ers of Ibistorg 
 
 Margaret of Anjou 
 
 BY 
 
 JACOB ABBOTT 
 
 Allh ENGRAVINGS 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1902
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight 
 hundred and sixty-one, by 
 
 HARDER & BROTHERS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
 New York.
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 THE story of Margaret of Anjou forms a 
 part of the history of England, for the lady, 
 though of Continental origin, was the qween 
 of one of the English kings, and England was 
 the scene of her most remarkable adventures 
 and exploits. She lived in very stormy times, 
 and led a very stormy life; and her history, 
 besides the interest which it excites from the 
 extraordinary personal and political vicissi- 
 tudes which it records, is also useful in throw- 
 ing a great deal of light upon the ideas of right 
 and wrong, and of good and evil, and upon the 
 manners and customs, both of peace and war, 
 which prevailed in England during the age of 
 chivalry. 
 
 2217510
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER 15 
 
 U. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TIME 30 
 
 III. KING HENRY VI 46 
 
 iv. MARGARET'S FATHER AND MOTHER 59 
 
 V. ROYAL COURTSHIP 75 
 
 VI. THE WEDDING 93 
 
 "II. RECEPTION IN ENGLAND 115 
 
 VIII. THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE 125 
 
 IX. PLOTTINGS 143 
 
 X. THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER 157 
 
 XI. THE FALL OF SUFFOLK 171 
 
 XII. BIRTH OF A PRINCE 188 
 
 XIII. ILLNESS OF THE KING 199 
 
 XIV. ANXIETY AND TROUBLE 207 
 
 XV. MARGARET A FUGITIVE 222 
 
 XVI. MARGARET TRIUMPHANT 231 
 
 XVII. MARGARET AN EXILE 237 
 
 XVIH. A ROYAL COUSIN 244 
 
 XIX. RETURN TO ENGLAND 254 
 
 XX. YEARS OF EXILE 269 
 
 XXI. THE RECONCILIATION WITH WARWICK 278 
 
 XXII. BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT 285 
 
 XXIII. CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW 292 
 
 XXIV. CONCLUSION 306
 
 E\f f\ TJ i XT I XT P C 
 JNuttaVlJiiJo. 
 
 PAOl 
 THE BRIDAL PROCESSION Frontispiece . 
 
 GENERAL MAP 14 
 
 SELECTING THE ROSES....... 22 
 
 ORDEAL COMBAT 35 
 
 HENRY VI. IN HIS YOUTH 54 
 
 THE PENANCE 56 
 
 DISTRESS OF MARGARET'S MOTHER 65 
 
 SUFFOLK PRESENTING MARGARET TO THE KING 107 
 
 ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF QUEEN MARGARET 117 
 
 FEMALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF HENRY VI 138 
 
 THE CHARGES AGAINST GLOUCESTER 160 
 
 ROUEN 176 
 
 VIEW OF BORDEAUX 180 
 
 THE TEMPLE GARDEN 1^2 
 
 THE LITTLE PRINCE AND HIS SWANS 220 
 
 MURDEP OF RICHARD'S CHILD 235 
 
 LOUIS XL, MARGARET'S COUSIN 251 
 
 MAP OF THE BORDER 255 
 
 MARGARET AT THE CAVE 263 
 
 DEATH OF WARWICK 289 
 
 TEWKESBURY 297 
 
 THE MURDER OF PRINCE HENRY 302 
 
 VIEW OF CHERT8EY . . . 308
 
 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCAS- 
 
 TER. 
 
 A real heroine. Two great quarrels. 
 
 MAEGAEET OF ANJOU was a heroine ; 
 not a heroine of romance and fiction, but 
 of stern and terrible reality. Her life was a se- 
 ries of military exploits, attended with dangers, 
 privations, sufferings, and wonderful vicissi- 
 tudes of fortune, scarcely to be paralleled in the 
 whole history of mankind. 
 
 She was born and lived in a period during 
 which there prevailed in the western part of 
 Europe two great and dreadful quarrels, which 
 lasted for more than a hundred years, and which 
 kept France and England, and all the countries 
 contiguous to them, in a state of continual com- 
 motion during all that time. 
 
 The first of these quarrels grew out of a dis- 
 pute which arose among the various branches 
 of the royal family of England in respect to the
 
 16 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Ware in France. Content between the houses of York and Lancaster. 
 
 succession to the crown. The two principal 
 branches of the family were the descendants re- 
 spectively of the Dukes of York and Lancaster, 
 and the wars which they waged against each 
 other are called in history the wars of the 
 houses of York and Lancaster. These wars 
 continued for several successive generations, 
 and Margaret of Anjou was the queen of one 
 of the most prominent representatives of the 
 Lancaster line. Thus she became most inti- 
 mately involved in the quarrel. 
 
 The second great contention which prevailed 
 during this period consisted of the wars waged 
 between France and England for the possession 
 of the territory which now forms the northern 
 portion of France. A large portion of that ter- 
 ritory, during the reigns that immediately pre- 
 ceded the time of Margaret of Anjou, had be- 
 longed to England. But the kings of France 
 were continually attempting to regain posses- 
 sion of it the English, of course, all the time 
 making desperate resistance. Thus, for a hund- 
 red years, including the time while Margaret 
 lived, England was involved in a double set of 
 wars the one internal, being waged by one 
 branch of the royal family against the other for 
 the possession of the throne, and the other ex- 
 ternal, being waged against France and other
 
 THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 17 
 
 Origin of the difficulty. 
 
 Continental powers for the possession of the 
 towns and castles, and the country dependent 
 upon them, which lay along the southern shore 
 of the English Channel. 
 
 In order that the story of Margaret of Anjou 
 may be properly understood, it will be necessa- 
 ry first to give some explanations in respect to 
 the nature of these two quarrels, and to the 
 progress which had been made in them up to 
 the time when Margaret came upon the stage. 
 We shall begin with the internal or civil wars 
 which were waged between the families of York 
 and Lancaster. Some account of the origin and 
 nature of this difficulty is given in our history 
 of Richard III., but it is necessary to allude to 
 it again here, and to state some additional par- 
 ticulars in respect to it, on account of the very 
 important part which Margaret of Anjou per- 
 formed in the quarrel. 
 
 The difficulty originated among the children 
 and descendants of King Edward III. He 
 reigned in the early part of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. He occupied the throne a long time, and 
 his reign was considered very prosperous and 
 glorious. The prosperity and glory of it con- 
 sisted, in a great measure, in the success of the 
 wars which he waged in France, and in the 
 
 towns, and castles, and districts of country 
 20-2
 
 18 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 The sons of Edward III. The Black Princ. 
 
 which he conquered there, and annexed to the 
 English domain. 
 
 In these wars old King Edward was assisted 
 very much by the princes his sons, who were 
 very warlike young men, and who were en- 
 gaged from time to time in many victorious 
 campaigns on the Continent. They began this 
 career when they were very young, and they 
 continued it through all the years of their man- 
 hood and middle life, for their father lived to 
 an advanced age. 
 
 The most remarkable of these warlike princes 
 were Edward and John. Edward was the old- 
 est son, and John the third in order of age of 
 those who arrived at maturity. The name of 
 the second was Lionel. Edward, the oldest 
 son, was of course the Prince of Wales ; but, to 
 distinguish him from other Princes of Wales 
 that preceded and followed him, he is known 
 commonly in history by the name of the Black 
 Prince. He received this name originally on 
 account of something about his armor which 
 was black, and which marked his appearance 
 among the other knights on the field of battle. 
 
 The Black Prince did not live to succeed his 
 father and inherit the throne, for he lost his 
 health in his campaigns on the Continent, and 
 came home to England, and died a few years
 
 THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 19 
 
 Richard IL John of Gaunt 
 
 before his father died. His son, whose name 
 was Richard, was his heir, and when at length 
 old King Edward died, this young Richard 
 succeeded to the crown, under the title of King 
 Richard II. In the history of Richard IL, in 
 this series, a full account of the life of his fa- 
 ther, the Black Prince, is given, and of the va- 
 rious remarkable adventures that he met with 
 in his Continental campaigns. 
 
 Prince John, the third of the sons of old 
 King Edward, is commonly known in history 
 as John of Gaunt This word Gaunt was the 
 nearest approach that the English people could 
 make in those days tc the pronunciation of the 
 word Ghent, the name of the town where John 
 was born. For King Edward, in the early 
 part of his life, was accustomed to take all his 
 family wHh him in his Continental campaigns, 
 and so his several children were born in differ- 
 ent places, one in one city and another in an- 
 other, and many of them received names from 
 the places where they happened to be born. 
 
 On the following page we have a genealogic- 
 al table of the family of Edward III. At the 
 head of it we have the names of Edward III. 
 and Philippa his wife. In a line below are 
 the names of those four of his sons whose de- 
 scendants figure in English history. It was
 
 20 
 
 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Genealogical table of the descendants of Edward III. 
 
 i-5 >> 
 
 i C 2 
 
 -i OS * 
 
 9 S 
 
 J = 
 
 1 
 
 X 3r<* 
 
 I! 
 
 CO O 
 
 5- 
 3 1 
 
 M 00 Q 
 
 saw 
 
 > 
 
 X. M 
 
 
 
 S 3 
 
 S3 ^3 2 
 CO ti 
 
 3? <p oa 
 
 fr-s s 
 
 &. o 
 
 3 S 
 
 l 
 
 J 
 
 E -2 
 
 o os * 
 
 |g| 
 eg a 
 
 ;.a
 
 SELECTING THE ROSES.
 
 THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 23 
 
 rhe roses. The four brothers. 
 
 among the descendants of these sons that the 
 celebrated wars between the houses of York 
 and Lancaster, called the wars of the roses, 
 arose. 
 
 These wars were called the wars of the roses 
 from the circumstance that the white and the 
 red rose happened in some way to be chosen 
 as the badges of the two parties the white 
 rose being that of the house of York, and the 
 red that of the house of Lancaster. 
 
 The reader will observe that the dukes of 
 Lancaster and York are the third and fourth 
 of the brothers enumerated in the table, where- 
 as it might have been supposed that any con- 
 test which should have arisen in respect to the 
 crown would have taken place between fami- 
 lies of the first and second. But the first and 
 second sons and their descendants were soon 
 set aside, as it were, from the competition, in 
 the following manner. 
 
 The line of the first brother soon became ex- 
 tinct. Edward himself, the Prince of Wales, 
 died during his father's lifetime, leaving his 
 son Richard as his heir. Then, when the old 
 king died, Richard succeeded him. As he was 
 the oldest living son of the oldest son, his 
 claim could not be disputed, and so his uncles 
 acquiesced in it. They wished very much, it
 
 24 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Ambition of Richard's uncles. Richard's character. Ilia cousin Henry. 
 
 is true, to govern the realm, but they content- 
 ed themselves with ruling in Richard's name 
 until he became of age, and then Richard took 
 the government into his own hands. The 
 country was tolerably well satisfied under his 
 dominion for some years, but at length Richard 
 became dissipated and vicious, and he domin- 
 eered over the people of England in so haugh- 
 ty a manner, and oppressed them so severely 
 by the taxes and other exactions which he laid 
 upon them, that a very general discontent pre- 
 vailed at last against him and against his gov- 
 ernment. This discontent would have given 
 either of his uncles a great advantage in any 
 design which they might have formed to take 
 away the crown from him. As it was, it great- 
 ly increased their power and influence in the 
 land, and diminished, in a corresponding de- 
 gree, that of the king. The uncles appear to 
 have been contented with this share of power 
 and influence, which seemed naturally to fall 
 into their hands, and did not attempt any open 
 rebellion. 
 
 Richard had a cousin, however, a young man 
 of just about his own age, who was driven at 
 last, by a peculiar train of circumstances, to rise 
 against him. This cousin was the son of hia 
 uncle John. His name was Henry Boling-
 
 THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 25 
 
 Quarrel between Heury and Norfolk. The trial. 
 
 broke. He appears in the genealogical table 
 as Henry IV., that having been his title subse- 
 quently as King of England. 
 
 This cousin Henry became involved in a 
 quarrel with a certain nobleman named Nor- 
 folk. Indeed, the nobles of those days were 
 continually getting engaged in feuds and quar- 
 rels, which they fought out with the greatest 
 recklessness, sometimes by regular battles be- 
 tween armies of retainers, and sometimes by 
 single combat, in which the parties to the dis- 
 pute were supposed to appeal to Almighty 
 God, who they believed, or professed to believe, 
 would give the victory to the just side in the 
 quarrel. These single combats were arranged 
 with great ceremony and parade, and were per- 
 formed in a very public and solemn manner; 
 being, in fact, a recognized and established part 
 of the system of public law as administered in 
 those days. In the next chapter, when speak- 
 ing more particularly of the manners and cus- 
 toms of the times, I shall give an account in full 
 of one of these duels. I have only to say here 
 that Richard, on hearing of the quarrel between 
 his cousin Henry and Norfolk, decreed that 
 they should settle it by single combat, and prep- 
 arations were accordingly made for the trial, 
 and the parties appeared, armed and equipped
 
 26 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Henry is Bent into banishment. 
 
 for the fight, in the presence of an immense 
 concourse of people assembled to witness the 
 spectacle. The king himself was to preside on 
 the occasion. 
 
 But just before the signal was to be given for 
 the combat to begin, the king interrupted the 
 proceedings, and declared that he would decide 
 the question himself. He pronounced both the 
 combatants guilty, and issued a decree of ban- 
 ishment against both. Henry submitted, and 
 both prepared to leave the country. These 
 transactions, of course, attracted great attention 
 throughout England, and they operated to bring 
 Henry forward in a very conspicuous manner 
 before the people of the realm. He was in the 
 direct line of succession to the crown, and he 
 was, moreover, a prince of great wealth, and of 
 immense personal influence, and so, just in pro- 
 portion as Richard himself was disliked, Henry 
 would naturally become an object of popular 
 sympathy and regard. When he set out on his 
 journey toward the southern coast, in order to 
 leave the country in pursuance of his sentence, 
 the people flocked along the waysides, and as- 
 sembled in the towns where he passed, as if he 
 were a conqueror returning from his victories 
 instead of a condemned criminal going into 
 banishment.
 
 1400.] THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 27 
 
 His estates confiscated. A revolution. 
 
 Soon after this, the Duke of Lancaster, Hen- 
 ry's father, died, and then Richard, instead of 
 allowing his cousin to succeed to the immense 
 estates which his father left, confiscated all the 
 property, under the pretext that Henry had for- 
 feited it, and so converted it to his own use. 
 This last outrage aroused Henry to such a pitch 
 of indignation that he resolved to invade En 
 gland, depose Eichard. and claim the crown for 
 himself. 
 
 This plan was carried into effect. Henry 
 raised an armament, crossed the Channel, and 
 landed in England. The people took sides. A 
 great majority sided with Henry. A full ac- 
 count of this insurrection and invasion is given 
 in our history of Eichard II. All that it is nee- 
 essary to say here is that the revolution was ef- 
 fected. Eichard was deposed, and Henry or> 
 tained possession of the kingdom. It was thus 
 that the house of Lancaster first became estab 
 lished on the throne. 
 
 But you will very naturally wonder where 
 the representatives of the second brother in 
 Edward the Third's family were all this time, 
 and why, when Eichard was deposed, who was 
 the son of the first brother, they did not appear, 
 and advance their claims in competition with 
 Henry. The reason was because there was no
 
 28 MARGAEET OF ANJOU. 
 
 The elder branches of the family. 
 
 male heir- of that branch living in that line. 
 You will see by referring again to the table that 
 the only child of Lionel, the second brother, 
 was Philippa, a girl. She had a son, it is true, 
 Roger Mortimer, as appears by the table ; but 
 he was yet very young, and could do nothing 
 to assert the claims of his line. Besides, Henry 
 pretended that, together with his claims to the 
 throne through his father, he had others more 
 ancient and better founded still through his 
 mother, who, as he attempted to prove, was de- 
 scended from an English king who reigned be- 
 fore Edward III. The people of England, as 
 they wished to have Henry for king, were very 
 easily satisfied with his arguments, and so it 
 was settled that he should reign. The line of 
 this second brother, however, did not give up 
 their claims, but reserved them, intending to rise 
 and assert them on the very first favorable op- 
 portunity. 
 
 Henry reigned about thirteen years, and 
 then was succeeded by his son, Henry V., as 
 appears by the table. There was no attempt 
 to disturb the Lancastrian line in their posses- 
 sion of the throne during these two reigns. 
 The attention, both of the kings and of the peo- 
 ple 3 during all this period, was almost wholly 
 engrossed in the wars which they were waging
 
 1422.] THE HOUSES OF YORK, ETC. 29 
 
 Birth and accession of Henry VI. 
 
 in France. These wars were very successful. 
 The English conquered province after province 
 and castle after castle, until at length almost 
 the whole country was brought under their 
 sway. 
 
 This state of things continued until the death 
 of Henry V., which took place in 1422. He 
 left for his heir a little son, named also Henry, 
 then only about nine months old. This infant 
 was at once invested with the royal authority 
 as King of England and France, under the title 
 of Henry VI., as seen by the table. It was 
 this Henry who, when he arrived at maturity, 
 became the husband of Margaret of Anjou, the 
 subject of this volume. It was during his 
 reign, too, that the first effective attempt was 
 made to dispute the right of the house of Lan- 
 caster to the throne, and it was in the terrible 
 contests which this attempt brought on that 
 Margaret displayed the extraordinary military 
 heroism for which she became so renowned. 
 I shall relate the early history of this king, and 
 explain the nature of the combination which 
 was formed during his reign against the Lan- 
 castrian line, in a subsequent chapter, after 
 first giving a brief account of such of the man- 
 ners and customs of those times as are neces- 
 sary to a proper understanding of the story.
 
 30 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Th nobles. Their mode 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE 
 TIME. 
 
 IN the days when Margaret of Anjou lived, 
 the kings, princes, nobles, and knights who 
 flourished in the realms of England and Frajice, 
 though they were, relatively to the mass of the 
 people, far more wealthy, proud, and powerful 
 than their successors are at the present day, 
 still lived in many respects in a very rude and 
 barbarous manner. They enjoyed very few of 
 the benefits and privileges which all classes 
 enjoy in the age in which we live. They had 
 very few books, and very little advantage of 
 instruction to enable them to read those that 
 they had. There were no good roads by which 
 they could travel comfortably from place to 
 place, and no wheeled carriages. They lived 
 in castles, very strongly built indeed, and very 
 grand and picturesque sometimes in external 
 appearance, but very illy furnished and com- 
 fortless within. The artisans were skillful in 
 fabricating splendid caparisons for the horses, 
 and costly suits of glittering armor for the men,
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 31 
 
 Retainers of the nobles. Their courts. 
 
 and the architects could construct grand cathe- 
 drals, and ornament them with sculptures and 
 columns which are the wonder of the present 
 age. But in respect to all the ordinary means 
 and appliances of daily life, even the most 
 wealthy and powerful nobles lived in a very 
 barbarous way. 
 
 The mass of the common people were held 
 in a state of abject submission to the will of 
 the chieftains, very much in the condition of 
 slaves, being compelled to toil in the cultiva- 
 tion of their masters' lands, or to go out as sol- 
 diers to fight in their quarrels, without receiv- 
 ing any compensation. The great ambition of 
 every noble and knight was to have as many 
 of these retainers as possible under his com- 
 mand. The only limit to the number which 
 each chieftain could assemble was his power 
 of feeding them. For in those days men could 
 be more easily found to fight than to engage 
 in any other employment, and there were great 
 numbers always ready to follow any command- 
 er who was able to maintain them. 
 
 Each great noble lived in state in his castle, 
 like a prince or a petty king. Those of the 
 highest class had their privy councilors, treas- 
 urers, marshals, constables, stewards, secreta- 
 ries, heralds, pursuivants, pages, guards, trum-
 
 32 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Great power of the nobles. The Earl of Warwick. 
 
 peters in short, all the various officers that 
 were to be found in the court of the sovereign. 
 To these were added whole bands of minstrels, 
 mimics, jugglers, tumblers, rope-dancers, and 
 buffoons. Besides these, there was always at- 
 tached to each great castle a large company of 
 priests and monks, who performed divine serv- 
 ice according to the usages of those times, in a 
 gorgeously-decorated chapel built for this pur- 
 pose within the castle walls. 
 
 Thus the whole country was divided, as it 
 were, into a vast number of separate jurisdic- 
 tions, each with an earl, or a baron, or a duke 
 at the head of it, who ruled with an almost ab- 
 solute sway in every thing that related to the 
 internal management of his province, while, 
 however, he recognized a certain general do- 
 minion over all on the part of the king. Such 
 being the state of the case, it is not surprising 
 that the nobles were often powerful enough, 
 as will appear in the course of this narrative, 
 to band together and set up and put down 
 kings at their pleasure. 
 
 Perhaps the most powerful of all the great 
 nobles who flourished during the time of Mar- 
 garet of Anjou was the Earl of Warwick. So 
 great was his influence in deciding between the 
 rival claims of different pretenders to the crown,
 
 MANNERS AND UUSTOMS. 33 
 
 Amusements of the nobility. Courts of justice. 
 
 that he is known in history by the title of the 
 King-maker. His wealth was so enormous that 
 it was said that the body of retainers that he 
 maintained amounted sometimes in number to 
 thirty thousand men. 
 
 The employments, and even the amusements 
 of these great barons and nobles, were all mili- 
 tary. They looked down with great disdain 
 upon all the useful pursuits of art and indus- 
 try, regarding them as only fit occupations for 
 serfs and slaves. Their business was going to 
 war, either independently against each other, 
 or, under the command of the king, against 
 some common enemy. When they were not 
 engaged in any of these wars they amused 
 themselves and the people of their courts with 
 tournaments, and mock combats and encoun- 
 ters of all kinds, which they arranged in open 
 grounds contiguous to their castles with great 
 pomp and parade. 
 
 It could not be expected that such powerful 
 and warlike chieftains as these could be kept 
 much under the control of law by the ordinary 
 machinery of courts of justice. There were, 
 of course, laws and courts of justice in those 
 days, but they were administered chiefly upon 
 the common people, for the repression of com- 
 mon crimes. The nobles, in their quarrels and 
 
 20-3
 
 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Quarrels among the nobles. Dueling. 
 
 contentions with each other, were accustomed 
 to settle the questions that arose in other ways, 
 Sometimes they did this by marshaling their 
 troops and fighting each other in regular cam- 
 paigns, during which they laid siege to castles, 
 and ravaged villages and fields, as in times of 
 public war. Sometimes, when the power of 
 the king was sufficient to prevent such out- 
 breaks as these, the parties to the quarrel were 
 summoned to settle the dispute by single com- 
 bat in the presence of the king and his court, 
 as well as of a vast multitude of assembled 
 spectators. These single combats were the 
 origin of the modern custom of dueling. 
 
 At the present day, the settlement of dis- 
 putes by a private combat between the parties 
 to it is made a crime by the laws of the land. 
 It is justly considered a barbarous and sense- 
 less practice. The man who provokes another 
 to a duel and then kills him in the fight, in- 
 stead of acquiring any glory by the deed, has 
 to bear, for the rest of his life, both in his own 
 conscience and in the opinion of mankind, the 
 mark and stain of murder. And when, in de- 
 fiance of law, and of the opinions and wishes 
 of all good men, any two disputants who have 
 become involved in a quarrel are rendered so 
 desperate by their angry passions as to desire
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 35 
 
 The ancient trial by combat. 
 
 Old representation of it. 
 
 to satisfy them by this mode, they are obliged 
 to resort to all sorts of manoeuvres and strata- 
 gems to conceal the crime which they are about 
 to commit, and to avoid the interference of 
 their friends or of the officers of the law. 
 
 In the days, however, of the semi-savage 
 knights and barons who flourished so luxuri- 
 antly in. the times of which we are writing, the 
 settlement of a dispute by single combat be- 
 tween the two parties to it was an openly rec- 
 ognized and perfectly legitimate mode of arbi- 
 tration, and the trial of the question was con- 
 ducted with forms and ceremonies even more 
 
 ORDKAL COMBAT.
 
 36 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Henry Bolingbroke. Arrangements mada. 
 
 strict and more solemn than those which gov- 
 erned the proceedings in regular courts of jus- 
 tice. 
 
 The engraving on the preceding page is a 
 sort of rude emblematic representation of such 
 a trial, copied from a drawing in an ancient 
 manuscript. We see the combatants in the fore- 
 ground, with the judges and spectators behind. 
 
 It was to a public and solemn combat of this 
 kind that Richard the Second summoned his 
 cousin Henry Bolingbroke, and his enemy, as 
 related in the last chapter. In that instance 
 the combat was not fought, the king having 
 taken the case into his own hands, and con- 
 demned both the parties before the contest was 
 begun. But in multitudes of other cases the 
 trial was carried through to its consummation 
 in the death of one party, and the triumph and 
 acquittal of the other. 
 
 Very many detailed and full accounts of these 
 combats have come down to us in the writings 
 of the ancient chroniclers. I will here give a 
 description of one of them, as an example of 
 this mode of trial, which was fought in the pub- 
 lic square in front of King Richard the Second's 
 palace, the king himself, all the principal nobles 
 of the court, and a great crowd of other persons 
 being provided with seats around the area as
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 37 
 
 Guards. Gre.it concourse of people. The parties. Nature of the quarrel. 
 
 spectators of the fight. The nobles and knights 
 were all dressed in complete armor ; and her- 
 alds, and squires, and guards were stationed in 
 great numbers to regulate the proceedings. It 
 was on a bright morning in June when the 
 combat was fought, and the whole aspect of the 
 scene was that of a grand and joyful spectacle 
 on a gala day. 
 
 It was estimated that more people from the 
 surrounding country came to London on the 
 occasion of this duel than at the time of the 
 coronation of the king. It took place about 
 three years after the coronation. 
 
 The parties to the combat were John Annes- 
 lie, a knight, and Thomas Katrington, a squire. 
 Anneslie, the knight, was the complainant and 
 the challenger. Katrington, the squire, was the 
 defendant. The circumstances of the case were 
 as follows. 
 
 Katrington, the squire, was governor of a cas- 
 tle in Normandy. The castle belonged to a 
 certain English knight who afterward died, and 
 his estate descended to Anneslie, the complain- 
 ant in this quarrel. If the squire had success- 
 fully defended the castle from the French who 
 attacked it, then it would have descended with 
 the other property to Anneslie. But he did 
 not. When the French came and laid siege to
 
 38 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Castle lost. Reason for this mode of trial 
 
 the castle, Katrington surrendered it, and so it 
 was lost. He maintained that he had not a 
 sufficient force to defend it, and that he had no 
 alternative but to surrender. Anneslie, on the 
 other hand, alleged that he might have defend- 
 ed it, and that he would have done so if he had 
 been faithful to his trust ; but that he had been 
 bribed by the French to give it up. This Kat- 
 rington denied ; so Anneslie, who was very an- 
 gry at the loss of the castle, challenged him to 
 single combat to try the question. 
 
 It is plain that this was a very absurd way 
 of attempting to ascertain whether Katrington 
 had or had not been bribed ; but, as the affair 
 had occurred some years before, and in another 
 country, and as, moreover, the giving and re- 
 ceiving of bribes are facts always very difficult 
 to be proved by ordinary evidence, it was de- 
 cided by the government of the king that this 
 was a proper case for the trial by combat, and 
 both parties were ordered to prepare for the 
 fight. The day, too, was fixed, and the place- 
 the public square opposite the king's palace 
 was appointed. As the time drew nigh, the 
 whole country for many miles around was ex- 
 cited to the highest pitch of interest and expec- 
 tation. 
 
 At the place where the combat was to be
 
 MANNERS AND UUSTOMS. 39 
 
 The company assemble. The combatants appear. The horse excluded. 
 
 fought a large space was railed in by a very 
 substantial barricade. The barricade was made 
 very strong, so as to resist the utmost possible 
 pressure of the crowd. Elevated seats, com- 
 manding a full view of the lists, as the area 
 railed in was called, were erected for the use of 
 the king and the nobles of the court, and all 
 other necessary preparations were made. When 
 the hour arrived on the appointed day, the king 
 and the nobles came in great state and took their 
 places. The whole square, with the exception 
 of the lists and proper avenues of approach, 
 which were kept open by the men-at-arms, had 
 long since been filled with an immense crowd 
 of people from the surrounding country. At 
 length, after a brief period of expectation, the 
 challenger, Anneslie, was seen coming along 
 one of the approaches, mounted on a horse 
 splendidly caparisoned, and attended by sever- 
 al knights and squires, his friends, all complete- 
 ly armed. 
 
 He stopped when he reached the railing and 
 dismounted from his horse. It was against the 
 laws of the combat for either party to enter the 
 lists mounted. If a horse went within the in- 
 closure he was forfeited by that act to a certain 
 public officer called the high constable of En- 
 gland, who was responsible for the regularity 
 and order of the proceedings.
 
 40 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Summons to the accused. Appearance of Katrington. 
 
 Anneslie, having thus dismounted from his 
 horse with the assistance of his attendants, 
 walked into the lists all armed and equipped 
 for the fight. His squires attended him. He 
 walked there to and fro a few minutes, and then 
 a herald, blowing a trumpet, summoned the 
 accused to appear. 
 
 "Thomas Katrington! Thomas Katring- 
 ton !" he cried out in a loud voice, " come and 
 appear, to save the action for which Sir John 
 Anneslie, knight, hath publicly and by writing 
 appealed thee !" 
 
 Three times the herald proclaimed this sum- 
 mons. At the third time Katrington appeared. 
 
 He came, as Anneslie had come, mounted 
 upon a war-horse splendidly caparisoned, and 
 with his arms embroidered on the trappings. 
 He was attended by his friends, the representa- 
 tives of the seconds of the modern duel. The 
 two stopped at the entrance of the lists, and 
 dismounting, passed into the lists on foot. Ev- 
 ery body being now intent on the combatants, 
 the horse for the moment was let go, and, be- 
 ing eager to follow his master, he ran up and 
 down along the railing, reaching his head and 
 neck over as far as he could, and trying to get 
 over. At length he was taken and led away : 
 but the lord high constable said at once that
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 41 
 
 Horse's head forfeited. The pleadings. Katrington it ready. 
 
 he should claim him for having entered the 
 lists. 
 
 " At least," said he, " I shall claim his head 
 and neck, and as much of him as was over the 
 railing." 
 
 The combatants now stood confronting each 
 other within the lists. A written document 
 was produced, which had been prepared, as was 
 said, by consent of both parties, containing a 
 statement of the charge made against Katring- 
 ton, namely, that of treason, in having betray- 
 ed to the enemy for money a castle intrusted 
 to his charge, and his reply. The herald read 
 this document with a loud voice, in order that 
 all the assembly, or as many as possible, might 
 hear it. As soon as it was read, Katrington 
 began to take exceptions to some passages in 
 it. The Duke of Lancaster, who seemed to 
 preside on the occasion, put an end to his crit- 
 icisms at once, saying that he had already 
 agreed to the paper, and that now, if he made 
 any difficulty about it, and refused to fight, he 
 should be adjudged guilty of the treason, and 
 should at once be led out to execution. 
 
 Katrington then said that he was ready to 
 fight his antagonist, not only on the points 
 raised in the document which had been read, 
 but on any and all other points whatever that
 
 42 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Singular oath administered. The buttle. 
 
 might be laid to his charge. He had entire 
 confidence, he said, that the justice of his cause 
 would secure him the victory. 
 
 The next proceeding in this strange ceremo- 
 ny was singular enough. It was the solemn 
 administering of an oath to each of the combat- 
 ants, by which oath they severally swore that 
 the cause in which they were to fight was true, 
 and that they did not deal in any witchcraft or 
 magic art, by which they expected to gain the 
 victory over their adversary ; and also, that 
 they had not about their persons any herb or 
 stone, or charm of any kind, by which they 
 hoped to obtain any advantage. 
 
 After this oath had been administered, time 
 was allowed for the combatants to say their 
 prayers. This ceremony they performed ap- 
 parently in a very devout manner, and then 
 the battle began. 
 
 The combatants fought first with spears, then 
 with swords, and finally, coming to very close 
 quarters, with daggers. Anneslie seemed to 
 gain the advantage. He succeeded in disarm- 
 ing Katrington of one after another of hia 
 weapons, and finally threw him down. When 
 Katrington was down, Anneslie attempted to 
 throw himself upon him, in order to crush him 
 with the weight of his heavy iron armor. Bat
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 43 
 
 The proceedings arrested by the king. 
 
 he was exhausted by the heat and by the exer- 
 tion which he had made, and the perspiration 
 running down from his forehead under his hel- 
 met blinded his eyes, so that he could not see 
 exactly where Katrington was, and, instead of 
 falling upon him, he came down upon the 
 ground at a little distance away. Katrington 
 then contrived to make his way to Anneslie 
 and to get upon him, thus pressing him down 
 to the ground with his weight. The combat- 
 ants lay thus a few minutes locked together on 
 the ground, and struggling with each other as 
 well as their heavy and cumbrous armor would 
 permit, Katrington being all the time upper- 
 most, when the king at length gave orders that 
 the contest should cease and that the men 
 should be separated. 
 
 In obedience to these orders, some men came 
 to rescue Anneslie by taking Katrington off 
 from him. But Anneslie begged them not to 
 interfere. And when the men had taken Kat- 
 rington off, he 'urged them to place him back 
 upon him again as he was before, for he said 
 he himself was not hurt at all, and he had no 
 doubt that he should gain the victory if they 
 would leave him alone. The men, however, 
 having the king's order for what they were do- 
 ing, paid no heed to Anneslie's requests, but 
 roceeded to lead Katrincton awav.
 
 44 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Katrington's condition. Anneslie's request to the king. 
 
 They found that he was so weak and ex- 
 hausted that he could not stand. They led 
 him to a chair, and then, taking off his helmet, 
 they tried to revive him by bathing his face 
 and giving him some wine. 
 
 In the mean time, Anneslie, finding that 
 Katrington was taken away, allowed himself 
 to be lifted up. When set upon his feet, he 
 walked along toward the part of the inclosure 
 which was near the king's seat, and begged the 
 king to allow the combat to proceed. He said 
 he was sure that he should obtain the victory 
 if they would but permit him to continue the 
 combat to the end. Finally the king and no- 
 bles gave their consent, and ordered that An- 
 neslie should be placed upon the ground again, 
 and Katrington upon him, in the same posi- 
 tion, as nearly as possible, as before. 
 
 But on going again to Katrington with a 
 view of executing this decree, they found that 
 he was in such a condition as to preclude the 
 possibility of it. He had fainted and fallen 
 down out of his chair in a deadly swoon. He 
 seemed not to be wounded, but to be utterly 
 exhausted by the heat, the weight of his ar- 
 mor, and the extreme violence of the exertion 
 which he had made. His friends raised him 
 up again, and proceeded to unbuckle and take
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 45 
 
 Anneslie's rage. The termination of the triaL 
 
 off his armor. Relieved from this burden, he 
 began to come to himself. He opened his eyes 
 and looked around, staring with a wild, bewil- 
 dered, and ghastly look, which moved the pity 
 of all the beholders, that is, of all but Anneslie. 
 He, on leaving the king, came to where poor 
 Katrington was sitting, and, full of rage and 
 hate, began to taunt and revile him, calling 
 him traitor, and false, perjured villain, and dar- 
 ing him to come out again into the area and 
 finish the fight. 
 
 To this Katrington made no answer, but 
 stared wildly about with a crazed look, as if he 
 did not know where he was or what they were 
 doing to him. 
 
 So the farther prosecution of the combat was 
 relinquished. Anneslie was declared the vic- 
 tor, and poor Katrington was deemed to be 
 proved, by his defeat, guilty of the treason 
 which had been charged against him. He was 
 borne away by his friends, and put into his 
 bed. He continued delirious all that night, 
 and the next morning at nine o'clock he died. 
 
 Thus was this combat fought, as the ancient 
 historian says, to the great rejoicing of the 
 common people and the discouragement of 
 traitors !
 
 46 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1422. 
 
 King Henry's accession. His uncles. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 KING HENRY VI. 
 
 KING HENKY THE SIXTH, who sub- 
 sequently became the husband of Mar- 
 garet of Anjou, \vas only about nine months 
 old, as has already been said, when he succeed- 
 ed to the throne by the death of his father. 
 He was proclaimed by the heralds to the sound 
 of trumpets and drums, in all parts of London, 
 while he was yet an infant in his nurse's arms. 
 
 Of course the question was now who should 
 have the rule in England while Henry remain- 
 ed a child. And this question chiefly affected 
 the little king's uncles, of whom there were 
 three all rude, turbulent, and powerful no- 
 bles, such as were briefly described in the last 
 chapter. Each of them had a powerful band 
 of retainers and partisans attached to his serv- 
 ice, and the whole kingdom dreaded greatly 
 the quarrels which every one knew were now 
 likely to break out. 
 
 The oldest of these uncles was Thomas. He 
 was Duke of Exeter. 
 
