he made 
 vast reductions in the imposts on land and stock 
 and crop. These were confirmed by Queen Jehanne 
 ten years later, and further reductions were conceded 
 Her plea to herself was : " Now Rene is no more, I 
 have no other role to play but to do as he would have 
 wished me." The Forest of Beaufort, where Rene 
 and she had followed the chase in princely fashion, 
 now no longer echoed the blast of hunting-horns and 
 
 * "Preserve the sense and the shape, but protect me from forced 
 metaphor and gibberish !" 
 
 23
 
 352 REN^ D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 the cracks of hunting-whips, but with the gentle 
 notes of the Angelus, and when the curfews rang out in 
 neighbouring village and homestead, they carried 
 with them the refrain, " Priez pour la bonne 
 Jehanne." 
 
 These soft nocturnes and sweet visions of ancient 
 days still linger in Anjou. The memory of the 
 Queen of Sicily, Jehanne, is cherished, and almost 
 a proverb it has become, that all good things done in 
 that rich province are due to the watchful spirit 
 of the Queen. In this connection a very weird 
 narrative may be told. In 1469 Guillaume de 
 Harancourt, Bishop of Verdun, invented a cage of 
 wood and iron for refractory criminals. One such 
 was sent to Angers, which after Jehanne 's death 
 became known as the " cage of the Queen of Sicily." 
 It was said that Jehanne had been put therein 
 wearing wooden sabots. The why and wherefore of 
 her incarceration was perfectly uncertain, but the 
 sabots are to-day in Angers Museum ; the cage has 
 disappeared. Another version has it that King 
 Rene had among his wild creatures at Reculee and 
 elsewhere a very ferocious eagle which he could not 
 tame, and so the bird was sent to Angers and placed 
 in the Bishop's wood and iron cage, and dubbed 
 "La Reine" "The Queen"! This bird of prey 
 deserved the name ; its appetite was prodigious. In 
 Les Comptes, among other entries referring to 
 "her Majesty," is "June 3, 1474, 'La Reine ' 
 has a whole sheep day by day." This is quaint 
 indeed, but characteristic of stories and story- 
 tellers ! 
 
 Queen Jehanne died at the Castle of Beaufort,
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 353 
 
 December 19, 1498, as the chroniclers tell us, 
 " in the odour of sanctity and with all the consola- 
 tions of Holy Church." 
 
 The Queen's will a most lengthy document 
 contains many affecting and many quaint bequests. 
 She first of all commends herself conventionally to 
 the Almighty, and then goes on to indicate her desire 
 to be laid not far from " Marie of blessed memory " 
 her consort's grandmother, Marie de Blois-Chatillon 
 " before the altar where is laid my lord and 
 consort," and she warns all and sundry against 
 laying any other bodies there. Her heart she 
 bequeaths to the Chapel of St. Bernardin, within 
 the Church of the Cordeliers at Angers, to be placed 
 beside that of Rene. She directs that her body 
 shall be covered with a pall of black silk, and that at 
 her funeral six poor religious should attend habited 
 in black, and each bearing a flaming torch. Her 
 heart and Renews should repose upon a pall of cloth 
 of gold embroidered in crimson, and bearing their 
 joined shields of arms. Lights shall always burn in 
 front of the tomb and the cardial reliquary. She 
 instructs her brother and nephew, Seigneurs de la 
 Roche and de Montafiland, to hand over to the 
 Chapter of St. Maurice in Angers 200 livres 
 tournois (circa 120) to pay for her burial cortege, 
 and for Mass, absolutions, vespers, and bells. Par- 
 ticularly she notes her preference for flags of bougran 
 stuff (?) over silken banners. 
 
 The day after her interment the Queen directs 
 that with reverent ritual a crown shall be placed 
 over her head like that she placed over Rene's, upon 
 their monument. Certain saintly relics which he
 
 354 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 and she had been the means of rescuing from sacrilege, 
 and had deposited in the Church of St. Tugal de 
 Laval, shall be displayed gratuitously to " such dames 
 comtesses as may wish to become mothers." Her 
 " Breviary," " Psalter," " Hours," and other books 
 of devotion, she bequeaths to the Church of St. 
 Tugal de Laval, for the use of daughters of her 
 father's house at their marriage or when residing 
 in Laval. Two gold rings she particularly desires 
 to be placed upon the relics of St. Nicholas d'Angers, 
 within his reliquary : " one, my wedding-ring, which 
 my very redoubtable lord and consort, whom God 
 absolve, placed upon my finger at our nuptials, 
 with a small heart of diamonds and enamelled with 
 deep red roses." The other ring had a large diamond 
 mounted on a fleur-de-lis, and the band bore the 
 enamelled arms of Anjou. Queen Jehanne did not 
 forget her friends and attendants ; for example, 
 among very many legacies, she left 200 livres tournois 
 each to three ladies : Jacqueline de Puy du Jour, 
 Catherine Beaufilz, and " ma petite " Gindine de 
 la Jaille, to provide them with trousseaux upon 
 marriage. 
 
 The body of the Queen was reverently shrouded 
 in a plain linen chemise, such as that with which she 
 herself had assisted to cover King Rene's corpse, and 
 over it was placed his robe of state. Hers was the 
 last lying in state of a Queen of Sicily, and every 
 mark of homage and respect was rendered her 
 remains by high and low. Peasants and citizens 
 conspired together to show their grateful sense of 
 her virtues and her benefactions, and the country 
 road from Beaufort to Angers was lined with sym-
 
 JEHANNE DE LAVAL 355 
 
 pathetic crowds of mourners. Her passing was in 
 the night time, so consonant with her love of 
 seclusion and simplicity, and the whole country- 
 side was ablaze with torches and bonfires. The 
 Queen's burial was at St. Maurice's Cathedral, in 
 the tomb of her consort ; whilst her heart, " so full 
 of love and so tenderly beloved," in a golden casket 
 exactly like that of the King, was placed next his in 
 the Chapel of St. Bernardin. Upon a memorial 
 tablet was inscribed the epitaph : " Here lies the 
 Heart of the very high and puissant Princess, 
 Jehanne de Laval, second wife of King Rend, and 
 daughter of Guy, Count de Laval." 
 
 The monument to King Rene", which she at last 
 came to share in blessed memory, had his effigy 
 reclining, and at his feet a sculptured lion, symbol 
 of courage ; at Jehanne's feet were carved two 
 hounds, emblematic of fidelity. The Chapel of 
 St. Bernardin thus became the royal mausoleum of 
 the last Anjou dynasty Rene, with his father and 
 mother, his two wives, his eldest son, and his two 
 daughters, in holy company ; and so they remained 
 for 300 years, until that cataclysmatic year 1793, 
 when every holy stone was tumbled down and every 
 reverent memorial defaced. The memorial chapel 
 was for centuries a thing of beauty. King Rene 
 himself painted the glass windows and designed the 
 tomb. Soon after his marriage with Jehanne de 
 Laval he employed Francesco Laurana and Pietro da 
 Milano to decorate the chapel. 
 