 The second was John. He was Duke of 
 Bedford.
 
 1422.] KING HENRY VI. 47 
 
 Division of power. Quarrels. 
 
 The third was Humphrey. He was Duke 
 of Gloucester. Thomas and Humphrey seem 
 to have been in England at the time of their 
 brother the old king's death. John, or Bed- 
 ford, as he was commonly called, was in France, 
 where he had been pursuing a very renowned 
 and successful career, in extending and main- 
 taining the English conquests in that country. 
 
 The leading nobles and officers of the gov- 
 ernment were assembled in council soon after 
 the old king's death, and in order to prevent 
 the breaking out of the quarrels which were 
 otherwise to have been anticipated between, 
 these uncles, they determined to divide the 
 power as nearly as possible in an equal manner 
 among them. So they appointed Thomas, the 
 Duke of Exeter, who seems to have been less 
 ambitious and warlike in his character than the 
 rest, to the charge and custody of the young 
 king's person. Humphrey, the Duke of Glou- 
 cester, was made Protector of England, and 
 John, the Duke of Bedford, the Regent of 
 France. Thus they were all seemingly satis- 
 fied. 
 
 But the peace which resulted from this ar- 
 rangement did not continue very long. Pretty 
 soon a certain Henry Beaufort, a bishop, was 
 appointed to be associated with Henry's uncle
 
 48 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1422. 
 
 Beaufort and Gloucester. Progress of the quarrel. 
 
 Thomas in the personal charge of the king. 
 This Henry Beaufort was Henry's great-uncle, 
 being one of the sons of John of Gaunt. He 
 was a younger son of his father, and so was 
 brought up to the Church, and had been ap- 
 pointed Bishop of Winchester, and afterward 
 made a cardinal. Thus he occupied a very ex- 
 alted position, and possessed a degree of wealth, 
 and power, and general consequence little infe- 
 rior to those of the grandest nobles in the land. 
 He was a man, too, of great capacity, very skill- 
 ful in manoeuvring and intriguing, and he im- 
 mediately began to form ambitious schemes for 
 himself which he designed to carry into effect 
 through the power which the custody of the 
 young king gave him. He was, of course, very 
 jealous of the influence and power of the Duke 
 of Gloucester, and the Duke of Gloucester be- 
 came very jealous of him. It was not long be- 
 fore occasions arose which brought the two 
 men, and their bands of followers, into direct 
 and open collision. 
 
 I can not here go into a full account of the 
 particulars of the quarrel. One of the first dif- 
 ficulties was about the Tower of London, which 
 Beaufort had under his command, and where 
 there was a prisoner whom Gloucester wished 
 to set at liberty. Then there was a great riot
 
 1422.] KING HENRY VI. 49 
 
 Bedford summoned home from France. 
 
 and disturbance on London Bridge, which threw 
 the whole city of London into a state of alarm. 
 Beaufort alleged that Gloucester had formed a 
 plan to seize the person of the king and take 
 him away from Beaufort's custody; and that 
 he had designs, moreover, on Beaufort's life. 
 To defend himself, and to prevent Gloucester 
 from coming to the palace where he was resid- 
 ing, he seized and fortified the passages leading 
 to the bridge. He built barricades, and took 
 down the chains of the portcullis, and assem- 
 bled a large armed force to guard the point. 
 The people of London were in great alarm. 
 They set watches day and night to protect their 
 property from the anticipated viole ice of the 
 soldiers and pirtisans of the combatants, and 
 thus all was commotion and fear. Of course 
 there were no courts of justice powerful enough 
 to control such a contest as this, and finally the 
 people sent oif a delegation x> the Duke of Bed- 
 ford in France, imploring him to come to En- 
 gland immediately and st e if he could not set- 
 tle the quarrel. 
 
 The Duke of Bedford c. f '.me. A Parliament 
 was convened, and the questions at issue be- 
 tween the two great disp utants were brought to 
 a solemn trial. The Duke of Gloucester made 
 
 out a series of heavy charges against the cardi- 
 204
 
 50 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1422. 
 
 Death of Bedford. 
 
 nal, and the cardinal made a formal reply which 
 contained not only his defense, but also counter 
 charges against the duke. These papers were 
 drawn up with great technicality and ceremony 
 by the lawyers employed on each side to man- 
 age the case, and were submitted to the Duke 
 of Bedford and to the Parliament. A series of 
 debates ensued, in which the friends of the two 
 parties respectively brought criminations and re- 
 criminations against each other without end. 
 The result was, as is usual in such cases, that 
 both sides appeared to have been to blame, and 
 in order to settle the dispute a sort of compro- 
 mise was effected, with which both parties pro- 
 fessed to be satisfied, and a reconciliation, or 
 what outwardly appeared to be s ich, was made. 
 A new division of powers and prerogatives be- 
 tween Gloucester, as Protector of England, and 
 Beaufort, as custodian of the king, was ar- 
 ranged, and peace leing thus restored, Bedford 
 went back again to France. 
 
 Things went on to erably well after this for. 
 many years ; that is, chere were no more open 
 outbreaks, though the old jealousy and hatred 
 between Gloucester and the cardinal still con- 
 tinued. The influence of the Duke of Bedford 
 held both parties in check as long as the duke 
 lived. At length, however, when the young
 
 1422.] KING HENRY VI. 51 
 
 Anecdote. Generosity of the French king. 
 
 king was about fourteen years old, the Duke of 
 Bedford died. He was in France at the time 
 of his death. He was buried with great pomp 
 and ceremony in the city of Eouen, which had 
 been in some sense the head-quarters of his do- 
 minion in that country, and a splendid monu- 
 ment was erected over his tomb. 
 
 A curious anecdote is related of the King 
 of France in relation to this tomb. Some time 
 after the tomb was built Rouen fell into the 
 hands of the French, and some persons pro- 
 posed to break down the monument which had 
 been built in memory of their old enemy ; but 
 the King of France would not listen to the 
 proposal. 
 
 " What honor shall it be to us," said he, " or 
 to you, to break down the monument, or to 
 pull out of the ground the dead bones of him 
 whom, in his life, neither my father nor your 
 progenitors, with all their power, influence, and 
 friends, were ever able to make flee one foot 
 backward, but who, by his strength, wit, and 
 policy, kept them all at bay. Wherefore I 
 say, let God have his soul ; and for his body, 
 let it rest in peace where they have laid it." 
 
 When King Henry was old enough to be 
 crowned, in addition to the English part of the 
 ceremony, he wect to France to receive the
 
 52 MARGARET OF AXJOU. [1422. 
 
 Coronation of the young king in France. Curious pngeanta. 
 
 crown of that country too. The ceremony, as 
 is usual with the French kings, was performed 
 at the town of St. Denis, near Paris, where is 
 an ancient royal chapel, in which all the great 
 religious ceremonies connected with the French 
 monarchy have been performed. A very cu- 
 rious account is given by the ancient chroni- 
 clers of the pageants and ceremonies which 
 were enacted on this occasion. The king pro- 
 ceeded into France and journeyed to St. Denis 
 at the head of a grand cavalcade of knights, 
 nobles, and men-at-arms, amounting to many 
 thousand men, all of whom were adorned with 
 dresses and trappings of the most gorgeous de- 
 scription. At St. Denis the authorities came 
 out to meet the king, dressed in robes of ver- 
 milion, and bearing splendid banners. The 
 king was presented, as he passed through the 
 gates, " with three crimson hearts, in one of 
 which were two doves; in another, several 
 small birds, which were let fly over his head ; 
 while the third was filled with violets and 
 flowers, which were thrown over the lords 
 that attended and followed him." 
 
 At the same place, too, a company of the 
 principal civic dignitaries of the town appeared, 
 bearing a gorgeous canopy of blue silk, adorned 
 and embroidered in the most beautiful manner
 
 1422.] KING HENRY VI. 53 
 
 Curious pageants. The coronation. 
 
 with royal emblems. This canopy they held 
 over the king as he advanced into the town. 
 
 At one place farther on, where there was a 
 little bridge to be crossed, there was a pageant 
 of three savages fighting about a woman in a 
 mimic forest. The savages continued fighting 
 until the king had passed by. Next came a 
 fountain flowing with wine, with mermaids 
 swimming about in it. The wine in this fount- 
 ain was free to all who chose to come and 
 drink it. 
 
 Then, farther still, the royal party came to 
 a place where an artificial forest had been made, 
 by some means or other, in a large, open square. 
 There was a chase going on in this forest at the 
 time when the king went by. The chase con- 
 sisted of a living stag hunted by real dogs. 
 The stag came and took j-efuge at the feet of 
 the king's horse, and his majesty saved the 
 poor animal's life. 
 
 Thus the king was conducted to his palace. 
 Several days were spent in preliminary pa- 
 geants and ceremonies like the above, and then 
 the coronation took place in the church, the 
 king and his party being stationed on a large 
 platform raised for the purpose in the most 
 conspicuous part of the edifice. 
 
 After the coronation there was a grand ban-
 
 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1441. 
 
 The banquet. 
 
 Picture of the king. 
 
 quet, at which the king, with his lords and 
 great officers of state, sat at a marble table in 
 a magnificent ancient hall. Henry Beaufort, 
 the Bishop of Winchester, was the principal 
 personage in all these ceremonies next to the 
 king. Gloucester was very jealous of him, in 
 respect to the conspicuous part which he took 
 in these proceedings. 
 
 Henry was quite young at the time of his cor- 
 onations. He was a very pretty boy, and his 
 countenance wore a mild and gentle expression. 
 
 UENBY VI. IN HI8 YOUTH.
 
 1441.] KING HENRY VI. 57 
 
 The old quarrel broke out again. The duchess's penance. 
 
 The quarrel between the Duke of Gloucester 
 and the bishop was kept, in some degree, sub- 
 dued during this period, partly by the influence 
 of the Duke of Bedford while he lived, and 
 partly by Gloucester's mind being taken up to 
 a considerable extent with other things, espe- 
 cially with his campaigns in France; for he 
 was engaged during the period of the king's 
 minority in many important military expedi- 
 tions in that country. At length, however, he 
 came back to England, and there, when the 
 king was about twenty years of age, the quar- 
 rel between him and the bishop's party broke 
 out anew. The king himself was, however, 
 now old enough to take some part in such a 
 difficulty, and so both sides appealed to him. 
 Gloucester made out a series of twenty-four ar- 
 ticles of complaint against the bishop. The 
 bishop, on the other hand, accused the duke 
 of treason, and he specially charged that his 
 wife had attempted to destroy the life of the 
 king by witchcraft. The duchess was con- 
 demned on this charge, and it is said that, by 
 way of penance, she was sentenced to walk 
 barefoot through the most public street in Lon- 
 don with a lighted taper in her hand. Some 
 other persons, who were accused of being ac- 
 complices in this crime, were put to death.
 
 58 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1441, 
 
 Witchcraft. Position 01 the king. Scheme formed by Beaufort. 
 
 The witchcraft which it was said these per- 
 sons practiced was that of making a waxen 
 image of the king, and then, after connecting 
 it with him in some mysterious and magical 
 way by certain charms and incantations, melt- 
 ing it away by degrees before a slow fire, by 
 which means the king himself, as was sup- 
 posed, would be caused to pine and wither 
 away, and at last to die. It was universally 
 believed in those days that this could be done. 
 
 Of course, such proceedings as these only em- 
 bittered the quarrel more an,d more, and Glou- 
 cester became more resolute and determined 
 than ever in prosecuting his intrigues for de- 
 priving the bishop of influence, and for getting 
 the power into his own hands. The king, 
 though he favored the cardinal, was so quiet 
 and gentle in his disposition, and so little dis- 
 posed to take an active part in such a quarrel, 
 that the bishop could not induce him to act as 
 decidedly as he wished. So he finally con- 
 ceived the idea of finding some very intelligent 
 and capable princess as a wife for the king, hop- 
 ing to increase the power which he exercised 
 in the realm through his influence over her. 
 
 The lady that he selected for this purpose 
 was Margaret of Anjou.
 
 1420.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 59 
 
 Provinces of France. Great families. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 MARGARET'S FATHER AND MOTHER. 
 
 IN former times, the territory which now con- 
 stitutes France was divided into a great 
 number of separate provinces, each of which 
 formed almost a distinct state or kingdom. 
 These several provinces were the possessions 
 of lords, dukes, and barons, who ruled over 
 them, respectively, like so many petty kings, 
 with almost absolute sway, though they all ac- 
 knowledged a general allegiance to the kings 
 of France or of England. The more northern 
 provinces pertained to England. Those in the 
 interior and southern portions of the country 
 were under the dominion of France. 
 
 The great families who held these provinces 
 as their possessions ruled over them in a very 
 lordly manner. They regarded not only the 
 territory itself which they held, but the right to 
 govern the inhabitants of it as a species of prop- 
 erty, which was subject, like any other estate, 
 to descend from parent to child by hereditary 
 right, to be conveyed to another owner by 
 treaty or surrender, to be assigned to a bride
 
 60 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1420. 
 
 Anjou. King Rene. Lorraine. 
 
 as her marriage portion, or to be disposed of in 
 any other way that the lordly proprietors might 
 prefer. These great families took ther names 
 from the provinces over which they ruled. 
 
 One of these provinces was Anjou.* The 
 father of Margaret, the subject of this history, 
 was a celebrated personage named Regnier or 
 Rene, commonly called King Rene". He was a 
 younger son of the family which reigned over 
 Anjou. It is from this circumstance that our 
 heroine derives the name by which she is gen- 
 erally designated Margaret of Anjou. The 
 reason why her father was called King Rene* 
 will appear in the sequel. 
 
 Another of the provinces of France above 
 referred to was Lorraine. Lorraine was a large, 
 and beautiful, and very valuable country, situ- 
 ated toward the eastern part of France. Anjou 
 was considerably to the westward of it. 
 
 The name of the Duke of Lorraine at this 
 time was Charles. He had a daughter named 
 Isabella. She was the heiress to all her father's 
 possessions. She was a young lady of great 
 beauty, of high spirit, of a very accomplished 
 education, according to the ideas of those times. 
 When Rene was about fourteen years old a 
 match was arranged between him and Isabella, 
 
 * See map at the commencement of the volume.
 
 1429.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 61 
 
 Marriage of Rene to Isabella. Birth of Margaret. Theophanie. 
 
 who was then only about ten. The marriage 
 was celebrated with great parade, and the 
 youthful pair went to reside at a palace called 
 Pont a Mousson, in a grand castle which was 
 given to Isabella by her father as a bridal gift 
 at the time of her marriage. Here it was ex- 
 pected that they would live until the death of 
 her father, when they were to come into pos- 
 session of the whole province of Lorraine. 
 
 In process of time, while living at this castle, 
 Rend and Isabella had several children. Mar- 
 garet was the fifth. She was born in 1429. 
 Her birthday was March 23. 
 
 The little infant was put under the charge 
 of a family nurse named Theophanie. Theo- 
 phanie was a long-tried and very faithful do- 
 mestic. She was successively the nurse to all 
 of Isabella's children, and the family became so 
 much attached to her that when she died Rene 
 caused a beautiful monument to be raised to 
 her memory. This monument contained a 
 sculptured image of Theophanie, with two of 
 the children in her arms. 
 
 Very soon after her birth Margaret was bap 
 tized with great pomp in the Cathedral in the 
 town of Toul. A large number of relatives of 
 high rank witnessed and took part in the cere- 
 mony.
 
 62 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1431. 
 
 Isabella's uncle Antoine. Conflict for the possession of Lorraine. 
 
 When at length Charles, Duke of Lorraine, 
 Isabella's father, died, and the province should 
 have descended to Isabella and Rene, there sud- 
 denly appeared another claimant, who thought, 
 not that he had a better right to the province 
 than Isabella, but that he had more power to 
 seize and hold it than she, even with all the aid 
 that her husband Rene could afford her. This 
 claimant was Isabella's uncle, the younger 
 brother of Duke Charles who had just died. 
 His name was Antoine de Vaudemonte, or, as 
 it would be expressed in English, Anthony of 
 Vaudemont. This uncle, on the death of Isa- 
 bella's father, determined to seize the duchy for 
 himself, instead of allowing it to descend to Is- 
 abella, the proper heir, who, being but a wom- 
 an, was looked upon with very little respect 
 " Lorraine," he said, " was too noble and valu- 
 able a fief to descend in the family on the spin- 
 dle side." 
 
 So he collected his adherents and retainers, 
 organized an army, and took the field. Isa- 
 bella, on the other hand, did all in her power 
 U induce the people of the country to espouse 
 her cause. Rene took the command of the 
 forces which were raised in her behalf, and 
 went forth to meet Antoine. Isabella herself, 
 taking the children with her, went to the city
 
 1431.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 63 
 
 The battle. Ren6 wounded and made prisoner. 
 
 of Nancy* which was then, as now, the chief 
 city of Lorraine, and was consequently the 
 safest place for her intending to await there 
 the result of the conflict. Little Margaret was 
 at this time about two years old. 
 
 The battle was fought at a place called 
 Bulgneville, and the fortune of war, as it 
 would seem, turned in this case against the 
 right, for Rene's party were entirely defeated, 
 and he himself was wounded and taken pris- 
 oner. He fought like a lion, it is said, as long 
 as he remained unharmed; but at last he re- 
 ceived a desperate wound on his brow, and 
 the blood from this wound ran down into his 
 eyes and blinded him, so that he could do no 
 more ; and he was immediately seized by the 
 men who had wounded him, and 'made prison- 
 er. The person who thus wounded and cap- 
 tured him was the squire of a certain knight 
 who had espoused the cause of Antoine, named 
 the Count St. Pol. 
 
 In the mean time Isabella had remained at 
 Nancy with the children, in a state of the ut- 
 most suspense and anxiety, awaiting the result 
 
 * The position of Nancy, as well as the situation of the 
 two provinces of Anjou and Lorraine, which are now depart- 
 ments of France, may be seen by referring to any good map 
 of that country, or to that at the commencement of this vol- 
 ume.
 
 64 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1431. 
 
 Isabella's terror and distress. Heavy tidings. Sympathy for Isabella. 
 
 of a conflict on which depended the fate of 
 every thing that was valuable and dear to her. 
 At length, at the window of the tower where 
 she was watching, with little Margaret in her 
 arms, for the coming of a herald from her has- 
 band to announce his victory, her heart sank 
 within her to see, instead of a messenger of 
 joy and triumph, a broken crowd of fugitives, 
 breathless and covered with dust and blood, 
 suddenly bursting into view, and showing too 
 plainly by their aspect of terror and distress 
 that all was lost. Isabella was overwhelmed 
 with consternation at the sight. She clasped 
 little Margaret closely in her arms, exclaiming 
 in tones of indescribable agony, " My husband 
 is killed ! my husband is killed !" 
 
 Her distress and anguish were somewhat 
 calmed by the fugitives assuring her, when 
 they arrived, that her husband was safe, though 
 he had been wounded and taken prisoner. 
 
 There was a great deal of sympathy felt for 
 Isabella in her distress by all the people of 
 Nancy. She was very young and very beau 
 tiful. Her children, and especially Margaret, 
 were very beautiful too, and this greatly in 
 creased the compassion which the people were 
 disposed to feel for her. Isabella's mother wab 
 strongly inclined to make new efforts to raise
 
 20-5
 
 1431.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 67 
 
 Isabella's interview with her nncle. Negotiations for peace; 
 
 an army, in order to meet and fight -Antoing 
 again ; but Isabella herself, who was now more 
 concerned for the safety of her husband than 
 for the recovery of her dominions, was disposed 
 to pursue a conciliatory course. So she sent 
 word to her uncle that she wished to see him, 
 and entreated him to grant her an interview. 
 Antoine acceded to her request, and at the in- 
 terview Isabella begged her uncle to make 
 peace with her, and to give her back her hus- 
 band. 
 
 Antoine said that it was out of his power to 
 liberate Bene", for he had delivered him to the 
 custody of the Duke of Burgundy, who had 
 been his ally in the war, and the duke had 
 conveyed him away to his castle at Dijon, and 
 shut him up there, and that now he would 
 probably not be willing to give him up with- 
 out the payment of a ransom. He said, how- 
 ever, that he was willing to make a truce with 
 Isabella for six months, to give time to see 
 what arrangement could be made. 
 
 This truce was agreed upon, and then, aft 
 length, after a long negotiation, terms of peace 
 were concluded. Bene* was to pay a large sum 
 to the Duke of Burgundy for his ransom, and, 
 in the mean time, while he was procuring the 
 money, he was to leave his two sons in the
 
 68 MARGARET OF AXJOU. [143L 
 
 Hostages. Hard conditions of peace. 
 
 duke's hands as hostages, to be held by the 
 duke as security. In respect to Lorraine, An- 
 toine insisted, as another of the conditions of 
 peace, that Isabella's oldest daughter, Yolante, 
 then about nine years old, should be betrothed 
 to his son Frederick, so as to combine, in the 
 next generation at least, the conflicting claims 
 of the two parties to the possession of the ter- 
 ritory ; and, in order to secure the fulfillment 
 of this condition, Yolante was to be delivered 
 immediately to the charge and custody of An- 
 toine's wife, the mother of her future husband. 
 Thus all of Isabella's children were taken away 
 from her except Margaret. And even Marga- 
 ret, though left for the present with her moth- 
 er, did not escape being involved in the entan- 
 glements of the treaty. Antoine insisted that 
 she, too, should be betrothed to one of his par- 
 tisans; ana, as if to make the case as painful 
 and humiliating to Rene and Isabella as possi- 
 ble, the person chosen to be her future husband 
 was the very Count St. Pol whose squire had 
 cut down and captured Ren6 at the battle of 
 Bulgneville. 
 
 These conditions were very hard, but Isabel- 
 la consented to them, as it was only by so doing 
 that any hope seemed to be opened before her 
 of obtaining the release of her husband. And
 
 1431.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 69 
 
 Bene can not procure the money for his ransom. His long confinement 
 
 even this hope, in the end, proved delusive. 
 Rene' found that, notwithstanding all his efforts, 
 he could not obtain the money which the duke 
 required for his ransom. Accordingly, in order 
 to save his boys, whom he had delivered to the 
 duke as hostages, he was obliged to return to 
 Dijon and surrender himself again a prisoner. 
 His parting with his wife and children, before 
 going a second time into a confinement to which 
 they could now see no end, was heartrending. 
 Even little Margaret, who was yet so very 
 young, joined from sympathy in the general 
 sorrow, arid wept bitterly when her father went 
 away. 
 
 The duke confined his captive in an upper 
 room in a high tower of the castle of Dijon, and 
 kept him imprisoned there for several years. 
 One of the boys was kept with him, but the oth- 
 er was set at liberty. All this time Margaret re- 
 mained with her mother. She was a very beau- 
 tiful and a very intelligent child, and was a great 
 favorite with all who knew her. The interest 
 which was awakened by her beauty and her 
 other personal attractions was greatly increased 
 by the general sympathy which was felt for the 
 misfortunes of her father, and the loneliness and 
 distress of her mother. 
 
 In the mean time, Rene, shut up in the tower
 
 70 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1436. 
 
 His occupations and amusements in prison. Origin of Rene's royal title. 
 
 at the castle of Dijon, made himself as content- 
 ed as he could, and employed his time in various 
 peaceful and ingenious occupations. Though 
 he had fought well in the battle with Antoine, 
 he was, in fact, not at all of a warlike disposi- 
 tion. He was very fond of music, and poetry, 
 and painting ; and he occupied his leisure dur- 
 ing his confinement in executing beautiful min- 
 iatures and paintings upon glass, after the man- 
 ner of those times. Some of these paintings 
 remained in the window of a church in Dijon, 
 where they were placed soon after Rene" paint- 
 ed them, for several hundred years. 
 
 It has already been stated that the name by 
 which Margaret's father is commonly desig- 
 nated is King Rene. The origin of this royal 
 title is now to be explained. He had an older 
 brother, who became by inheritance, with Joan- 
 na his wife, king and queen of the Two Sicilies, 
 that is, of the kingdom consisting of the island 
 of Sicily and the territory connected with Na- 
 ples on the main land. The brother, at the close 
 of his life, designated Rene as his heir. This 
 happened in the year 1436, while Rene was still 
 in captivity in the castle of Dijon. He could, 
 of course, do nothing himself to assert his claims 
 to this new inheritance, but Isabella immediate- 
 ly assumed the title of Queen of the Two Sici'
 
 I486.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 71 
 
 Isabella and the children at Tarascon. 
 
 lies for herself, and began at once to make prep- 
 aration for proceeding to Italy and taking pos- 
 session of the kingdom. 
 
 While maturing her plans, she took up her 
 residence for a time at the chateau of Tarascon, 
 on the banks of the Rhone, with the two chil- 
 dren who remained under her care, namely, her 
 son Louis and Margaret. Her other son was 
 at Dijon with his father, and the other daugh- 
 ter, Yolante, had been given up, as has already 
 been said, to the custody of the wife of Antoine, 
 with a view of being married, as soon as she 
 was old enough, to Antoine's son. 
 
 The children attracted great attention at Ta- 
 rascon. Their mother Isabella was by birth a 
 lady of very high rank, her family being inti- 
 mately connected with the royal family of 
 Frarice. She was now, too, by title at least, 
 herself a queen. The children were very intel- 
 ligent and beautiful, and the misfortunes and 
 cruel captivity of their father and brother were 
 known and talked of in all the country around. 
 So the peasants and their families crowded 
 around the chateau to see the children. They 
 brought them wreaths of flowers and other vo- 
 tive offerings. They sang songs to serenade 
 them, and they built bonfires around the walls 
 of the chateau at night, to drive away the infec-
 
 72 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1436. 
 
 Witches and the plague. Isabella goes into Italy. 
 
 tion of the plague, which was then prevailing in 
 some parts of the country, and was exciting con- 
 siderable alarm. 
 
 The people of the country believed that this 
 plague was produced by magic and witchcraft, 
 and there were some poor old women, who came 
 with the other peasants to the walls of the cha- 
 teau of Tarascon to see the children, who were 
 believed to be witches. Afterward the plague 
 broke out at Tarascon, and Margaret's mother 
 was obliged to go away, taking the children 
 with her. The poor women were, however, 
 seized and burned at the stake, it being univer- 
 sally believed that it was they who had caused 
 the plague. 
 
 Isabella's arrangements were now so far ma- 
 tured that she went at once into Italy with the 
 children, and took up her abode there in the 
 town of Capua. Rene still remained in captiv- 
 ity, but Isabella caused him to be proclaimed 
 King of the Two Sicilies with great pomp and 
 parade. At the time of this ceremony, the two 
 children, Margaret and her brother, were seated 
 beside their mother in a grand state carriage, 
 which was lined with velvet and embroidered 
 with gold, and in this way they were conveyed 
 through the streets of the city. 
 
 After a time Rene was liberated from his
 
 1436.] MARGARET'S PARENTS. 73 
 
 Ren6 is at last set free. His temper and disposition. 
 
 confinement, and restored to his family, but he 
 did not long enjoy this apparent return of pros- 
 perity. His claim to the kingdom of Naples 
 was disputed, and, after a conflict, he was e? 
 pelled from the country. In the mean time, the 
 English had so far extended their conquests in 
 France that both his native province of Anjou, 
 and his wife's inheritances in Lorraine, had 
 fallen into their hands, so that with all the aris- 
 tocratic distinction of their descent, and the 
 grandeur of their royal titles, the family were 
 now, as it were, without house or home. They 
 returned to France, and Isabella, with the chil- 
 dren, found refuge from time to time with one 
 and another of the great families to which she 
 was related, while Rene' led a wandering life, be- 
 ing reduced often to a state of great destitution. 
 He, however, bore his misfortunes with a very 
 placid temper, and amused himself, wherever he 
 was, with music, poetry, and painting. He was 
 so cheerful and good-natured withal that he 
 made himself a very agreeable companion, and 
 was generally welcome, as a visitor, wherever 
 he went. He retained the name of King Rend 
 as long as he lived, though he was a king with- 
 out a kingdom. At one time he was reduced, 
 it is said, to such straits that to warm himself ho 
 used to walk to and fro in the streets of Mar-
 
 74 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1436. 
 
 King Ren6's fireside. 
 
 seilles, on the sunny side of the buildings, which 
 circumstance gave rise to a proverb long known 
 and often quoted in those parts, which desig- 
 nated the act of going out into the sun to escape 
 from the cold as warming one's self at King 
 Renews fireside. 
 
 Such was the family from which Margaret 
 of Anjou sprung.
 
 1444.] EOYAL COURTSHIP. 75 
 
 Margaret's talents and accomplishments. Offers of marriaga. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ROYAL COURTSHIP. 
 
 WHEN Margaret was not more than four- 
 teen or fifteen years of age, she began to 
 be very celebrated for her beauty and accom- 
 plishments, and for the charming vivacity of 
 her conversation and her demeanor. She re- 
 sided with her mother in different families in 
 Lorraine and in other parts of France, and was 
 sometimes at the court of the Queen of France, 
 who was her near relative. All who knew her 
 were charmed with her. She was considered 
 equally remarkable for her talents and for her 
 beauty. The arrangement which had been 
 made in her childhood for marrying her to the 
 Count of St. Pol was broken off, but several 
 other offers were made to her mother for her 
 hand, though none of them was accepted. Is- 
 abella was very proud of her daughter, and she 
 cherished very lofty aspirations in respect to 
 her future destiny. She was therefore not at 
 all inclined to be in haste in respect to making 
 arrangements for her marriage. 
 
 In the mean time, the feud between the un-
 
 76 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 State of things in England. Henry's character. Plans of the courtiers. 
 
 cles and relatives of King Henry, in England, 
 as related in a preceding chapter, had been go- 
 ing on, and was now reaching a climax. The 
 leaders of the two rival parties were, as will be 
 recollected, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Win- 
 chester, or Cardinal Beaufort, as he was more 
 commonly called, who had had the personal 
 charge of the king during his minority, on one 
 side, and the Duke of Gloucester, Henry's un- 
 cle, who had been regent of England during 
 the same period, on the other. The king him- 
 self was now about twenty-four years of age, 
 and if he had been a man of vigor and resolu- 
 tion, he might perhaps have controlled the an- 
 gry disputants, and by taking the government 
 fully into his own hands, have forced them to 
 live together in peace under his paramount au- 
 thority. But Henry was a very timid and fee- 
 ble-minded man. The turbulence and impetu- 
 ousness of his uncles and their partisans in their 
 quarrel was altogether too great for any control 
 that he could hope to exercise over them. In- 
 deed, the great question with them was which 
 should contrive the means of exercising the 
 greatest control over him. 
 
 In order to accomplish this end, both parties 
 began very early to plan and manoeuvre with a 
 view of choosing the king a wife. Whichever
 
 1444.] KOYAL COURTSHIP. 77 
 
 Princes and kings. Their matrimonial plans. Embarrassment*. 
 
 of the two great leaders should succeed in ne- 
 gotiating the marriage of the king, they knew 
 well would, by that very act, establish his in- 
 fluence at court in the most absolute manner. 
 
 Princes and kings in those days, as, indeed, 
 is the case to a considerable extent now, had 
 some peculiar difficulties to contend with in 
 making their matrimonial arrangements, so far 
 at least as concerned the indulgence of any per- 
 sonal preferences which they might themselves 
 entertain on the subject. Indeed, these arrange- 
 ments were generally made for them, while 
 they were too young to have any voice or to 
 take any part in the question, and nothing was 
 left for them but to ratify and carry into effect, 
 when they came to years of maturity, what 
 their parents, or grand councils of state, had de- 
 termined for them when they were children, or 
 else to refuse to ratify and confirm it at the 
 cost of incurring a vast amount of difficulty 
 and political entanglement, and perhaps even 
 open and formidable war. 
 
 And even in those cases where the prince or 
 king arrived at an age to judge for himself be* 
 fore any arrangements were made for him, 
 which was the fact in regard to Henry VI., he 
 was still very much embarrassed and circum- 
 scribed in his choice if he attempted to select a
 
 78 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Difficulty of leaving the country. Miniatures. Situation of King Henry. 
 
 wife for himself. He could not visit foreign 
 courts and see the princesses there, so as to 
 judge for himself who would best please him ; 
 for in those days it was very unsafe for person- 
 ages of any considerable rank or position to 
 visit foreign countries at all, except at the head 
 of an army, and in a military campaign. In 
 the case, too, of any actually reigning monarch, 
 there was a special difficulty in the way of his 
 leaving his kingdom, on account of the feuds 
 and quarrels which always in such cases arose 
 in making the necessary arrangements for the 
 government of the kingdom during his absence. 
 For these and various other causes, a king or 
 a prince desiring to choose a wife was obliged 
 to content himself with such information relat- 
 ing to the several candidates as he could ob- 
 tain from hearsay in respect to their characters, 
 and from miniatures and portraits in respect to 
 their personal attractions. This was especially 
 the case with King Henry VI. Each of the 
 two great parties, that of Cardinal Beaufort on 
 one hand, and that of the Duke of Gloucester 
 on the other, were desirous of being the means 
 of finding a bride for the king, and both were 
 eagerly looking in all directions, and plotting 
 for the accomplishment of this end, and any at- 
 tempt of the king to leave the kingdom for any
 
 1444.] ROYAL COURTSHIP. 79 
 
 Plan of the Duke of Gloucester. The three princesses of Armagnac. 
 
 purpose whatever would undoubtedly have 
 brought these parties at once to open war. 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester and those who act- 
 ed with him fixed their eyes upon three prin- 
 cesses of a certain great family, called the house 
 of Armagnac. Their plan was to open nego- 
 tiations with this house, and to obtain portraits 
 of the three princesses, to be sent to England, 
 in order that Henry might take his choice of 
 them. Commissioners were appointed to man- 
 age the business. They were to open the ne- 
 gotiations and obtain the portraits. The car- 
 dinal, of course, and his friends were greatly 
 interested in preventing the success of this 
 plan, though, of course, it was necessary for 
 them to be discreet and cautious in manifest- 
 ing any open opposition to it in the then pres- 
 ent stage of the affair. 
 
 The king was very particular in the instruc- 
 tions which he gave to the commissioners in 
 respect to the portraits, with a view of secur- 
 ing, if possible, perfectly correct and fair repre- 
 sentations of the originals. He wished that the 
 princesses should not be flattered at all by the 
 artist in his delineation of them, and that they 
 should not be dressed at their sittings in any 
 unusually elegant manner. On the contrary, 
 'ihey were to be painted " in their kirtles sim-
 
 60 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Their portraits. The plan fails. In what way. 
 
 pie, and their visages like as ye see, and their 
 stature, and their beauty, and the color of their 
 skin, and their countenances, just as they real- 
 ly are." The artist was instructed, too, by the 
 commissioners to be expeditious in finishing 
 the pictures and sending them to England, in 
 order that the king might see them as soon as 
 possible, and make his choice between the three 
 young ladies whose " images" were to be thus 
 laid before him. 
 
 This plan for giving the king an opportuni- 
 ty to choose between the three princesses of 
 Armagnac, nicely arranged as it was in all its 
 details, failed of being carried successfully into 
 effect; for the father of these princesses, as it 
 happened, was at this same time engaged in 
 some negotiations with the King of France in 
 respect to the marriage of his daughters, and 
 he wished to keep the negotiations with Henry 
 in suspense until he had ascertained whether 
 he could or could not do better in that quarter. 
 So he contrived means to interrupt and retard 
 the work of the artist, in order to delay for a 
 time the finishing of the pictures. 
 
 In the mean time, while the Duke of Glou- 
 cester and his party were thus engaged in for- 
 warding their scheme of inducing Henry to 
 make choice of one of these three princesses for
 
 1444.] EOYAL COURTSHIP. 81 
 
 Die cardinal's schema Champchevrier. Champchevrier at court. 
 
 his wife, the cardinal himself was not idle. He 
 had heard of the beautiful and accomplished 
 Margaret of Anjou, and. after full inquiry and 
 reflection, he determined in his own rnind to 
 make her his candidate for the honor of being 
 Queen of England. The manner in which he 
 contrived to introduce the subject first to the 
 notice of the king was this. 
 
 There was a certain man, named Champ- 
 chevrier, who had been taken prisoner in An- 
 jou in the course of the wars between France 
 and England, and who was now held for ran- 
 som by the knight who had captured him. He 
 was not, however, kept in close confinement, 
 but was allowed to go at large in England on 
 his parole that is, on his word of honor that 
 he would not make his escape and go back to 
 his native land until his ransom was paid. 
 
 Now this Champchevrier, though a prisoner, 
 was a gentleman by birth and education ; and 
 while he remained in England, held by his pa- 
 role, was admitted to the best society there, 
 and he often appeared at court, and frequently 
 held converse with the king. In one of these 
 interviews he described, in very glowing terms, 
 the beauty and remarkable intelligence of Mar- 
 garet of Anjou. It is supposed that he was 
 induced to this by Cardinal Beaufort, who knew 
 
 206
 
 82 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444 
 
 Hia conversations with the king. The king wishes for a picture. 
 
 of his acquaintance with Margaret, and who 
 contrived the interviews between Champchev- 
 rier and the king, in order to give the former 
 'an opportunity to speak of the lady to his maj- 
 esty incidentally, as it were, and in a way not 
 to excite the king's suspicions that the com- 
 mendations of her which he heard were prompt- 
 ed by any match-making schemes formed for 
 him by his courtiers. 
 