 Soon after the death of King Rene, Sieur Guillaume 
 de Remerville, his Treasurer at Aix, voiced the 
 universal sorrow and permanent regret of all the
 
 356 RENE D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 royal servants of his lord in a beautiful funeral ode, 
 which he dedicated to " Queen Jehanne, his wor- 
 shipful mistress " : 
 
 " Pleurez, petits et grands 1 Pleurez I 
 Car perdu avez le bon Sire. 
 Jamais ne le recouverierez 
 Sa mart sera grief martyir." * 
 
 Such was the refrain. The same loving dirge of 
 woe was re-echoed through Anjou and Provence 
 when Jehanne passed royally to her burial. 
 
 * " Weep little, weep great, weep all ! 
 For we have lost our good Lord. 
 Ne'er more his form to recall 
 Hearts broken by his mord." 
 
 KING RENT'S SIGNATURE.
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 
 
 I. LE Eoi RENE. 
 
 "Histoire de Roi Rene"." Vicomte F. L. Villeneuve-Bargement. 
 
 3 vols. Paris, 1825. 
 " Le Roi Rene : Sa Vie, son Administration, ses Travaux Artistiques 
 
 et Litteraires." A. Lecoy de la Marche. Paris, 1875. 
 "Le Roi Rene en Lorraine." Le Chanoine Cherrier. Marseilles, 
 
 1895. 
 
 " Vie de Roi Rene." R. Legonvello. Angers, 1731. 
 "Le Roi Rend et la Fete de Charite, 1448." J. B. Gaut. Aix, 
 
 1869. 
 
 "Le Due Rene." Gaston Save. Nancy, 1899. 
 " Les Comptes de Roi Rene." 3 vols. Paris, 1909. 
 "Les Tournois de Roi Rene." Paris, 1826. 
 "(Euvres de Roi Rene 1 ." Comte A. de Quatrebarbes. 2 vols. 
 
 Angers, 1885. 
 
 II. MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 "Histoire de 1'Ordre de Chevalerie." F. F. Steenackers. Paris, 
 
 1867. 
 
 "Les MSS. et les Miniatures." Lecoy de la Marche. Paris, 1884. 
 "La Chronique des Roys de France." J. de Ongoys. Paris, 1579. 
 "Chroniques et Memoires." Juvenal des Ursins (1400-1472). Paris, 
 
 1653. 
 " Le Regne de Charles VII." G. Du Fresne de Beaucourt. Paris, 
 
 1856. 
 
 "Histoire de Charles VII." A. Bandot de Juilly. Paris, 1754. 
 " Histoire Ge"nealogique de la Maison de Bar," etc. A. Du Chesne. 
 
 Paris, 1631. 
 "Etude de la Vie Prive"e d'Anjou du XV. Siecle." A. Joubert 
 
 Paris, 1884. 
 
 "Histoire des Reines Jeanne I. et II." A. T. Guzot Paris, 1700. 
 "Le Orgie della Reiua Giovanna II. da Napoli." G. Cattallani. 
 
 Naples, 1895. 
 "Storia della Regina Giovanna II. d'Anzio." N. F. Faraglia 
 
 Naples, 1904. 
 
 " Coustumes du Pays et Duchd Dainon." 1510. 
 "Coutumes d'Anjou." A. Beautemps-Beaupre". 4 vols. Paris 
 
 1881. 
 
 " Histoire de Lorraine." A. Calmet. 3 vols. Paris. 
 
 357
 
 358 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 "Histoire de Provence." J. E. Papon. Aix, 1786. 
 
 "Chroniques de Charles VII." A. Chartier. Paris, 1528. 
 
 " Memoires Secrets de la Cour de Charles VII." Madame D(urand). 
 
 Paris, 1735. 
 
 " Maison de Laval." Comte Bertrand de Brousillon. Angers, 1895. 
 " La Chorographie de Provence." H. Bouche. 1664. 
 "Melanges." J. B. Champillon. Paris, 1809. 
 "Lettres Autobiographiques." A. Charavaz. 1884. 
 "Chroniques des Dues de Bourgogne." G. Chastellain. Paris, 
 
 1825. 
 
 "Anecdotes des Keines de France." Paris, 1785. 
 "Musee des Monuments Fran9ais." A. Lenoir. 5 vols. Paris. 
 "Le Moyen Age." P. La Croix. 5 vols. Paris, 1848. 
 
 III. PERIODICALS. 
 
 " Bibliotheque Nationale" "Album des Portraits." 
 
 " Revue Historique et Archeologique du Maine et Loire." Vol. vi. 
 
 " Revue d'Anjou." Vol. xv. 
 
 " Revue Historique d Angers." Vol. xviii. 
 
 " Revue Numismatique dAnjou." Vol. i. 
 
 " Bulletin Societe Industrielle dAngers." Vol. x. 
 
 "Memoires de la Societe* Agriculturelle dAngers." 1850, 1866, 
 
 1872. 
 
 " Bulletin Mensuel de la Societe" d'Arche"ologie Lorraine." Vol. i. 
 " Dictionnaire Biographique de Maine et Loire." Vol. i. 
 "Documents Historiques de 1'Ecole des Chartes." 1873. 
 "Recherches Historiques sur 1'Angers." Vols. i. and ii. 
 "Recherches Historiques sur le Saumur." Vols. i. and ii. 
 " Archivio Storico Lombardo." 1894. 
 " Joyeuses Histoires de nos Peres." Paris, 1891, etc. 
 "Revue Historique et Archeologique du Maine." Vols. xv. and xvi 
 " Reunion des Societes des Beaux Arts." Vols. v. and xxxii. 
 
 IV. IN ENGLISH. 
 
 "History of Louis XL" P. Mathieu. London, 1814. 
 
 " Romantic Episodes of France." H. Vance. Dublin, 1868. 
 
 " Old Provence." J. A Cooke. 2 vols. London, 1905. 
 
 " Troubadours and Courts of Love." J. F. Rowbotham. London, 
 
 1895. 
 
 "Troubadours at Home." J. H. Smith. 2 vols. London, 1899. 
 "Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou." M. A. Bookham. 
 
 London, 1872. 
 "Lives of the Queens of England." A Strickland. Vol. i. 
 
 London, 1864. 
 
 "Close of Middle Ages." R. Lodge. London, 1908. 
 "Life of Joan d'Arc." Lord Mahon. London, 1876. 
 "Paston Letters "(1422-1509). 4 vols. Reprint, 1901.
 
 INDEX 
 
 " A HENRY ! A HENRY !" 296, 298 
 Alagui, Lucrezia d', 251 
 Alliance, A great. 262 [352 
 
 Animals and birds, Love of, 213, 214, 
 ANJOU, Anne of (daughter of King 
 
 Rene), 141 
 ,, Blanche of (natural daughter 
 
 of King Louis II.), 68 
 ,, Blanche of (natural daughter 
 
 of King Rene), 68, 254, 267 
 ,, Charles, Duke of (brother of 
 
 King Charles VI. of France, 
 
 the elder Anjou line), 24, 25 
 Charles of, Duke of Maine I. 
 
 (brother of King Rene), 24, 
 
 57, 86, 87, 92, 93, 307 
 Charles of, Duke of Maine II. 
 
 (son of above), 57, 165, 328, 
 
 329 
 
 Foulkes-Nerra, Count of, 92 
 Helene of, " La Petite " (natural 
 
 daughter of King Rene?), 341 
 Isabelle of (daughter of King 
 
 Rene], 141 
 Jean of (sonofKingRene), Duke 
 
 of Calabria and Lorraine, 
 
 King of Catalonia, 85, 90, 91, 
 
 104, 108, 113, 114, 124, 127, 
 
 134, 140, 244-254, 264, 270, 
 
 279, 280. 291 
 Jean of (natural son of King 
 
 Rene), 254 
 Louis I., King-Duke of, see 
 
 Louis II., King-Duke of, see 
 
 Kings 
 Louis III., King-Duke of, see 
 
 Kings 
 Louis de Maine of (natural son 
 
 of King Louis II.), 68 
 Madeleine of (natural daughter 
 
 of King Rene), 254 
 Margaret of (daughter of King 
 
 Rene), see Queens 
 Nicholas of (son of King Rene), 
 
 85, 141, 254-258, 328 
 Odille, of "La Demoiselle " 
 
 (natural daughter of King 
 
 Rene?). 341 
 
 Rene", King Duke of, 17-356 
 Rene" of (son of King Rene), 141 
 Yolande of (sister of King 
 
 Kene), see Brittany 
 ,, Yolande of (daughter of King 
 
 Rene"), see Vaude"mont 
 ARCHITECTS: Leon Battista Alberti, 
 
 20. 236 ; Francesco Brunellesco, 20 ; 
 Giovanni Capistrani, 340 ; Cennino 
 Cennini, 20 
 
 Armagnac, Mahaud d', 34, 38 
 Three Graces of, 260 
 
 Banquet, A sumptuous, 129, 211 
 BAR, Bonne of, wife of Nicholas de 
 
 , Ligne, 34, 80 
 Edouard of, 34, 69 
 Frederic, Count of, 32 
 Henry IV., Count of, 32 
 lolande of Flanders, Countess of, 
 
 32-34 
 
 Jehan of, 34, 69 
 Louis, Cardinal of, 69, 77-81, 86, 
 
 98-103, 162, 191 
 ,, Marie of France, Duchess of, 32, 
 
 34, 49, 69, 80 
 
 Robert I., Duke of, 32, 69, 78 
 Violante (Yolanda), see Queens 
 Barragana, A, 30 
 Bare breasts, 56, 186, 188, 262 
 Bare feet, A Duchess's, 97 
 BATTLES : Azincourt, 34, 64, 69. 96 ; 
 Arienzo, 20, 130, 131 ; Bange 1 , 82 ; 
 Bulgneville, 88, 109-115, 130, 192, 
 238, 256 ; Gaeta, 241 ; Montpiloir, 
 168 ; Rocca-Secca, 219 ; Rosebach, 
 96 ; Sarno, 335 ; Troia (I.), 250 ; 
 Troia (II.), 252. 335. Wars of the 
 Roses : Barnet, 297 ; Blorehea^h, 
 282 ; Hexham, 287 ; Northampton, 
 282 ; St. Albans, 281, 284 ; Towton, 
 285 ; Wakefield, 280 
 Beaufort, Cardinal, 261, 262, 264, 275 
 Beauty, A village, 83, 147 [Sorel 
 
 " Belles, La Belle des," see Agnes 
 " Better die right out !" 297 
 " Bloody Edward," 298, 304 
 Blushing maids, 45 
 Bois Chenus, Le, 144, 173, 190 
 "Bourges, The little Queen of," 174 
 " Bourges, The little King of," 188, 
 
 279 
 
 "Box her ears !" 147, 198 
 Bride burnt to death, A, 88 
 BRITTANY, Arthur de Richemont of, 
 
 126, 133, 207 
 
 Charles, Duke of, 127, 185 
 
 Francis, Duke of, 286 
 
 Francis, Count of Mont- 
 
 fort, 86 
 
 Isabelle of, 72, 88 
 
 Jean VI., Duke of, 71, 88, 
 
 116, 207, 307 
 
 359
 
 860 
 
 BRITTANY, Yolande of Anjou, Coun- 
 tess of Montfort, 86 
 BURGUNDY, Catherine of, 62, 70, 71, 
 
 76, 79 
 Isabelle of Portugal, 
 
 Duchess of, 65, 126 
 Jean, Duke of, 62, 70, 71, 
 
 91, 99, 182-184 
 
 ,, Philippe, Duke of, 25, 
 
 96, 102, 108, 111, 113, 
 115. 116, 120, 126, 127, 
 138, 159, 163, 184, 236, 
 243-254, 258-260, 288- 
 290, 329 
 Burlesque, A royal, 289 
 
 CASTLES : Aix, 19, 333, 340 ; Amboise, 
 294, 295 ; Angers, 19, 43, 44, 51, 
 60, 67, 72, 169, 191, 258, 293, 295, 
 309, 331 ; Auray, 307 ; Aversa, 227 ; 
 Bar-le-Duc, 88, 103, 254, 291 ; Bas- 
 tile, 183 ; Bauge, 82 ; Beaufort, 335, 
 350, 352 ; Bisclin, 40 ; Blois, 179 ; 
 Bonconville, 336 ; Bourges, 64, 165, 
 181, 192, 201, 215 ; Bourmont, 81, 
 113 ; Bracon (Tour-de Bar), 112, 
 119, 120, 138, 192, 193, 238, 242, 
 249 ; Breaute, 196, 197 ; Capua, 232, 
 257 ; Castel Nuovo, 232 ; Chatille, 
 113 ; Charmes, 113 ; Chateaudun, 
 182 ; Chinon, 134, 154, 160, 189, 194, 
 201, 214, 253, 261, 286, 309 ; Cler- 
 mont, 113, 139, 173, 259, 336 ; 
 Coucy, 88, 95 ; Dampiere, 304 ; 
 dell' Ovo, 222 ; Dourdans, 177 ; For- 
 calquier, 76 ; Gaeta, 245 ; Gerona, 
 46 ; Gien, 192 ; Harlech, 283 ; 
 Koeurs, 336 ; Kuerere, 291 ; La 
 Ferte, 81 ; Launay-les-Sauniur, 318 ; 
 Laval, 307 ; Les Baux, 320, 321, 
 348 ; Loches, 170, 171, 181, 199, 
 201 ; Louppy, 336 ; Marseilles, 19, 
 333 ; Maulevrier, 196 ; Mehun-sur- 
 Yevre, 63, 184, 214 ; Mesnil-la-Belle, 
 198 ; Middleham/292 ; Montpellier, 
 45 ; Muro, 217 ; Nancy, 19, 95, 106, 
 109, 114, 133, 184, 149, 150, 254, 
 265 ; Nantes, 270 ; Nesle, 177 ; 
 Pertuis, 349 ; Pierrepoint, 103 ; 
 Plessis-les-Tours, 203 ; Pont-a-Mous- 
 son, 253 ; Queniez, 304 ; Reculee, 
 19, 214, 302, 303, 334, 352 ; Renan- 
 court, 81 ; Renne, 259 ; Sarry-le- 
 Chateau, 313 ; Saumur, 19, 91, 136, 
 185, 258, 261, 296, 309 ; St. Mihiel, 
 101 ; St. Pol, 289 ; San Remy, 349 ; 
 Talant, 110 ; Tarascon, 19, 50, 
 134, 137, 256, 258, 333 ; Toulouse, 
 44, 57 ; Tourg, 101 ; Tours, 201, 
 203, 211 ; Troyes, 184 ; Val-de- 
 Cassel, 34 ; Varennes, 259 ; Vienne, 
 254 ; Zaragoza, 31 
 