 If this was the secret plan of the cardinal, it 
 succeeded admirably well. The king's curios 
 ity was strongly awakened by the piquant ac- 
 counts that Champchevrier gave him of the 
 brilliancy of young Margaret's beauty, and of 
 her charming vivacity and wit. 
 
 " I should like very much to see a picture 
 of the young lady," said the king. 
 
 "I can easily obtain a picture of her for 
 your majesty," replied Champchevrier, " if your 
 majesty will commission me to go to Lorraine 
 for the purpose." 
 
 Champchevrier considered that a commission 
 from the king to go to Lorraine on business 
 for his majesty would be a sufficient release for 
 him from the obligations of his parole. 
 
 The king finally gave Champchevrier the re- 
 quired authority to leave the kingdom. Champ 
 ohevrier was not satisfied with a verbal permis-
 
 1444.J ROYAL COURTSHIP. 83 
 
 Chaznpchevrier's expedition. The Earl of Suffolk. 
 
 sion merely, but required the king to give him 
 a regular safe-conduct, drawn up in due form, 
 and signed by the king's name. Having re- 
 ceived this document, Champchevrier left Lon- 
 don and set out upon his journey, the nature 
 and object of the expedition being of course 
 kept a profound secret. 
 
 A certain nobleman, however, named the 
 Earl of Suffolk, was admitted to the confidence 
 of the king in this affair, and was by him asso- 
 ciated with Champchevrier in the arrangements 
 which were to be made for carrying the plan 
 into execution. It would seem that he accom- 
 panied Champchevrier in his journey to Lor- 
 raine, where Margaret was then residing with 
 her mother, and there assisted him in making 
 arrangements for the painting of the picture. 
 They employed one of the first artists in France 
 for this purpose. When the work was finish- 
 ed, Champchevrier set out with it on his return 
 to England. 
 
 In the mean time, the English knight whose 
 prisoner Champchevrier was, heard in some way 
 that his captive had left England, and had re- 
 turned to France, and the intelligence made him 
 exceedingly angry. He thought that Champ- 
 chevrier had broken his parole and had gone 
 home without paying his ransom. Such an
 
 84 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Champchevrier in danger. Gloucester writes to the King of Franca. 
 
 act as this was regarded as extremely dishon- 
 orable in those days, and it was, moreover, not 
 only considered dishonorable in a prisoner 
 himself to break his parole, but also in any 
 one else to aid or abet him in so doing, or to 
 harbor or protect him after his escape. The 
 knight determined, therefore, that he would at 
 once communicate with the King of France on 
 the subject, explaining the circumstances, and 
 asking him to rearrest the supposed fugitive 
 and send him back. 
 
 So he went to the Duke of Gloucester, and, 
 stating the case to him, asked his grace to 
 write to the King of France, informing him 
 that Champchevrier had escaped from his pa- 
 role, and asking him not to give him refuge, 
 but to seize and send him back. Gloucester 
 was very willing to do this. It is probable 
 that he knew that Champchevrier was a friend 
 of the cardinal's, or at least that he was attached 
 to his interests, and that it was altogether prob- 
 able that his going into France was connected 
 with some plot or scheme by which the cardi- 
 nal and his party were to derive some advant- 
 age. So he wrote the letter, and it was at 
 once sent to the King of France. The King 
 of France at this time was Charles VII. 
 
 The king, on receiving the letter, ^ave or-
 
 1444.] EOYAL COURTSHIP. 85 
 
 I'hampchevrier arrested. The whole story comes out. 
 
 ders immediately that Champchevrier should 
 be arrested. By this time, however, the paint- 
 ing was finished, and Champchevrier was on 
 the way with it from Lorraine toward En- 
 gland. He was intercepted on his journey, 
 taken to Vincennes, and there brought before 
 King Charles, and called upon to give an ac- 
 count of himself. 
 
 Of course he was now obliged to tell the 
 whole story. He said that he had not broken 
 his parole at all, nor intended in any manner 
 to defraud his captor in England of the ransom 
 money that was due to him, but had come to 
 France by the orders of the King of England. 
 He explained, too, what he had come for, and 
 showed Charles the painting which he was 
 carrying back to the king. He also, in proof 
 of the truth of what he said, produced the safe- 
 conduct which King Henry had given him. 
 
 King Charles laughed very heartily at hear- 
 ing this explanation, and at perceiving how 
 neatly he had discovered the secret of King 
 Henry's love affairs. He was much pleased, 
 too, with the idea of King Henry's taking a 
 fancy to a lady so nearly related to the royal 
 family of France. He thought that he might 
 make the negotiation of such a marriage the 
 occasion for making peace with England on
 
 66 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Trouble In court. 
 
 favorable terms. So he dismissed Champchev- 
 rier at once, and recommended to him to pro- 
 ceed to England as soon as possible, and there 
 to do all in his power to induce King Henrj 
 to choose Margaret for his queen. 
 
 Champchevrier accordingly returned to En- 
 gland and reported the result of his mission. 
 The king was very much pleased with the 
 painting, and he immediately determined to 
 send Champchevrier again to Lorraine on a 
 secret mission to Margaret's mother. He first, 
 however, determined to release Champchevrier 
 entirely from his parole, and so he paid the 
 ransom himself for which he had been held. 
 The Duke of Gloucester watched all -these pro- 
 ceedings with a very jealous eye. When he 
 found that Champchevrier, on his return to 
 England, came at once to the king's court, and 
 that there he held frequent conferences, which 
 were full of mystery, with the king and with 
 the cardinal, and when, moreover, he learned 
 that the king had paid the ransom morey due 
 to the knight, and that Champchevriei was to 
 be sent away again, he at once suspected what 
 was going on, and the whole court war soon 
 in a great ferment of excitement in respect to 
 the proposed marriage of the king to Marga- 
 ret of Anjou.
 
 1444.J ROYAL COURTSHIP. 87 
 
 Gloucester's opposition. Margaret gains the day. Truce proposed 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester and his party were, 
 of course, strongly opposed to Margaret of An- 
 jou ; for they knew well that, as she had been 
 brought to the king's notice by the other par- 
 ty, her becoming Queen of England would well- 
 nigh destroy their hopes and expectations for 
 all time to come. The other party acted as de- 
 cidedly and vigorously in favor of the marriage. 
 There followed a long contest, in which there 
 was plotting and counterplotting on one side 
 and on the other, and manoeuvres without end. 
 At last the friends of the beautiful little Mar- 
 garet carried the day; and in the year 1444 
 commissioners were formally appointed by the 
 governments of England and France to meet 
 at the city of Tours at a specified day, to nego- 
 tiate a truce between the two countries prepar- 
 atory to a permanent peace, the basis and ce- 
 ment of which was to be the marriage of King 
 Henry with Margaret of Anjou. The truce 
 was made for two years, so as to allow full time 
 to arrange all the details both for a peace be- 
 tween the two countries, and also in respect to 
 the terms and conditions of the marriage. 
 
 As soon as the news that this truce was made 
 arrived in England, it produced great excite- 
 ment. The Duke of Gloucester and those who 
 were, with him, interested to prevent the ac-
 
 88 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Opposition in England. Violent discussions. 
 
 complishment of the marriage, formed a pow- 
 erful political party to oppose it. They did 
 not, however, openly object to the marriage it- 
 self, thinking that not politic, but directed their 
 hostility chiefly against the plan of making 
 peace with France just at the time, they said, 
 when the glory of the English arms and the 
 progress of the English power in that country 
 were at their height. It was very discredita- 
 ble to the advisers of the king, they said, that 
 they should counsel him to stop short in the 
 career of conquest which his armies were pur- 
 suing, and thus sacrifice the grand advantages 
 for the realm of England which were just with- 
 in reach. 
 
 The discussions and dissensions which arose 
 in the court and in Parliament on this subject 
 were very violent; but in the end Cardinal 
 Beaufort and his party were successful, and the 
 king appointed the Earl of Suffolk embassador 
 extraordinary to the court of France to nego- 
 tiate the terms and conditions of the permanent 
 peace which was to be made between the two 
 countries, and also of the marriage of the king. 
 At first Suffolk was very unwilling to under- 
 take this embassy. He feared that, in order 
 to carry out the king's wishes, he should be 
 obliged to make such important concessions to
 
 1444.] EOYAL COURTSHIP. 89 
 
 Suffolk is alarmed. His safe-conduct. 
 
 France that, at some future time, when perhaps 
 the party of the Duke of Gloucester should 
 come into power, he might be held responsible 
 for the measure, and be tried and condemned, 
 perhaps, for high treason, in having been the 
 means of sacrificing the interests and honor of 
 the kingdom by advising and negotiating a dis- 
 honorable peace. These fears of his were prob- 
 ably increased by the intensity of the excite- 
 ment which he perceived in the Gloucester 
 party, and perhaps, also, by open threats and 
 demonstrations which they may have uttered 
 for the express purpose of intimidating him. 
 
 At any rate, after receiving the appointment, 
 his courage failed him, and he begged the king 
 to excuse him from performing so dangerous a 
 commission. The king was, however, very un- 
 willing to do so. Finally, it was agreed that 
 the king should give the earl his written order, 
 executed in due and solemn form, and signed 
 with the great seal, commanding him, on the 
 royal authority, to undertake the embassage. 
 Suffolk relied on this document as his means 
 of defense from all legal responsibility for his 
 action in case his enemies should at any future 
 time have it in their power to bring him to trial 
 for it. 
 
 In negotiating the peace, and in arranging
 
 90 MARGARET OF AXJOU. [1444. 
 
 in i^rri -I::*- i^ I . r : <r--:i-.:.r. 
 
 the terms and conditions of the marriage, a 
 great many difficulties were found to be in the 
 way, but they were all at last overcome. One 
 of these difficulties was made by King Rene, 
 the father of Margaret He declared that he 
 could not consent to give his daughter in mar- 
 riage to the King of England unless the king 
 would first restore to him and to his family the 
 province of Anjou, which had been the posses- 
 sion of his ancestors, but which King Henry's 
 armies had overrun and conquered. The Earl 
 of Suffolk was very unwilling to cede back this 
 territory, for he knew very well that nothing 
 would be so unpopular in England, or so like- 
 ly to increase the hostility of the English peo- 
 ple to the proposed marriage, and consequently 
 to give new life and vigor to the Gloucester 
 party in their opposition to it, as the giving up 
 again of territory which the English troops had 
 won by so many hard-fought battles and the 
 sacrifice of so many lives. But Rene was in- 
 flexible, and Suffolk finally yielded, and so An- 
 jou was restored to its former possessors. 
 
 Another objection which Rene made was 
 that his fortune was not sufficient to enable him 
 to endow his daughter properly for so splendid 
 a marriage ; not having the means, he said, of 
 sending her in a suitable manner into England.
 
 1444.] KOYAL COURTSHIP. 91 
 
 The king asks no dowry. The king has a rival. Margaret's wishes. 
 
 But this the King of England said should 
 
 o w 
 
 make no difference. All that he asked was 
 the hand of the princess without any dowry. 
 Her personal charms and mental endowments 
 were sufficient to outweigh all the riches in the 
 world ; and if her royal father and mother would 
 grant her to King Henry as his bride, he would 
 not ask to receive with her " either penny or 
 farthing." 
 
 King Henry was made all the more eager 10 
 close the negotiations for the marriage as soon 
 as possible, and to consent to almost any terms 
 which the King of France and Rene might ex- 
 act, from the fact that there was a young prince 
 of the house of Burgundy a very brave, hand- 
 some, and accomplished man who was also a 
 suitor for Margaret's hand, and was very de- 
 votedly attached to her. This young prince 
 was in France at this time, and ready, at any 
 moment, to take advantage of any difficulty 
 which might arise in the negotiations with 
 Henry to press his claims, and, perhaps, to car- 
 ry off the prize. Which of the two candidates 
 Margaret herself would have preferred there is 
 no means of knowing. She was yet only about 
 fifteen years of age, and was completely in the 
 power and at the disposal of her father and 
 mother. And then the political and family in-
 
 92 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 The affair finally settled. 
 
 terests which, were at stake in the decision of 
 the question were too vast to allow of the per- 
 sonal preferences of the young girl herself be- 
 ing taken much into the account. 
 
 At last every thing was arranged, and Suf- 
 folk returned to England, bringing with him 
 the treaty of peace and the contract of mar- 
 riage, to be ratified by the king's council and 
 by Parliament. A new contest now ensued be- 
 tween the Gloucester and Beaufort parties. The 
 king, of course, threw all his influence on the 
 cardinal's side, and so the treaty and the con- 
 tract carried the day. Both were ratified. The 
 Earl of Suffolk, as a reward for his services, 
 was made a marquis, and he was appointed the 
 king's proxy to proceed to France and espouse 
 the bride in the king's name, according to the 
 usual custom in the case of royal marriages.
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 93 
 
 Preparations for the wedding. Excitement. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE WEDDING. 
 
 PREPARATIONS were now immediately 
 made for solemnizing the marriage and 
 bringing the young queen at once to England. 
 The marriage ceremony by which a foreign 
 princess was united to a reigning prince, ac- 
 cording to the custom of those times, was two- 
 fold, or, rather, there were two distinct cere- 
 monies to be performed, in one of which the 
 bride, at her father's own court, was united to 
 her future husband by proxy, and in the sec- 
 ond the nuptials were celebrated anew with 
 her husband himself in person, after her ar- 
 rival in his kingdom. Suffolk, as was stated 
 in the last chapter, was appointed to act as the 
 king's proxy in this case, for the performance 
 of the first of these ceremonies. He was to 
 proceed to France, espouse the bride in the 
 king's name, and convey her to England. Of 
 course a universal excitement now spread it- 
 self among all the nobility and among all the 
 ladies of the court, which was awakened by the 
 interest which all took in the approaching wed-
 
 94 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Dresses. Company. King and Queen of Franc*. 
 
 ding, and the desire they felt to accompany the 
 expedition. 
 
 A great many of the lords and ladies began 
 to make preparations to join Lord and Lady 
 Suffolk. Nothing was talked of but dresses, 
 equipments, presents, invitations, and every 
 body was occupied in the collecting and pack- 
 ing of stores and baggage for a long journey. 
 At length the appointed time arrived, and the 
 expedition set out, and, after a journey of many 
 days, the several parties which composed it ar- 
 rived at Nancy, the capital city of Lorraine, 
 where the ceremony was to be performed. 
 
 At about the same time, the King and Queen 
 of France, accompanied by a great concourse 
 of nobles and gentlemen from the French court, 
 who were to honor the wedding with their 
 presence, arrived. A great many other knights 
 and ladies, too, from the provinces and castles 
 of the surrounding country, were seen coming 
 in gay and splendid cavalcades to the town, 
 when the appointed day drew nigh, eager to 
 witness the ceremony, and to join in the mag- 
 nificent festivities which they well knew would 
 be arranged to commemorate and honor the oc- 
 casion. In a word, the whole town became one 
 brilliant scene of gayety, life, and excitement. 
 
 The marriage ceremony was performed in
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 95 
 
 The marriage ceremony is performed. The bride's household. 
 
 the church, with great pomp and parade, and in 
 the midst of a vast concourse of people, com- 
 posed of the highest nobility of Europe, both 
 lords and ladies, and all dressed in the most 
 magnificent and distinguished costumes. No 
 spectacle could possibly be more splendid and 
 gay. At the close of the ceremony, the bride 
 was placed solemnly in charge of Lady Suffolk, 
 who was to be responsible for her safety and 
 welfare until she should arrive in England, and 
 there be delivered into the hands of her hus- 
 band. Lady Suffolk was a cousin of Cardinal 
 Beaufort, and she undoubtedly received this 
 very exalted appointment through his favor. 
 The appointment brought with it a great deal 
 of patronage and influence, for a regular and 
 extended household was now to be organized 
 for the service of the new queen, and of course, 
 among all the lords and ladies who had come 
 from England, there was a very eager competi- 
 tion to obtain places in it. There are enumer- 
 ated among those who were appointed to posts 
 of service or honor in attendance on the queen, 
 under the Marchioness of Suffolk, five barons 
 and baronesses, seventeen knights, sixty-five 
 squires, and no less than one hundred and sev- 
 enty-four valets, besides many other servitors, 
 all under pay. Then, in addition to these, so
 
 96 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 The express. Tournament 
 
 great was the eagerness to occupy some recog- 
 nized station in the train of the bride, that great 
 numbers applied for appointments to nominal 
 offices for which they were to receive no pay. 
 
 If Rene, Margaret's father, had been possess- 
 ed of a fortune corresponding to his rank, the 
 expense of all these arrangements, at least up to 
 the time of the departure of the bridal party, 
 would have been defrayed by him ; but as it 
 was, every thing was paid for by King Henry, 
 and the precise amount of every expenditure 
 stands recorded in certain old books of accounts 
 which still remain among the ancient English 
 archives. 
 
 The nuptials of the princess were celebrated 
 by a tournament and other accompanying fes- 
 tivities, which were continued for eight days. 
 In these tournaments a great many mock com- 
 bats were fought, in which the most exalted 
 personages present on the occasion took con- 
 spicuous and prominent parts. The King of 
 France himself appeared in the lists, and fought 
 with Rene, the father of the bride. The king 
 was beaten. It would have been impolite, for 
 any one to have vanquished the father of the 
 bride at a tournament held in honor of the 
 daughter's nuptials. The Count St. Pol, too, 
 who had formerlv been betrothed to Margaret,
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 97 
 
 The victors in the games. Romantic incident. 
 
 but had not been allowed to marry her, fought 
 very successfully, and won a valuable prize, 
 which was conferred upon him with great cer- 
 emony by the hands of the two most distin- 
 guished ladies present, namely, the Queen of 
 France and Isabella of Lorraine, the bride's 
 mother. Perhaps he too was politely allowed 
 to win his victory and his honorary prize, in 
 consideration of his submitting so quietly to 
 the loss of the real prize which his great com- 
 petitor, the King of England, was so triumph- 
 antly bearing away from him. 
 
 The celebrations of the eight days were in- 
 terrupted and enlivened by one remarkable 
 incident, which for a time threatened to pro- 
 duce very serious difficulty. It will be re- 
 membered that when the original contract and 
 treaty were made between Rene and the uncle 
 of Isabella, Antoine of Vaudemonte, at the 
 time when peace was re-established between 
 them, after the battle in which Rene was taken 
 prisoner, that not only was it agreed that Mar- 
 garet should be betrothed to the Count St. Pol, 
 but also that Yolante, Margaret's elder sister, 
 was betrothed to Antoine's son Ferry, as he 
 was called.* Now Ferry seemed not disposed 
 to submit quietly, as St. Pol had done, to the 
 
 * The name was a contraction of Frederick. 
 207
 
 98 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444 
 
 Grand elopement. The parents finally appeased. 
 
 loss of his bride, and as he had never thus far 
 been able to induce Rene and Isabella to fulfill 
 their agreement by consenting to the consum- 
 mation of the marriage, he determined now to 
 take the matter into his own hands. So he 
 formed the scheme of an elopement. His plan 
 was to take advantage of the excitement and 
 confusion attendant on the tournament for car- 
 rying off his bride. He organized a band of 
 adventurous young knights who were willing 
 to aid him in his enterprise, and, laying his 
 plans secretly and carefully, he, assisted by his 
 comrades, seized the young lady and galloped 
 away with her to a place of safety, intending 
 to keep her there in his own custody until 
 King Rene and her mother should consent to 
 her immediate marriage. King Ren, when he 
 first heard of his daughter's abduction, was 
 very angry, and declared that he would never 
 forgive either Ferry or Yolante. But the King 
 and Queen of France interceded for the lovers, 
 and Rene at last relented. Ferry and Yolante 
 were married, and all parties were made friends 
 again, after which the celebrations and festivi- 
 ties were renewed with greater spirit and ardor 
 than before. 
 
 At length the time for the conclusion of the 
 public rejoicings at Nancy, and for the com-
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 99 
 
 Margaret takes leave of her friends. Setting out of the procession. 
 
 mencement of Margaret's journey to England, 
 arrived. Thus far, though nominally under 
 the care and keeping of Lord and Lady Suf- 
 folk, Margaret had of course been really most 
 intimately associated with her own family and 
 friends ; but now the time had come when she 
 was to take a final leave of her father and 
 mother, and of all whom she had known and 
 loved from infancy, and be put really and fully 
 into the trust and keeping of strangers, to be 
 taken by them to a distant and foreign land. 
 The parting was very painful. It seems that 
 Margaret's beauty and the charming vivacity 
 of her manners had made her universally be- 
 loved, and the hearts not only of her father 
 and mother, but of the whole circle of those 
 who had known her, were filled with grief at 
 the thought of parting with her forever. 
 
 The King and Queen of France, who seem 
 to have loved their niece with sincere affection, 
 determined to accompany her for a short dis- 
 tance, as she set out on her journey from Nan- 
 cy. Of course, many of the courtiers went too. 
 These, together with the great number of En- 
 glish nobles and gentry that were attached to 
 the service of the bride, made so large a com- 
 pany, and the dresses, caparisons, and trap- 
 pings which were exhibited on the occasion
 
 100 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Parting with the King and Queen of France. Margaret's parents. 
 
 were so splendid and fine, that the cavalcade, 
 as it set out from the city of Nancy on the 
 morning when the journey was to commence, 
 formed one of the gayest and grandest bridal 
 processions that the world has ever seen. 
 
 After proceeding for five or six miles the 
 procession came to a halt, in order that the 
 King and Queen of France might take their 
 leave. The parting filled the hearts of their 
 majesties with grief. The king clasped Marga- 
 ret again and again in his arms when he bade 
 her farewell, and told her that in placing her, 
 as he had done, upon one of the greatest thrones 
 in Europe, it seemed to him, after all, that he 
 had really done nothing for her, "for even such 
 a throne is scarcely worthy of you, my darling 
 child," said he. In saying this his eyes filled 
 with tears. The queen was so overwhelmed 
 with emotion that she could not speak; but, 
 kissing Margaret again and again amid her sob- 
 bings and tears, she finally turned from her and 
 was borne away. 
 
 Margaret's father and mother did not take 
 their leave of her at this place, but went on 
 with her two days' journey, as far as to the 
 town of Bar le Due, which was near the fron- 
 tiers of Lorraine. Here they, too, at last took 
 their leave, though their hearts were so full,
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 101 
 
 The bride's new friends. The vessel. 
 
 when the moment of final parting came, that 
 they could not speak, but bade their child fare- 
 well with tears and caresses, unaccompanied 
 with any words whatever of farewell. 
 
 Still Margaret was not left entirely alone 
 among strangers when her father and mother 
 left her. One of her brothers, and some other 
 friends, were to accompany her to England. 
 She had, moreover, by this time become well 
 acquainted with the Marquis and Marchioness 
 of Suffolk, under whose charge and protection 
 she was now traveling, and she had become 
 strongly attached to them. They were both 
 considerably advanced in life, and were grave 
 and quiet in their demeanor, but they were very 
 kind and attentive to Margaret in every respect, 
 and they made every effort in their power to 
 console the grief that she felt at parting with her 
 parents and friends, and leaving her native land, 
 and they endeavored in every way to make the 
 journey as comfortable and as agreeable as pos- 
 sible to her. 
 
 During all this time a vessel, which had been 
 dispatched from England for the purpose, was 
 waiting at a certain port on the northern coast 
 of France called Kiddelaws, ready to take the 
 queen and her bridal train across the Channel. 
 The distance from Nancy to this port was very
 
 102 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Causes of delay. Henry's want of money. 
 
 considerable, and the means and facilities for 
 traveling enjoyed in those days were so imper- 
 fect that a great deal of time was necessarily 
 employed on the journey. Besides this, a long 
 delay was occasioned by the want of funds. 
 King Henry had himself agreed to defray all 
 the expenses of the marriage, and also of the 
 progress of the bridal party through France to 
 England. These expenses were necessarily 
 great, and it happened at this time that the king 
 was in very straitened circumstances in respect 
 to funds. He was greatly embarrassed, too, in 
 the efforts which he made to procure money, by 
 the difficulties which were thrown in his way 
 by the party of the Duke of Gloucester, who 
 resisted by every means in their power all ac- 
 tion of Parliament tending to furnish the king's 
 treasury with money, and thus promote the 
 final accomplishment of the marriage. 
 
 In consequence of all these difficulties and 
 delays, it was nearly three months from the 
 time when the bridal ceremony was performed 
 at Nancy before Margaret was ready to embark 
 for England in the vessel that awaited her at 
 Kiddelaws. 
 
 It was not merely for the expenses of the 
 journey through France of Margaret and her 
 train that Henry ha,d to provide. On her ar-
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 103 
 
 Expenses to be incurred in England. Passage across the Channel. 
 
 rival in England there was to be a grand recep- 
 tion, which would require many costly equi- 
 pages, and the giving of many entertainments. 
 Then, moreover, the marriage ceremony was to 
 be performed anew, and in a far more pompous 
 and imposing manner than before, and after the 
 marriage a coronation, with all the attendant fes- 
 tivities and celebrations. All these things in- 
 volved great expense, and Margaret could not 
 come into the kingdom until the preparations 
 were made for the whole. To such straits was 
 the king reduced in his efforts to raise the mon- 
 ey which he deemed necessary for the proper 
 reception of his bride, that he was obliged to 
 pledge a large portion of the crown jewels, and 
 also of the family plate and other personal prop- 
 erty of that kind. A considerable part of the 
 property so pledged was never redeemed. 
 
 At length, however, things were so far in 
 readiness that orders arrived for the sailing of 
 the expedition. The party accordingly em- 
 barked, and the vessel sailed. They crossed 
 the Channel, and entered Portsmouth harbor, 
 and finally landed at the town of Porchester, 
 which is situated at the head of the harbor. 
 The voyage was not very agreeable. The ves- 
 sel was small, and the Channel in this place is 
 wide, and Margaret was so sick during the pas-
 
 104 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1444. 
 
 Rough weather. Margaret's reception. Passage to Southampton. 
 
 sage, and became so entirely exhausted, that 
 when the vessel reached the port she could not 
 stand, and Suffolk carried her to the shore in 
 his arms. 
 
 The boisterous weather which had attended 
 the party during their voyage increased till it 
 ended in a dreadful storm of thunder, light- 
 ning, and rain, which burst over the town of 
 Porchester just at the time while the party were 
 landing. The people, however, paid no atten- 
 tion to the storm and rain, but flocked in crowds 
 into the streets where the bride was to pass, and 
 strewed rushes along the way to make a carpet 
 for her. They also rilled the air with joyful ac- 
 clamations as the procession passed along. In 
 this way the royal bride was conveyed through 
 the town to a convent in the vicinity, where she 
 was to rest for the first night, and prepare for 
 continuing her journey to London. 
 
 The next day, the weather having become 
 settled and fair, it was arranged that Margaret 
 and her party should be conveyed from Por- 
 chester to Southampton along the shore in 
 barges. The water of this passage is smooth, 
 being sheltered every where by the land. The 
 barges first moved down Portsmouth harbor, 
 then out into what is called the Solent Sea, 
 which is a narrow, sheltered, and beautiful sheet
 
 1444.] THE WEDDING. 105 
 
 The queen takes lodgings in a convent. The king. Lichfield Abbey. 
 
 of water, lying between the Isle of Wight and 
 the main land, and thence, entering Southamp- 
 ton Water, they passed up, a distance of eight 
 or ten miles, to the town.* 
 
 On the arrival of the queen at Southampton, 
 she was conveyed again to a convent in the 
 vicinity of the town, for this was before the 
 days of hotels. Here she was met by persons 
 sent from the king to assist her in respect to 
 her farther preparations for appearing at his 
 court. Among other measures that were adopt- 
 ed, one was the sending a special messenger to 
 London to bring an English dressmaker to 
 Southampton, in order that suitable dresses 
 might be prepared for the bride, to enable hei 
 to appear properly in the presence of the En 
 glish ladies at the approaching ceremonies. 
 
 In the mean time, King Henry, whom the 
 rules of royal etiquette did not allow to join 
 the queen until the time should arrive for the 
 performance of the second part of the nuptial 
 ceremony, came down from London, and took 
 up his abode at a place ten or twelve miles dis- 
 tant, called South wick, where he had a palace 
 and a park. The nuptials were to be cele- 
 brated at a certain abbey called Lichfield Ab- 
 bey, which was situated about midway between 
 
 * See Frontispiece.
 
 106 MARGARET OF ANJOD. [1445. 
 
 Margaret is seriously sick. Recovery. The final ceremony. 
 
 Southampton, where the queen was lodged, and 
 Southwick, the place of waiting for the king. 
 The king had expected that every thing would 
 be ready in a few days, but he was destined to 
 encounter a new delay. Margaret had scarce- 
 ly arrived in Southampton when she was at- 
 tacked by an eruptive fever of some sort, re- 
 sembling small-pox, which threw all her friends 
 into a state of great alarm concerning her. The 
 disease, however, proved less serious than was 
 at first apprehended, and after a week or two 
 the danger seemed to be over. 
 
 During all the time while his bride was thus 
 sick Henry remained in great suspense and anx- 
 iety at Southwick, being forbidden, by the rigid 
 rules of royal etiquette, to see her. 
 
 At length Margaret recovered, and the day 
 was appointed for the final celebration of the 
 nuptials. When the time arrived, Margaret 
 was conveyed in great state, and at the head of 
 a splendid cavalcade, to the abbey, and there 
 the marriage ceremony was again performed in 
 the presence of a great concourse of lords and 
 ladies that had come from London and Wind- 
 sor, or from their various castles in the country 
 around, to be present on the occasion. 
 
 This final ceremony was performed in April, 
 1445. Of course, as Margaret was born in
 
 THE WEDDING. 109 
 
 Strange bridal present The lion sent to the Tower. 
 
 March, 1429, she was at this time sixteen years 
 and one month old. 
 
 Among other curious incidents which are re- 
 corded in connection with this wedding, there 
 is an account of Margaret's receiving, as a pres- 
 ent on the occasion for a pet, as it were, just 
 as at the present day a young bride might re- 
 ceive a gift of a spaniel or a canary-bird a 
 lion. It was very common in those times for 
 the wealthy nobles to keep such animals as 
 these at their castles. They were confined in 
 dens constructed for them near the castle walls. 
 The kings of England, however, kept their 
 lions, when they had any, in the Tower of Lon- 
 don, and the practice thus established of keep- 
 ing wild beasts in the Tower was continued 
 down to a very late period ; so that I remem- 
 ber of often reading, when I was a boy, in En- 
 glish story-books, accounts of children, when 
 they went to London, being taken by their 
 parents to see the " lions in the Tower." 
 
 Margaret sent her lion to the Tower. In 
 the book of expenses which was kept for this 
 famous bridal progress, there is an account of 
 the sum of money paid to two men for taking 
 care of this lion, feeding him and conveying 
 him to London. The amount was 2 5s. 3d., 
 which is equal to about ten or twelve dollars
 
 110 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1445. 
 
 Margaret continues her journey toward London. Rejoicings. 
 
 of our money. This seems very little for such 
 a service, but it must be remembered that the 
 value of money was much greater in those 
 times than it is now. 
 
 Immediately after the marriage ceremony 
 was completed, the preparations for the journey 
 having been all made beforehand, the king 
 and queen set out together for London, and it 
 soon began to appear that this part of the jour- 
 ney was to be more splendid and gay than any 
 other. The people of the country, who had 
 heard marvelous stories of the youth and beau- 
 ty and the early family misfortunes of the 
 queen, flocked in crowds along the roadsides 
 to get a glimpse of her as she passed, and to 
 gaze on the grand train of knights and nobles 
 that accompanied her, and to admire the mag- 
 nificence of the dresses and decorations which 
 were so profusely displayed. Every body came 
 wearing a daisy in his cap or in his button- 
 hole, for the daisy was the flower which Mar- 
 garet had chosen for her emblem. At every 
 town through which the bride passed she was 
 met by immense crowds that thronged all the 
 accessible places, and filled the windows, and 
 in some places covered the roofs of the houses 
 and the tops of the walls, and welcomed her 
 with the sound of trumpets, the waving of
 
 1445.] THE WEDDING. 1H 
 
 Tho Duke of Gloucester. His plans. His invitation to the queen. 
 
 banners, and with prolonged shouts and ac- 
 clamations. 
 
 In the mean time, the Duke of Gloucester, 
 who, with his party, had done every thing in 
 his power to oppose the marriage, now, finding 
 that it was an accomplished fact, and that all 
 farther opposition would not only be useless, 
 but would only tend to hasten and complete 
 his own utter downfall, concluded to change 
 his course, and join heartily himself in the gen- 
 eral welcome which was given to the bride. 
 His plan was to persuade the queen that the 
 opposition which he had made to King Hen- 
 ry's measures was directed only against the 
 peace which had been made with France, and 
 which he had opposed for political considera- 
 tions alone, but that, so far as the marriage 
 with Margaret was concerned, he approved it. 
 So he prepared to outdo, if possible, all the 
 rest of the nobility in the magnificence of the 
 welcome which he was to give her on her ar- 
 rival in London. He possessed a palace at 
 Greenwich, on the Thames, a short distance be- 
 low London, and he sent an invitation to Mar- 
 garet to come there on the last day of her jour- 
 ney, in order to rest and refresh herself a little 
 preparatory to the excitement and fatigue of 
 entering London. Margaret accepted this in-
 
 112 MAKGARET OF ANJOU. [1445. 
 
 Great preparations in London. Curious exhibitions. 
 
 vitation, and when the bridal procession began 
 to draw nigh, Gloucester came forth to meet 
 her at the head of a band of five hundred of 
 his own retainers, all dressed in his uniform, 
 and wearing the badge of his personal service. 
 This great parade was intended partly to do 
 honor to the bride, and partly to impress her 
 with a proper sense of his own rank and im- 
 portance as one of the nobles of England, and 
 of the danger that she would incur in making 
 him her enemy. 
 
 Very splendid preparations were made in 
 the city of London to do honor to the royal 
 bride in her passage through the city. It was 
 the custom in those times to exhibit in the 
 streets, on great public days, tableaux, and em- 
 blematic or dramatic representations of certain 
 truths or moral sentiments appropriate to the 
 occasion, and sometimes of passages of Scripture 
 history. A great many of these exhibitions 
 were arranged by the citizens of London, to be 
 seen by the bride and the bridal procession as 
 they passed through the streets. Some of these 
 were very quaint and queer, and would only 
 be laughed at at the present day. For in- 
 stance, in one place was an arrangement of 
 two figures, one dressed to represent justice, 
 and the other peace; and these figures were
 
 1445.] THE WEDDING. 113 
 
 Justice and peace. The queen passes through London. 
 
 made movable and fitted with strings, so that, 
 at the proper moment, when the queen was 
 passing, they could be made to come together 
 and apparently kiss each other. This was in- 
 tended as an expression of the text, justice and 
 peace have kissed each other, which was con- 
 sidered as an appropriate text to characterize 
 and commemorate the peace between England 
 and France which this marriage had sealed. 
 In another place the*3 was an emblematical pa- 
 geant representing peace and plenty. There 
 were also, at other places, representations of 
 Noah's ark, of the parable of the wise and fool- 
 ish virgins, of the heavenly Jerusalem, and 
 even one of the general resurrection and j udg- 
 ment day. 
 
 On the morning of the day appointed for the 
 queen's entry into London, the pageants hav- 
 ing all been prepared and set up in their places, 
 a grand procession of the mayor and aldermen, 
 and other dignitaries, was formed, and proceed- 
 ed down the river toward Greenwich, in order 
 to meet the queen and escort her through the 
 city. These civic officers were all mounted on 
 horseback, and dressed in their gay official cos- 
 tumes. The chiefs were dressed in scarlet, and 
 the body of their followers, arranged in bands 
 according to their respective trades, wore blue 
 20-8
 
 114 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1445. 
 
 The coronation. The queen left to repose. 
 
 gowns, with embroidered sleeves and red hoods. 
 In this way the royal procession was escorted 
 over London Bridge, and through the principal 
 streets of the city to Westminster, where the 
 bride was at length safely received in the pal- 
 ace of her husband. 
 
 This was on the 28th of May. Two days aft- 
 erward Margaret was crowned queen in West- 
 minster with great parade and ceremony. The 
 coronation was foL 1 ^ed by a grand tournament 
 of three days' duration, accompanied with ban- 
 quets and other festivities usual on such occa- 
 sions, and then at length the bride had the sat- 
 isfaction of feeling that the long-protracted cer- 
 emony was over, and that she was now to be 
 left to repose.
 