 Cathedral, A magnificent, 163-168 
 "Cell, Fit for a," 279 
 Champion of champions, 265, 312 
 Chapelle, Marie de la, 21, 345, 346 
 Chatelaines, 54, 59, 139,180, 181, 196, 
 
 320, 329 
 Chemises, 195 
 
 Child marriages, 94 [245, 246 
 
 Claimants for a throne, 41, 42, 62, 63, 
 Coffin, Golden hair in a, 321 
 " Cornptes de Roy Rene, Les," 28, 29, 
 
 60, 182, 213, 266, 331, 336, 337, 346 
 Conclave, A sacred, 157 
 " Confrererie de la Passion, La," 256 
 " Conquete de la Doulce Mercy, La," 
 
 23, 324-326 
 
 Cooking, Art of, 53, 211, 339 
 Coronations, Royal, 41-43, 165-168, 
 
 237, 274, 275 
 
 Correcte, Friar Thomas, 186-188 
 Country life, Joys of a, 318, 321, 322, 
 
 340 
 
 Court, A frivolous, 190 
 "Courts of Love," 35, 37, 42, 320 
 Courtiers, see Nobles 
 Craftsmen: Colin d'Angers, 302; 
 
 Juan d'Arragona, 27 ; Jehan Buturt, 
 
 60 ; Frangois Castargis, 267 ; Jehan 
 
 Ducceux, 60 ; Julien Guillot, 60 ; 
 
 Henri Henniquin, 27 ; Jehan le 
 
 Gracieux, 27 ; Jehan de Nicholas, 
 
 27 ; Guillaume le Pelletier, 27 ; 
 
 Guillaume de la Planchette, 266 ; 
 
 Luigi Rabbotino, 27 ; Guillaume 
 
 Real (chef), 339 ; Jean Tubande, 271 
 Craftswomen : Marguerite Chamber- 
 
 layne, 273 ; Demoiselle Collette, 
 
 346 ; Jehanne Despert, 27 
 Cry, A piteous, 173 
 Cupid's ways, 87, 140, 310 
 " Curse on life ! A," 313, 314 
 
 Dame de Courrages, La, 180, 181 
 
 Dancing fool, A, 251 
 
 Dare-devils, 221-223 
 
 Day, An ill-omened, 296 
 
 Delicacies, 48, 53 
 
 " Devils at home," 315 
 
 Devils and hobby-horses, 338 
 
 Disguise, A royal, 34, 47 
 
 Divorce, A royal, 218, 219 
 
 Dowries, Royal, 49, 70, 76, 114, 127, 
 
 196, 198, 218, 259, 317, 346, 347 
 Dress, A reformer of, 186-189 
 Dresses, Gorgeous, 233, 234, 266, 267, 
 
 311 
 
 Elopement, A royal, 138, 139 
 EMPERORS : Charlemagne, 282, 307 ; 
 Lothair, 95 ; Otto III., 32 ; Robert 
 III., 95 ; Sigismund, 118, 119, 253 ; 
 Wenceslas, 212 
 Erotic ascendancy, 197
 
 INDEX 
 
 S61 
 
 Farewell, A sad, 269 
 
 Fashions, 48, 49, 55, 56, 67, 186, 187, 
 194, 195, 202, 267 
 
 Favourites, Royal : Pandolfo Alopo, 
 222, 223 ; Sergianni Caracciolo, 223, 
 228-231, 237, 238 ; Sforza da Colig- 
 nola, 222, 223, 228-232 ; Bartolom- 
 nieo Colleoni, 224 ; Braccio Forte- 
 braccio, 229-232 
 
 Feast of Folly, 37 
 
 Fete Dieu at Aix, La, 337, 338 
 
 Fete des Fous, La, 210 
 
 Fetes and sports, see Merrymakings 
 
 Fierbois, The sword of, 154, 160, 166 
 
 Flagellations, 181 
 
 Foix, Cardinal de, 317 
 
 Foul deed, A, 298 
 
 Foul-play, 182-184, 205, 206, 218 
 
 Gardens : Lovely Tarascon, 50 ; Bar- 
 
 le-Duc, 80 ; Aversa, 234, 235 ; Les 
 
 Baux, 320, 321 
 Garters, Chained, 267 
 "Gaya Ciencia, La," 31, 36, 37, 46, 63 
 Genoa, Maiden offering at, 314 
 Girls, Character of, 45 ; tribute of, 
 
 128 
 
 "Give me Rene d'Anjou !" 143 
 Glee-maidens, 31, 35, 256, 274 
 Glory of France, Everything for the, 
 
 200 
 
 Golden Rose, The, 119 
 " Grey wolf of Anjou, The," 304 
 Grotto, Voices in a, 235 
 
 Hard-heads, 36 
 
 Hairdressing, 49. 67, 148, 164, 187, 
 
 194, 195, 202, 204, 261, 266, 267, 
 
 268, 311 
 
 Hair in a coffin, Golden, 321 
 Harvest of a quiet eye, 350 
 Heart, A pierced, 290 
 Herring, Only one, 290 
 Highwaymen, 33, 132 
 " Hold your tongue !" 230 
 Honour, Dames and Maids of, 186, 222, 
 
 226, 234. 264 
 
 " Hope of England, The," 298 
 Horsewoman, A splendid, 150, 151 
 Hostages, Royal, 113-116, 120 
 
 Jacques d'Arc, 143, 144, 167 
 
 Jeanne d'Arc, "La Pucelle," 83-87, 
 143-173, 189-192, 236, 253 
 
 "Jeanne soit bonne," 145 
 
 Jehanne de Laval, see Queens 
 
 Jehanne the Inspirer, 330 
 
 Jewels, 35, 43, 49, 56, 80, 128. 196, 
 202, 203, 234, 247, 266-268, 275, 276, 
 289, 309, 315, 335, 346, 349, 354 
 
 Jews, 240 
 
 Joke, A royal, 61 
 
 KINGS: 
 
 Alfonso, "The Magnanimous," of 
 Aragon-Sicily-Naples, 75, 117, 
 124, 126, 128, 130, 224, 225, 227- 
 235, 241-258, 280, 334 
 Andrew of Hungary, 217, 246 
 Charles IV., "The Fair," of France, 
 
 177 
 
 Charles V. of France, 82 
 Charles VI. of France, 40, 44, 55, 
 63-65, 68, 179-181, 193, 209, 265, 
 276. 308 
 
 Charles VII. of France, 63-65, 81-85, 
 88, 91, 109-111,117,126,132, 154- 
 199, 200-215, 236, 239, 251-254, 
 260-264, 269-279, 331 
 Charles VIII. of France, 294, 347 
 Charles II. of Naples, 333 
 Charles III. of Naples. 216, 217, 220 
 Edward IV. of England, 281-286 
 
 292-304 
 
 Ferdinand of Aragon, 221, 227 
 Ferdinand I. of Naples, 252, 335 
 Henry IV. of England, 295 
 Henry V. of England, 56, 65, 72, 
 