 1445.] KECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 115 
 
 Duke of Gloucester. The cardinal. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 
 
 T^TOTWITHSTANDING the grand recep- 
 -1-^1 tion which the Duke of Gloucester gave 
 to Margaret on her arrival in England, she knew 
 very well that he had always been opposed to 
 her marriage, and had not failed to do all in 
 his power to prevent it. She accordingly con- 
 sidered him as her enemy ; and though she en- 
 deavored at first, at least, to treat him with out- 
 ward politeness, she felt a secret resentment 
 against him in heart, and would have been 
 very glad to have joined his political enemies 
 in effecting his overthrow. 
 
 Cardinal Beaufort and the Earl of Suffolk, 
 as has already been said, were Gloucester's ri- 
 vals and enemies. The cardinal was a vener- 
 able man, now quite advanced in years. He 
 was, however, extremely ambitious. He was 
 immensely wealthy, and his wealth gave him 
 great influence. He had, moreover, been the 
 guardian of the king during his minority, and 
 in that capacity had acquired a great influence 
 over his mind. The Earl of Suffolk, who, with
 
 116 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1445. 
 
 Margaret's affection for Lord and Lady Suffolk. QuarreL 
 
 his lady, had been sent to France to bring Mar- 
 garet over, had inspired Margaret with a great 
 friendship for him. She felt a strong affection 
 for him, and also for Lady Suffolk, not only 
 on account of their having acted so important 
 a part in promoting her marriage, but also on 
 account of the very kind and attentive manner 
 in which they had treated her during the whole 
 period of her journey. Thus the cardinal and 
 Suffolk, on the one hand, had the advantage, 
 in their quairel with the Duke of Gloucester, 
 of great personal influence over the king and 
 queen, while Gloucester himself, on the other 
 hand, enjoyed in some respects a still greater 
 advantage in his popularity with the mass of 
 the people. Every body perceived that the 
 old quarrel between these great personages 
 would now, on the arrival of the queen in En- 
 gland, be prosecuted with more violence than 
 ever, and all the courtiers were anxious to find 
 out which was likely to be the victor, so that, 
 at the end of the battle, they might be found 
 on the winning side. 
 
 As soon as the coronation was over the prin- 
 cipal personages who had been sent with Mar- 
 garet by her father, for the purpose of accom- 
 panying her on her journey, and seeing her 
 properly and comfortably established in her
 
 1445.] RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 117 
 
 Margaret is left to herself. 
 
 new home, were dismissed and allowed to set 
 out on their return. They all received pres- 
 ents in money from King Henry to reimburse 
 them for the expenses of the journey which 
 they had made in bringing him his bride. 
 
 ANCIENT PORTRAIT OP QUEEN MABGABBT. 
 
 Margaret was thus left to herself in the new 
 station and new sphere of duty to which sue
 
 118 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Repair of the palaces. The king's w ant of money. 
 
 had been transferred. All the royal palaces 
 had been fitted up expressly for her reception. 
 This was very necessary in fact, for some years 
 had elapsed since there had been a queen in 
 England, and all the royal residences had be- 
 come very much out of repair. Those were 
 rude times, and even the palaces and castles 
 that were built for kings and queens were at 
 best very comfortless dwellings. But when, 
 during a long minority, they were abandoned 
 to the rude tenants and rough usages to which 
 at such times they were sure to be devoted, 
 they came, in the end, to be little better than so 
 many barracks for soldiery. It required a great 
 deal of time, and no little expense, to prepare 
 the Tower and the palaces of Westminster and 
 Richmond for the reception of a young and 
 beautiful queen, and of the gay company of la- 
 dies that were to attend her. King Henry was 
 so destitute of money at this time that he found 
 it extremely difficult to provide the means of 
 paying the workmen. There is still extant a 
 petition which the clerk of the works sent in to 
 the king, praying him to supply him with more 
 money to pay the men, for the labor was so 
 poorly paid, and the wages were so much in ar- 
 rears, that it was extremely difficult for him to 
 find men, he said, to go on with the work.
 
 RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 119 
 
 The queen attaches herself to Cardinal Beaufort. Jealousy of Gloucester. 
 
 The palaces were, however, at last made 
 ready before Margaret came. There were 
 apartments for her in the Tower, and there were 
 also three other palaces in and near London, in 
 either of which she could reside at her pleas- 
 ure. Besides this, the cardinal, who, as has al- 
 ready been remarked, was possessed of immense 
 wealth, owned, among his other establishments, 
 a beautiful mansion at Waltham Forest, a few 
 miles north of London. The cardinal set apart 
 a state chamber in this house for the exclusive 
 use of the queen when she came to visit him, 
 and caused it to be fitted up and furnished in a 
 magnificent manner for her. The drapery of 
 the bed was of cloth of gold from Damascus, 
 and the other furniture and fittings were to cor- 
 respond. The queen used often to go and visit 
 the cardinal at this country seat. She soon 
 became very fond of him, and willing to be 
 guided by his counsel in almost every thing 
 that she did. Indeed, the ascendency which 
 the cardinal thus exercised over Margaret great- 
 ly increased his power over the king. The af- 
 fairs of the court and of the government were 
 directed almost wholly by his counsels. The 
 Duke of Gloucester and the nobles of his party 
 became more and more indignant and angry at 
 this state of things. The realm of England,
 
 120 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Great mistakes often made. 
 
 they said, through the weakness and imbecility 
 of the king, had fallen into the hands of a priest 
 and of a woman a French woman, too. 
 
 But there was nothing that they could do. 
 Margaret was so young and so beautiful that 
 every body was captivated with her person and 
 behavior, and whatever she did was thought to 
 be right. Indeed, the general course which she' 
 pursued on her first arrival in England was 
 right in an eminent degree. There have been 
 many cases in which young queens, in coming 
 as Margaret did, away from their native land 
 and from all their early friends, to reign in a 
 foreign court, have brought with them from 
 home personages of distinction to be their fa- 
 vorites and friends in their new position. But 
 when this is done, jealousies and ill-will always 
 sooner or later spring up between these rela- 
 tives and friends of the foreign bride and the 
 old native advisers of the king her husband. 
 The result is, in the end, a king's party and a 
 queen's party at court, and perpetual quarrels 
 and dissensions ensue, in which at least the 
 people of the country are sure to become in- 
 volved, from their natural jealousy of the for- 
 eign influence, as they call it, introduced by the 
 queen. 
 
 Queen Margaret had the good sense to avoid
 
 KECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 121 
 
 Margaret's friends and counselors. Her good sense. 
 
 this danger. All the principal persons who 
 came with her to England, for the purpose of 
 accompanying her on the journey, and of car- 
 rying back to her father and friends in France 
 authentic assurances of her having been honor- 
 ably received by her husband as his bride and 
 queen, were dismissed and sent home again im- 
 mediately after the coronation, as we have al- 
 ready seen. Margaret retained only certain do- 
 mestic servants, and perhaps some two or three 
 private and personal friends. As for counselors 
 and advisers, she threw herself at once upon the 
 ministers and counselors of the king the Car- 
 dinal Beaufort, who had been his guardian from 
 childhood, and the Earl of Suffolk, who was one 
 of his principal ministers, and had been sent by 
 him, as his proxy and representative, to nego- 
 tiate the marriage and bring home the bride. 
 She made Lady Suffolk, too the wife of the 
 earl her most intimate female friend. She ap- 
 pointed her to the principal place of honor in 
 her household, and in other ways manifested 
 great affection for her. The good sense and 
 discretion which she thus manifested young 
 as she was, for she was not yet seventeen in 
 choosing for her confidential friend a lady of 
 the age and standing of Lady Suffolk, instead 
 of attempting to place in that position some for-
 
 122 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Example for all young brides. Opinions in Kngland 
 
 eign belle of her own years, whom she had 
 brought with her for the purpose from her na- 
 tive land, as many young brides in her situ 
 ation would have done, deserves much com- 
 mendation. In a word, Margaret, in becoming 
 a wife, gave herself up entirely to her husband. 
 She made his friends her friends, and his inter 
 ests her interests, and thus transferred herself, 
 wholly and without reserve, to her new posi- 
 tion; an example which all young ladies whose 
 marriage brings them into entirely new circum- 
 stances and relations would do well to follow. 
 Nothing is more dangerous than the attempt in 
 such cases to bring from the old home influ- 
 ences in any form to be introduced with a view 
 of sharing the control in the new. 
 
 In consequence of the discreet course of con- 
 duct that Margaret thus pursued, and of the ef- 
 fect produced on the court by her beauty, her 
 vivacity, and her many polite accomplishments, 
 public opinion that is, the opinion of the out- 
 side world, who knew nothing of her secret de- 
 signs or of her real character turned very soon 
 after her arrival in England entirely in her fa- 
 vor. As has already been said, the general sen- 
 timent of the nobles and of the people was 
 strongly against the match when it was first 
 proposed. They opposed it, not because they
 
 RECEPTION IN ENGLAND. 123 
 
 Henry's character. Margaret's character. 
 
 had any personal objection to Margaret herself, 
 but because, in order to prepare the way for it, 
 it was necessary to make peace with France, and 
 in making peace, to grant certain concessions 
 which they thought would weaken the power 
 of the English on the Continent, and, at any rate, 
 greatly interfere with the farther extension of 
 their power there. But when the people came 
 to see and know the queen, they all admired 
 and loved her. 
 
 As for the king, he was perfectly enchanted 
 with his bride. He was himself, as has already 
 been said, of a very sedate and quiet turn of 
 mind ; amiable and gentle in disposition ; de- 
 vout, fond of retirement, and interested only in 
 such occupations and pleasures as are consistent 
 with a life of tranquillity and repose. Margaret 
 was as different as possible from all this. Her 
 brilliant personal charms, her wit, her spirit, 
 her general intellectual superiority, the extraor- 
 dinary courage for which she afterward became 
 so celebrated, and which began to show itself 
 even at this early period, all combined to 
 awaken in Henry's mind a profound admira- 
 tion for his wife, and gave her a great and rap- 
 idly-increasing ascendency over him. 
 
 The impression which Margaret made upon 
 the people was equally favorable. England,
 
 124 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Her popularity in England. 
 
 they thought, had never seen a queen more 
 worthy of the throne than Margaret of Anjou. 
 Some one said of her that no woman equaled 
 her in beauty, and few men surpassed her in 
 courage and energy. It seemed as if she had 
 been born in order to supply to her royal hus- 
 band the qualities which he required in order 
 to become a great king.
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 125 
 
 Intrigues. A romantic story. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 
 
 IN reading the history of the English mon- 
 archy in these early times, you will often 
 hear of the court intrigues which mingled with, 
 and sometimes greatly complicated, the move- 
 ment of public affairs. Margaret of Anjou 
 found herself, on her arrival in England, in- 
 volved in many such intrigues. Indeed, she 
 was admirably qualified, by her sagacity and 
 quickness of apprehension, and by the great 
 ascendency which these and other qualities 
 which she possessed gave her over the minds 
 of all about her, to take a very active and suc- 
 cessful part in the management of manceu- 
 vrings of all sorts. The nature of these court 
 intrigues is very well illustrated by the narra- 
 tion which the most celebrated of Margaret's 
 biographers gives of one in which he says that 
 Margaret herself became involved while on her' 
 way from France to England. The story seems 
 much more like romance than like reality. 
 Indeed, it doubtless is a romance, but it never- 
 theless illustrates well the manner in which the
 
 126 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Lady Neville. First interview. Dauphiness. 
 
 private passions and personal and family quar 
 rels of the great became involved with, and 
 sometimes entirely controlled, the most import 
 ant events in the national history, and there- 
 fore it will not be amiss to relate it. 
 
 The first connection which Queen Margaret, 
 as we are henceforth to call her, had with the 
 affair of Lady Neville, took place at Abbeville, 
 a town in France not very far from Calais, 
 when the queen was advancing toward the sea- 
 coast on her way to England. While she was 
 at Abbeville, there suddenly appeared a young 
 and beautiful lady who asked an audience of 
 Margaret, announcing herself simply as one of 
 the ladies who had been attached to the serv- 
 ice of the dauphiness, who was the wife of the 
 oldest son of the king,* and who had recently 
 died. She was admitted. She remained in pri- 
 vate conversation with Margaret two hours, and 
 when this mysterious interview was concluded 
 she was introduced to the other ladies of Mar- 
 garet's court as Miss Sanders, an English lady 
 who had been attached to the court of the dau- 
 phiness, but who now, since the death of her 
 
 * See map. The oldest son of the King of France and 
 the heir to the crown is styled the Dauphin. His rank and 
 position corresponds with that of the Prince of Wales in En- 
 gland.
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 127 
 
 Curiosity of the ladies. The stranger's reserve. Her story. 
 
 mistress, wished to return to England in Mar- 
 garet's train. Margaret informed the other la' 
 dies that she had received her into her house- 
 hold, and gave directions that she should be 
 treated with the utmost consideration. 
 
 The other ladies were very curious to solve 
 the mystery of this case, but they could not ob- 
 tain any clew to it. The stranger was very re- 
 served, mingled very little with her new com- 
 panions, and evinced a constant desire to avoid 
 observation. There was something, however, 
 in her beauty, and in the expression of deep 
 and constant grief which her countenance wore, 
 which made her an object of great interest to 
 all the household of the queen, but they could 
 not learn any particulars of her history. The 
 facts, however, were these. 
 
 Her real name was Anne Neville. She was 
 the daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Salis- 
 bury, one of the leading and most highly-con- 
 nected noblemen in England. When she was 
 about fifteen years old she was married to a rel- 
 ative of the family. The marriage, however, 
 proved a very unhappy one. Her husband 
 was very jealous of her. From her subsequent 
 conduct it would seem probable that he might 
 have had good reason to be so. At any rate, 
 he was extremely jealous; and as he was of a
 
 128 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Her unhappy marriage. Her marriage dissolved. Pretext. 
 
 harsh and cruel temper, he made his young 
 wife very miserable by the exactions and pri- 
 vations which he enforced upon her, and by the 
 violent invectives with which he continually 
 assailed her. 
 
 The incessant anxiety and suffering which 
 these troubles occasioned soon began to prey 
 upon the lady's health, and, at length, her fa- 
 ther, observing that she was growing pale and 
 thin, began to inquire into the cause. He soon 
 learned what a dreadful life his daughter was 
 leading. Like most of the other great nobles 
 of those days, he was a man of violent char- 
 acter, and he immediately determined on res- 
 cuing his daughter from her husband's power. 
 for he considered her husband as the party 
 chiefly, if not wholly, to blame. 
 
 He ascertained, or pretended to ascertain, 
 that there had been some informalities con- 
 nected with the marriage. His daughter was 
 distantly related to her husband, and there 
 were certain steps which it was necessary to 
 take in such cases to obtain a dispensation from 
 the Church, in order to render such marriage 
 legal. These steps he now alleged had not 
 been properly taken, and he immediately in- 
 stituted proceedings to have the marriage an- 
 nulled. Whether there was really any suffi-
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 129 
 
 Her marriage annulled. She becomes free. Her admirers. 
 
 cient ground for such annulling, or whether he 
 obtained the decree through influences which 
 his high position enabled him to bring to bear 
 upon the court, I do not know. He, however, 
 succeeded in his purpose. The marriage was 
 annulled, and his daughter returned home; 
 and, in order to obliterate as far as possible all 
 traces of the unhappy union into which she 
 had been drawn, she dropped the name which 
 she had received from her husband and re- 
 sumed again her own maiden name. 
 
 She now began soon to appear at court, where 
 she almost immediately attracted great atten- 
 tion. On account of the peculiar circumstances 
 in which she was placed, she enjoyed all the 
 privileges of a widow, combined with the at- 
 tractiveness and the charms of a lovely girl. 
 Almost every body was ready to fall in love 
 with her. 
 
 Among her other admirers was the Duke of 
 Somerset. He was a man of high rank and of 
 great accomplishments, but he was married, 
 and he could not, therefore, innocently make 
 her the object of his love. He was not, how- 
 ever, deterred by this consideration, and he 
 soon succeeded in making a strong impression 
 upon Lady Neville^s heart. They soon con- 
 trived means of meeting each other in private, 
 
 209
 
 130 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester. Splendid prospect. 
 
 resorting to all sorts of manoeuvres and inven- 
 tions to aid them in keeping their guilty at- 
 tachment to each other from the knowledge of 
 those around them. 
 
 In the mean while, the Duke of Gloucester 
 himself, who was now, however, considerably 
 advanced in life, lost his wife, she dying about 
 this time, and he almost immediately conceived 
 the idea of making Lady Neville her successor. 
 He thought it not proper to say any thing to 
 Lady Neville herself on this subject until some 
 little time should have elapsed, but he spoke 
 to her father, the Earl of Salisbury, who read- 
 ily approved of the plan. Gloucester was at 
 this time prime minister of England, and the- 
 lady whom he should choose for his wife would 
 be elevated by her marriage to the highest pin- 
 nacle of grandeur. Of course, the importance 
 and influence of her father also, and of all the 
 members of her family, would be greatly in- 
 creased by so splendid an alliance. 
 
 So it was agreed that the match should be 
 made, but the arrangement was to be kept se- 
 cret, not only from the public, but from the in- 
 tended bride herself, until a suitable time should 
 have elapsed for the widower to recover from 
 the grief which the death of his former wife 
 was supposed to have occasioned him.
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 131 
 
 Gloucester's declaration. Perplexity of Lady Neville. 
 
 At length, when the proper time for mourn- 
 ing had expired, Gloucester made his declara- 
 tion of love. Lady Neville listened to it, think- 
 ing all the time what Somerset would say when 
 she came to communicate the news to him. 
 She did communicate it to him on the first op- 
 portunity. 
 
 Great was the distress and the perplexity 
 which the lovers felt while consulting together 
 and determining what was to be done in such an 
 emergency. They could not endure the thought 
 of a separation. They could not be married to 
 each other, for Somerset was married already. 
 For Lady Neville to remain single all her life 
 in order to be at liberty to indulge a guilty 
 passion was an idea not to be entertained. 
 They knew, too, that their present relations to 
 each other could not long be continued. A 
 thousand circumstances might happen at any 
 time to interrupt or to terminate it, and it could 
 not be long, in any event, before it must come 
 to an end. So it was agreed between them that 
 Lady Neville should accede to the great min- 
 ister's proposal and become his wife. In the 
 mean time, until the period should arrive for 
 the consummation of the marriage, they were 
 to renew and redouble their intimacy with each 
 other, taking, however, every possible precau-
 
 132 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 The duke becomes uneasy. His spies. 
 
 tion to conceal their movements from the eyes 
 of others. 
 
 So the duke's offer was accepted, and it was 
 soon made known to all the court that Lady 
 Neville was his affianced bride. 
 
 Thus far Lady Neville had treated the duke 
 with great reserve in her accidental intercourse 
 with him at the reunions of the court, but now, 
 since he was her accepted lover, he thought he 
 might reasonably expect a greater degree of 
 cordiality in her demeanor toward him. But 
 \e found no change. She continued as formal 
 and reserved as ever. Moreover, when he went 
 to visit her, which he did sometimes several 
 times a day, she was very often not at home 
 much too often, he thought. He went to the 
 place where her domestics said she had gone in 
 such cases, but she was very seldom to be found. 
 He soon came to the conclusion that there was 
 some strange mystery involved in the affair, 
 and he determined to adopt effectual measures 
 for unraveling it. 
 
 So he employed certain trusty persons who 
 were in his service to watch and see where 
 Lady Neville went, and how she passed her 
 time during these unaccountable absences from 
 home. For many days this watch was contin- 
 ued, but no discoveries were made. The spies
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 133 
 
 Discoveries. The duke's perplexity. His mode of reasoning. 
 
 reported that they could not keep upon the la- 
 dy's track. In spite of their best exertions she 
 would contrive to elude them, and for several 
 hours every day they lost sight of her alto- 
 gether. They saw enough, however, to satisfy 
 them that there was something wrong going on. 
 What it was, however, they could not discover, 
 so shrewd and complete were the precautions 
 which Somerset and Lady Neville had taken to 
 prevent detection. 
 
 The Duke of Gloucester was for a time much 
 perplexed to know what to do, whether openly 
 to quarrel with Lady Neville and refuse to con- 
 summate the marriage, or to banish his sus- 
 picions and take her for his wife. His love for 
 her finally triumphed, and he resolved to pro- 
 ceed with the marriage. He had no positive 
 evidence against her, he said to himself, and 
 then, besides, even if there were some secret at- 
 tachment on her part, to account for these mys- 
 terious appearances, she might, after all, when 
 once married to him, make him a faithful and 
 affectionate wife. Some lingering remains of a 
 former affection must often necessarily dwell, 
 he thought, in the heart of a bride, even when 
 truly and honestly giving herself to the one on 
 whom her choice is finally made. Especially 
 is this true in cases where the lady is young,
 
 134 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 The decision. Clandestine meeting of the lovers. Village on the Thames. 
 
 accomplished, and lovely, while her husband 
 can only offer wealth or high position instead 
 of youth and personal attractions as a means of 
 winning her favor. 
 
 So it was decided that the marriage should 
 take place, and the day for the wedding was 
 appointed. 
 
 When the time for the wedding drew nigh, 
 and the lovers found that the period of their 
 enjoyments was drawing to a close, they de- 
 termined on having a farewell interview with 
 each other on the day before the wedding, and 
 in order to be safe from interruption, it was ar- 
 ranged that they should spend the day together 
 in a village on the banks of the Thames, at 
 some little distance from London. 
 
 When the day came, Lady Neville left her 
 home to repair to the place of rendezvous. She 
 was followed by Gloucester's spies. She was 
 received at the village by Somerset. Somerset 
 was, however, so disguised that the spies did 
 not know and could not discover who he was. 
 They were satisfied, however, from his demean- 
 or toward Lady Neville, that he was her lover, 
 and they at once reported the facts to Glouces- 
 ter in London. 
 
 Gloucester was of course in a great rage. 
 He swore terrible vengeance against both Lady
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 135 
 
 Flans for her return. Gloucester mistaken. 
 
 Neville herself and her lover, whoever he might 
 be. He at once armed a troop of his followers 
 and rode off at the head of them, guided by one 
 of the spies, to the village of rendezvous. It 
 was dark before he arrived there. Some peas- 
 ants of whom he made inquiry informed him 
 that a lady answering to the description which 
 he gave them had gone on board the boat to 
 return to London some time before. Glouces- 
 ter immediately turned, and made all haste 
 back to London again, in hopes to reach the 
 landing before the boat should arrive, with a 
 full determination to kill both the lady herself 
 and her paramour the moment they should 
 touch the shore. 
 
 He was mistaken, however, in supposing 
 that the paramour, whoever he might be, was 
 with the lady. Somerset, in the excess of his 
 precaution, had returned to London by land, 
 leaving Lady Neville to return by herself in 
 the boat with the other passengers; for the 
 boat was a sort of packet which plied regularly 
 between the village and London. He, how- 
 ever, had stationed trusty persons not far from 
 the landing in London, who were to receive 
 Lady Neville on her arrival and convey her 
 home. 
 
 Gloucester arrived at the landing before the
 
 136 MARGARET OF ANJOTJ. 
 
 The boat arrives. Assault upon the boat. Boatmen murdered. 
 
 boat reached the shore. It was, however, now 
 so dark that he despaired of being able to rec< 
 ognize the persons he was in pursuit of, espe- 
 cially under the disguise which he did not doubt 
 that they would wear. So, in the recklessness 
 of his rage, he resolved to kill every body in 
 the boat, and thus to make sure of his revenge. 
 
 Accordingly, the moment that the boat touch- 
 ed the shore, he and his followers rushed on 
 board, and a dreadful scene of consternation 
 and terror ensued. Gloucester himself made 
 his way directly toward the figure of a lady, 
 whose air, and manner, and style of dress indi- 
 cated, so far as he could discern them in the 
 darkness, that she was probably the object of 
 his fury. He plunged his dagger into her 
 breast. She, in an agony of terror, leaped into 
 the river. She was buoyed up by her dress, 
 and floated down the stream. 
 
 In the mean time, the work of murder on 
 board the boat went on. The duke and his 
 men continued stabbing and striking down all 
 around them, until the passengers and the boat- 
 men were every one killed. The bodies were 
 then all thrown into the river, stones having 
 been previously tied to them to make them 
 sink. 
 
 The people in the houses of the neighbor-
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 137 
 
 fries. The boat sunk. Gloucester. 
 
 hood, on the banks of the river, heard the 
 cries, and raised their heads a moment from 
 their pillows, or paused as they were walking 
 along the silent streets to listen. But the cries 
 were soon suppressed, for the massacre was the 
 work of a few moments only, and such sounds 
 were far too common in those days in the streets 
 of London, and especially on the river, to at- 
 tract much regard. 
 
 The boat was of course covered with blood. 
 The duke ordered his men to take it out into 
 the middle of the river and sink it, that being 
 the easiest and the quickest way of covering 
 up all traces and proofs of the crime. 
 
 The writer who relates this story says that 
 Gloucester's reason for wishing to have his 
 agency in this transaction concealed was not 
 that he feared any punishment, for the laws 
 in those days were wholly powerless to pun- 
 ish deeds of violence like this, committed by 
 men of Gloucester's rank and station. He 
 only thought that if it were known that he had 
 murdered in this way so many innocent peo- 
 ple, in order merely to make sure of killing an 
 object of his own private jealousy and hate, it 
 would injure his popularity ! 
 
 In the mean time, Lady Neville, for it was 
 really Lady Neville whom Gloucester had stab-
 
 138 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Escape of Lady Neville. Under the bridge. 
 
 bed, and who had leaped into the river, float- 
 ed on down the stream, borne up by her dress, 
 which was made, according to the fashion of 
 the times, in a manner to give it great buoy- 
 ancy in the water, by means of the hoops with 
 which the sleeves of the robe were distended, 
 and also from the form of the head-dress, which 
 was very large and light, and well adapted to 
 serve as a float to keep the head from sinking. 
 
 FEMALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF HEXET VI. 
 
 She floated on in this manner down the riv- 
 er until she had passed London Bridge, being 
 carried through by the current under one of
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 139 
 
 Rescued. Received on board a vessel. 
 
 the arches. On emerging from the bridge, she 
 came to the part of the river where the ships 
 and other vessels bound down the river were 
 moored. It happened that among other ves- 
 sels lying at anchor in the stream was one 
 bound to Normandy. The captain of this ves- 
 sel had been on shore, but he was now coming 
 off in his boat to go on board again. As the 
 captain was looking out over the water by the 
 light of a lantern which he held in his hand, 
 to discern the way to his vessel, he saw some- 
 thing floating at a short distance from him 
 which resembled the dress of a woman. He 
 urged the boat forward in that direction. He 
 succeeded, with great difficulty, after arriving 
 at the spot, in getting the now almost lifeless 
 form of Lady Neville on board his boat, and 
 then rowed on as fast as possible to the vessel. 
 Here every thing was done which the case 
 required to restore the drowning lady to life. 
 She soon recovered her senses, and looked 
 about her wild with excitement and terror. 
 She had the presence of mind, however, not to 
 say a word that could betray her secret, though 
 her dress, and her air and manner, convinced 
 the captain that she was no ordinary person- 
 age. The wound was examined and found not 
 to be serious. She had been protected by some
 
 140 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Her determination. She IB received by the dauphiness. 
 
 portions of her dress which had turned the 
 poniard aside. When she found that the im- 
 mediate danger had passed she became more 
 composed, and began to inquire in regard to 
 the persons and scenes around her. When she 
 found that the vessel which had received her 
 was bound to Normandy, she determined to es- 
 cape to that country ; so she contrived means 
 to induce the captain to conceal her on board 
 until the time should arrive for setting sail, and 
 then to take her with him down the river and 
 across the Channel. 
 
 On her arrival in France she repaired at once 
 to the court of the dauphiness, who, being an 
 English princess, was predisposed to take com- 
 passion upon her and to receive her kindly. 
 She remained at this court, as we have seen, 
 under the assumed name of Miss Sanders, until 
 the death of the dauphiness. She was thus 
 suddenly deprived of her protector in France, 
 but almost at the same time the marriage of 
 Margaret of Anjou seemed to open to her the 
 means of returning to England. 
 
 So long as the Duke of Gloucester lived and 
 retained his power, she knew very well that she 
 could not return in safety to the English court; 
 but she thought that Margaret's going to En- 
 gland would probably be the precursor of 
 Gloucester's downfall-
 
 THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE. 141 
 
 Political intrigues. Lady Neville and Margaret. Lady Neville returns 
 
 "She must hate him," said she to herself, 
 " almost as much as I do, for he has opposed 
 her marriage from the beginning, and has done 
 all in his power to prevent it. Margaret will 
 never be satisfied until she has deposed him 
 from his power and put some friend of hers in 
 his place. I can help her in this work, if she 
 will receive me under her protection and allow 
 me to accompany her to England." 
 
 So she proceeded to Abbeville to intercept 
 the queen on her way to the coast, as we have 
 already seen. At the long and secret inter- 
 view which she had with her there she related 
 to Margaret the story of her connection with 
 Somerset and with Gloucester, and of her al- 
 most miraculous escape from death at Glouces- 
 ter's hands. She now wished for revenge ; and 
 if Queen Margaret would receive her into her 
 service and take her to England, she would con- 
 cert measures with Somerset, her lover, which 
 would greatly aid Margaret in the plans which 
 she might form for effecting the downfall of 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Margaret at once and very gladly acceded to 
 this request, and took Lady Neville with her to 
 England. She treated her with great consider- 
 ation and honor ; but still Lady Neville main- 
 tained a strict reserve in all her intercourse
 
 142 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Mystery. 
 
 with the other ladies of the court, and kept her* 
 self in great seclusion, especially after the ar- 
 rival of the bridal party in England. Her pre- 
 text for this was her deep affliction at the loss 
 of her friend and patroness the Dauphiness of 
 France. But the other ladies of the court were 
 not wholly satisfied with this explanation. 
 They were fully convinced that there was more 
 in the case than met the view, especially when 
 they found that on the arrival of the party in 
 England the stranger seemed to take special 
 pains to avoid meeting the Duke of Gloucester. 
 They exerted all their powers of watchfulness 
 and scrutiny to unravel the mystery, but in 
 vain.
 
 1445.] PLOTTINGS. 143 
 
 Personal and political Intrigues. Margaret's beauty. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 PLOTTINGS. 
 
 IT was in this way that public affairs were 
 mingled and complicated with private and 
 personal intrigues in the English court at the 
 time of Margaret's arrival in the country. 
 Margaret was of a character which admirably 
 fitted her to act her part well in the manage- 
 ment of such intrigues, and in playing off the 
 passions of ambition, love, resentment, envy, 
 and hate, as manifested by those around her 
 passions which always glow and rage with 
 greater fury in a court than in any other com 
 munity so as to accomplish her ends. She 
 was very young indeed, but she had arrived at 
 a maturity, both mental and personal, far be- 
 yond her years. Her countenance was beauti- 
 ful, and her air and manner possessed an inex- 
 pressible charm, but her mental powers were of 
 a very masculine character, and in the boldness 
 of the plans which she formed, and in the min- 
 gled shrewdness and energy with which she 
 went on to the execution of them, she evinced 
 less the qualities of a woman than of a man.
 
 144 MARGARET or AXJOU. [1445. 
 
 Lady Neville supposed to be dead. Her father. 
 
 It was supposed by all parties in England 
 that Lady Neville was dead. Of course the 
 Duke of Gloucester had no idea that any one 
 could have escaped from the boat. He sup- 
 posed that he had effected the complete de- 
 struction of all on board of it. Somerset's men, 
 who had been stationed at some distance from 
 the landing to receive Lady Neville and convey 
 her home, waited until long past the appointed 
 hour, but no one carne. The inquiries which 
 Somerset made secretly the next day showed 
 that the boat had sailed from the village, but 
 no tidings of her arrival in London could be ob- 
 tained, and he supposed that she must have 
 been lost, with all on board, by some accident 
 on the river. As for the Earl of Salisbury, Lady 
 Neville's father, Gloucester went to him at once, 
 and informed him what he had done. He had 
 detected his daughter, he said, in a guilty in- 
 trigue, which, if it had been made public, would 
 have brought not only herself, but all her fam- 
 ily, to shame. The earl, who was a man of 
 great sternness and severity of character, said 
 that Gloucester had done perfectly right, and 
 they agreed together to keep the whole trans- 
 action secret from the world, and to circulate a 
 report that Lady Neville had died from some 
 natural cause.
 
 1445.] PLOTTINGS. 145 
 
 Arrival in London. The queen and Henry. 
 
 Such was the state of things when Margaret 
 and Lady Neville arrived in London. As soon 
 as the queen became somewhat established in 
 her new home, she began to revolve in her mind 
 "he means of deposing Gloucester. Her plan 
 was first to endeavor to arouse her husband 
 from his lethargy, and to awaken in his mind 
 something like a spirit of independence and a 
 feeling of ambition. 
 
 " You have in your hands," she used to say 
 to him, " what may be easily made Ae founda- 
 tion of the noblest realm in Europe. Besides 
 Great Britain, you have the whole of Norman- 
 dy, and other valuable possessions in France, 
 which together form a vast kingdom, in the 
 government of which you might acquire great 
 glory, if you would take the government of it 
 into your own hands." 
 
 She went on to represent to him how un- 
 worthy it was of him to allow all the power of 
 such a realm to be wielded by his uncle, in- 
 stead of assuming the command at once himself, 
 as every consideration of prudence and policy 
 urged him to do. A great many instances had 
 occurred in English history, she said, in which 
 a favorite minister had been allowed to hold 
 power so long, and to strengthen himself in the 
 possession of it so completely, that he could not 
 
 2010
 
 146 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1445. 
 
 Margaret's arguments. The example of ancestors. 
 
 be divested of it, so that the king himself came 
 at length to be held in subjection by his own 
 minister. The Duke of Gloucester was ad- 
 vancing rapidly in the same course ; and, unless 
 the king aroused himself from his inaction, and 
 took the government into his own hands, he 
 would soon lose all power to do it, and would 
 sink into a condition of humiliating dependence 
 upon one of his own subjects. 
 
 Then, again, she urged upon him at other 
 times the example of his father and grandfa- 
 ther, Henry IV. and Henry V., whose reigns, 
 through the personal energy and prowess which 
 they had exhibited in strengthening and ex- 
 tending their dominions, had given them a 
 world-wide renown. It would be extremely 
 inglorious for the descendant of such a line to 
 spend his life in spiritless inactivity, and to 
 leave the affairs of his kingdom in the hands 
 of a relative, who of course could only be ex- 
 pected to exercise his powers for the purpose 
 of promoting his own interest and glory. 
 
 Moreover, she reminded him of a danger that 
 he was in from the representations of other 
 branches of the royal line who still claimed the 
 throne, and might at any time, whenever an 
 opportunity offered, be expected to attempt to 
 enforce their claims. As will be seen by the
 
 1445.] PLOTTINGS. 147 
 
 Anne. House of York. The king not safe. 
 
 genealogical table,* Lionel, the second son of 
 Edward III. whose immediate descendants 
 had been superseded by those of John of Gaunt, 
 the third son, on account of the fact that the 
 only child of Lionel was a daughter, and she 
 had been unable to make good her claims had 
 a great-granddaughter, named Anne, who mar- 
 ried Eichard, a son of Edmund, the fourth of 
 the sons of Edward Ill.f Richard Plantagenet, 
 who issued from this union, was, of course, the 
 descendant and heir of Lionel. He had also 
 other claims to the throne, and Margaret re- 
 minded her husband that there was danger at 
 any time that he might come forward and as- 
 sert his claims. 
 
 Under these circumstances, it was evident, 
 said she, that the king could not consider his 
 interests safe in the care of any person whatso- 
 ever out of his own immediate family that is, 
 in any one's hands but his own and those of 
 his wife. A minister, however strong his pro- 
 fessions of fidelity and attachment might be, 
 could not be depended upon. If another dy- 
 nasty offered him more advantageous terms, 
 there was not, and there could not be, any secu- 
 
 * On page 20. 
 
 t That is, the fourth of the table. There were other chfl- 
 dren not mentioned here.
 
 MARGARET OF AXJOU. [1445. 
 
 Margaret makes some impression. Henry listens to her counsels. 
 
 rity against his changing sides ; whereas a wife, 
 whose interests were bound up inseparably with 
 those of her husband, might be relied upon 
 with absolute certainty to be faithful and true 
 to her husband in every conceivable emergency. 
 
 These representations which Margaret made 
 to her husband from time to time, as she had 
 opportunity, produced a very considerable im- 
 pression upon him. Still he seemed not to have 
 resolution and energy enough to act in accord- 
 ance with them. He said that he did not see 
 how he could take away from his uncle a power 
 which he had always exercised well and faith- 
 fully. And then, besides, he himself had not 
 the age and experience necessary for the suc- 
 cessful management of the affairs of so mighty 
 a kingdom. If he were to undertake the duties 
 of government, he was convinced that he should 
 make mistakes, and so get into difficulty. 
 
 Margaret, however, clearly perceived that 
 she was making progress in producing an im- 
 pression upon her husband's mind. To increase 
 the influence of her representations, she watched 
 for occasions in which Gloucester differed in 
 opinion from the king, and failed to carry out 
 suggestions or recommendations which the king 
 had made, relating probably, in most cases, to 
 appointments to office about the court. Some
 
 1446.] PLOTTINGS. 149 
 
 Henry's timidity. Margaret encourages him. 
 
 say she created these occasions by artfully in- 
 ducing her husband to make recommendations 
 which she knew the duke would not sanction. 
 At all events, such cases occurred, and Marga- 
 ret took advantage of them to urge her views 
 still more upon Henry's mind. 
 
 "How humiliating," said she, "that a great 
 monarch should be dependent upon one of his 
 subjects for permission to do this or that, when 
 he might have all his affairs under his own ab- 
 solute control !" 
 
 But Henry, in reply to this, said that it was 
 not in human nature to escape mistakes, and 
 he thought he was very fortunate in having a 
 minister who, when he was in danger of mak- 
 ing them, could interpose and save him from 
 the ill consequences which would otherwise 
 result from his errors. 
 
 To this Margaret rejoined that it was indeed 
 true that human nature was liable to err, but 
 that it was very humiliating for a great and 
 powerful sovereign to have public attention 
 called to his errors by having them corrected 
 in that manner by an inferior, and to be re- 
 stricted in the exercise of his powers by a tutor 
 and a governor, in order to keep him from do- 
 ing wrong, as if he were a child not competent 
 to act for himself.
 
 150 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 The world indulgent to the great. Margaret's secret designs. 
 
 "Besides," she added, "if you would really 
 take the charge of your affairs into your own 
 hands and act independently, what you call 
 your errors you may depend upon it the pub- 
 lic would designate by a different and a softer 
 name. The world is always disposed to con- 
 sider what is done by a great and powerful 
 monarch as of course right, and even when it 
 would seem to them wrong they believe that 
 its having that appearance is only because they 
 are not in a position to form a just judgment 
 on the question, not being fully acquainted 
 with the facts, or not seeing all the bearings of 
 them." 
 
 She assured her husband, moreover, that if 
 he would take the business of the government 
 into his own hands, he would be very success- 
 ful in his administration of public affairs, and 
 would be well sustained by all the people of 
 the realm. 
 
 Besides thus operating upon the mind of the 
 king, Margaret was secretly employed all the 
 time in ascertaining the views and feelings of 
 the principal nobles and other great person- 
 ages of the realm, with a view to learning who 
 were disposed to feel hostile to the duke, and 
 to unite all such into an organized opposition 
 to him. One of the first persons to whom she
 
 1446.] PLOTTINGS. 151 
 
 Opposition to the Duke of Gloucester. Somerset. 
 
 applied with this view was Somerset, the for- 
 mer lover of Lady Neville. 
 
 She presumed, of course, that Somerset would 
 be predisposed to a feeling of hostility to the 
 duke on account of the old rivalry which had 
 existed between them, and she now proposed 
 to make use of Lady Neville's return, and of 
 her agency in restoring her to him, as a means 
 of inducing him to enter fully into her plans 
 for overturning his old rival's power. In order 
 to retain the management of the affair wholly 
 in her own hands, she agreed with Lady Nev- 
 ille that Lady Neville herself was not in any 
 way to communicate with Somerset until she, 
 the queen, had first had an interview with him, 
 and that he was to learn the safety of Lady 
 Neville only through her. Lady Neville read- 
 ily consented to this, believing that the queen 
 could manage the matter better than she her- 
 self could do it. 
 
 It will be recollected that Somerset was mar- 
 ried during the period of his former acquaint- 
 ance with Lady Neville, but his wife had died 
 while Lady Neville was in France, and he was 
 now free ; so that the plan which the queen 
 and Lady Neville now formed was to give him 
 an opportunity, if he still retained his love for 
 her, to make her his wife.
 
 152 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 A secret interview planned. The three conditions. 
 
 In the prosecution of her design, the queen 
 made arrangements for a secret interview with 
 Somerset, and in the interview informed him 
 that Lady Neville was still alive and well ; that 
 she was, moreover, not far away, and it was in 
 the queen's power to restore her to him if he 
 desired again to see her, and that she would do 
 so on certain conditions. 
 
 Somerset was overjoyed at hearing this news. 
 At first he could not be persuaded that it was 
 true; and when assured positively that it was 
 so, and that the long-lost Lady Neville was 
 alive and well, and in England, he was in a 
 fever of impatience to see her again. He would 
 agree to any conditions, he said, that the queen 
 might name, as the price of having her restored 
 to him. 
 
 The queen said that the conditions were 
 three. 
 
 The first was that he was to see her but 
 once, and that only for a few minutes, in order 
 that he might be convinced that she was really 
 alive, and then was to leave her and not to see 
 her again until the Duke of Gloucester had 
 fallen from power. 
 
 The second was that he should pretend to be 
 not on good terms with the queen herself, in 
 order to avert suspicion in respect to some of
 
 1446.] PLOTTIXGS. 153 
 
 Party against Gloucester. The interview. Lady Neville's father. 
 
 her schemes until such time as she should be 
 ready to receive him again into favor. 
 
 The third was that he should do all he could 
 to increase and strengthen the party against the 
 duke, by turning as many as possible of his 
 friends, and those over whom he had any influ- 
 ence, against him, and then finally, when the 
 party should become sufficiently strong, to pre- 
 fer charges against him in Parliament, and 
 bring him to trial. 
 
 Somerset at once agreed to all these condi- 
 tions, and the queen then admitted him to an 
 interview with Lady Neville. 
 
 He was overwhelmed with transports of love 
 and joy at once more beholding her and press- 
 ing her in his arms. The queen, who was pres- 
 ent, was very much interested in witnessing 
 the proofs of the ardor of the affection by which 
 the lovers were still bound to each other, but 
 she soon interrupted their expressions and dem- 
 onstrations ol delight by calling Somerset's at- 
 tention to the steps which were next to be 
 taken to further their plans. 
 
 " The first thing to be done," said she, " is 
 for you to see the Earl of Salisbury and ask 
 the hand of his daughter, and at the same time 
 endeavor to induce him to join our party." 
 
 The Earl of Salisbury had a son, the broth-
 
 154 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 The Earl of Salisbury. Progress of the intrigue. Revelations. 
 
 er, of course, of Lady Neville, whose title was 
 the Earl of Warwick. He was the celebrated 
 king-maker, so called, referred to in a former 
 chapter. He received that title on account of 
 the great influence which he subsequently ex- 
 ercised in raising up and putting down one 
 after another of the two great dynasties. His 
 power was at this time very great, partly on 
 account of his immense wealth, and partly on 
 account of his commanding personal character. 
 Margaret was extremely desirous of bringing 
 him over to her side. 
 
 Somerset readily undertook the duty of com- 
 municating with the Earl of Salisbury, with a 
 view of informing him of his daughter's safety 
 and asking her hand, and at the same time of 
 ascertaining what hope there might be of draw- 
 ing him into the combination which the queen 
 was forming against the Duke of Gloucester. 
 
 Somerset accordingly sought an interview 
 with Salisbury, and told him that the report 
 which had been circulated that his daughter 
 was dead was not true that she was still alive 
 that, instead of having been drowned in the 
 Thames, as had been supposed, she had made 
 her escape to France, where she had since lived 
 under the protection of the dauphiness. 
 
 He was, of course, not willing to make known
 
 1446.] PLOTTINGS. 155 
 
 The case explained. Somerset's proposal. Cautioua advances. 
 
 the real circumstances of the case in respect to 
 the cause of her flight, and so he represented 
 to the earl that the reason why she left the 
 country was to escape the marriage with Glou- 
 cester, which would have been extremely dis- 
 agreeable to her. She had now, however, re- 
 turned, and he was commissioned by her to 
 ask the earl's forgiveness for what had passed, 
 and his consent that he himself that is, Somer- 
 set, who had always been strongly attached to 
 her, and who now, by the death of his former 
 wife, was free, should be united to her in mar- 
 riage. 
 
 If Somerset had succeeded in this part of his 
 mission, he was then intending, when the old 
 earl's love for his daughter should have been 
 reawakened in his bosom by the joyful news 
 that she was alive, and by the prospect of a 
 brilliant marriage for her, to introduce the sub- 
 ject of the Duke of Gloucester, and perhaps 
 cautiously reveal to him the true state of the 
 case in respect to the murderous violence with 
 which the duke had assailed his daughter, and 
 which was the true cause of her flight. But 
 the earl did not give him any opportunity to 
 approach the second part of his commission. 
 After having heard the statement which Som- 
 erset made to him in respect to his daughter,
 
 156 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 The earl's indignation. The scheme fails. 
 
 he broke out in a furious rage against her. 
 He called her by the most opprobrious names. 
 He had full proof of her dishonor, and he would 
 have nothing more to do with her. He had 
 disinherited her, and given all her share of the 
 family property to her brother; and the only 
 reason why he ever wished her to come into 
 his sight again was that he might with a surer 
 blow inflict upon her the punishment which 
 Gloucester had designed for her. 
 
 Somerset saw at once that the case was 
 hopeless, and he withdrew. 
 
 Thus the attempt to draw Salisbury into the 
 conspiracy against the duke seemed for the 
 time to fail. But Margaret was not at all dis- 
 couraged. She pushed her manoeuvres and 
 intrigues in other quarters with so much dili- 
 gence and success that, in about two years aftei 
 her arrival in England, she found her party 
 large enough and strong enough for action.
 
 1446.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 157 
 
 The king's cabinet. Gloucester sent for. Fntranee of Soirerset. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
 AT length the time arrived when Margaret 
 considered her schemes ripe for execu- 
 tion. 
 
 Accordingly, one day, while Henry and her- 
 self v/ere together in the king's cabinet engaged 
 in transacting some public affairs, Margaret 
 made some excuse for sending for Gloucester, 
 and while Gloucester was in the cabinet, Som- 
 erset, according to a preconcerted arrangement, 
 presented himself at the door with an air of 
 excitement and alarm, and asked to be admit- 
 ted. He wished to see the king on business of 
 the utmost urgency. He was allowed to come 
 in. He had a paper in his hand, and his coun- 
 tenance, as well as his air and manner, denoted 
 great apprehension and anxiety. As soon, 
 however, as he saw the Duke of Gloucester, he 
 seemed surprised and embarrassed, and was 
 about to retire, saying he had supposed that 
 the king and queen were alone. 
 
 But Margaret would not allow him to with- 
 draw. 
 
 " Stay," said she, " and let us know what the
 
 158 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 Somerset's charges. Margaret interposes. The charges read. 
 
 business is that seems so urgent. You can 
 speak freely. There is no one here beside our- 
 selves except the minister of the king, and there 
 is nothing to be concealed from him." 
 
 Somerset, on hearing these words, paused for 
 a moment, looked at Gloucester, seemed irreso- 
 lute, and then, as if nerving himself to a great 
 effort, he advanced resolutely and presented the 
 paper which he had in his hands to the king, 
 saying, at the same time, in a very solemn man- 
 ner, that it contained charges of the gravest 
 character against Gloucester; and he added 
 that, on the whole, he was not sorry that the 
 accused person was present to know what was 
 laid to his charge, and to reply if he had any 
 proper justification to offer. 
 
 The duke seemed thunderstruck. The king, 
 too, was extremely surprised, and began to look 
 greatly embarrassed. Margaret put an end to 
 the awkward suspense by taking the paper from 
 the king's hand, and opening it in order to read 
 it 
 
 " Let us see," said she, " what these charges 
 are." 
 
 So she opened the paper and began to read 
 it. The charges were numerous. The princi- 
 pal one related to some transactions in respect 
 to the English dominions on the Continent, in
 
 1446.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 161 
 
 The duke declares his innocence. 
 
 which Gloucester was accused of having sac- 
 rificed the rights and interests of the crown in 
 order to promote certain private ends of his 
 own. There were a great many other accusa- 
 tions, relating to alleged usurpations of the pre- 
 rogative of the king and high-handed violations 
 of the laws of the land. Among these last tlie 
 murder of Lady Neville was specified, and the 
 deed was characterized in the severest terms as 
 i crime of the deepest dye, and one committed 
 under circumstances of great atrocity, although 
 the author of the charges admitted that the de- 
 tails of the affair were not fully known. 
 
 As Margaret read these accusations one after 
 another, the duke affirmed positively of each 
 one that it was wholly unjust. He seemed for 
 a moment surprised and confused when the 
 murder of Lady Neville was laid to his charge, 
 but he soon recovered himself, and declared 
 that he was innocent of this crime as well as 
 of all the others. The whole series of accusa- 
 tions was a tissue of base calumnies, he said, 
 from beginning to end. 
 
 Margaret read the paper through, pausing 
 only from time to time to hear what Gloucester 
 had to say whenever he manifested a desire to 
 speak, but without making any observations of 
 uer own. She assumed, in fact, the air and 
 2011
 
 162 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1446. 
 
 Margaret's artful demeanor. Proposes an investigation. Selects a charge 
 
 manner of an unconcerned and indifferent wit- 
 ness. After she had finished reading the pa- 
 per she folded it up and laid it aside, saying at 
 the same time to the king that those were very 
 grave and weighty charges, and it would be 
 very unjust to the duke to receive them against 
 his positive declarations of his innocence, with- 
 out the most clear and conclusive proof. 
 
 " At the same time," she added, "they ought 
 not to be lightly laid aside without investiga- 
 tion. We can not suppose that the Duke of 
 Somerset can have made such charges without 
 any evidence whatever to sustain them." 
 
 The Duke of Somerset said immediately that 
 he was prepared with full proof of all the 
 charges, and he was ready to offer the evidence 
 in respect to any one or all of them whenever 
 his majesty should require it. 
 
 Margaret then opened the paper, and, looking 
 over the list of charges again with a careless 
 air, at last, as if accidentally, fixed upon the one 
 relating to the murder of Lady Neville. 
 
 "What proofs have you in respect to this 
 atrocious murder that you have charged against 
 the duke?" 
 
 Gloucester felt for the moment much relieved 
 at finding that this was the charge selected first 
 for proof; for so effectual had been the precau-
 
 1446.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 163 
 
 Gloucester is pleased. The murder. Astonishment of the duke. 
 
 tions which he had taken to conceal his crime 
 in this case, that he was confident that, instead 
 of any substantial evidence against him, thera 
 could be, at worst, only vague grounds of sus* 
 picion, and these he was confident he could 
 easily show were insufficient to establish so se- 
 rious a charge. 
 
 Somerset asked permission to retire for a few 
 moments. Very soon he returned, bringing in 
 with him Lady Neville herself. An actual res- 
 urrection from the dead could not have astound- 
 ed Gloucester more than this apparition. He 
 was overwhelmed with amazement and almost 
 with terror. Lady Neville advanced to the 
 king, and, falling upon her knees before him, 
 she related the circumstances of the assault 
 made by Gloucester upon the boat in the 
 Thames, of the cruel murder of the passengers 
 and boatmen, of the wound inflicted upon her- 
 self by the dagger of the duke, and the almost 
 miraculous manner in which she made her es- 
 cape. 
 
 The duke, overwhelmed by the emotions 
 which such a scene might have been expected 
 to produce upon his mind, seemed to admit that 
 what Lady Neville said was true. At least he 
 could not deny it, and his confusion and distress 
 amounted apparently to a virtual confession of
 
 164 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1447. 
 
 Parliament. Margaret's ingenuity. The king brought over. 
 
 guilt. Margaret, however, soon interrupted the 
 proceedings by saying to the king that the case 
 was plainly too serious to be disposed of in so 
 private and informal a manner. It was for the 
 Parliament to consider it, she said, and decide 
 what was to be done ; and measures ought at 
 once to be taken for bringing it before them. 
 
 So Gloucester and Somerset were both dis- 
 missed from the royal presence, leaving the king 
 in a state of great distress and perplexity. 
 
 Such is the story of the private manoeuvres 
 resorted to by Margaret with a view to destroy- 
 ing the hold which the Duke of Gloucester had 
 upon the mind of the king, preparatory to more 
 widely-extended plans for ruining him with the 
 Parliament and the nation, which is told by one 
 of her most celebrated biographers. Whether 
 there was or was not any foundation for this par- 
 ticular story, there is no doubt but that she ex- 
 ercised all her ingenuity and talent as a manceu- 
 vrer to accomplish her object, and that she suc- 
 ceeded. The king was brought over to her 
 views, and so strong a party was formed against 
 Gloucester among the nobles and other influ- 
 ential personages in the land, that at length, in 
 1447, a Parliament was summoned with a view 
 of bringing the affair to a crisis.* 
 
 * The story of Lady Neville, and of her connection with
 
 1447.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 165 
 
 Treason. Romance often mingles in history. An explanation. 
 
 Nothing, however, was said, in calling the 
 Parliament, of the great and exciting business 
 which was to be brought before them. So great 
 was the power of such a man as Gloucester, that 
 any open attempt to arrest him would have 
 been likely to have been met with armed re- 
 sistance, and might have led at once to civil 
 war. 
 
 One of the charges against him was that he 
 was intriguing with the Duke of York, the rep- 
 resentative and heir of the two other branches 
 of old King Edward the Third's family, who 
 has already been mentioned as claiming the 
 
 the great political transactions in which Margaret of Anjou 
 was engaged at this time, though it is in all probability to be 
 considered as a romance, is not an invention of the compiler 
 of this narrative. It is interwoven with the history of Mar- 
 garet of Anjou precisely as it is given here, by one of her 
 most ancient and most oft-quoted biographers. It is chiefly 
 useful to modern readers as illustrating the ideas and the 
 manners of the times. 
 
 We often, in this series, thus repeat narratives which have 
 come down from ancient times, and have thus become part 
 and parcel of the literature of the period, and, as such, ought 
 to be made known to the general reader, but which, at the 
 present day, are not supposed to be historically true. In such 
 cases, however, we intend always to give notice of the fact. 
 In the absence of such notice, the reader may feel sure that 
 all the statements jr. these narratives, even to the minutest 
 details, are in strict accordance with the testimony of the best 
 authorities now extant.
 
 166 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1447. 
 
 Question of succession. Position of the Duke of York. 
 
 throne. It was said that Gloucester was secret- 
 ly plotting with Kichard, with a view of depos- 
 ing Henry, and raising Kichard to the throne in 
 his stead. 
 
 The question of the succession was really, at 
 this time, in a very curious state. The Duke 
 of Gloucester himself was Henry's heir in case 
 he should die without children ; for Gloucester 
 was Henry's oldest uncle, and, of course, in de- 
 fault of his descendants, the crown would go 
 back to him. This was one reason, perhaps, 
 why he had opposed Henry's marriage. 
 
 So long, therefore, as Henry remained un- 
 married, it was for Gloucester's interest to main- 
 tain the rights of his branch of the family that 
 is, the Lancaster line against the claims of the 
 house of York. But in case Henry should 
 have children, then he would be cut off from 
 the succession on the Lancaster side, and then 
 it might be for his interest to espouse the cause 
 of the house of York, provided he could make 
 better terms in respect to his own position and 
 the rewards which he was to receive for his 
 services on that side than on the other. 
 
 Now Henry was married, and, moreover, it 
 had long been evident to Gloucester that his 
 own influence was fast declining. The scene in 
 the king's cabinet, when Somerset brought those
 
 1447.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 167 
 
 Gloucester alarmed. Calling of Parliament. Bury St. Edmund's. 
 
 charges against him, must have greatly increased 
 his fears in respect to the continuance of his 
 power under Henry's government. Still, if it 
 was true that he was contemplating making 
 common cause with the Duke of York, he had 
 not yet so far matured his plans as to make any 
 open change in his course of conduct. 
 
 Accordingly, when the plan of calling a Par- 
 liament was determined by the king and Mar- 
 garet, every effort was made to keep it a secret 
 from the public that the case of Gloucester was 
 to be brought before it. It was summoned on 
 other pretexts. The place of meeting was not, 
 as usual, at London, for Gloucester was so great 
 a favorite with the people of London that it 
 was thought that, if it were to be attempted tc 
 arrest him there, he would certainly resist ana 
 attempt to raise an insurrection. 
 
 The Parliament was accordingly summoned 
 to meet at Bury St. Edmund's a town situated 
 about fifty or sixty miles to the northeast of 
 London, where there was a celebrated abbey.* 
 The English Parliament was in those days, as 
 it is, in fact, in theory now, nothing more nor 
 less than a convocation of the leading person- 
 ages of the realm, called by the king, in order 
 that they might give the monarch their counsel 
 * See map.
 
 168 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1447. 
 
 The abbey. The duke arrested. 
 
 or aid in any emergency that might arise, and 
 he could call them to attend him at any place 
 within the kingdom that he chose to designate. 
 
 While thus, by summoning Parliament to 
 meet at Bury St. Edmund's, the queen's par- 
 ty placed themselves beyond the reach of the 
 friends and adherents of Gloucester, who were 
 very numerous in and around the capital, they 
 took care to have a strong force there on their 
 own side, ready to do whatever might be re- 
 quired of them. 
 
 When the appointed day arrived the Parlia- 
 ment assembled. It met in the abbey. The 
 great dining-hall of the abbey, or the refectory, 
 as it vas called, the room in which the monks 
 were accustomed to take their meals, was fitted 
 up for their reception. On the first day some 
 ordinary business was transacted, and on the 
 second, suddenly, and without any previous 
 warning, the duke was arrested by the public 
 officer, who was attended and aided in this serv 
 ice by a strong force, and immediately taken 
 away to the Tower. 
 
 This event, of course, produced great excite- 
 ment. The news of it spread rapidly through- 
 out the kingdom, and it awakened universal 
 astonishment and alarm. 
 
 It was expected that charges would be im-
 
 1447.] THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER. 169 
 
 Discontents of the people. 
 
 mediately brought against him, and that he 
 would be at once arraigned for trial. But the 
 excitement which the affair had created was in- 
 creased to a ten -fold degree by the tidings which 
 were circulated a few days afterward that he 
 was dead. The story was that he was found 
 dead one morning in his prison. People, how- 
 ever, were slow to believe this statement. They 
 thought that he had been poisoned, or put to 
 death in some other violent manner. The offi- 
 cers of the government declared that it was not 
 so ; and, in order to convince the people that 
 the duke had died a natural death, they caused 
 the body to be exposed to public view for sev- 
 eral days before they allowed it to be interred, 
 in order that all might see that it bore no 
 marks of violence. 
 
 The people were, however, not satisfied. 
 They thought that there were many ways by 
 which death might be produced without leav- 
 ing any outward indications of violence upon 
 the person. They persisted in believing that 
 their favorite had been murdered. 
 
 One account which was given of the mode 
 of death was that Somerset went to visit him 
 in his prison in the Tower, in order to see 
 whether he could not come to some terms with 
 him. but that Gloucester rejected his advances
 
 170 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449. 
 
 Supposed mode of his death. 
 
 with so much pride and scorn that a furious al- 
 tercation arose, in the course of which Somer- 
 set, with the assistance of men whom he had 
 brought with him, strangled or suffocated the 
 unhappy prisoner on his couch, and then, after 
 arranging his limbs and closing his eyes, so as 
 to give him the appearance of being in a state 
 of slumber, his murderers went away and left 
 him, to be found in that condition by the jailer 
 when he should come to bring him his food.
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 171 
 
 Two years pass away. Suspicious of the people. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 
 
 AFTER the death of the Duke of Glouces- 
 ter, Queen Margaret was plunged in a 
 perfect sea of plots, schemes, manoeuvres, and 
 machinations of all sorts, which it would take 
 a volume fully to unravel. This state of things 
 continued for two years, during which time she 
 became more and more involved in the difficul- 
 ties and complications which surrounded her, 
 until at last she found herself in very serious 
 trouble. I can only here briefly allude to the 
 more prominent sources of her perplexity. 
 
 In the first place, the people of England were 
 very seriously displeased at the treatment which 
 Gloucester had received. They would not be- 
 lieve that he died a natural death, and the im- 
 pression gained ground very generally that the 
 queen was the cause of his being murdered. 
 They did not suppose that she literally ordered 
 him to be put to death, but that she gave hints 
 or intimations, as royal personages were accus- 
 tomed to do in such cases in those days, on 
 which some zealous and unscrupulous followei
 
 172 MARGARET OF ANJOTJ. [1449. 
 
 Their hearts alienated. Reverses in France. Feeling in England. 
 
 ventured to act, certain of pleasing her. As 
 Gloucester had been a general favorite with 
 the nation, these rumors and suspicions tended 
 greatly to alienate the hearts of the people 
 from the queen. Many began to hate her. 
 They called her the French woman, and vented 
 their ill-will in obscure threats and mutterings. 
 This feeling of hostility to the queen was in- 
 creased by the very unfortunate turn that things 
 were taking in France about this time. The 
 provinces of Maine and Anjou lay directly to 
 the south of Normandy,* which last was the 
 most valuable of the possessions which the En- 
 glish crown held in France, and these two prov- 
 inces had been given up to the French at the 
 time of Margaret's marriage. It was only on 
 condition that the English would give them up 
 that Lord Suffolk could induce Margaret's fa- 
 ther to consent to the match. Suffolk was ex- 
 tremely unwilling to surrender these provinces. 
 He knew that the English nobles and people 
 would be very much dissatisfied as soon as 
 they learned that it was done, and he feared 
 that he might at some future day be called to 
 account for having been concerned in the trans- 
 action. But the king was so deeply in love 
 with Margaret that he insisted on Suffolk's 
 
 * See map at the commencement of the volume.
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 173 
 
 York regent in France. Somerset. Suffolk's intentions. 
 
 complying with the terms which were exacted 
 by her friends, and the provinces were ceded. 
 
 The Duke of York was regent in France at 
 that time, but Margaret felt some uneasiness in 
 respect to his position there. He was the rep- 
 resentative and heir of the rival line ; and while 
 it was for her interest to give him prominence 
 enough under Henry's government to prevent 
 his growing discontented and desperate, it was 
 not good policy to exalt him to too high a po- 
 sition. She was accordingly somewhat at a 
 loss to decide what to do. 
 
 Soon after the death of Gloucester, Somerset, 
 finding that he was an object of suspicion, felt 
 himself to be in danger, and he proposed to 
 Margaret that he should retire into Normandy 
 for a time. Margaret suggested that he should 
 take the regency of Normandy in the Duke of 
 York's stead. To this he finally consented. 
 The Duke of York was recalled, and Somerset 
 went to take command of Normandy in his 
 stead. 
 
 At the time that Suffolk negotiated the mar- 
 riage contract between Henry and Margaret, a 
 truce had been made with the King of France, 
 as has already been stated. Suffolk intended 
 and hoped to conclude a permanent peace, but 
 he could not succeed in accomplishing this.
 
 174 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449. 
 
 Expoeed frontier. Pretext for wae. 
 
 The King of France, as soon as the marriage 
 was fairly carried into effect, seemed bent on 
 renewing hostilities, and as he had now the 
 territories of Maine and Anjou in his posses- 
 sion, with all the castles and fortresses which 
 those provinces contained, he could advance to 
 the frontiers of Normandy on that side with 
 great facility, and organize expeditions for in- 
 vading the country in the most effective man- 
 ner. 
 
 He now only wanted a pretext, and a pre- 
 text in such cases is always soon found. A 
 certain company of soldiers, who had been dis- 
 missed from some place in Maine in consequence 
 of the cession of that province to France, instead 
 of going across the frontier into Normandy to 
 join the English forces there, as they ought to 
 have done, went into Brittany, another French 
 province near, and there organized themselves 
 into a sort of band of robbers, and committed 
 acts of plunder. The King of France com- 
 plained of this to Somerset, for this was after 
 Somerset had assumed the command as regent, 
 or governor of Normandy. Somerset admitted 
 the facts, and proposed to pay damages. The 
 king named a sum so great that Somerset could 
 not or would not pay it, and so war was again 
 declared.
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 177 
 
 Invasion of Normandy. Normandy lost. Rage of the English people. 
 
 In consequence of the advantages which the 
 King of France enjoyed in having possession 
 of Maine, he could organize his invading army 
 in a very effective manner. He crossed the 
 frontier in great force, and after taking a num- 
 ber of towns and castles, and defeating the En- 
 glish army in several battles, he at last drove 
 Somerset into Rouen, the capital of the province 
 a very ancient and remarkable town and 
 shut him up there. 
 
 After a short siege Rouen was compelled to 
 capitulate, and, besides giving up Rouen, Som- 
 erset was obliged to surrender several other 
 important castles and towns in order to obtain 
 his own liberty. 
 
 Things went on in this way during the year 
 1449, from bad to worse, until finally the whole 
 of Normandy was lost. The town of Cherbourg, 
 which has lately become so renowned on ac- 
 count of the immense naval and military works 
 which have been constructed there, was the 
 last retreat and refuge of the English, and even 
 from this they were finally expelled. 
 
 The people of England were in a great rage. 
 The principal object of their resentment was 
 Lord Suffolk, who was now the first minister 
 and the acknowledged head of the govern- 
 ment. During the progress of the difficulties 
 20-12
 
 178 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449. 
 
 The minister responsible. Suffolk in danger. 
 
 with Gloucester, Margaret had kept him a great 
 deal in the background, in order that the pub- 
 lic might not associate him with those transac- 
 tions, nor hold him in any way responsible for 
 them, though there was no doubt that he was 
 the queen's confidential friend and counselor 
 through the whole. After the death of Glou- 
 cester he had been gradually brought forward, 
 and he had now, for some time, been the ac- 
 knowledged minister of the crown, and as such 
 responsible, according to the theory of the Brit- 
 ish Constitution and to the ideas of English- 
 men, for every thing that was done, and espe- 
 cially for every thing like misfortune and dis- 
 aster which occurred. 
 
 There was, of course, a great outcry raised 
 against Suffolk, and also, more covertly, against 
 the queen, who had brought Suffolk into pow- 
 er. All the mischief originated, too, people 
 said, in the luckless marriage of Margaret to 
 the king, and the cession of Maine and Anjou 
 to the French as the price of it. The French 
 would never have been able to have penetra- 
 ted into Normandy had it not been for the ad- 
 vantage they gained in the possession of those 
 provinces on the frontier. 
 
 There were still large possessions held by 
 the English in the southwestern part of France
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 181 
 
 Guienne. Bordeaux lost. Excitement in England. 
 
 on the Garonne. The capital of this territory, 
 which was the celebrated province of Guienne, 
 was Bordeaux,* a large and important city in 
 those days as now. It stands on the bank of 
 the river where it begins to widen toward the 
 sea, and thus it was accessible to the English in 
 their ships as well as when coming with their 
 armies by land. It was a place of great strength 
 as well as of commanding position, being pro- 
 vided with castles and towers to defend it from 
 the landward side, and thick walls and power- 
 ful batteries along the margin of the water. 
 
 Suffolk did all '"" his power to raise and send 
 off re-enforcements to the army in Guienne, but 
 it was in vain. The English were driven out 
 of one town and castle after another, until, at 
 last, Bordeaux itself fell, and all was lost. 
 
 The resentment and rage of the people of 
 England now knew no bounds. Suffolk was 
 universally denounced as the author of all these 
 dire calamities. Lampoons and satires were 
 written against him ; he was hooted sometimes 
 by the populace of London when he appeared 
 in the streets, and every thing portended a 
 gathering storm. At length, in the fall of 1449, 
 a Parliament was summoned. When it was 
 convened, Suffolk appeared in the House of 
 
 * See map.
 
 182 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449. 
 
 Braving the storm. Accusations made. An impeachment. 
 
 Lords as usual, and, rising in his place, he call- 
 ed the attention of the peers to the angry and 
 vindictive denunciations which were daily heap- 
 ed upon him by the public, declaring that he 
 was wholly ignorant of the crimes which were 
 laid to his charge, and challenging his enemies 
 to bring forward any proof to sustain their ac 
 cusations. 
 
 A spirit of bold defiance like this might hare 
 been successful in some cases, perhaps, in driv- 
 ing back the tide of hostility and hate which 
 was rising so rapidly, but in this instance it 
 seemed to have the contrary effect. The ene- 
 mies of Suffolk in the House of Commons took 
 up the challenge at once. They were strong 
 enough to carry the house with them. They 
 passed an address to the peers, requesting them 
 to cause Suffolk to be arrested and imprisoned. 
 They would, they said, immediately bring for- 
 ward the proofs of his guilt. 
 
 The Lords replied that they could not arrest 
 and imprison one of their number except upon 
 specific charges made against him. Where 
 upon the Commons very promptly prepared a 
 list of charges and sent them to the Lords. On 
 this accusation the Lords ordered Suffolk to be 
 arrested, and he was sent to the Tower. 
 
 During the two months that succeeded his
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 183 
 
 Suffolk in the Tower. He ia arraigned. 
 
 arrest his enemies were busily engaged in pre- 
 paring the bill of impeachment against him in 
 form, and collecting the evidence by which 
 they were to sustain it, while the queen was 
 equally earnest and anxious in the work of 
 contriving means to save him. She visited him 
 secretly, it is said, in his prison, and conferred 
 with him on the plan to be pursued. They 
 seem to have been both convinced that it was 
 impossible for him to remain in England and 
 ride out the storm. The only course of safety 
 would be for him to leave the country for a 
 while, provided the means could be devised for 
 getting him away. What the plan was which 
 they agreed upon for accomplishing this pur- 
 pose will appear in the sequel. 
 
 At length, on the thirteenth of March, he 
 was summoned before the House of Lords, and 
 the bill of impeachment was brought forward. 
 There were a great many charges, beginning 
 with that of having wickedly and with corrupt 
 motives surrendered, and so lost forever to the 
 crown, the provinces of Maine and Anjou, and 
 going on to numerous accusations of malfeas- 
 ance in office, of encroachments on the prerog- 
 atives of the king, and of acts in which the in- 
 terest and honor of the country had been sacri- 
 ficed to his own personal ambition or private
 
 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449, 
 
 Suffolk's defense, lie appeals to the king. Sentence of banishment; 
 
 ends. Suffolk defended himself in a general 
 speech, without, however, demanding, as he 
 was entitled to do, a formal trial by his peers. 
 These proceedings occupied several days aa 
 long as any lingering hope remained in Suf- 
 folk's mind of his being able to stem the tor- 
 rent. At length, however, on the seventeenth 
 of March, finding that the pressure against him 
 was continually increasing, and that there would 
 be no chance of an acquittal if he were to claim 
 a trial, he appealed to the king to decide his 
 case, saying that, though he was entirely inno- 
 cent of the crimes charged against him, he 
 would submit himself entirely to his majesty's 
 will. 
 
 In response to this appeal, the king declared, 
 through the proper officer, in the House of 
 Lords, that he would not decide upon the ques- 
 tion of the guilt or innocence of the accused, 
 since he had not demanded a trial, but he 
 thought it best, under all the circumstances of 
 the case, that Suffolk should leave the country. 
 He therefore issued a decree of banishment 
 against him for five years. He was required 
 to leave England before the first of May, and 
 not to put his foot upon any English soil until 
 the five years were expired. 
 
 The Lords were much displeased at having
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 185 
 
 The people enraged. A riot. Suffolk escapes by sea. 
 
 the affair thus taken out of their hands. They 
 made a formal protest against this decision, but 
 they could do nothing more. The people, too, 
 were very much enraged. They declared that 
 Suffolk should never leave London alive ; and 
 on the day when they expected that he was to 
 be taken from the Tower to be conveyed to 
 France, a mob of two thousand men collected 
 in the streets, resolved to kill him. 
 
 But the queen devised means for enabling 
 him to evade them. Some of his servants and 
 followers were seized, but he succeeded in mak- 
 ing his escape, and, after going to his castle in 
 the country, and making some hurried arrange- 
 ments there, he went down to the sea-coast at 
 Ipswich, a town in the eastern part of the isl- 
 and, and there embarked for France in a vessel 
 which the queen had taken the precaution to 
 have ready there for him. 
 
 The vessel immediately sailed, steering to the 
 southward, of course, toward the Straits of Do- 
 ver. As she was passing through the Straits, 
 between Dover and Calais, a man-of-war named 
 the Nicholas of the Tower, hove in sight, com- 
 ing up to the vessel just as they were sending 
 a boat on shore at Calais to inquire whether 
 Suffolk would be allowed to land there. The 
 boat was intercepted. At the same time, a boat
 
 186 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1449. 
 
 Suffolk made prisoner again. His execution in a boat 
 
 from the man-of-war came on board the vessel, 
 bringing officers who were instructed to search 
 her thoroughly. Of course, they found Suffolk 
 on board, and the officer, as soon as Suffolk was 
 discovered, informed him that he must go with 
 him on board the man-of-war. 
 