 181, 184 
 Henry VI. of England, 138, 260-263, 
 
 272-304, 363 
 Henry II. of France, 196 
 lago II. of Aragon, 36 
 James III. of Scotland, 285, 290 
 Jean II., " The Good," of France, 29, 
 
 32, 44, 65, 67, 73, 80, 127 
 Juan I. of Aragon, 32-49, 334 
 Juan II. of Aragon-Catalonia, 334 
 Juan III. of Aragon-Catalonia, see 
 
 Jean d'Anjou 
 
 Ladislaus of Naples, 216-220 [176 
 
 Louis IX. (St. Louis) of France, 51, 
 
 Louis XI. of France, 85, 175, 197- 
 
 205, 214, 232, 264, 286-296, 300- 
 
 304, 326, 335, 347 
 
 Louis I. of Sicily-Anjou, 29, 39-44, 
 
 58, 73, 118 
 
 Louis II. of Sicily-Anjou, 29, 39, 40- 
 46, 55-67, 73, 85, 93, 99, 174-176, 
 207, 217-219, 332 
 
 Louis III. of Sicily-Anjou, 57-64, 
 68-76, 82-89, 117, 121, 165-169, 
 185-188, 212, 225-246, 320 
 Martino of Aragon-Sicily, 30, 42, 
 
 62 
 
 Rene of Sicily-Anjou-Naples, 17-356 
 Robert of Naples, 217 
 Philip V., "The Tall," of France, 
 
 177 
 
 King, A libertine, 218 ; meagre fare 
 ot a, 182; Most Valiant (?), 195; 
 skit on a, 201 
 
 Kisses, 47, 52, 75, 137, 152, 195, 201, 
 208, 209, 226, 255, 257, 269, 335
 
 362 REN D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 " L'Abuze en Court." 24, 327, 328 
 " Lady of his thoughts, The," 310 
 Lady of the Crest, 306, 310, 311 
 " La Fran9aise, " 275, 279, 280 
 "La Royne Blanche," 85, 112, 161, 
 
 166, 173 
 LAVAL, Fra^oise de Dinan, Countess 
 
 of, 308 
 
 Guy XIII., Count of, 68, 87, 
 135-137, 162, 170, 307-312, 
 316, 317, 355 
 
 Guy XIV., Count of, 307 
 ,, Isabelle of Brittany, Countess 
 
 of, 307 
 
 ,, Jehanne of, see Queens 
 Pierre of, 307, 309, 317 
 Yolande of, 307 
 "Le Bon Roy," 318, 321, 322, 324, 
 
 326, 332, 338, 343 
 
 Legends : Notre Dame de Sousterre, 
 35 ; St Catherine les Baux, 320, 
 321 ; St. Frisette de Reims, 164 ; 
 St. Martha of Bethany, 50, 51, 
 333 ; St. Maximin d'Aix, 333 ; St. 
 Radegunde de Tours, 157; St. Re- 
 natus d'Angers, 59, 60 
 Leonora, Fair, 225, 231-235 
 " Le Sauve-garde de ma Vie," 340 
 LES BAUX, Alix, Countess of, 319 
 
 Cecile of, "La Passe Rose," 
 
 320 
 
 Douce of, 320 
 j^tiennette of, 320 
 Jehanne of, 319 
 Raimond, Count of, 320 
 Robert Beaufort, Count of, 
 "Le Fleau de Provence," 
 319 
 
 " Les Tards- Venus," 319 
 Library, A famous, 120 
 " Ligue de Quatre, La," 73 
 Likeness in a lance, A, 331 
 " Like Queen Giovanna !" 217 
 Lioness at bay, Like a, 303 
 LORRAINE, Adelebert, Duke of, 95 
 Charles II., Duke of, 88, 
 
 95, 96, 98-104, 121, 143, 
 148-151, 163, 171, 244, 
 245 
 
 Isabelle of, see Queens 
 
 Jehan, Count of, 95 
 
 Margairet of Bavaria, 
 
 Duchess of, 95-100, 104, 
 105, 110-115, 118, 121, 
 148-153, 254 [95 
 
 Marie of, Dame deSoissons, 
 
 Raoul, Duke of, 105 
 
 Rene II., Duke of, 336, 
 
 347, 348 [156 
 
 The Pride of, 94, 98, 151, 
 
 Love of all the boys, 257 
 
 Love, Courts of : Bar le Due, 35 ; 
 Zaragoza, 37 ; Barcelona, 42 ; Les 
 Baux, 320 
 
 Love, The Chamber of, 320 
 Love Lady-Day, 281, 282 
 Loves of Louis and Yolanda, 46 
 Charles and Agnes, 192-200 
 ,, Charles Dunois and Marie 
 
 d'Anjou, 208, 209 
 ,, Louis and Leonora, 225-235 
 Love's rosebush, 97 
 
 "Magali," 330 
 
 Maiden tribute, 316 
 
 Maids of Honour, 186, 222, 226, 234, 
 
 264 
 Maignelais, Antoinette de, 193, 198 
 
 ,, Catherine de, 193 
 Malady, A terrible, 276 
 Margaret d'Anjou, see Queens 
 Margaret, Truce of, 281 
 Marguerites, 268, 271, 274 
 " Mariage, Quinze Joyes de," 77 
 Marriage ring torn off, 219 
 Martyrdom, A royal, 172, 173 
 Matchmaking, 35, 39, 64, 65, 70-73, 
 
 76, 86-88, 91, 127, 218, 220, 256, 
 
 257, 259, 293, 294 
 Matrimonial pros and cons, 99, 100 
 Matrons, A panel of, 83, 157, 158, 191 
 Mermaid, A Sicilian, 226 
 "Merrie Mol, Une," 289 
 Merrymakings, 31, 35-37, 46, 48, 50-54, 
 
 61, 72, 91, 104, 134, 135, 139, 234, 
 
 256, 265, 338 
 
 Millionaires, Royal, 58, 62, 182, 212 
 Montereau, Derouillee de, 206 
 "Mortifiement de Vaine Plaisance, 
 
 Le," 23, 317 
 Mottoes: "Amour et foy" (Isabelle 
 
 de Lorraine), 142; "Ardent desir" 
 
 (King Rene}, 134; "Fides vitat 
 
 servata" (King Rene), title-page 
 Murder, 222, 223, 298, 299 [338 
 
 Mystery plays, 38, 52, 265, 274, 337, 
 
 Natural children, 30, 68, 196, 220, 227, 
 
 252 
 
 NOBLES AND COURTIERS : 
 Agout, Raymond d', 44, 45 
 Aigle, Jean, Lord de 1', 60 
 Amboise, Louis d', 206 
 Andrews, William (Private Secretary 
 
 to Henry VI.), 268 
 Avellino, Robert, Count of, 245 
 Barbazan, Armand, 109, 158,162, 168 
 Baudricourt, Robert de, 147, 148 
 Beauvais, Pierre de, 68 
 Beauvau, Bertrand de, Lord of 
 