 Suffolk had no alternative but to obey. The 
 captain of the man-of-war received him, as he 
 stepped upon the deck, with the words, I am 
 glad to see you, traitor, or something to that 
 effect. Such a salutation must have plainly in- 
 dicated to Suffolk what was before him. The 
 man-of-war moved toward the English shore, 
 and began to make signals to some parties on 
 the land. She remained there for two days, 
 exchanging signals in this way from time to 
 time, and apparently awaiting orders. 
 
 At length, on the third day, a boat came off 
 from the shore, provided with every thing that 
 was necessary for the execution of a criminal. 
 There was a platform with a block upon it, an 
 axe, or cleaver of some sort, and an execution- 
 er. Suffolk was conveyed on board the boat, 
 and there, with very little ceremony, his head 
 was laid upon the block, and the executioner 
 immediately commenced his task of severing it 
 from the body. But, either from the unsteadi- 
 ness of the boat, or the unsuitableness of the in-
 
 1449.] THE FALL OF SUFFOLK. 187 
 
 Disposal of the body. 
 
 strument, or the clumsiness of the operator, five 
 several blows were required before the bloody 
 deed was done. 
 
 The boat immediately proceeded to the shore. 
 The men on board threw out the dissevered re- 
 mains upon the beach, and then went away. 
 
 Some friends of Suffolk, hearing what had 
 been done, came down to the beach, and, find- 
 ing the separate portions of the body lying in 
 the sand where they had been thrown, placed 
 them reverently together again, and gave them 
 honorable burial.
 
 188 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1453. 
 
 Margaret in great trouble. The policy in respect to the Duke of York, 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 BIRTH OF A PRINCE. 
 
 AFTEE the death of Suffolk the queen was 
 plunged into a sea of anxious perplexities 
 and troubles, which continued to disturb the 
 kingdom and to agitate her mind, until at 
 length, in 1453, eight or nine years after her 
 marriage, she gave birth to a son. This event, 
 strange as it may seem, aggravated the diffi- 
 culties of her situation in a ten-fold degree. 
 
 The reason why the birth of her child in- 
 creased her troubles was this. It has already 
 been said that the Duke of York claimed to be 
 the rightful sovereign of England on account 
 of being descended from an older branch of the 
 royal family ; but that, since Henry was estab- 
 lished upon the throne, he was inclined to make 
 no attempt to assert his claims so long as it was 
 understood that he was to receive the kingdom 
 at Henry's death. In order to keep him con- 
 tented in this position, it had been Margaret's 
 policy to treat him with great consideration, 
 and to bestow upon him high honors, but, at 
 the same tune, to watch him very closely, and
 
 1453.] BIRTH OF A PRINCE. 189 
 
 Somerset's return to England. The people willing to wait. 
 
 to avoid conferring upon him any such sub- 
 stantial power within the realm of England 
 as would enable him to attempt to seize the 
 throne. She accordingly gave him the regen- 
 cy of France, and afterward, when she recalled 
 him from that country in order to send Somer- 
 set there, she sent him to Ireland. 
 
 After the death of Suffolk, Somerset came 
 home from France. Indeed, he was on his way 
 home at the very time that Suffolk was killed, 
 the English possessions there having been al- 
 most entirely lost. As soon as he returned, the 
 queen received him into high favor at court, 
 and soon made him the chief minister of the 
 crown. The people of the country were dis- 
 pleased at this, and soon showed marks of great 
 discontent. They would very likely have risen 
 in open rebellion had it not been that Henry's 
 health was so feeble, and the probability was 
 so great that he would die without issue in 
 which case the crown would devolve peaceful- 
 ly to the Duke of York and his heirs. 
 
 " Let us wait," said they, " for a short time, 
 and it will all come right. It is better to bear 
 the evils of this state of things a little longer 
 than to plunge the country into the horrors of 
 civil war in attempting to change the dynasty 
 by force before Henry dies."
 
 190 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1453. 
 
 Two partiae formed. The nobles. The two leaden. 
 
 In the mean time, however, although this 
 was so far the prevailing public sentiment as 
 to prevent an actual outbreak, it did not by 
 any means save the community from being un- 
 necessarily agitated by anxieties and fears lest 
 an outbreak should take place, nor did it pre- 
 vent innumerable plots and conspiracies being 
 formed tending to produce one. The country 
 was divided into two great parties those that 
 favored the Duke of York and his dynasty, and 
 those who adhered to the house of Lancaster. 
 The nobles took sides in the quarrel, some 
 openly and others in secret. As these nobles 
 were continually moving to and fro from one 
 castle to another, or between the country and 
 London, at the head of armed bodies of mei? 
 more or less formidable, no one could tell what 
 plans were being formed, or how soon an ex- 
 plosion might occur. The Duke of York was, 
 of course, the head and leader of one side, and 
 the Duke of Somerset, as the confidential coun- 
 selor and minister of Henry and the queen, was 
 the most prominent on the other side, and each 
 of these great leaders regarded the other with 
 feelings of mortal enmity. 
 
 This state of things kept both the king and 
 queen in continual anxiety. The queen began 
 to find that, by her manceuvrings and manage-
 
 1453.] BIRTH OF A PRINCE. 193 
 
 The Duke of York comes to England. The roses. 
 
 ment, she had involved herself in difficulties 
 that were beyond her control, and the poor 
 king was so harassed by his troubles and per- 
 plexities that his health, and, at last, his mind, 
 began to suffer severely. 
 
 At length the Duke of York, without per- 
 mission from the government, crossed the Chan- 
 nel from Ireland and landed in England. He 
 soon collected a large armed force, and began 
 to move across the country toward London. 
 The government were much alarmed. He pro- 
 fessed not to have any hostile object in view, 
 and declared that he still acknowledged his al- 
 legiance to the Lancaster line ; but there were 
 no means of being sure that this was not a mere 
 pretext, and that he might not, at any time, 
 throw off his mask and rise in open rebellion. 
 
 It was about this time that the famous sym- 
 bols of the red and the white rose were chosen 
 as the badges of the houses respectively of 
 York and Lancaster, as has already been men- 
 tioned. The story goes that at a certain time, 
 while several nobles and persons of the court 
 were walking in what is called the Temple 
 Garden, a piece of open and ornamental ground 
 on the bank of the river in London, Somerset 
 and Warwick, who were on different sides in 
 this quarrel, gathered, the one a white, and the 
 
 2(> 13
 
 194 MARGARET OF ANJOTT. [1453. 
 
 Origin of these symbols. An expedition. Anxiety of the Ung 
 
 other a red rose, and proposed to the rest of 
 the company to pluck roses too, each accord- 
 ing to his own feelings and opinions. From 
 this beginning the two colors became the per- 
 manent badge of the two lines, so much so that 
 artificial roses of red and white were manufac- 
 tured in great numbers at last, to supply the 
 soldiers of the respective armies. 
 
 But to return to the Duke of York. When 
 it was found that he was advancing toward 
 London, Somerset urged the king to put him- 
 self at the head of a body of troops and go out 
 to meet him, and call him to account for his 
 proceedings. The king did so, the queen ac- 
 companying the expedition. She was very 
 anxious, and felt much alarmed for the safety 
 of the king. After various marchings and 
 manceuvrings, the two armies came near each 
 other in the county of Kent, to the southeast- 
 ward of London. King Henry, who was emi- 
 nently a man of peace, being possessed of nc 
 warlike qualities whatever, and being extreme- 
 ly averse to the shedding of blood, instead of 
 attacking the Duke of York, sent a messenger 
 to him to know what his intentions were in 
 coming into the country at the head of such a 
 force, and what he desired. 
 
 The duke replied that he had no designs
 
 1453.] BIRTH OF A PRINCE. 195 
 
 Professions. An appointment. Somerset concealed. 
 
 against the king, but only against the traitor 
 Somerset, and he said that if the king would 
 order Somerset to be arrested and brought to 
 trial, he should be satisfied, and would disband 
 his forces. 
 
 The king, on receiving this message, was 
 much troubled and perplexed, but at length 
 he concluded, under the advice of some of his 
 counselors, to comply with this demand. He 
 caused Somerset to be arrested, and notified 
 the Duke of York that he had done so. The 
 Duke of York then disbanded his army, or at 
 least sent the troops away, and made an ap- 
 pointment to come unattended and visit the 
 king in his tent, with a view to conferring with 
 him on the terms and conditions of a perma- 
 nent reconciliation. 
 
 This interview resulted in a very extraordi- 
 nary scene. It seems that the queen had con- 
 trived the means of secretly releasing Somerset 
 after his arrest, and bringing him by stealth to 
 the king's pavilion, and concealing him there 
 behind the arras at the time the Duke of York 
 was to be admitted, in order that he, Somerset, 
 might be a witness of the interview. While 
 he was thus secreted, the Duke of York came 
 in. He commenced his conference with the 
 king by repeating earnestly what he said be-
 
 196 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1453. 
 
 Scene in the tent. Fierce altercation. The Duke of York imprisoned. 
 
 fore, namely, that he had not been actuated in 
 what he had done by any feeling of hostility 
 against the king, but only against Somerset. 
 His sole object in taking up arms, he said, was 
 that that arch traitor might be brought to pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 On hearing these words. Somerset could con- 
 tain himself no longer, but, to the astonish- 
 ment of the Duke of York and to the utter 
 consternation of the king, he rushed out from 
 his hiding-place, and began to assail the duke 
 with the most violent reproaches, alleging that 
 his pretensions of friendship for Henry were 
 false, and that the real design of his movements 
 was to usurp the throne. The duke retorted 
 with equally fierce denunciations and threats. 
 During the continuance of this altercation, the 
 king remained stupefied and speechless, and at 
 length, when the duke retired, officers were 
 ready at the door to arrest him, having been 
 stationed there by the queen. 
 
 He was held a prisoner, however, but a short 
 time, for his son, who afterward became Edward 
 IV., immediately commenced raising an army 
 to come and release him. It was considered, 
 for other reasons, dangerous to attempt to hold 
 Buch a man in durance, since probably more 
 than half the kingdom were on his side. So
 
 1453.] BIRTH OF A PRINCE. 197 
 
 Released. Birth of the prince. Question of the succession. 
 
 he was offered his liberty on condition that he 
 would take the new and solemn oath of fealty 
 to the king. 
 
 This he consented to do, and the oath was 
 taken with great ceremony in St. Paul's Cathe- 
 dral, and then he was dismissed. He went off 
 to one of his castles in the country, muttering 
 deep and earnest threats of vengeance. 
 
 It was about a year after this that Margaret's 
 babe was born. It was a son. 
 
 Of course, the birth of this child immensely 
 increased the difficulties and dangers in which 
 the kingdom was involved, for it seemed to ex- 
 tinguish the hope that the quarrel would be set- 
 tled by the York family succeeding peaceably 
 to the crown on the death of Henry. Now, at 
 length, there was an heir to the Lancastrian line. 
 Of course Margaret, and all those who were con- 
 nected with the Lancastrian line, either by blood 
 or political partisanship, would resolve to sup- 
 port the rights of this heir. On the other hand, 
 it was not to be supposed that the Duke of York 
 would relinquish his claims, and he would no 
 longer have any inducement to postpone assert- 
 ing them. Thus the birth of the young prince 
 was the occasion of plunging the country in 
 new and more feverish excitement than ever. 
 Plots and counter-plots, conspiracies and coun-
 
 198 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1453. 
 
 New difficulties. Prince of Wales. 
 
 ter-conspiracies, were the order of the day. Ev- 
 ery body was taking sides, or, at least, making 
 arrangements for taking sides, as soon as the 
 outbreak should occur. And no one knew how 
 soon this would be. 
 
 The child was born on a certain religious 
 holiday called St. Edward's day, and so they 
 named him Edward. In a few months after his 
 birth he was made Prince of Wales, and it is 
 by this title only that he is known in hiatory, 
 for he never became king.
 
 1453.] ILLNESS OF THE KING. 199 
 
 Strange reverses. The king's insanity. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 ILLNESS OF THE KING. 
 
 THE circumstances of poor Margaret's case 
 seem to have reversed all ordinary condi- 
 tions of domestic happiness. The birth of her 
 son placed her in a condition of extreme and 
 terrible danger, while the immediate bursting 
 of the storm was averted, and the sufferings 
 which she was in the end called upon to endure 
 in consequence of it were postponed for a time 
 by what would, in ordinary circumstances, be 
 the worst possible of calamities, the insanity of 
 her husband. Happy as a queen, says the prov- 
 erb, but what a mockery of happiness is this, 
 when the birth of a child is a great domestic ca- 
 lamity, the evils of which were only in part 
 averted, or rather postponed, by an unexpected 
 blessing in the shape of the insanity of the hus- 
 band and father. 
 
 Henry's health had been gradually declining 
 during many months before the little Edward 
 was born. The cares and anxieties of his situ- 
 ation, which often became so extreme as to de- 
 prive him of all rest and sleep, became, at
 
 200 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1453. 
 
 His condition concealed. Margaret's policy. Death of the archbishop. 
 
 length, too heavy for him to bear, and his fee- 
 ble intellect, in the end, broke down under them 
 entirely. The queen did all in her power to 
 conceal his condition from the people, and even 
 from the court. It was comparatively easy to 
 do this, for the derangement was not at all vi- 
 olent in its form. It was a sort of lethargy, a 
 total failure of the mental powers and almost of 
 consciousness more like idiocy than mania. 
 The queen removed him to Windsor, and there 
 kept him closely shut up, admitting that he 
 was sick, but concealing his true situation so far 
 as was in her power, and, in the mean time, car- 
 rying on the government in his name, with the 
 aid of Somerset and other great officers of stat^ 
 whom she admitted into her confidence. Par- 
 liament and the public were very uneasy under 
 this state of things. The Duke of York was 
 laying his plans, and every one was anxious to 
 know what was coming. But Margaret would 
 allow nobody to enter the king's chamber, un- 
 der any pretext whatever, except those who 
 were in her confidence, and entirely under her 
 orders. 
 
 At length, about two months after Edward 
 was born, the highest dignitary of the Church, 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury, died. This 
 event, according to the ancient usages of the
 
 1454.] ILLNESS OF THE KING. 201 
 
 A deputation. The duke's policy. The duke made regent 
 
 realm, gave the House of Lords the right to 
 send a deputation to the king to condole with 
 him, and to ascertain his wishes in respect to 
 the measures to be adopted on the occasion. 
 
 This committee accordingly proceeded to 
 Windsor, and coming, as they did, under the 
 authority of ancient custom, which in England, 
 in those days, had even more than the force 
 of law, they could not be refused admission. 
 They found the king lying helpless and uncon- 
 scious, and they could not obtain from him any 
 answer to what they said to him, or any sign 
 that the slightest spark of intelligence remained 
 in his mind. 
 
 The committee reported these facts to the 
 House of Lords. Finding how serious the 
 king's illness was, the party of the Duke of 
 York concluded to wait a little longer. There 
 was a great probability that the king would 
 soon die. The life, too, of the infant son was of 
 course very precarious. He might not survive 
 the dangers of infancy, and in that case the 
 Duke of York would succeed to the throne at 
 once without any struggle. So a sort of com- 
 promise was effected. Parliament appointed 
 the Duke of York protector and defender of 
 the king during his illness, or until such time 
 as Edward, the young prince, should arrive
 
 202 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454. 
 
 The duke's hopes. Margaret dissatisfied. 
 
 at the proper age for undertaking the govern- 
 ment. It was at this time that young Edward 
 was made Prince of Wales. The conferring 
 of this title upon him was confirmed by both 
 houses of Parliament. They thus solemnly de- 
 creed that, though the Duke of York was to 
 exercise the government during the sickness 
 of the king and the minority of Edward, still 
 the kingdom was to be reserved for Edward 
 as the rightful heir, and he was to be put into 
 possession of the sovereign power, either as re- 
 gent in case his father should continue to live 
 until that time, or as king if, in the interim, 
 he should die. 
 
 The Duke of York and his friends acceded 
 to this arrangement, in hopes that the prince 
 never would arrive at years of discretion, but 
 that, before many years, and perhaps before 
 many months, both father and son would die. 
 He thought it better, at any rate, to wait qui- 
 etly for a time, especially as, during the period 
 of this waiting, he was put in possession sub- 
 stantially of the supreme power. 
 
 Queen Margaret herself was extremely dis- 
 satisfied with the arrangement by which the 
 Duke of York was made regent, since it of 
 course deprived her of all her power. But she 
 could do nothing to prevent it. Besides, her
 
 1454.] ILLNESS OF THE KING. 203 
 
 Her condition. She concludes to submit 
 
 mind was so filled with the maternal feelings 
 and affections which her situation inspired and 
 with the care of the infant child, that she had 
 for a time no heart for political contention. 
 
 Then, moreover, the Parliament, at the same 
 time that they made the Duke of York regent, 
 and thus virtually deprived the queen of her 
 power, settled upon her an ample annuity, by 
 means of which she would be enabled to live, 
 with her son, in a state becoming her rank and 
 her ambition. One motive, doubtless, which 
 led them to do this was to induce her to acqui- 
 esce in this change, and remain quiet in the po- 
 sition in which they thus placed her. 
 
 In addition to the liberal supplies which the 
 Parliament granted to the queen, they made 
 ample provision for maintaining the dignity 
 and providing for the education of the young 
 prince. Among other things, a commission of 
 five physicians was appointed to watch over 
 his health. 
 
 Margaret was the more easily persuaded to 
 acquiesce in these arrangements from believ- 
 ing, as she did, that the state of things to which 
 they gave rise would be of short duration. She 
 fully believed that her husband would recover, 
 and then the regency of the Dulre of York 
 would cease, and the kiner that is, the kin& in
 
 204 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454 
 
 The queen's establishment at Greenwich . Her care of Henry. 
 
 name, but she herself in reality would come 
 into power again. So she determined to bide 
 her time. 
 
 She accordingly retired from London, and 
 set up an establishment of her own in her pal- 
 ace at Greenwich, where she held her court, 
 and lived in a style of grandeur and ceremony 
 such as would have been proper if she had 
 been a reigning queen. Her old favorite, too, 
 Somerset, was at first one of the principal per- 
 sonages of her court ; but one of the first acts 
 of the Duke of York's regency was to issue a 
 warrant of arrest against him. The officers, in 
 executing this warrant, seized him in the very 
 presence-chamber of the queen. Margaret was 
 extremely incensed at this deed. She declared 
 that it was not only an act of political hostility, 
 but an insult. She was, however, entirely help- 
 less. The Duke of York had the power now, 
 and she was compelled to submit. 
 
 But she was not required to remain long in 
 this humiliating position. She procured the 
 best possible medical advice and attendance for 
 her husband, and devoted herself to him with 
 the utmost assiduity, and, at length, she had the 
 satisfaction of seeing that he was beginning to 
 amend. The improvement commenced in No- 
 vember, about eight or ten months after he first
 
 1454.] ILLNESS OF THE KING. 205 
 
 Recovery. The prince shown to him. Marks of returning consciousness. 
 
 fell into the state of unconsciousness. When 
 at length he came to himself, it seemed to him, 
 he said, as if he was awaking from a long dream. 
 
 Margaret was overjoyed to see these signs of 
 returning intelligence. She longed for the time 
 to come when she could show the king her boy. 
 He had thus far never seen the child. 
 
 We obtain a pretty clear idea of the state of 
 imbecility or unconsciousness in which he had 
 been lying from the account of what he did 
 and said at the interview when the little prince 
 was first brought into his presence. It is as 
 follows : 
 
 " On Monday, at noon, the queen came to 
 him and brought my lord prince with her, and 
 then he asked ' what the prince's name was,' 
 and the queen told him ' Edward,' and then he 
 held up his hands, and thanked God thereof. 
 
 " And he said he never knew him till that 
 time, nor wist what was said to him, nor wist 
 where he had been, while he had been sick, 
 till now ; and he asked who were the godfa- 
 thers, and the queen told him, and he was well 
 content. 
 
 " And she told him the cardinal was dead,* 
 
 * The Archbishop of Canterbury, the circumstance of 
 whose death has already been referred to.
 
 206 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454 
 
 The king reinstated. 
 
 and he said he never knew of it till this time ; 
 then he said one of the wisest lords in this land 
 was dead. 
 
 " And my Lord of Winchester and my Lord 
 of St. John of Jerusalem were with him the 
 morrow after Twelfth day, and he did speak to 
 them as well as ever he did, and when they 
 came out they wept for joy. And he saith he 
 is in charity with all the world, and so he would 
 all the lords were. And now he saith matins 
 of our Lady and even-song, and heareth his mass 
 devoutly." 
 
 The very first moment that the king was 
 able to bear it, Margaret caused him to be con- 
 veyed into the House of Lords, there to resume 
 the exercise of his royal powers by taking his 
 place upon the throne and performing some 
 act of sovereignty. The regency was, of course, 
 now at an end, and the Duke of York, leaving 
 London, went off into the country in high dudg^ 
 eon. 
 
 The queen, of course, now came into power 
 again. The first thing that she did was to re- 
 lease Somerset from his confinement, and rein 
 state him as prime minister of the crown.
 
 1454.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 207 
 
 A great deal of trouble. Angry disputes. Insubordination. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 
 
 FOR about six years after this time, that is, 
 from the birth of Prince Edward till he 
 was six years old, and while Margaret was ad- 
 vancing from her twenty-fourth to her thirtieth 
 year, her life was one of continual anxiety, con- 
 tention, and alarm. The Duke of York and 
 his party made continual difficulty, and the 
 quarrel between him, and the Earl of Warwick, 
 and the other nobles who espoused his cause, 
 on one side, and the queen, supported by the 
 Duke of Somerset and other great Lancastrian 
 partisans on the other, kept the kingdom in a 
 constant ferment. Sometimes the force of the 
 quarrel "spent itself in intrigues, manoeuvres, 
 and plottings, or in fierce and angry debates in 
 Parliament, or in bitter animosities and conten- 
 tions in private and social life. At other times 
 it would break out into open war, and again 
 and again was Margaret compelled to leave her 
 child in the hands of nurses and guardians, 
 while she went with her poor helpless husband 
 to follow the camp, in order to meet and over-
 
 208 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454. 
 
 Modes of amusing the king. The singing boys. 
 
 come the military assemblages which the Duke 
 of York was continually bringing together at 
 his castles in the country or in the open fields. 
 
 The king's health during all this period was 
 BO frail, and his mind, especially at certain times, 
 was so feeble, that he was almost as helpless as 
 a child. There was an hereditary taint of in- 
 sanity in the family, which made his case still 
 more discouraging. 
 
 Queen Margaret took the greatest pains to 
 amuse him, and to provide employments for 
 him that would occupy his thoughts in a gentle 
 and soothing manner. When traveling about 
 the country, she employed minstrels to sing 
 and play to him ; and, in order to have a con- 
 stant supply of these performers provided, and 
 to have them well trained to their art, she sent 
 instructions to the sheriffs of the counties in all 
 parts of the kingdom, requiring them to seek 
 for all the beautiful boys that had good voices, 
 and to have them instructed in the art of mu- 
 sic, so that they might be ready, when called 
 upon, to perform before the king. In the mean 
 time they were to be paid good wages, and to 
 be considered already, while receiving their in- 
 struction, as acting under the charge and in the 
 service of the queen. 
 
 Margaret and the other friends of the king
 
 1454.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 20& 
 
 Pretended pilgrimages. The king comforted. One real pilgrimage. 
 
 used to contrive various other ways of amusing 
 and comforting his mind, some of which were 
 not very honest. One was, for example, to 
 have different nobles and gentlemen come to 
 him and ask his permission that they should 
 leave the kingdom to go and make pilgrimages 
 to various foreign shrines, in order to fulfill 
 vows and offer oblations and prayers for the 
 restoration of his majesty's health. The king 
 was of a very devout frame of mind, and his 
 thoughts were accustomed to dwell a great deal 
 on religious subjects, and especially on the per- 
 formance of the rites and ceremonies customa- 
 ry in those days, and it seemed to comfort him 
 very much to imagine that his friends were go- 
 ing to make such long pilgrimages to pray for 
 him. 
 
 So the nobles and other great personages 
 would ask his consent that they might go, and 
 would take solemn leave of him as if they were 
 really going, and then would keep out of sight 
 a little while, until the poor patient had forgot- 
 ten their request. 
 
 It is said, however, that one nobleman, the 
 Duke of Norfolk, who was so kind-hearted a 
 man that he went by the name of the Good 
 Duke, actually made the pilgrimage to Jerusa- 
 lem on this errand, and there offered up prayers 
 2014
 
 210 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454 
 
 The philosopher's stone. Promised treasures. Intervals of good health. 
 
 and supplications at the famous chapel of the 
 Holy Sepulchre for the restoration of his sover- 
 eign's health. 
 
 They used also to amuse and cheer the 
 king's mind by telling him, from time to time, 
 that he was going to be supplied with inex- 
 haustible treasures of wealth by the discovery 
 of the philosopher's stone. The philosopher's 
 stone was an imaginary substance which the 
 alchemists of those days were all the time at- 
 tempting to discover, by means of which lead 
 and iron, and all other metals, could be turned 
 to gold. There were royal laboratories, and 
 alchemists continually at work in them mak- 
 ing experiments, and the queen used to give 
 the king wonderful accounts of the progress 
 which they were making, and tell him that the 
 discovery was nearly completed, and that very 
 soon he would have in his exchequer just as 
 much money as his heart could desire. The 
 poor king fully believed all these stories, and 
 was extremely pleased and gratified to hear 
 them. 
 
 There were times during this interval when 
 the king was tolerably well, his malady being 
 somewhat periodical in its character. This was 
 the case particularly on one occasion, soon aft- 
 er his first recovery from the state of total in-
 
 1454.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 211 
 
 Restoration of Somerset. Armies marshaled. 
 
 sensibility which has been referred to. The 
 Duke of York, as has already been said, was 
 put very much out of humor by the king's re- 
 covery on this occasion, and by his own conse- 
 quent deposition from the office of regent, and 
 still more so when he found that the first act 
 which the queen performed on her recovery 
 of power was to release his hated enemy, Som- 
 erset, from the prison where he, the Duke of 
 York, had confined him, and make him prime 
 minister again. He very soon determined that 
 he would not submit to this indignity. He 
 assembled an army on the frontiers of Wales, 
 where some of his chief strong-holds were sit- 
 uated, and assumed an attitude of hostility so 
 defiant that the queen's government determined 
 to take the field to oppose him. 
 
 So they raised an army, and the Duke ol 
 Somerset, with the queen, taking the king with 
 them, set out from London and marched to- 
 ward the northwest. They stopped first at the 
 town of St. Alban's.* When they were about 
 to resume their march from St. Alban's, they 
 saw that the hills before them were covered 
 with bands of armed men, the forces of the 
 Duke of York, which he was leading on to- 
 ward the capital. Somerset's forces immediate- 
 * See map.
 
 212 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1454 
 
 Bt Alban's. The parley. Reply. Attack on the town. 
 
 ly returned to the town. Margaret, who was for 
 a time greatly distressed and perplexed to de- 
 cide between her duty toward her husband and 
 toward her child, finally concluded to* retire to 
 Greenwich with the little prince, and await 
 there the result of the battle, leaving the Duke 
 of Somerset to do the best he could with the 
 king. 
 
 Very soon a herald came from the Duke of 
 York to the gates of St. Alban's, and demanded 
 a parley. He said that the duke had not tak- 
 en arms against the king, but only against 
 Somerset. He professed great loyalty and af- 
 fection for Henry himself, and only wished to 
 save him from the dangerous counsels of a cor- 
 rupt and traitorous minister, and he said that 
 if the king would deliver up Somerset to him, 
 he would at once disband his armies, and the 
 difficulty would be all at an end. 
 
 The reply sent to this was that the king de- 
 clared that he would lose both his crown and 
 his life before he would deliver up either the 
 Duke of Somerset or even the meanest soldier 
 in his army to such a demand. 
 
 The Duke of York, on receiving this answer, 
 immediately advanced to attack the town. For 
 some time Henry's men defended the walls and 
 gates successfully against him, but at length
 
 1454.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 213 
 
 Terrible conflict. The king taken prisoner. The duke's deameauor. 
 
 the Earl of Warwick, who was the Duke of 
 York's principal confederate and supporter in 
 this movement, passed with a strong detach- 
 ment by another way round a hill, and through 
 some gardens, and thence, by breaking down 
 the wall which stood between the garden and 
 the town, he succeeded in getting in. A ter- 
 rible conflict then ensued in the streets and 
 narrow lanes of the city, and the attention of 
 the besieged being thus drawn off from the 
 walls and the gates, the Duke of York soon 
 succeeded in forcing his way in too. 
 
 King Henry's forces were soon routed with 
 great slaughter. The Duke of Somerset and 
 several other prominent nobles were killed 
 The king himself was wounded by an arrow, 
 which struck him in the neck as he was stand- 
 ing under his banner in the street with his 
 officers around him. When these his attend- 
 ants saw that the battle was going against him, 
 they all forsook him and fled, leaving him by 
 his banner alone. He remained here quietly 
 for some time, and then went into a shop near 
 by, where presently the Duke of York found 
 him. 
 
 As soon as the Duke came into the king's 
 presence he kneeled before him, thus acknowl- 
 edging him as king, and said,
 
 214 MARGARET or ANJOU. [1457. 
 
 The king conveyed to London. Margaret's despair. 
 
 " The traitor and public enemy against whom 
 we took up arms is dead, and now there will 
 be no farther trouble." 
 
 " Then," said the king, " for God's sake, go 
 and stop the slaughter of my subjects." 
 
 The duke immediately sent orders to stop 
 the fighting, and, taking the king by the hand, 
 he led him to the Abbey of St. Alban's, a vener- 
 able monastic edifice, greatly celebrated in the 
 histories of these times, and there caused him 
 to be conveyed to his apartment. The next 
 day he took him to London. He rendered him 
 all external tokens of homage and obedience 
 by the way, but still virtually the king was his 
 prisoner. 
 
 Poor Queen Margaret was all this time at 
 Greenwich, waiting in the utmost suspense and 
 anxiety to hear tidings of the battle. When, 
 at length, the news arrived that the battle had 
 been lost, that the king had been wounded, and 
 was now virtually a prisoner in the hands of 
 her abhorred and hated enemy, she was thrown 
 into a state of utter despair, so much so that 
 she remained for some hours in a sort of stupor, 
 as if all was now lost, and it was useless and 
 hopeless to continue the struggle any longer. 
 
 She however, at length, revived, and began 
 to consider again what was to be done. The
 
 1457.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 215 
 
 The king's wound. The queen and the prince. Grand reconciliation. 
 
 prospect before her, however, seemed to grow 
 darker and darker. The fatigue and excite- 
 ment which the king had suffered, joined to the 
 effects of his wound, which seemed not disposed 
 to heal, produced a relapse. The Duke of York 
 appears to have considered that the time had 
 not jet come for him to attempt to assert his 
 claims to the throne. He contented himself 
 with so exhibiting the condition of the king to 
 members of Parliament as to induce that body 
 to appoint him protector again. When he had 
 thus regained possession of power, he restored 
 the king to the care of the queen, and sent her, 
 with him and the little prince, into the country. 
 One of the most extraordinary circumstances 
 which occurred in the course of these anxious 
 and troubled years was a famous reconciliation 
 which took place at one time between the par- 
 ties to this great quarrel. It was at a time 
 when England was threatened with an inva- 
 sion from France. Queen Margaret proposed 
 a grand meeting of all the lords and nobles on 
 both sides, to agree upon some terms of pacifi- 
 cation by which the intestine feud which di- 
 vided and distracted the country might be heal- 
 ed, and the way prepared for turning their united 
 strength against the foe. But it was a very 
 dangerous thing to attempt to bring these tur-
 
 216 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [14581 
 
 Mutual distrust. Meeting of the nobles. Armed band*. 
 
 bulent leaders together. They had no confi- 
 dence in each other, and no one of them would 
 be willing to come to the congress without 
 bringing with him a large armed force of fol- 
 lowers and retainers, to defend him in case of 
 violence or treachery. Finally, it was agreed 
 to appoint the Lord-mayor of London to keep 
 the peace among the various parties, and, to 
 enable him to do this effectually, he was pro- 
 vided with a force of ten thousand men. These 
 men were volunteers raised from among the 
 citizens of London. 
 
 When the time arrived for the meeting, the 
 various leaders came in toward London, each 
 at the head of a body of retainers. One man 
 came with five hundred men, another with four 
 hundred, and another with six hundred, who 
 were all dressed in uniform with scarlet coats. 
 Another nobleman, representing the great Percy 
 family, came at the head of a body of fifteen 
 hundred men, all his own personal retainers, 
 and every one of them ready to fight any where 
 and against any body, the moment that their 
 feudal lord should give the word. 
 
 These various chieftains, each at the head of 
 his troops, came to London at the appointed 
 time, and established themselves at different 
 castles and strong-holds in and around the city,
 
 1458.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 217 
 
 Disputes and debates. The treaty. Procession. 
 
 like so many independent sovereigns coming 
 together to negotiate a treaty of peace. 
 
 They spent two whole months in disputes 
 and debates, in which the fiercest invectives and 
 the most angry criminations and recriminations 
 were uttered continually on both sides. At 
 length, marvelous to relate, they came to an 
 agreement. All the points in dispute were ar- 
 ranged, a treaty was signed, and a grand recon- 
 ciliation that is, a pretended one was the re- 
 sult. 
 
 This meeting was convened about the mid- 
 dle of January, and on the twenty-fourth of 
 March the agreement was finally made and rat- 
 ified, and sealed, in a solemn manner, by the 
 great seal. It contained a great variety of 
 agreements and specifications, which it i>3 not 
 necessary to recapitulate here, but when all was 
 concluded there was a grand public ceremony 
 in commemoration of the event. 
 
 At this celebration the king and queen, wear 
 ing their crowns and royal robes, walked in 
 solemn procession to St. Paul's Cathedral in the 
 city. They were followed by the leading peers 
 and prelates walking two and two ; and, in or- 
 der to exhibit to public view the most perfect 
 tokens and pledges of the fullness and sincerity 
 ol this grand reconciliation, it was arranged that
 
 218 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [145& 
 
 Mock reconciliation. Fighting again. The primce's journey. 
 
 those who had been most bitterly hostile to 
 each other in the late quarrels should be pair- 
 ed together as they walked. Thus, immediate- 
 ly behind the king, who walked alone, came the 
 queen and the Duke of York walking together 
 hand in hand, as if they were on the most lov- 
 ing terms imaginable, and so with the rest 
 
 The citizens of London, and vast crowds of 
 other people who had come in from the sur- 
 rounding towns to witness the spectacle, joined 
 in the celebration by forming lines along the 
 streets as the procession passed by, and greet- 
 ing the reconciled pairs with long and loud ac- 
 clamations ; and when night came, they bright- 
 ened up the whole city with illuminations of 
 their houses and bonfires in the streets. 
 
 In about a year after this the parties to this 
 grand pacification were fighting each other 
 more fiercely and furiously than ever. 
 
 At one time, when the little prince was about 
 six years old, the queen maae a royal progresq 
 through certain counties in the interior of thi 
 country, ostensibly to benefit the king's healtlj 
 by change of air, and by the gentle exercise and 
 agreeable recreation afforded by a journey, but 
 really, it is said, to interest the nobles and tho 
 people of the region through which she passed 
 in her cause, and especially in that of the little
 
 1458.] ANXIETY AND TROUBLE. 221 
 
 The little swans. War breaks out again. 
 
 prince, whom she took on that occasion to show 
 to all the people on her route. She had adopt- 
 ed for him the device of his renowned ancestor, 
 Edward III., which was a swan ; and she had 
 caused to be made for him a large number of 
 small silver swans, which he was to present to 
 the nobles and gentlemen, and to all who were 
 admitted to a personal audience, in the towns 
 through which he passed. He was a bright 
 and beautiful boy, and he gave these little 
 swans to the people who came around him with 
 such a sweet and charming grace, that all who 
 saw him were inspired with feelings of the 
 warmest interest and affection for him. 
 
 Very soon after this time the war between 
 the two great contending parties broke out 
 anew, and took such a course as very soon de- 
 prived King Henry of his crown. The events 
 which led to this result will be related in the 
 next chapter.
 
 222 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1459. 
 
 Th battle of Blore Heath. The queen's orders. Decoration* 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 MARGARET A FUGITIVE. 
 
 IN the summer of 1459, the year after the 
 grand reconciliation took place which is de- 
 scribed in the last chapter, two vast armies, be- 
 longing respectively to the two parties, which 
 had been gradually gathering for a long time, 
 came up together at a place called Blore Heath,* 
 in Staffordshire, in the heart of England. A 
 great battle ensued. During the battle Henry 
 lay dangerously ill in the town of Coleshill, 
 which was not far off. Margaret was at Mac- 
 cleston, another village very near the field of 
 battle. From the tower of the church in Mac- 
 cleston she watched the progress of the fight. 
 Salisbury was at the head of the York party. 
 Margaret's troops were commanded by Lord 
 Audley. When Audley took leave of her to 
 go into battle, she sternly ordered him to bring 
 Salisbury to her, dead or alive. 
 
 Audley had ten thousand men under his 
 command. The soldiers were all adorned with 
 red rosettes, the symbol of the house of Lancas- 
 For the situation of Blore Heath, see ma 1 ).
 
 1459.] MARGARET A FUGITIVE. 223 
 
 Battle lost. Feeble condition of the king. Spirit and temper of the queen, 
 
 ter. The officers wore little silver swans upon 
 their uniform, such as Prince Edward had dis- 
 tributed. 
 
 The queen watched the progress of the bat- 
 tle with intense anxiety, and soon, to her con- 
 sternation and dismay, she saw that it was go- 
 ing against her. She kept her eyes upon Aud- 
 ley's banner, and when, at length, she saw it 
 fall, she knew that all was lost. She hurried 
 down from the tower, and, with a few friends 
 to accompany her, she fled for her life to a 
 strong-hold belonging to her friends that was 
 not at a great distance. 
 
 The king, too, had to be removed, in order 
 to prevent his being taken prisoner. He was, 
 however, too feeble to know much or to think 
 much of what was going on. When they came 
 to take him on his pallet to carry him away, 
 he looked up and asked, feebly, " who had got 
 the day," but beyond this he gave no indica- 
 tion of taking any interest in the momentous 
 events that were transpiring. 
 
 This defeat, instead of producing a discour- 
 aging and disheartening effect upon Margaret's 
 mind, only served to arouse her to new vigor 
 and determination. She had been somewhat 
 timid and fearful in the earlier part of her 
 troubles, when she had only a husband to think
 
 224 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 Success of her efforts. The Earl of Warwick. 
 
 of and to care for. But now she had a son ; 
 and the maternal instinct seemed to operate in 
 her case, as it has done in so many others, to 
 make her fearless, desperate, and, in the end, 
 almost ferocious, in protecting her offspring 
 from harm, and in maintaining his rights. She 
 immediately engaged with the utmost zeal and 
 ardor in raising a new army. She did not trust 
 the command of it to any general, but directed 
 all the operations of it herself. There is not 
 space to describe in detail the campaigns that 
 ensued, but the result was a complete victory. 
 Her enemies were, in their turn, entirely de- 
 feated, and the two great leaders, the Duke of 
 York and the Earl of Warwick, were actually 
 driven out of the kingdom. The Duke of York 
 retreated to Ireland, and the Earl of Warwick 
 went across the Straits of Dover to Calais, which 
 was still in English possession, and a great na- 
 val and military station. 
 
 In a very short time after this, however, 
 Warwick came back again with a large armed 
 force, which he had organized at Calais, and 
 landed in the southern part of England. He 
 marched toward London, carrying all before 
 him. It was now his party's turn to be victo- 
 rious; for by the operation of that strange prin- 
 ciple which seems to regulate the ups and downs
 
 1460.] MARGARET A FUGITIVE. 225 
 
 His successful advance. Northampton, The king made captive. 
 
 of opposing political parties in all countries and 
 in all ages, victory alternates between them 
 with almost the regularity of a pendulum. The 
 current of popular sentiment, which had set so 
 strongly in favor of the queen's cause only a 
 short year before, appeared to be now altogeth- 
 er in favor of her enemies. Every body flocked 
 to Warwick's standard as he marched north- 
 wardly from the coast toward London, and at 
 London the people opened the gates of the city 
 and received him and his troops as if they had 
 been an army of deliverers. 
 
 Warwick did not delay long in London. 
 He marched to the north to meet the queen's 
 troops. Another great battle was fought at 
 Northampton. Margaret watched the progress 
 of the fight from an eminence not far distant. 
 The day went against her. The result of the 
 battle was that the poor king was taken prison- 
 er the second time and carried in triumph to 
 London. 
 
 The captors, however, treated him with great 
 consideration and respect not as their enemy 
 and as their prisoner, but as their sovereign, 
 rescued by them from the hands of traitors and 
 foes. The time had not even yet come for the 
 York party openly to avow their purpose of 
 deposing the king. So they conveyed him to 
 
 2015
 
 226 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 Parliament summoned. The king. The duke's pretensions. 
 
 London, and lodged him in the palace there, 
 where he was surrounded with all the emblems 
 and marks of royalty, but was still, neverthe- 
 less, closely confined. 
 
 The Duke of York then summoned a Par- 
 liament, acting in the king's name, of course, 
 that is, requiring the king to sign the writs and 
 other necessary documents. It was hot until 
 October that the Parliament met. During the 
 interval the king was lodged in a country place 
 not far from London, where every effort was 
 made to enable him to pass his time agreeably, 
 by giving him an opportunity to hunt, and to 
 amuse and recreate himself with other out-door 
 amusements. All the while, however, a strict 
 watch was kept over him to prevent the possi- 
 bility of his making his escape, or of the friends 
 of the queen coming secretly to take him away. 
 
 As for the queen and the little prince, none 
 knew what had become of them. 
 
 When Parliament met, a very extraordinary 
 scene occurred in the House of Lords, in which 
 the Duke of York was the principal actor, and 
 which excited a great sensation. Up to this 
 time he had put forward no actual claim to the 
 throne in behalf of his branch of the family, 
 but in all the hostilities in which he had been 
 engaged against the king's troops, his object had
 
 1460.] MARGARET A FUGITIVE. 227 
 
 The duke comes to Parliament Scene in the House of Lords. 
 
 been, as he had always said, not to oppose the 
 king, but only to save him, by separating him 
 from the evil influences which surrounded him. 
 But he was now beginning to be somewhat 
 more bold. 
 
 Accordingly, when Parliament met, he came 
 into London at the head of a body-guard of five 
 hundred horsemen, and with the sword of state 
 borne before him, as if he were the greatest per- 
 sonage in the realm. He rode directly to West- 
 minster, and, halting his men with great parade 
 before the doors of the hall where the House 
 of Lords was assembled, he went in. 
 
 He advanced directly through the hall to the 
 raised dais at the end on which the throne was 
 placed. He ascended the steps, and walked to 
 the throne, the whole assembly looking on in 
 solemn awe, to see what he was going to do. 
 Some expected that he was going to take his 
 seat upon the throne, and thus at once assume 
 the position that he was the true and rightful 
 sovereign of England. He, however, did not 
 do so. He stood by the throne a few minutes, 
 with his hand upon the crimson cloth which 
 covered it, as if hesitating whether to take his 
 seat or not, or perhaps waiting for some intima- 
 tion from his partisans that he was expected to 
 do so. But for several minutes no one spoke
 
 228 MARGARET or ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 His haughty demeanor. Uenry's reasoning. 
 
 a word. At length the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, who was in some respects the most exalt- 
 ed personage in the House of Lords, asked him 
 if he would be pleased to go and visit the king, 
 who was at that time in an adjoining apartment. 
 He replied in a haughty tone, 
 
 " I know no one in this realm whose duty it 
 is not rather to visit me than to expect me to 
 visit him." 
 
 He tiben turned and walked proudly out of 
 the house. 
 
 Although he thus refrained from actually 
 seating himself upon the throne, it was evident 
 that the time was rapidly drawing near when 
 he would openly assert his claim to it, and some 
 of the peers, thinking perhaps that Henry could 
 be induced peaceably to yield, consulted him 
 upon the subject, asking him which he thought 
 had the best title to the crown, himself or the 
 Duke of York. 
 
 To this question Henry replied, 
 
 "My father was king; his father was king. 
 1 have myself worn the crown for forty years, 
 from my cradle. You have all sworn fealty to 
 me as your sovereign, and your fathers did the 
 same to my father and to my grandfather. 
 How, then, can any one dispute my claim?" 
 
 "What Henry said was true. The crown had
 
 1460.] MARGARET A FUGITIVE. 229 
 
 Contesting claims. Decision of t'.ie question. 
 
 been in his branch of the royal line for three 
 generations, and for more than half a century, 
 during all which time the whole nation had ac- 
 quiesced in their rule. The claim of the Duke 
 of York ran back to a period anterior to all 
 this, but he maintained that it was legitimate 
 and valid, notwithstanding. 
 
 There followed a series of deliberations and 
 negotiations, the result of which was a decision 
 on the part of Parliament that the Duke of 
 York and his successors were really entitled to 
 the crown, but that, by way of compromise, it 
 was not to be in form transferred to them until 
 after the death of Henry. So long as he should 
 continue to live, he was to be nominally king, 
 but the Duke of York was to govern as regent, 
 and, at Henry's death, the crown was to descend 
 to him. 
 
 The duke was satisfied with this arrange- 
 ment, and the first thing to be done, in order to 
 secure its being well carried out, was to get the 
 little prince, as well as Henry, the king, into his 
 possession ; for he well knew that, even if he 
 were to dispose of the old king, and establish 
 himself in possession of the throne, he could 
 have no peace or quietness in the possession of 
 it so long as the little prince, with his mother, 
 was at large.
 
 230 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [146C 
 
 The queen commanded to return. 
 
 So he found means to induce the king to sigh 
 a mandate commanding the queen to come to 
 London and bring the prince with her. This 
 mandate she was required to obey immediately, 
 under penalty, in case of disobedience, of being 
 held guilty of treason. 
 
 Officers were immediately dispatched in all 
 directions to search for the queen, in order to 
 serve this mandate upon her, but she was no- 
 where to be found.
 
 1460.] MARGARET TRIUMPHANT. 231 
 
 Sadden reverses. Retreat to Scotland. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 MARGARET TRIUMPHANT. 
 
 followed after this time a series of 
 very rapid and sudden reverses, by which 
 first one party and then the other became al- 
 ternately the victors and the vanquished, 
 through changes of fortune of the most extra- 
 ordinary character. 
 
 At the end of the battle described in the last 
 chapter, Margaret found herself, with the little 
 prince, a helpless fugitive. There were only 
 eight persons to accompany her in her flight, 
 and so defenseless were they, and such was the 
 wild and lawless condition of the country, that 
 it was said her party was stopped while on their 
 way to Wales, and the queen was robbed of all 
 her jewels and other valuables. Both she and 
 the prince would very probably, too, have been 
 made prisoners and sent to London, had it not 
 been that, while the marauders were busy with 
 their plunder, she contrived to make her escape. 
 
 She remained a very short time in Wales, 
 and then proceeded by sea to Scotland, where 
 her party, and she herself personally, had pow-
 
 232 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 The queen re-enters England. Success. Movement of the duke. 
 
 erful friends. By the aid of these friends, and 
 through the influence of the indomitable spirit 
 and resolution which she displayed, she was 
 soon supplied with a new force. At the head 
 of this force she crossed the frontier into En- 
 gland. The people seemed every where to pity 
 her misfortunes, and they were so struck with 
 the energy and courage she displayed in strug- 
 gling against them, and in braving the dreadful 
 dangers which surrounded her in defense of the 
 rights of her husband and child, that they flock 
 ed to her standard from all quarters, and thus 
 in eight days from the time that the mandate 
 was issued from London commanding her to 
 surrender herself a prisoner, she appeared in the 
 vicinity of the city of York, the largest and 
 strongest city in all the north of England, at the 
 head of an overwhelming force. 
 
 The Duke of York was astounded when this 
 intelligence reached him in London. There 
 was not a moment to be lost. He immediately 
 set out with all the troops which he could com- 
 mand, and marched to the northward to meet 
 the queen. At the same time, he sent orders to 
 the other leaders of his party, in different parts 
 of England, to move to the northward as rap- 
 idly as possible, and join him there. 
 
 The duke himself arrived first in the vicinity
 
 1460.] MARGARET TRIUMPHANT. 233 
 
 Battle of Wakefieli Death of the Duke of York. 
 
 of the queen's army, but he thought he was not 
 strong enough to attack her, and he according- 
 ly concluded to wait until his re-enforcements 
 should come up. The queen advanced with a 
 much superior force to meet him. The two ar- 
 mies came together near the town of Wakefield, 
 and here, after some delay, during which the 
 queen continually challenged the duke to come 
 out from his walls and fortifications to meet her, 
 and defied and derided him with many taunts 
 and reproaches, a great battle was finally fought. 
 Margaret's troops were victorious. Two thou- 
 sand out of five thousand of the duke's troops 
 were left dead upon the field, and the duke him- 
 self was slain ! 
 
 Margaret's heart was filled with the wildest 
 exultation and joy when she heard that her in- 
 veterate and hated foe at last was dead. She 
 could scarcely restrain her excitement. One of 
 the nobles of her party, Lord Clifford, whose 
 father had been killed in a previous battle un- 
 der circumstances of great atrocity, cut off the 
 duke's head from his body, and carried it to 
 Margaret on the end of a pike. She was for a 
 moment horror-stricken at the ghastly specta- 
 cle, and turned her face away ; but. she finally 
 ordered the head to be set up upon a pole on 
 the walls of York, in view of all beholders. 
 
 A young son of the duke's, the Earl of But-
 
 234 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 Murder of his son. Margaret's cruelties. Her exultation. 
 
 land, who was then about twelve years old, was 
 also killed, or rather massacred, on the field of 
 battle, after the fight was over, as he was en- 
 deavoring to make his escape, under the care 
 of his tutor, to a castle near, where he would 
 have been safe. This was the castle of Sandal. 
 If. was a very strong place, and was in the pos- 
 session of the Duke of York's party. The poor 
 boy was cut down mercilessly by the same Lord 
 Cliiford who has already been spoken of, not- 
 withstanding all that his tutor could do to save 
 him. 
 
 Other most atrocious murders were commit- 
 ted at the close of this battle. The Earl of Sal- 
 isbury was beheaded, and his head was set up 
 upon a pike on the walls of York, by the side 
 of the duke's. Margaret was almost beside her- 
 self at the results of this victory. Her armies 
 triumphant, the great leader of the party of her 
 enemies, the man who had been for years her 
 dread and torment, slain, and all his chief con- 
 federates either killed or taken prisoners, and 
 nothing now apparently in the way to prevent 
 her marching in triumph to London, liberating 
 her husband from his thraldom, and taking 
 complete and undisputed possession of the su- 
 preme power, there seemed, so far as the pros- 
 pect now before her was concerned, to be noth- 
 ing more to desire.
 
 1460.] MARGARET AN EXILE. 237 
 
 A new reverse. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 MARGARET AN EXILE. 
 
 BRIGHT as were the hopes and prospects of 
 Margaret after the battle of Wakefield, a 
 few short months were sufficient to involve her 
 cause again in the deepest darkness "^.d !?om. 
 The battle of Wakefield, and the death of the 
 Duke of York, took place near the last of De- 
 cember, in 1460. In March, three months later, 
 Margaret was an exile from England, outlawed 
 by the supreme power of the realm, and placed 
 under such a ban that it was forbidden to all 
 the people of England to have any communi- 
 cation with her. 
 
 This fatal result was brought about, in a great 
 measure, by the reaction in the minds of the 
 people of the country, which resulted from the 
 shocking cruelties perpetrated by her and by 
 her party after the battle of Wakefield. The 
 accounts of these transactions spread through 
 the kingdom, and awakened a universal feel- 
 ing of disgust and abhorrence. It was said that 
 when Lord Clifford carried the head of the Duke 
 of York to Margaret on the point of a lance,
 
 238 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 Head of the Duke of York. The country shocked. Margaret's ferocity. 
 
 followed by a crowd of other knights and no- 
 bles, he said to her, 
 
 " Look, madam ! The war is over 1 Here is 
 the ransom for the king!" 
 
 Then all the by-standers raised a shout of 
 exultation, and began pointing at the ghastly 
 head, with mockings and derisive laughter. 
 They had put a paper crown upon the head, 
 which they seemed to think produced a comic 
 effect. The queen, though at first she averted 
 her face, soon turned back again toward the 
 horrid trophy, and laughed, with the rest, at the 
 ridiculous effect produced by the paper crown. 
 
 The murder, too, of the innocent child, the 
 duke's younger son, produced a great and very 
 powerful sensation throughout the land. The 
 queen, though she had not, perhaps, command- 
 ed this deed, still made herself an accessory by 
 commending it and exulting over it. The fe- 
 rocious hate with which she was animated 
 against all the family of her fallen foe was also 
 shown by another circumstance, and that was, 
 that when she commanded the two heads, viz., 
 that of the Duke of York and that of the Earl 
 of Salisbury, to be set upon the city walls, she 
 ordered that a space should be left between 
 them for two other heads, one of which was to 
 be that of Edward, the oldest son of the Duke
 
 1460.] MARGARET AN EXILE. 239 
 
 The duke's heir. Edward. 
 
 of York, who was still alive, not having been 
 present at the battle of Wakefield, and who, of 
 course, now inherited the title and the claims 
 of his father. 
 
 This young Edward was at this time about 
 nineteen years of age. His title had been hith- 
 erto the Earl of March, and he would, of course, 
 now become the Duke of York, only he chose 
 to assume that of King of England. He was a 
 young man of great energy of character, and he 
 was sustained, of course, by all his father's par- 
 ty, who now transferred their allegiance to him. 
 Indeed, their zeal in his service was redoubled 
 by the terrible resentment and the thirst for 
 vengeance which the cruelties of the queen 
 awakened in their minds. Edward immediate- 
 ly put himself in motion with all the troops 
 that he could command. He was in the west- 
 ern part of England at the time of his father's 
 death, and he immediately began to move to- 
 ward the coast in order to intercept Margaret 
 on her march toward London. 
 
 At the same time, the Earl of Warwick ad- 
 vanced from London itself to the northward to 
 meet the queen, taking with him the king, who 
 had up to this time remained in London. The 
 armies of Warwick and of the queen came into 
 the vicinity of each other not far from St. Al-
 
 240 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1460. 
 
 Battle at St. Al ban's. Warwick defeated. Henry abandoned. Is saved. 
 
 ban's, before the young Duke of York came up, 
 and a desperate battle was fought. Warwick's 
 army was composed chiefly of men hastily got 
 together in London, and they were no match 
 for the experienced and sturdy soldiers which 
 Margaret had brought with her from the Scot- 
 tish frontier. They were entirely defeated. 
 They fought all day, but at night they dis- 
 persed in all directions, and in the hurry and 
 confusion of their flight they left the poor king 
 behind them. 
 
 During the battle Margaret did not know 
 that her husband was on the ground. But at 
 night, as soon as Henry's keepers had abandon- 
 ed him, a faithful serving-man who remained 
 with him ran into Margaret's camp, and find- 
 ing one of the nobles in command there, he in- 
 formed him of the situation of the king. The 
 noble immediately informed the queen, and she, 
 overjoyed at the news, flew to the place where 
 her husband lay, and, on finding him, they em- 
 braced each other with the most passionate to- 
 kens of affection and joy. 
 
 Margaret brought the little prince to be pre- 
 sented to him, and then they all together pro- 
 ceeded to the abbey at St. Alban's, where apart- 
 ments were provided for them. They first, 
 however, went to the church, in order to re-
 
 1460.] MARGARET AN EXILE. 
 
 The abbey. Great excitement The psople alarmed. 
 
 turn thanks publicly for the deliverance of the 
 king. 
 
 They were received at the door of the church 
 by the abbot and the monks, who welcomed 
 them with hymns of praise and thanksgiving 
 as they approached. After the ceremonies had 
 been performed, they went to the apartments 
 in the abbey which had been provided for 
 them, intending to devote some days to quiet 
 and repose. 
 
 In the mean time the excitement through- 
 out the country continued and increased. The 
 queen perpetrated fresh cruelties, ordering the 
 execution of all the principal leaders from the 
 other side that fell into her hands. She alien- 
 ated the minds of the people from her cause 
 by not restraining her troops from plundering ; 
 arid, in order to obtain money to defray the 
 expenses of her army and to provide them with 
 food, she made requisitions upon the towns 
 through which she passed, and otherwise har- 
 assed the people of the country by fines and 
 confiscations. 
 
 The people were at length so exasperated by 
 these high-handed proceedings, and by the fu 
 rious and vindictive spirit which Margaret mani- 
 fested in all that she did, that the current turn- 
 ed altogether in favor of the young Duke of 
 
 2016
 
 242 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Advance of Edward. London. Battle of Towton. 
 
 York. The scattered forces of his party were 
 reassembled. They began soon to assume so 
 formidable an appearance that Margaret found 
 it would be best for her to retire toward the 
 north again. She of course took with her the 
 king and the Prince of Wales. 
 
 At the same time, Edward, the young Duke 
 of York, advanced toward London. The whole 
 city was excited to the highest pitch of enthu- 
 siasm at his approach. A large meeting of 
 citizens declared that Henry should reign no 
 longer, but that they would have Edward for 
 king. 
 
 When Edward arrived in London he was 
 received by the whole population as their de- 
 liverer. A grand council of the nobles and 
 prelates was convened, and, after solemn delib- 
 erations, Henry was deposed and Edward was 
 declared king. 
 
 Two days after this a great procession was 
 formed, at the head of which Edward rode roy- 
 ally to Westminster and took his seat upon the 
 throne. 
 
 Margaret made one more desperate effort to 
 retrieve the fortunes of her family by a battle 
 fought at a place called Towton. This battle 
 was fought in a snow-storm. It was an awful 
 day. Margaret's party were entirely defeated,
 
 1460.] MARGARET AN EXILE. 24i> 
 
 Flight of the queen. Alnwick. 
 
 and nearly thirty thousand of them were left 
 dead upon the field. 
 
 As soon as the result was known, Margaret, 
 taking with her her husband and child and a 
 small retinue of attendants, fled to the north- 
 ward. She stopped a short time at the Castle 
 of Alnwick,* a strong-hold belonging to one 
 of her friends ; but, finding that the forces op- 
 posed to her were gathering strength every day 
 and advancing toward her, and that the coun- 
 try generally was becoming more and more 
 disposed to yield allegiance to the new king, 
 she concluded that it would not be safe for her 
 to remain in England any longer. 
 
 So, taking her husband and the little prince 
 with her, and also a few personal attendants, 
 she left Alnwick, and crossed the frontier into 
 Scotland, a fugitive and an exile, and with no 
 hope apparently of ever being able to enter 
 England again. 
 
 * See map of the border at the commencement of chap- 
 ter xix.
 
 244 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1461. 
 
 Margaret in Scotland. Her friends. The prince. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 A ROYAL COUSIN. 
 
 AS soon as Margaret escaped to Scotland, 
 far from being disheartened by her mis- 
 fortunes, she began at once to concert measures 
 for raising a new army and going into England 
 again, with a view of making one more effort 
 to recover her husband's throne. She knew, 
 of course, that there was a large body of nobles, 
 and of the people of the country, who were still 
 faithful to her husband's cause, and who would 
 be ready to rally round his standard whenever 
 and wherever it should appear. All that she 
 required was the nucleus of an army at the out- 
 set, and a tolerably successful beginning in en- 
 tering the country. There were knights and 
 nobles, and great numbers of men, every where 
 ready to join her as soon as she should appear, 
 but they were nowhere strong enough to com- 
 mence a movement on their own responsibility. 
 One of the measures which she adopted for 
 strengthening her interest with the royal fami- 
 ly of Scotland was to negotiate a marriage be- 
 tween the young prince, who was now seven
 
 1461.] A ROYAL COUSIN. 245 
 
 Messengers sent to France. Their letter. 
 
 years old, and a Scotch princess. She succeed- 
 ed in conditionally arranging this marriage, but 
 she found that she could not raise troops for a 
 second invasion of England. 
 
 In the mean time, she had sent three noble- 
 men as her messengers into France, to see what 
 could be done in that country. France was her 
 native land, and the king at that time, Charles 
 VII., was her uncle. She had strong reason to 
 hope, therefore, that she might find aid and sym- 
 pathy there. Toward the close of the summer, 
 however, she received a letter from two of her 
 messengers at Dieppe which was not at all en- 
 couraging. 
 
 The letter began by saying, on the part of 
 the messengers, that they had already written 
 to Margaret three times before ; once by the re- 
 turn of the vessel, called the Carvel, in which 
 they went to France, and twice from Dieppe, 
 where they then were, but all the letters were 
 substantially to communicate the same evil ti- 
 dings, namely, that the king, her uncle, was 
 dead, and that her cousin had succeeded to the 
 throne, but that the new king seemed not at all 
 disposed to regard her cause favorably. His 
 officers at Dieppe had caused all their papers to 
 be seized and taken to the king, and he had 
 shut up one of their number in the castle of
 
 246 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1461. 
 
 The messengers' advice to the queen. Their professions and promises. 
 
 Arques, which is situated at a short distance 
 from Dieppe. He had been apparently pre- 
 vented from imprisoning the other two by their 
 having been provided with a safe - conduct, 
 which protected them. 
 
 Furthermore, the writers of the letter bade 
 the queen keep up good courage, and advised 
 her, for the present, to remain quietly where she 
 was. She must not, they said, venture herself, 
 or the little prince, upon the sea in an attempt 
 to come to France, unless she found herself ex- 
 posed to great danger in remaining in Scotland. 
 They wished her to notify the king, too, who 
 they supposed was at that time secreted in 
 Wales, for they had heard that the Earl of 
 March they would not call him King of En- 
 gland, but still designated him by his old name 
 was going into Wales with an army to look 
 for him. 
 
 They said, in conclusion, that as soon as they 
 were set at liberty they should immediately 
 come to the queen in Scotland. Nothing but 
 death would prevent their rejoining her, and 
 they devoutly hoped and believed that they 
 should not be called to meet with death until 
 they could have the satisfaction of seeing her 
 husband the king and herself once more in 
 peaceable possession of their realm.
 
 1461.] A EOYAL COUSIN. 247 
 
 The letter itself. 
 
 But the reader may perhaps like to peruse 
 the letter itself in the words in which it was 
 written. It is a very good specimen of the form 
 in which the English language was written in 
 those days, though it seems very quaint and 
 old-fashioned now. It was as follows : 
 
 "MADAM, Please your good God, we have, 
 since our coming hither, written to your high- 
 ness thrice ; once by the carvel in which we 
 came, the other two from Dieppe. But, madam, 
 it was all one thing in substance, putting you in 
 knowledge of your uncle's death, whom (rod as- 
 soil, and how we stood arrested, and do yet. 
 But on Tuesday next we shall up to the king, 
 your cousin-german. His commissaires, at the 
 first of our tarrying, took all our letters and 
 writings, and bore them up to the king, leaving 
 my Lord of Somerset in keeping at the castle of 
 Arques, and my fellow Whyttingham and me 
 (for we had safe-conduct) in the town of Dieppe, 
 where we are yet. 
 
 " Madam, fear not, but be of good comfort, 
 and beware ye venture not your person, nor 
 my lord the prince, by sea, till ye have other 
 word from us, unless your person can not be 
 sure where ye are, and extreme necessity drive 
 ye thence.
 
 248 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1461. 
 
 Fidelity. Suspense. King Louis XL 
 
 " And, for God's sake, let the king's highness 
 be advised of the same ; for, as we are informed, 
 the Earl of March is into Wales by land, and 
 hath sent his navy thither by sea. 
 
 "And, madam, think verily, as soon as w 
 be delivered, we shall come straight to you, 
 unless death take us by the way, which we 
 trust he will not till we see the king and you 
 peaceably again in your realm; the which we 
 beseech God soon to see, and to send you that 
 your highness desireth. Written at Dieppe the 
 30th day of August, 1461. 
 
 " Your true subjects and liegemen, 
 
 " HUNGERFORD AND WHYTTINGHAM." 
 
 Margaret remained through the winter in 
 Scotland, anxiously endeavoring to devise 
 means to rebuild her fallen fortunes. But all 
 was in vain ; no light or hope appeared. At 
 length, when the spring opened, she determined 
 to go herself to France and see the king her 
 cousin, in hopes that, by her presence at the 
 court, and her personal influence over the king, 
 something might be done. 
 
 The king her cousin had been her playmate 
 in their childhood. He was the son of Mary, 
 her father Rene's sister. Mary and Rene had 
 been very strongly attached to each other, and
 
 1461.] A EOYAL COUSIN. 249 
 
 Want of funds. Gratitude. Voyage to France. 
 
 the children had been brought up much to- 
 gether. Margaret now hoped that, on seeing 
 her again in her present forlorn and helpless 
 condition, his former friendship for her would 
 revive, and that he would do something to aid 
 her. 
 
 She was, however, entirely destitute of mon- 
 ey, and she would have found it very difficult 
 to contrive the means of getting to France, had 
 it not been for the kindness of a French mer- 
 chant who resided in Scotland, and whom she 
 had known in former years in Nancy, in Lor- 
 raine, where she had rendered him some serv- 
 ice. The merchant had since acquired a large 
 fortune in commercial operations between Scot- 
 land and Flanders which he conducted. la 
 his prosperity he did not forget the kindness 
 he had received from the queen in former 
 years, and, now that she was in want and ii 
 distress, he came forward promptly to relieve 
 her. He furnished her with the funds neces- 
 sary for her voyage, and provided a vessel to 
 convey her and her attendants to the coast of 
 France. She sailed from the port of Kirkcud- 
 bright, on the western coast of Scotland, and 
 so passed down through the Irish Sea and St. 
 George's Channel, thus avoiding altogether the 
 Straits of Dover, where she would have incur-
 
 250 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Funds exhausted. Missed by her frienda. 
 
 red danger of being intercepted by the English 
 men-of-war. 
 
 She took the young prince with her. The 
 king it was thought best to leave behind. 
 
 So great were the number of persons de- 
 pendent upon the queen, and so urgent were 
 their necessities, that all the funds which the 
 French merchant had furnished her were ex- 
 hausted on her arrival in France. She found, 
 moreover, that the three friends, the noblemen 
 whom she had sent to France the summer be- 
 fore, and from whom she had received the let- 
 ter we have quoted, had left that country and 
 gone to Scotland to seek her. They had pro- 
 vided themselves with a vessel, in which they 
 intended to take the queen away from Scotland 
 and convey her to some place of safety, not 
 knowing that she had herself embarked for 
 France. They must have passed the queen's 
 vessel on the way, unless, indeed, which is very 
 probably the case, they went up the Channel 
 and through the Straits of Dover, thus taking 
 an altogether different route from that chosen 
 by the queen. 
 
 When they reached Scotland they hovered 
 on the coast a long time, endeavoring to find an 
 opportunity to communicate with her secretly ; 
 but at length they learned that she was gone.
 
 1462.] 
 
 A EOYAL COUSIN. 
 
 251 
 
 She goes to France. 
 
 Louis XL 
 
 In the mean time, Margaret, having arrived 
 in France, borrowed some money of the Duke 
 of Brittany, in whose dominions it would seem 
 she first landed. With this money Margaret 
 supplied the most pressing wants of her party, 
 and also made arrangements for pursuing her 
 journey into the country, to the town in Nor- 
 mandy where her cousin the king was then re- 
 siding. 
 
 LOUIS XL, MAEOAP.KT'S COUSIN. 
 
 It is said that, on arriving at the court of the
 
 252 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Negotiations. Mortgage of Calais. 
 
 king and obtaining admission to his majesty's 
 presence, Margaret took the young prince by 
 the hand, and, throwing herself down at her 
 cousin's feet, she implored him, with many tears, 
 to take pity upon her forlorn and wretched con- 
 dition, and that of her unhappy husband, and 
 to aid her in her efforts to recover his throne. 
 
 But the king, with true royal heartlessness, 
 was unmoved by her distress, and manifested 
 no disposition to espouse her cause. 
 
 Some negotiations, however, ensued, at the 
 close of which the king promised to loan her 
 a sum of money for a consideration. The 
 consideration was that she was to convey to him 
 the port and town of Calais, which was still held 
 by the English, and was considered a very im- 
 portant and very valuable possession, or else pay 
 back double the money which she borrowed. 
 
 Thus it was not an absolute sale of Calais, 
 but only a mortgage of it, which the queen ex- 
 ecuted. But, nevertheless, as soon as this trans- 
 action was made known in England, it excited 
 great indignation throughout the country, and 
 seriously injured the cause of the queen. The 
 people accused her of being ready to alienate 
 the possessions of the crown, possessions which 
 it had cost so much both in blood and treasure 
 to procure.
 
 1462.] A EOYAL COUSIN. 253 
 
 Doubtful security. Conditions. 
 
 Of course, the security which the king ob- 
 tained for his loan was of a somewhat doubtful 
 character, for Margaret's mortgage deed of Cal- 
 ais, although she gave it in King Henry's name, 
 and was careful to state in it that she was ex- 
 pressly authorized by him to make it, was of no 
 force at all so long as Edward of York reigned 
 in England, and was acknowledged by the peo- 
 ple as the rightful king. It was only in the 
 event of Margaret's succeeding in recovering 
 the throne for her husband that the mortgage 
 could take effect. The deed which she executed 
 stipulated that, as soon as King Henry should 
 be restored to his kingdom, he would appoint 
 one of two persons named, in whom the King 
 of France had confidence, as governor of the 
 town, with authority to deliver it up to the 
 King of France in one year in case she did not 
 within that time pay back double the sum of 
 money borrowed. 
 
 He seemed to think that, considering the 
 great risk he was taking, a hundred per cent 
 per annum was not an exorbitant usury.
 
 254 MARGARET OF ANJOU. 
 
 Margaret finds a friend. Account of Brec& 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 KETURN TO ENGLAND. 
 
 MAKGAKET found one friend in France, 
 who seems to have espoused her cause 
 from a sentiment of sincere and disinterested 
 attachment to her. This was a certain knight 
 named Pierre de Braze*.* He was an officer of 
 high rank in the government of Normandy, 
 and a man of very considerable influence 
 among the distinguished personages of those 
 times. 
 
 Margaret had known him intimately many 
 years before. He was appointed one of the 
 commissioners on the French side to negotiate, 
 with Suffolk and the others, the terms of Mar- 
 garet's marriage, and he had taken a very prom' 
 inent part in the tournaments and other cel- 
 ebrations which took place in honor of the 
 wedding before Margaret left her native land. 
 When he now saw the poor queen coming back 
 to France an exile, bereft of friends, of resources, 
 and almost of hope, the interest which he had 
 felt for her in former years was revived. It u 
 * Pronounced Brezzay.
 
 1462.] RETURN TO ENGLAND. 255 
 
 He enters the queen's service. 
 
 said that he fell in love with her. However 
 this may be, it is certain that Margaret's great 
 beauty must have had a very important influ- 
 ence in deepening the sentiment of compassion 
 which the misfortunes of the poor fugitive were 
 so well calculated to inspire. At any rate, 
 Breze entered at once into the queen's service
 
 256 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Margaret's plans. She goes to England. Hurried flight. 
 
 with great enthusiasm. He brought with him 
 a force of two thousand men. With this army, 
 and with the money which she had borrowed 
 of King Louis, Margaret resolved to make one 
 more attempt to recover her husband's king- 
 dom. 
 
 At length, in the month of October, 1462, 
 five months after she arrived in France, she set 
 sail with a small number of vessels, containing 
 the soldiers that Breze' had provided for her. 
 Her plan was to land in the north of England, 
 for it was in that part of the country that the 
 friends of the Lancaster line were most numer- 
 ous and powerful. 
 
 King Edward's government knew something 
 of her plans, or, at least, suspected them, and 
 they stationed a fleet to watch for her and in- 
 tercept her. She, however, contrived to elude 
 them, and reached the shores of England in 
 safety. 
 
 The fleet approached the shore at Tynemouth, 
 but the guns of the forts were pointed against 
 her, and she was forbidden to land. She, how- 
 ever, succeeded, either at that place or at some 
 other point along the coast, in effecting a de- 
 barkation ; but she was threatened so soon with 
 an attack by a ,large army which she heard 
 was approaching, under the command of the
 
 1462.J RETUKN TO ENGLAND. 257 
 
 A storm. Ships wrecked. Holy Island. 
 
 Earl of Warwick, that the French troops fled 
 precipitately to their ships, leaving Margaret, 
 the prince, Breze", and a few others who re- 
 mained faithful to her, on shore. Being thus 
 deserted, Margaret and her party were com- 
 pelled to retreat too. They embarked on board 
 a fisherman's boat, which was the only means 
 of conveyance left to them, and in this manner 
 made their way to Berwick, which town was 
 in the possession of her friends. 
 
 They were long in reaching Berwick, being 
 detained by a storm. The storm, however, 
 caused Margaret a much greater injury than 
 mere detention. The ships in which the French 
 soldiers had fled were caught by it off a range 
 of rocky cliffs lying between Tynemouth and 
 Berwick, the most prominent of which is called 
 Bamborough Head. The ships were driven 
 upon the rocks and rocky islands which lay 
 along the shore, and there broken to pieces by 
 the sea which rolled in upon them from the 
 offing. All the stores, and provisions, and 
 munitions of war which Margaret had brought 
 from France, and which constituted almost her 
 sole reliance for carrying on the war, were lost. 
 Most of the men saved themselves, and made 
 their escape to an island that lay near, called 
 Holy Island. But here they were soon after- 
 2017
 
 258 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Margaret's escape. Her spirit revives. Battle of Hexham. 
 
 ward attacked by a body of Yorkist troops 
 and cut to pieces. 
 