 Precigny, 267, 346, 347 
 Beauvau, Louis de, 20, 26, 137, 312, 
 
 317
 
 NOBLES (continued) : 
 Beaupremont, Pierre de, 258 
 BelleNeve, Louis Jehan, Lord of, 347 
 Biege, Pierre de, 68 
 Bre"ze, Jacques de, Count of Maule- 
 
 vrier, 196 
 
 Brege, Louis de, 196 
 Braze", Pierre de, 287, 288 
 Breslay, Rene" de, 350 
 Cabarus, Vidal di, 244 
 Capua, Andrea di, 219 
 Champchevier, Jules, 261 
 Charantais, Jehan, 225 
 Charny, Adolphe de, 258 
 Chatel, Tanneguy de, 20, 182, 184 
 Clifford, Lord, 283, 284 
 Ooeur, Jacques, 182, 212 
 Coetivi, Olivier de, 196 
 Cosse, Thibault de, 350 
 Couldray, Lord of, 316 
 Courrages, Lord of, 180, 181 
 Coyrant, Yovunet, 61 
 Crepi, Jehan, 76 
 Dunois, Count Charles (le Batard 
 
 d'Orleans), 159, 161, 168, 207-211 
 Escose, Jean d', 274 
 Falstaff, Sir John, 261 
 Fenestranger, Jehan de, 125 
 Flavy, Guillaume de, 81 
 Fortesque, Sir John, 292 
 Gaudet, Antoine de, 258 
 Gris, Jehan de, 180 
 Harancourt, Gerard de, 125 
 Harancourt, Jacques de, 125 
 Renault, Alain le, 28 
 La Hire, 159, 161, 168, 182 
 Lenoncourt, Philippe de, 30 
 Lodal, Giiy de, 87 
 Louvet, Etienne, 207 
 Luxembourg, Jehan de, 78 
 Macon, Robert de, 83 
 Mahiers, Jacquemain de, 349 
 Maignelais, Raoul de, 193 
 Mailly, Hardouin de, 186 
 Mattancourt, Jehan de, 81 
 Maulevrier, Jacques Odon de, 186 
 Metz, Jehan de, 148 
 Mezieres, Louis de Maine, Lord of, 68 
 Montague, Lord, 284 
 Montelar, Charles di, Baron, 244 
 Moraens, Fra^ois de la Vignolles de, 
 
 304, 305 
 
 Morien, Jehan de, 44, 45 
 Oxford, Earl of, 293 
 Fastis, Jehan de, 349 
 Pulligny, Hugues de, 82 
 Remeville, Guillanrae de, 355 
 Roche, Philippe de Pot, de la, 288 
 Roches, Guillaume Chesal des, 60 
 Ruthen, Lord Guy de, 282 
 St. Aubin, Pierre, Abbe de. 60 
 
 NOBLES (continued) : 
 Salisbury, Earl of, 281, 282, 284 
 Sancerre, Antoine de Benil, Count of, 
 
 196 
 
 Sarrebouche, Robert de, 78 
 Serancourt, Jehan de, 28 
 Somerset, Duke of, 279,281, 287, 297 
 Sorel, Jehan de, 193 
 Suffolk, Earl of, 132, 138, 262, 264, 
 
 270 
 
 Toreglia, Giovanni di, 251 
 Toulongeon, Antoine de, 109, 110 
 Tremouille, Pierre de, 158, 161, 168, 
 
 207 
 
 Valorey, Barthe"lemy de, 68 
 Valorey, Gabriel de, 68 
 Villeroquier, Andre de, 198 
 Warwick, Earl of, 281-284, 292-297 
 Wenlock, Lord, 297 
 Westmoreland, Earl of, 295 
 Xantrailles, Pothon de, 207 
 Nuptials, Royal, 41, 48, 49, 81, 86, 87, 
 91, 101, 123, 138,179, 181,204.217, 
 
 218, 221, 256,264, 272, 273, 295, 317 
 
 Obsequies, Royal, 40, 41, 57, 58, 66, 67, 
 68, 72, 92, 121, 122, 132. 135, 214, 
 
 219, 241, 258, 300, 314, 315, 344, 
 345, 349, 354 
 
 Ode, A funeral, 356 
 
 "Oh fie! Oh fie!" 262 
 
 Orders : of the Sturgeon, 26 ; of the 
 
 Plough, 26 ; de la Fidelite, 79 ; 
 
 Toison d'Or, 115 ; du Croissant, 
 
 136 ; Golden Rose, 119, 342 
 Oriflamme, " The Maid's " white, 153, 
 
 167, 169 
 
 Pack of cards, A famous, 212 
 
 Pageant of the Peasant, The, 329. 
 
 Painters : Fra Angelico, 20 ; Petrus 
 Christus, 79 ; Hubert Van Eyck, 19, 
 20, 79 ; Jan Van Eyck, 19, 20, 79 ; 
 Jean Focquet, 19 ; Golan tonio del 
 Fiore, 20 ; Angiolo Franco, 20 ; Hans 
 of Antwerp, 260 ; Fra Filippo Lippi, 
 20 ; Jehannot le Flament, 19, 312 ; 
 Antonio Solario ("II Zingaro "), 20, 
 242 ; Paulo Uocello, 20 
 
 Pastoral, A royal, 322 
 
 Payments, Quaint, 271-273 
 
 Peach, Bite a, 206 
 
 Pilgrimage. A warlike, 159-161 
 
 Plot, A royal, 231 
 
 "Plucking the turkey," 36 
 
 Poison, 89, 205, 206, 218, 313, 342 
 
 " Polluyon, " Ceremony of the, 105 
 
 Poniard, A jewelled, 238 ; a stealthy, 
 320 
 
 POPES : 
 
 Benedict XIII., 69 ; Boniface IX., 
 219 ; Clement VII., 40 ; Eugenius
 
 364 REN6 D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 IV., 125, 130, 250 ; John XXIIL, 
 
 80 ; Martin V., 229 ; Nicholas V., 
 
 332; Sixtus IV., 25 
 Porta, Giovanni de la (King Rent's 
 
 confessor), 332 
 Poverty, Royal, 181, 182 
 Presents, Extraordinary, 273, 274 ; 
 
 splendid, 186, 346, 347 
 Preux chevaliers, 87, 96, 236, 287, 314 
 Prince, An ugly, 175, 176, 203 
 PRINCES : 
 
 Alen9on, Jehan, Count of, 86 
 Alen9on, Charles, Duke of, 264, 270 
 Anjou, see Anjou 
 Aragon, Juan of, 221 
 Aragon, Pedro of, 124 
 Armagnac, Henri, Count of, 183, 260 
 Austria, Ladislaus, Archduke of, 
 
 211 
 
 Austria, Leopold III., Duke of, 218 
 Austria, William, Duke of, 218 
 Baden, James, Marquis of, 96, 107 
 Bavaria, Louis of, 109, 123 
 Bar, see Bar 
 
 Bedford, John, Duke of, 161, 169 
 Berg, Arnould, Duke of, 77 
 Berry, Charles, Duke of, 205, 206 
 Bourbon, Charles, Duke of, 91 
 Bourbon, Louis, Duke of, 62 
 Bourbon, Jacques of, 221, 222 
 Brittany, see Brittany 
 Brunswick, Otto of, 217 
 Burgundy, see Burgundy 
 Castile, Ferdinando of, 40, 63 
 Charolois, Count of, 289 
 Clarence, Duke of, 295 
 Foix, Gaston de, Count, 211 
 Gaunt, John of. 295 
 Gravina, Charles Durazzo, Count of, 
 
 217 
 Gloucester, Humphrey, Duke of, 262, 
 
 274, 275, 277, 279 
 Lorraine, see Lorraine 
 Luxembourg, Henri, Count of, 27 
 Luxembourg, John, Duke of, 171 
 Luxembourg, Pierre of, 256, 259, 265 
 Marche, Robert, Count de la, 259 
 Milan, Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke 
 
 of, 241, 250 
 Milan, Francesco Sforza, Duke of, 
 
 130, 250, 280 
 Montfbrt, see Brittany 
 Nevers, Charles of Bruges, 259, 262, 
 
 309, 312 
 
 Nevers, Philippe, Count of, 259 
 Orange, Louis of, 81 
 Orsini, Raimondo of, 219 
 Savoy, Amadeo VIII., Duke of, 211, 
 
 238 
 
 Taranto, Charles III., Prince of, 176 
 Tarauto, Jehan de Beaux-Taranto, 176 
 Taranto, Lodovico of, 217 
 
 PRINCES (continued) : 
 
 Venddme, Antoine, Duke of, 62 
 Wales, Edward, Prince of, 277-279, 
 
 282-288, 293-300 
 Wtirtemberg, Ulric VII., Count of, 
 
 123 
 York, Edward, Duke of, 264, 270, 
 
 275-280 
 PRINCESSES : 
 
 Anjou, Blanche of, 68, 254, 267 
 Anjou, Margaret of, see Queens 
 Anjou, Yolande of, Countess of 
 
 Montfort, 86 
 Anjou, Yolande of, Countess of Vau- 
 
 demont, see Vaud&nont 
 Aragon, Juanita of, 30, 35, 38 
 Armagnac, Isabelle of, 260 
 Austria, Anne, Duchess of, 259 
 Baden, Catherine, Marchioness of, 
 
 96 
 
 Bar, Bonne of, 34, 80 
 Bar, Marie of France, Duchess of, 32, 
 
 34, 49, 69, 80 
 
 Bar, Violante of, see Queens 
 Bavaria, Elizabeth of, 118 
 Beaufort, Juanna, of Ghent, 295 
 Bourbon, Anne, Duchess of, 289, 290 
 Bourbon, Marie of, see Queens 
 Brittany, Isabelle of, 72, 85 
 Brittany, Yolande, Countess of 
 
 Montfort, 86 
 
 Burgundy, Catherine of, 62, 70, 71, 76 
 France, Catherine of (daughter of 
 
 Charles VII.), 214 
 ,, Catherine of (natural daugh- 
 ter of Charles VII.), 196 
 ,, Jeanne of (daughter of 
 Charles VII.), 173, 211, 214 
 ,, Jeanne of (natural daughter 
 
 of Charles VII.), 196 
 ,, Madeleine of (daughter of 
 
 Charles VII.), 211, 214 
 , , Margaret of (natural daugh- 
 ter of Charles VII.), 196 
 ,, Margaret of (daughter of 
 
 King Philippe V.), 176 
 ,, Yolande of (daughter of 
 
 Charles VII.), 211, 214 
 Harcourt, Marie of, 28 
 Laval, Franjoise de Dinan, Countess 
 
 of, 308 
 
 Laval, Yolande of, 307 
 Les Baux, Alix, Countess of, 319 
 
 Cecile of, 320 
 Douce of, 320 
 Etiennette of, 320 
 ,, Jehanne of, 319 
 Lorraine, Isabelle of, see Queens 
 Lorraine, Margaret of Bavaria, 
 
 Duchess of, see Lorraine 
 Lorraine, Marie of, Dame de Soissons, 
 95
 
 INDEX 
 
 365 
 
 PRINCESSES (continued) : 
 
 Luxembourg, Blanche of, 177 
 Luxembourg, Jehanne of, 177 
 Marche, Jeanne de la, 259 
 Provence, Beatrix, Countess of, 216 
 Vaudemont, Anna, Countess of, 125, 
 
 138 
 
 Vaudemont, Margaret of (grand- 
 daughter of King Rene), 343 
 Vaudemont, Yolande of Anjou, 
 
 Countess of, see Vaudemont 
 Wales, Anne Neville, Princess of, 
 
 294-299 
 
 "Wiirtemberg, Sophie, Countess of, 95 
 " Priez pour la Bonne Jehanne," 352 
 Prisoner, A royal, 115, 116 
 Progresses, Royal, 33, 40, 44, 46, 47, 
 62, 107, 127, 185, 269-271, 274, 296, 
 319 
 
 Quatrain, A royal, 179 
 Queen : Bath of, 242 ; begs alms, 247 ; 
 borrows a farthing, 290 ; bountiful, 
 351 ; dances on highway, 33 ; day 
 in the life of a, 242 ; Epitaph on a, 
 305 ; "great," 93, 141, 143, 150, 305 ; 
 handiwork of a, 341 ; heroic, 189, 
 290 ; intrepid, 253 ; knighted, 285 ; 
 last words of, 205 ; leprous, 304 ; 
 letters of a, 213, 244 ; noblest of 
 France, 215 ; of beauty, 135, 309, 
 311 ; of hearts, 42, 195 ; of Queens, 
 310 ; of roses, 306 ; prisoner, 232 ; 
 robber and, 288 ; speech of a, 185, 
 290 ; state entry of Queens, 35, 50, 
 81, 103, 105, 106, 202, 257, 274, 317 
 QUEENS : 
 
 Blanche of Navarre-France, 334 
 Bonne of Luxembourg-France, 44 
 Catherine of Valois-England, 56, 65 
 Charlotte of Savoy-France, 214, 286, 
 
 294 
 
 Constance of Clennont-Naples, 218 
 Giovanna I. of Naples, 217, 246 
 Giovanna II. of Naples, 66, 75, 89, 
 
 116-121, 217-252, 333, 357 
 Isabeau of Bavaria-France, 40, 51- 
 
 59, 63-68, 177-186, 190, 206, 216, 
 
 262 
 Isabelle of Lorraine - Sicily - Anjou - 
 
 Naples, 77, 86-88, 90, 91, 94-142, 
 
 166-169, 185, 193, 206, 239-259, 
 
 264, 269-279, 280, 313-318, 338 
 Jehanne of Laval-Sicily- Anjou, 135, 
 
 203, 264, 291, 303, 306-356 
 Margaret of Anjou - England, 85, 
 
 125, 134-140, 244, 253-305, 310, 
 
 313, 331, 336, 337 
 Margaret of Savoy - Sicily - Aujou- 
 
 Naples, 73, 89, 90, 122, 123, 130, 
 
 139, 235, 237. 240-247 [220 
 
 Margaret of Durazzo-Naples, 216- 
 
 QUEENS (continued) : 
 
 Margaret of Scotland-France, 203, 
 
 205, 313, 314 
 
 Margaret of Denmark-Scotland, 285 
 Maria of Lusignan-Naples, 218 
 
 ,, of Sicily, 42 
 
 Marie of Anj'ou-France, 58-64, 68- 
 70, 82-85, 90, 91, 139, 158, 165, 
 170, 173, 174-215, 236, 261, 264- 
 266, 269, 286, 291, 313, 326, 342 
 Marie of Chatillon - Sicily - Anjou- 
 Naples, 39-41, 45, 47, 57, 58, 353 
 Marie of Bourbon - Calabria - Cata- 
 lonia, 91, 127, 134, 135, 204 
 Marie of Enghien-Naples, 219 [98 
 Yolanda of Bar-Aragon, 30, 35-47, 
 Yolanda of Aragon - Sicily - Anjou- 
 Naples,30-93, 98-104,112,117-121, 
 127, 142, 150, 158-160, 166, 169, 
 174-179, 185, 188, 197, 203, 207- 
 209, 225, 236, 239, 243-247, 249, 
 258, 263, 266, 307, 312, 319, 334, 
 341 
 
 Ransom, A King's, 65, 117, 118, 119 
 " Regnault et Jehanneton," 23, 322-324 
 Relics, 29, 333, 334 
 REN OF ANJOIJ, King, 17-356 ; titles 
 of, 17, 101 ; character of, 18, 106 ; 
 occupations of, 18, 19, 120 ; painter, 
 20, 21 ; miniaturist, 21, 22 ; 
 writer and poet, 22, 23, 81 ; a 
 bosom friend of, 24 ; letters of, 25 ; 
 patron of crafts, 26, 27 ; accessi- 
 bility of, 27 ; generosity of, 28 ; 
 devotion to relics, 29 ; his wine- 
 cup, 29 ; travels of, 20 ; tutors, 
 77 ; arms, 78 ; marriages of, 101, 
 317 ; in prison, 88, 110, 112 ; " La 
 Pucelle" and, 149, 150, 151; love 
 of nature, 213, 322; his heart, 
 349 ; signature, 356 
 Rings, 49, 137, 219, 272, 335, 354 
 " Rose, The Golden," 119, 342 
 Roees at Christmas, 306, 316 ; in 
 Temple Gardens, 306 ; Queen of, 
 306 ; showers of, 226 ; Wars of the, 
 279-300 
 Royal hussy, A, 257 
 
 " St. Madeleine preaching," 21 
 
 Sand, Writing in, 208, 209 
 
 Sash, Tripped on a, 128 
 
 Scales, The Lady Emma de, 268 
 
 Scapegoat, A, 105 
 
 " Scourge of France, The," 68 
 
 Sculptors : Delia Robbia, 20 ; Pietro 
 
 da Milano, 316 ; Francesco Laurana, 
 
 355 
 
 Second marriage advocated, 316 
 " She wolf, The," 299 
 Silver swans, 282
 
 366 REN^l D'ANJOU AND HIS SEVEN QUEENS 
 
 Sisters, Unfortunate, 177 
 
 Slanders, 84, 156, 191, 206, 207, 241, 
 
 277, 278 
 
 Snails, Horns of, 187 
 Sorel, Agnes, 91, 111, 170, 171, 178, 
 
 182, 194-199, 255, 264 
 " Soul and Heart," a dialogue, 318 
 Stabbed to death, 196, 238 
 Stories : A lost diamond, 846 ; a 
 
 pathetic, 313 ; a pretty, 55, 208, 
 
 209; a romantic, 225-235; a 
 
 tragic, 180, 181 
 
 Tapestries, Rich, 179, 185 
 Taxes, Queen Yolande's, 76 
 Tempests at sea, 271, 287, 296 
 The "Cokke Johnne," 271 
 Theatre, The French, 265 
 " This is Queen Margaret !" 299 
 Three Graces of Armagnac, 260 
 Toast, A popular, 164 
 "Too much blood !" 131 
 Tournaments, 135, 136, 139, 265, 308- 
 
 312, 315. 329 
 
 Tournament prizes, 311, 312 
 Tower, In the, 283, 290, 296, 299 
 *' Le Tracte des Tournois, " 24 
 Treachery, 282, 287, 297, 298 
 Tribunal, An imperial, 119 
 Tragedy, Stories of, 180, 181, 205, 206 
 Troubadours, 31, 34, 35, 37, 46, 153, 
 
 212, 256, 265, 274, 318, 329; 
 
 maxims, 329 ; royal, 34, 97, 268 ; 
 
 Queen of, 36, 42 
 Troubadour Laureates: Eustacho des 
 
 Champs-Morel, 34 ; Jehan Durant, 
 
 153 ; Guillaume de Poitou, 329 
 Troublous times, 58, 59, 62, 64, 65, 
 
 201, 202, 236, 237, 246, 248 
 Trousseaux, Royal, 32, 43, 49, 50, 266 
 Tutors, Royal : Jan Van Eyck, 19 ; 
 
 Jehan de Proviesey, 77 ; Antoine 
 
 de la Salle, 77, 288 ; Philippe de 
 
 Leoncourt, 125 ; Sir John Foi-tesque, 
 
 292 
 
 VATTDMOKT, Anna, Countess of, 125, 
 
 138 
 
 Antoine, Count of, 62, 
 88, 104, 108, 109, 111- 
 113, 119, 120, 138, 149, 
 255, 260 
 
 ,, Ferri, Count of, 113, 137, 
 138, 215, 260, 263. 265, 
 292, 303, 312, 328, 348 
 
 VAUDE"MONT, Margaret of (grand- 
 daughter of King Rene), 
 343 
 
 ,, Rene, Duke of Lorraine 
 (grandson of King Rene), 
 336, 347, 348 
 
 Yolande d'Anjou, Coun- 
 
 tess of, 63, 70, 85, 87, 
 113, 125, 134, 138, 140, 
 244, 254-257, 260, 265, 
 291, 292, 347, 348 
 
 Venus di Milo. 48 
 
 Village gossip, 146 
 
 Virago, A royal, 111-114, 124, 130, 
 169, 192-200, 261, 275, 280 
 
 Visconti. see Princes [168 
 
 " Voices," The, 144, 145, 146, 158, 159, 
 
 Volte face, A, 293 
 
 Widow, A girl, 122, 129, 218 
 
 Wife : A blind, 250 ; a stick for a, 
 
 77 ; A much-enduring, 178 ; an 
 
 unfaithful, 180, 181 
 Wine, Delicious, 48, 211, 212, 213 
 Winecup, A famous, 29 
 Witchcraft, 177, 195 
 "Woman, Fortune is a," 82; very 
 
 beautiful, 307 ; threats of a, 84 ; 
 
 A gay, 37 ; vampire, 222-227 
 Women : Character of, 45 ; of Aries, 
 
 48 ; of Genoa, 128 ; paramount, 
 
 178 ; gay, 159, 200, 206 
 Word, A Duke's, 116 
 Worldly-wise canons, 200 
 WRITERS AND CHRONICLERS : 
 
 Martial d'Auvergne, 139 
 
 Louis de Beau van, 26 
 
 Jean Bourdigne, 58 
 
 Philippe de Commines, 204, 314 
 
 Viollet le Due, 163 
 
 Neron, F. Faraglia, 242 
 
 Louis de Grasse, 139 
 
 Pierre de Hurion. 26 
 
 Pierre Mathieu, 18 
 
 Enguerrand de Monstrelet, 187, 188, 
 214 
 
 Jehan Pasquerelle, 85 
 
 !Etienne Pasquier, 111 
 
 Jehan de Perin, 26 
 
 Antoine de la Salle, 258 
 
 Jean Juvenal des Ursins, 49, 50, 176 
 
 Yolanda d'Arragona, see Queens 
 "You may go !"108 
 " You villains !" 132 
 
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