 Margaret reached Berwick in her fishing- 
 boat at last, bearing these terrible tidings to her 
 friends there. One would suppose that the last 
 hope of her being able to retrieve her fallen 
 fortunes would now be extinguished, and that 
 she would sink down in utter and absolute de- 
 spair. 
 
 But it was not in Margaret's nature to de- 
 spair. The more heavily the pressure of ca- 
 lamity and the hostility of her foes weighed 
 upon her, the more fierce and determined was 
 the spirit of resistance which they aroused in 
 her bosom. In this instance, instead of yield- 
 ing to dejection and despondency, she began 
 at once to take measures for assembling a new 
 force, and the ardor and energy which she dis- 
 played inspired all around her with some por- 
 tion of her confidence and zeal. A new army 
 was raised during the winter. Very early in 
 the spring it took the field, and a series of 
 military operations followed, in which towns 
 and castles were taken and retaken, and skir- 
 mishes fought all along the Scottish frontier. 
 At length the contending forces were concen- 
 trated near a place called Hexham, and a gen- 
 eral battle ensued. The queen's arm.^ was de-
 
 1462.] RETURN TO ENGLAND. 259 
 
 The king's escape The queen's danger. 
 
 feated. The king, who was in the battle, had 
 a most narrow escape. He fled on horseback 
 for when he was in good bodily health he was 
 an excellent horseman but he was so hotly 
 pursued that three of his body-guard were 
 taken. 
 
 It is mentioned that one of the men thus 
 taken wore the king's cap of state, which was 
 embroidered with two crowns of gold, one rep- 
 resenting the kingdom of England and the other 
 that of France, the title to which country the 
 English sovereigns still pretended to claim, in 
 virtue of their former extended possessions 
 there, although pretty much all except the 
 town of Calais was now lost. 
 
 Perhaps the pursuers of the king's party 
 were deceived by this royal cap, and took the 
 wearer of it for the king. At any rate, the 
 officer wearing the cap was taken, and the 
 king escaped. 
 
 Immediately after the victory on the field at 
 Hexham, a body of the Yorkist troops broke 
 into the camp where the queen was quartered, 
 and where, with the young prince, she was 
 awaiting the result of the battle. As soon as 
 the queen found that the enemy were coming, 
 she seized the prince and ran off with him, in 
 mortal terror, into a neighboring wood. She
 
 260 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Narrow escape. Her flight The robbers. 
 
 knew well that, if che child was taken, he would 
 certainly be killed. Indeed, such bloody work 
 had been made on both sides, with assassina- 
 tions and executions during the year prior to 
 this time, that men's minds were in the highest 
 state of exasperation ; and it is probable that 
 both Margaret herself and the child would have 
 been butchered on the spot if they had re- 
 mained in the camp until the victorious troops 
 entered it. 
 
 As soon as Margaret gained the wood she 
 turned off into the most obscure and solitary 
 paths that she could find, thinking of nothing 
 but to escape from her pursuers, who, she im- 
 agined in her fright, were close behind. At 
 length, after wandering about in this manner 
 for some time, she fell in with a company of 
 men in the wood, who were either a regular 
 band of robbers, or were tempted to become 
 robbers on that occasion by the richness of the 
 stranger's dress, and by the articles of jewelry 
 and other decorations which she wore ; for, al- 
 though Margaret's means were extremely lim- 
 ited, she still maintained, in some degree, the 
 bearing and the appointments of a queen. 
 
 The men at once stopped her, and began to 
 olunder her and the prince of every thing which 
 they could take from them that appeared to be
 
 1462.] RETURN TO ENGLAND. 261 
 
 An escape. Alone in the woods. Night. A stranger appears. 
 
 of value. As soon as they had possessed them- 
 selves of this plunder they began to quarrel 
 about it among themselves. Margaret remain- 
 ed standing near, in great anxiety and distress, 
 until presently, watching her opportunity, she 
 caught up the prince in her arms and slipped 
 away into the adjoining thickets. 
 
 She ran forward as fast as she could go until 
 she supposed herself out of the reach of pursuit 
 from the robbers, and then looked for a place 
 in the densest part of the wood where she could 
 hide, with the intention of remaining there un- 
 til night. Her plan was then to find her way 
 out of the wood, and so wander on until she 
 should come to the residence of some one of 
 her friends, who she might hope would harbor 
 and conceal her. 
 
 She accordingly continued in her hiding- 
 place until evening came on, and then, having 
 recovered in some degree, by this interval of 
 rest, from the excitement, fatigue, and terror 
 which she had endured, she came out into a 
 path again, leading little Edward by the hand. 
 The moon was shining, and this enabled her to 
 see where to go. 
 
 After wandering on for some time, she waa 
 alarmed by the apparition of a tall man, armed, 
 who suddenly appeared in the pathway at a
 
 262 MARGARET OF A.NJOU. [1462. 
 
 Margaret's appeal to the stranger. The outlaw's cave, 
 
 short distance before her. She had no doubt 
 that this was another robber. It was too late 
 for her to attempt to fly from him. He was 
 too near to allow her any chance of escape. In 
 this extremity, she conceded the idea of throw- 
 ing herself upon his generosity as her last and 
 only hope. So she advanced boldly toward 
 him, leading the little prince by the hand, and 
 said to him, presenting the prince, 
 
 "My friend, this is the son of your king! 
 Save him!" 
 
 The man appeared astonished. In a mo- 
 ment he laid his sword down at Margaret's 
 feet in token of submission to her, and then 
 immediately offered to conduct her and the 
 prince to a place of safety. He also explained 
 to her that he was one of her friends. He had 
 been ruined by the war, and driven from his 
 home, and was now, like the queen herself, a 
 wanderer and a fugitive. He had taken pos- 
 session of a cave in the wood, and there he was 
 now living with his wife as an outlaw. He 
 led Margaret and the prince to the cave, where 
 they were received by his wife, and entertained 
 with such hospitalities as a home so gloomy 
 and comfortless could afford. 
 
 Margaret remained an inmate of this cave 
 for two days. The place is known to this day
 
 1462.] RETURN TO ENGLAND. 265 
 
 Appearance of the cave. Margaret concealed in it. A friend found. 
 
 as Margaret's Cave. It stands in a very se- 
 cluded spot on the banks of a small stream. 
 The ground around it is now open, but in Mar- 
 garet's time it was in the midst of the forest. 
 The entrance to the cave is very low. Within, 
 it is high enough for a man to stand upright. 
 It is about thirty-four feet long, and half as 
 wide. There are some appearances of its hav- 
 ing been once divided by a wall into two sep- 
 arate apartments. 
 
 For two days Margaret remained in the cave, 
 suffering, of course, the extreme of suspense and 
 anxiety all the time, being in great solicitude 
 to hear from her friends, the nobles and gen- 
 erals who had been defeated with her in the 
 battle. Her host made diligent though secret 
 inquiries, but could gain no tidings. At length, 
 on the morning of the third day, to Margaret's 
 infinite relief and joy, he came in bringing with 
 him De Breze himself, with his squire, whose 
 name was Barville, and an English gentleman 
 who had escaped with De Brezd from the bat- 
 tle, and had since been wandering about with 
 him, looking every where for the queen. Mar- 
 garet was for the moment overjoyed to see 
 these friends again, but her exultation was 
 soon succeeded by the deepest grief at hearing 
 the terrible accounts they gave of the death of
 
 266 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Margaret's anger turned to grief. They leave the cave. 
 
 her nearest friends, some of whom had been 
 killed in the battle, and others had been taken 
 prisoners and cruelly executed immediately aft 
 erward. Up to this time, through all the dan- 
 ger and suffering which she had endured since 
 the battle, she had been either in a state of 
 stupor, or else filled with resentment and rage 
 against her enemies, and she had not shed a 
 tear ; but now grief for the loss of these dear 
 and faithful friends seemed to take the place 
 of all other emotions, and she wept a long time 
 as if her heart would break. 
 
 Margaret learned, however, from her friends 
 that the king had made his escape, and was 
 probably in a place of safety, and this gave 
 her great consolation. It was thought that the 
 king had succeeded in making his way to Scot 
 land. 
 
 In the course of the day, one of the party 
 who came with Breze went out into the neigh- 
 boring villages to see if he could learn any new 
 tidings, and before long he returned bringing 
 with him several nobles of high rank and 
 princes of the Lancastrian line. Margaret felt 
 much relieved to find her party so strengthen- 
 ed, and arrangements were soon made by the 
 whole party for Margaret to leave the cave 
 with them, and endeavor to reach the Scottish
 
 1462.] KETURN TO ENGLAND. 267 
 
 Generosity of the outlaw. The queen's gratitude. The journey. 
 
 frontier, which was not much more, in a direct 
 line, than thirty miles from where they were. 
 
 Before they departed from the cave Marga- 
 ret expressed her thanks very earnestly to the 
 outlaw and his wife for their kindness in re- 
 ceiving her and the little prince into their cave, 
 and in doing so much for their comfort while 
 there, although by so doing they not only en- 
 croached very much upon their own slender 
 means of support, but also incurred a very se- 
 rious risfc in harboring such a fugitive. Hav- 
 ing been plundered of every thing by the rob- 
 bers in the wood, she had nothing but thanks 
 to return to her kind protectors. The nobles 
 who were now with her offered the wife of the 
 outlaw some money for they had still a small 
 supply of money left but she would not re- 
 ceive it. They would require all they had, she 
 said, for themselves, before they reached Scot- 
 land. 
 
 The queen was much moved by this gener- 
 osity, and she said that of all that she had lost 
 there was nothing that she regretted so much 
 as the power of rewarding such goodness. 
 
 On leaving the wood at Hexham, the party, 
 instead of proceeding north, directly toward the 
 frontier of Scotland, concluded to journey west- 
 ward to Carlisle, intending to take passage by
 
 268 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 The journey to Kirkcudbright. Her anxiety. 
 
 water from that place through Solway to Kirk- 
 cudbright, the port from which Margaret had 
 sailed when she went to France.* They were 
 obliged to use a great many precautions in trav- 
 ersing the country to prevent being discover- 
 ed. The party consisted of Margaret and the 
 young prince, attended by Breze and his squire, 
 and also by the man of the cave, who was ac- 
 quainted with the country, and acted as guide. 
 They reached Carlisle in safety, and there em- 
 barked on board a vessel, which took them 
 down the Firth and landed them in Kirkcud- 
 bright. 
 
 Though now out of England, Margaret did 
 not feel much more at ease than before, for 
 during her absence in France a treaty had been 
 made between King Edward and the Scottish 
 king which would prevent the latter from open- 
 ly harboring her in his dominions ; so she was 
 obliged to keep closely concealed. 
 
 * See the map at the commencement of this chapter.
 
 1462.] YEARS OF EXILE. 269 
 
 They are discovered. An abduction. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 YEARS OF EXILE. 
 
 MARGARET had not been long in Kirk- 
 cudbright before she was accidentally 
 seen by a man who knew her. This man was 
 an Englishman. His name was Cork. He 
 was of the Yorkist party. He said nothing 
 when he saw the queen, but he immediately 
 formed the resolution to seize her and all her 
 party, and to convey them to England and 
 give them up to King Edward. He contrived 
 some way to carry this plot into execution. He 
 seized de Breze and his squire, and also the 
 queen and the prince, and carried them on board 
 a boat in the night, having first bound and gag- 
 ged them, to disable them from making resist- 
 ance or uttering any cries. It seems that De 
 Breze was not with the queen when he was 
 taken, and as it was dark when they were put 
 on board the boat, and neither could speak, 
 neither party knew that the others were there 
 until the morning, when they were far away 
 from the shore, out in the wide part of the Sol- 
 way Bay. 
 
 In the night, however, De Breze", who was a
 
 270 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 De Brest's exploit Tossed about in Solway Firth. 
 
 man of address and of great personal strength, 
 as well as of undaunted bravery, contrived to 
 get free from his bonds, and also to free his 
 squire, without letting the boatmen know what 
 he had done. Then, in the morning, watching 
 for a good opportunity, they together rose upon 
 the boatmen, seized the oars, and, after a violent 
 struggle, in which they came very near upset- 
 ting the boat, they finally succeeded in killing 
 some of the men, and in throwing the others 
 overboard. They immediately liberated Mar- 
 garet and the prince, and then attempted to 
 make for the shore. 
 
 After having been tossed about for some time 
 in the Gulf or Firth of Solway, the boat was 
 carried by the wind away up through the North 
 Channel more than sixty miles, and finally was 
 thrown upon a sand-bank near the coast of Can- 
 tyre, a famous promontory extending into the 
 sea in this part of Scotland. The boat struck 
 at some distance from the dry land, and the sea 
 rolled in so heavily upon it that there was dan- 
 ger of its being broken to pieces ; so De Braze* 
 took the queen upon his shoulders, and, wad- 
 ing through the water, conveyed her to the 
 shore. Barville, the squire, carried the prince 
 in the same way. And so they were once more 
 safe on land.
 
 1462.] YEARS OF EXILE. 271 
 
 They land in Scotland. Arrival at the hamlet. 
 
 They found the coast wild and barren, and 
 the country desolate ; but this was attended 
 with one advantage at least, and that was that 
 the queen was in little danger of being recog- 
 nized ; for, as one of Margaret's historians ex- 
 presses it, the peasants were so ignorant that 
 they could not conceive of any one's being a 
 queen unless she had a crown upon her head 
 and a sceptre in her hand. 
 
 They all went up a little way into the coun- 
 try, and at length found a small hamlet, where 
 Margaret concluded to remain with the prince 
 until De Breze could go to Edinburgh and learn 
 what the condition of the country was, and so 
 enable her to consider what course to pursue. 
 
 The report which De Breze brought back on 
 his return was very discouraging. Margaret, 
 however, on hearing it, determined to go to Ed- 
 inburgh herself, to see what she could do. She 
 found, on her arrival there, that the govern- 
 ment were not willing to do any thing more for 
 her. They would furnish her with the means, 
 they said, if she wished, of going back to En- 
 gland in a quiet way, with a view of seeking ref- 
 uge among some of her friends there, but that 
 was all that they could do. 
 
 So Margaret went back to England, and re- 
 mained for some little time ;xi the great castle
 
 272 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Margaret reaches Bamborough. She, sails for Flanders. A etorm. 
 
 of Bamborough, which was still in the hands 
 of her friends. She tried here to contrive some 
 way of reassembling her scattered adherents and 
 making a new rally, but she found that that ob- 
 ject could not be accomplished. Thus all the 
 resources which could be furnished by France, 
 Scotland, or England for her failing cause seem- 
 ed to be exhausted, and, after turning her eyes 
 in every direction for help, she concluded to 
 cross the German Ocean into Flanders, to see if 
 she could find any sympathy or succor there. 
 
 Compared with the number of attendants 
 that were with her in her flight into Scotland, 
 the retinue of friends and followers by which 
 she was accompanied in this retreat to the Con- 
 tinent was quite large, though it is probable 
 that most of this company went with her quite 
 as much on their own account as on the queen's. 
 The whole party numbered about two hundred. 
 They embarked from Bamborough on board 
 two ships, but very soon after they had left the 
 land a storm arose, and the two ships were sep- 
 arated from each other, and for twelve houra 
 the one which Margaret and the prince had 
 taken was in imminent danger of being over- 
 whelmed. The wind rose to a perfect hurri- 
 cane, and no one expected that they could pos- 
 sibly escape.
 
 U62.] YEARS or EXILE. 273 
 
 The Duke of Burgundy. Generosity of the duke. 
 
 At length, however, the gale subsided so as 
 to allow the ship to make a port ; not the port 
 of their destination, however, but one far to the 
 southward of it, in a territory belonging to 
 Philip, Duke of Burgundy, between whom and 
 Margaret there had been, during all Margaret's 
 life, a hereditary and implacable enmity. Mar- 
 garet was greatly alarmed at finding herself 
 thus at the mercy of a person whom she con- 
 sidered as one of her deadliest foes. 
 
 But, very much to her surprise, the duke, aa 
 soon as he heard of her arrival in the country, 
 took pity on her misfortunes, forgot all his for- 
 mer enmity, and treated her in the most gener- 
 ous manner. He was not at Lille, his capital, 
 when she arrived, but he sent his son to receive 
 her, and to conduct her to the capital, with ev- 
 ery possible mark of respect. When she went 
 on afterward to meet the duke, he sent a guard 
 of honor to escort her, and when she arrived at 
 his court, which was at that time at a place call- 
 ed St. Pol, he received her iu a very distinguish- 
 ed manner, and prepared great entertainments 
 and festivities to do her honor. 
 
 He rendered her, also, still more substantial 
 
 services than these, by furnishing her with an 
 
 ample supply of funds for all her immediate 
 
 wants. He gave to each of the ladies in her 
 
 2018
 
 274 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 Rene's gratitude. A rare example. 
 
 train a hundred crowns, to Braze" a thousand, 
 and to Margaret herself an order on his treas- 
 urer for ten thousand. 
 
 King Rene, Margaret's father, was very much 
 touched with this generosity and kindness on 
 the part of his old family enemy. He himself, 
 at that time, was wholly destitute, and unable 
 to do any thing for his daughter's relief. He, 
 however, wrote a letter of warm thanks to Phil- 
 ip, in which he declared that he had not merit- 
 ed and did not expect such kindness at his 
 hands. 
 
 We have, in the conduct of the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy on this occasion, one single and solitary 
 example, among all the Christian knights, and 
 nobles, and princes that figure in this long and 
 melancholy story of contention, cruelty, and 
 crime, in which the Savior's rule, Forgive your 
 enemies, do good to them that hate you, was 
 cordially obeyed ; and what happy fruits imme- 
 diately resulted to all concerned ! How much 
 of all the vast amount of bloodshed and suffer- 
 ing which prevailed during these gloomy times 
 would have been prevented, if those who pro- 
 fessed to be followers of Christ had been really 
 vrhat they pretended. 
 
 "With the money which Margaret obtained 
 from the Duke of Burgundy she was enabled
 
 1462.] YEARS OF EXILE. 275 
 
 Margaret goes to Lorraine. The prince. Bad news from the king. 
 
 to continue her journey in some tolerable de- 
 gree of comfort to the old home of her child- 
 hood in Lorraine. All that her father could 
 do for her was to furnish her a humble place 
 of refuge ia a castle at Verdun, on the Eiver 
 Moselle, which flows through the province. 
 She went there, attended with a small number 
 of followers, and here she remained, in utter 
 seclusion from the world, and almost forgot- 
 ten, for seven long years. 
 
 During all this time she enjoyed the comfort 
 and satisfaction of having her son, the prince, 
 with her, and of watching his progress to man- 
 hood under her own personal charge and that 
 of one or two accomplished men who still ad- 
 hered to her, and who aided her in the educa- 
 tion of her boy. She was, however, hopelessly 
 separated from her husband. For a long time 
 she did not know what had become of him. 
 During this time he was leading a very pre- 
 carious and wandering life in England, going 
 from one hiding-place to another, wherever his 
 friends could most conveniently secrete him. 
 At length, however, the heavy tidings came 
 to the queen, in her retreat at Verdun, that hei 
 husband had been betrayed in one of his re- 
 treats, and had been seized and carried to Lon- 
 don as a prisoner in a very ignominious man
 
 276 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1462. 
 
 His life spared. Cruelties. Men tortured. 
 
 ner. It was to have been expected that he 
 would be immediately put to death ; but, as a 
 matter of policy, the York party thought it not 
 best to proceed to that extremity, especially as 
 all his kingly right would have immediately 
 descended to his son, in whose hands, with such 
 a mother to aid him, they would have become 
 more formidable than ever. Thus, on many 
 accounts, it was better for his enemies to allow 
 the old king to live. 
 
 But very special precautions were taken by 
 King Edward's government to prevent Marga- 
 ret and the young prince from coming into En- 
 gland again. A coast guard was set all along 
 the shore, and every one in England who was 
 suspected of being in communication with the 
 exiled queen was watched and guarded in the 
 closest manner possible. Some were tortured 
 and put to death in the attempt to force them 
 to give up letters or papers supposed to be in 
 their possession. A certain wealthy merchant 
 of London was accused of treason, and very se- 
 verely punished, simply because he had been 
 asked to loan money to Margaret, and, though 
 he refused to make the loan, did not inform 
 the authorities of the application which had 
 been i lade to him. 
 
 An aig other examples of the shocking era-
 
 1462.] YEARS OF EXILE. 277 
 
 Great fidelity. 
 
 elty of which those in power were guilty, in 
 their hatred of Margaret and her cause, it is 
 said that one man, who was found out, as they 
 thought, in an attempt to convey letters to and 
 fro between Margaret and some of her friends 
 in England, was torn to pieces with red-hot 
 pincers in a fruitless attempt to make him con- 
 fess who the persons were in England for whom 
 the letters were intended. But he bore the 
 torture to the end, and died without betraying 
 the secret*
 
 278 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1469. 
 
 -Great news. Revolt of Warwick. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 KECONCILIATION WITH WAR- 
 WICK. 
 
 Ethe fall of 1469, Margaret's mind was 
 aroused to new life and excitement by news 
 which came from England that great opposition 
 had gradually grown up in the realm against 
 the government of Edward, that many of his 
 best friends had forsaken him, and that the 
 friends and partisans of the Lancaster line were 
 increasing in strength and courage to such a 
 degree as to make it probable that the time was 
 drawing nigh when Henry might be restored 
 to the throne. The most important circum- 
 stance connected with the change which had 
 taken place was that the great Earl of War- 
 wick, who had been the most efficient and pow- 
 erful supporter of the house of York, and the 
 most determined enemy of Margaret and Hen- 
 ry during the whole war, had now abandoned 
 Edward, and had come to France, and was 
 ready to throw all the weight of his power and 
 influence on the other side.* 
 
 * The nature of the difficulties which had taken place in 
 England, and the circumstances which led the Earl of War-
 
 1469.] MARGARET AND WARWICK. 279 
 
 Excitement Margaret sent for. Reconciliation with Warwick proposed. 
 
 Of course, these tidings produced a great ex- 
 citement all over France. King Louis XI. was 
 specially interested in them, as they afforded a 
 hope that Margaret might regain her throne, 
 and so be able to redeem her mortgage, or else 
 deliver up to him the security ; so he called a 
 council at Tours to consider what was best to 
 be done, and he sent for Margaret at Verdun to 
 come with the prince and attend it. He also 
 sent for Rene', her father, and other influential 
 family friends. It is said that when Margaret 
 arrived and met her father, she was so much 
 agitated by the news, and by the hopes which 
 it awakened in her bosom, that, in embracing 
 him, she burst into tears from the excess of her 
 excitement and joy. 
 
 But she could not endure the idea of a rec- 
 onciliation with Warwick. At first she pos- 
 itively refused to see or to speak to him. 
 When, however, at length he arrived at Tours, 
 the king introduced him into Margaret's pres- 
 ence, but for a long time she refused to have 
 any thing to do with him. 
 
 "She could never forgive him," she said. 
 " He had been the chief author of the downfall 
 of her husband, and of all the sorrows and ca- 
 
 wick to abandon Edward's cause, are explained fully in thi 
 history of Richard III.
 
 280 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1469 
 
 Margaret's objections. Warwick's arguments. His promisee. 
 
 lamities which had since befallen her and her 
 son. 
 
 "Besides," she said, "even if she were will- 
 ing to forgive him for the intolerable wrongs 
 which he had inflicted upon her, it would be 
 very prejudicial to her husband's cause to en- 
 ter into any agreement or alliance with him 
 whatever ; for all her party and friends in En- 
 gland, whom Warwick had done so much to 
 injure, and who had so long looked upon him 
 as their worst and deadliest foe, would be whol- 
 ly alienated from her if they were to know that 
 she had taken him into favor, and thus she 
 would lose much more than she would gain." 
 
 Warwick replied to this as well as he could, 
 pleading the injuries which he had himself re- 
 ceived from the Lancaster party as an excuse 
 for his hostility against them. Then, moreover, 
 he had been the means of unsettling King Ed- 
 ward in his realm, and of preparing the way 
 for King Henry to return ; and he promised 
 that, if Margaret would receive him into her 
 service, he would thenceforth be true and faith- 
 ful to her as long as he lived, and be as much 
 King Edward's foe as he had hitherto been his 
 friend. He appealed, moreover, to the King of 
 France to be his surety that he would faithful- 
 ly perform these stipulations.
 
 1469.] MARGARET AND WARWICK. 281 
 
 King Louis intercedes. A new proposal. Margaret's indignation. 
 
 The King of France said that he would be 
 his surety, and he begged that Margaret would 
 pardon Warwick, and receive him into favor 
 for his sake, and for the great love that he, the 
 king, bore to him. He would do more for him, 
 he added, than for any man living. 
 
 Margaret at last allowed herself to be per- 
 suaded, and Warwick was forgiven. 
 
 There were several other great nobles, who 
 had come over with Warwick, that were re- 
 ceived into Margaret's favor at the same time,, 
 and, when the grand reconciliation was com- 
 pletely effected, the whole party set out togeth- 
 er to go down the Loire to Angers, where the 
 Countess of Warwick, the earl's wife, and his 
 youngest daughter, Anne, were awaiting them. 
 The countess and Anne were presented to the 
 queen, and a short time afterward Louis ven- 
 tured to propose a marriage between Anne and 
 Prince Edward. 
 
 Margaret received this proposal with aston- 
 ishment, and rejected it with scorn. She said 
 she could see neither honor nor profit in it, 
 either for herself or for her son. But at length, 
 after a fortnight had been spent in reasoning 
 with her on the advantages of the connection, 
 and the aid which she would derive from such 
 an alliance with Warwick in endeavoring to
 
 282 MARGARET or ANJOU. [1469. 
 
 The match finally agreed upon. The true cross. Oaths taken. 
 
 recover her husband's kingdom, she finally 
 yielded. She was influenced at last, in coming 
 to this decision, by the advice of her father, who 
 counseled her to consent to the match. 
 
 The parties united in a grand religious cer- 
 emony in the cathedral church of Angers to 
 seal and ratify the covenants and agreements 
 by which they were now to be bound. 
 
 There was a fragment of the true cross, so 
 supposed, among the relics in the cathedral, 
 and this was an object of such veneration that 
 an oath taken upon it was considered as im- 
 posing an obligation of the highest sanctity. 
 Each of the three great parties took an oath, 
 in turn, upon this holy emblem. 
 
 First, the Earl of Warwick swore that he 
 would, without change, always hold to the party 
 of King Henry, and serve him, the queen, and 
 the prince, as a true and faithful subject ought 
 to serve his sovereign lord. 
 
 Next, the King of France swore that he 
 would help and sustain, to the utmost of his 
 power, the Earl of Warwick in the quarrel of 
 King Henry. 
 
 And, finally, Queen Margaret swore to treat 
 the earl as true and faithful to King Henry and 
 the prince, and "for his deeds past never to 
 make him any reproach."
 
 1470.] MARGARET AND WARWICK. 283 
 
 The betrothal. Conditions. Ceremony. Margaret seta out for Paris. 
 
 It was furthermore agreed at this time that 
 Anne, the Earl of Warwick's daughter, who 
 was betrothed to the prince, should be deliver- 
 ed to Queen Margaret, and should remain under 
 her charge until the marriage should be con- 
 summated. But this was not to take place un- 
 til the Earl of Warwick had been into England 
 and had recovered the realm, or the greater por- 
 tion of it at least, and restored it to King Hen- 
 ry. Thus the consummation of the marriage 
 was to depend upon Warwick's success in re- 
 storing Henry his crown. 
 
 Still, a sort of marriage ceremony, or, more 
 strictly, a ceremony of betrothal, was celebrated 
 at Angers between the prince and his affianced 
 bride a few days afterward, with great parade, 
 and then Warwick, leaving his countess and his 
 daughter behind with Margaret, set out for En- 
 gland with a troop of two thousand men which 
 Louis had furnished him. 
 
 After Warwick had gone, Margaret remained 
 at Angers for some weeks, and then set out ior 
 Paris, escorted by a guard of honor. Her par- 
 ty arrived at the capital in November, and Mar- 
 garet, by Louis's orders, was received with all 
 the ceremonies and marks of distinction due to 
 a queen. The streets through which she pass- 
 ed were hung with tapestry, and ornamented
 
 284 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1470. 
 
 Reception in Paris. Good news received. 
 
 with flags and banners, and with every other 
 suitable decoration. The people came out in 
 throngs to see the grand procession pass; for, 
 in addition to the guard of honor which had 
 conducted the party to the capital, all the great 
 public functionaries and high officials joined in 
 the procession at the gates, and accompanied il 
 through the city, thus forming a grand and im- 
 posing spectacle. 
 
 Queen Margaret and her party were in this 
 way conducted to the palace, and lodged there 
 in great splendor. Their hearts were gladden- 
 ed, too, on their arrival, by receiving the news 
 that Warwick had landed in England, and had 
 been completely successful in his undertaking. 
 King Edward was deposed, and King Henry 
 had been released from his imprisonment in the 
 Tower and placed upon the throne. 
 
 Margaret, of course, at once determined that 
 she would immediately make preparations for 
 returning to England.
 
 1470.] BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 285 
 
 Preparations for going to England. Harfleur. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 preparations which were required for 
 Margaret and her company to return to 
 England in suitable state seem to have con- 
 sumed several months ; for, although it was as- 
 early as November that the great entrance into 
 Paris took place, and the news of Henry's res- 
 toration was received, it was not until February 
 that the royal party were ready to embark. 
 There were negotiations to be made, and men 
 to be enlisted, and ships to be procured, and 
 funds to be provided, and appointments to be 
 decided upon, and dresses to be made, and a 
 thousand questions of precedence and etiquette 
 to be considered and arranged. At length, 
 however, all was ready, and the whole company 
 proceeded together to the port which had been 
 selected as the place of embarkation. This port 
 was Harfleur. Harfleur is situated on the coast 
 of Normandy, near the more modern port of 
 Havre. 
 
 When the time arrived for sailing, the weath- 
 er looked very unfavorable ; but Margaret, who
 
 286 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1470. 
 
 Wind contrary. Supposed witchcraft Large company. 
 
 had become weary with the delays by which her 
 return had been so long postponed, and was 
 very impatient to arrive in her own dominions 
 again, ordered the ships to put to sea. Three 
 times did they make the attempt, and three 
 times were the ships driven back into port 
 again. Many of her friends were greatly dis- 
 couraged by these failures. Some said they 
 thought that this continued resistance of the el- 
 ements to her plans ought to be regarded as an 
 indication of divine Providence that she was 
 not to go to England at present, and they begged 
 her to defer the attempt. Others thought that 
 the contrary winds were raised by witches, and 
 they began to devise measures for finding out 
 who the witches were. 
 
 Margaret paid no attention to either of these 
 suggestions, but persisted in her determination 
 to sail the moment that the weather should al- 
 low. This delay was a source of great incon- 
 venience to her, and it occasioned a good deal 
 of expense ; for, besides her own personal offi- 
 cers and attendants, Margaret had collected 
 quite a large body of soldiers to cross the Chan- 
 nel with her, in order to re-enforce the armies 
 of Warwick and of Henry. This was quite 
 necessary ; for, although Henry had been nom- 
 inally restored to the throne, his enemies were
 
 1470.] BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 Army to be embarked. Margaret's fears. Countess of Warwick. 
 
 yet in the field in considerable force, and Mar- 
 garet was very desirous of bringing with her 
 the means of helping to put them down. In 
 deed, she knew that the situation of her hus- 
 band was extremely precarious, and that the 
 fortune of war might at any time turn against 
 him. And this consideration made her ex- 
 tremely impatient at the delay occasioned by 
 the weather at Harfleur. She did not know 
 but that the king might even then be engaged 
 in close conflict with his foes, and likely to be 
 overwhelmed by them, and that her force, by 
 being so long delayed, would arrive too late to 
 save him. 
 
 Alas for poor Margaret ! It was, indeed, ex- 
 actly so. 
 
 It was not until the 24th of March that it 
 was possible to leave the port; but then, al- 
 though the weather was by no means settled, 
 the queen determined to wait no longer. The 
 Countess of Warwick, who had been left in 
 France when the earl her husband went to 
 England, sailed from Harfleur at the same time 
 with the queen, though in a different vessel. 
 Her daughter, however, the prince regent's 
 bride elect, went with the queen. 
 
 The weather continued very boisterous after 
 the fleet sailed, and as the gales which blew so
 
 288 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1470. 
 
 Arrival in England. The landing. 
 
 heavily were from the north, the ships could 
 make very little progress. They were kept 
 beating about in the Channel, or lying at an- 
 chor waiting for a change of wind, for more 
 than a fortnight. During all this time Marga- 
 Tet was kept in a perfect fever of impatience 
 and anxiety. 
 
 At length, about the 10th of April, they 
 reached the land at Weymouth. 
 
 After the ships entered the port, the space 
 of a day or two was occupied in making prepa- 
 rations to land. Among these preparations 
 was included the work of arranging apartments 
 Sit an abbey in the vicinity of Weymouth to 
 receive the queen and her attendants. In the 
 mean time, the landing of the troops was push- 
 ed forward as rapidly as possible. 
 
 The ship in which the Countess of Warwick 
 embarked had sailed in a different direction 
 from Margaret's fleet, and it was not known 
 yet what had become of her. 
 
 When at last the preparations were com- 
 pleted, the queen and her party went on shore 
 and took up their abode in the abbey. Marga- 
 ret's mind was intensely occupied with the ar- 
 rangements necessary for marshaling her troops 
 and getting them ready to march to the assist- 
 ance of Warwick, when, to her amazement and
 
 1470.] BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 289 
 
 >V--> of a battle. 
 
 Warwick killed. 
 
 consternation, she received news, on the very 
 next day after she took up her abode in the ab- 
 bey, that the party of King Edward had mus- 
 tered in great force and advanced toward Lon- 
 don, and that a battle had been fought at a place 
 called Barnet, a few miles from London, in which 
 Edward's party had been completely victorious. 
 The Earl of Warwick had been killed. King 
 Henry her husband had been taken prisoner, 
 and their cause seemed to be wholly lost. 
 
 2019 
 
 OEATU OF WAKWICK.
 
 290 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 Manner of Warwick's death. Margaret's despair. Imminent danger. 
 
 Warwick had gone into the battle on foot, 
 in order the more effectually to stimulate the 
 emulation of his men, so that when, in the end, 
 his forces were defeated, and fled, he himself, 
 being encumbered by his armor, 2ould not save 
 himself, but was overtaken by his remorseless 
 enemies and slain. 
 
 The terrible agitation and anguish that this 
 news excited in the mind of the queen it would 
 be impossible to describe. She fell at first into 
 a swoon, and when at length her senses re- 
 turned, she was so completely overwhelmed 
 with disappointment, vexation, and rage, and 
 talked so wildly and incoherently, that her 
 friends almost feared that she would lose her 
 reason. Her son, the young prince, who was 
 now nearly nineteen years of age, did all in his 
 power to soothe and calm her, and at length 
 so far succeeded as to induce her to consider 
 what was to be done to secure her own and his 
 safety. To remain where they were was to 
 expose themselves to be attacked at any time 
 by a body of Edward's victorious troops and 
 conveyed prisoner to the Tower. 
 
 There was another abbey at not a great dis- 
 tance from where Margaret now was, which 
 was endowed with certain privileges as a sanc- 
 tuary, such that persons seeking refuge there
 
 1471.] BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT. 291 
 
 She seeks security. The Countess of Warwick. Great reverse of fortune. 
 
 under certain circumstances could not be taken 
 away. The name of this retreat was Beau- 
 lieu Abbey. Margaret immediately proceeded 
 across the country to this place, taking with her 
 the prince and nearly all the others of her par- 
 ty. Either on her arrival here, or on the way, 
 she met the Countess of Warwick, who, it will 
 be recollected, had left Harfleur at the same 
 time that she did. The countess's ship had 
 been driven farther to the eastward, and she 
 had finally landed at Portsmouth. Here she 
 too had learned the news of the battle of Bar- 
 net and of the death of her husband, and, be- 
 ing completely overwhelmed with the tidings, 
 and also alarmed for her own safety, she had 
 determined to fly for refuge to Beaulieu Ab- 
 bey too. 
 
 The two unhappy ladies, who had parted, 
 three weeks before, on the coast of France with 
 such high and excellent expectations, now met, 
 both plunged in the deepest and most over- 
 whelming sorrow. Their hopes were blasted, 
 all their bright prospects were destroyed, and 
 they found themselves in the condition of help- 
 less and wretched fugitives, dependent upon a 
 religious sanctuary for the hope of even saving 
 their lives.
 
 292 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 Margaret found by friends. Her Bad condition. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 
 
 MARGARET did not trust entirely for her 
 safety to the sacredness of the sanctuary 
 where she had sought refuge. She endeavor- 
 ed, by all the means in her power, to keep the 
 place of her retreat secret from all but her cho- 
 sen and most trustworthy friends. Very soon, 
 however, she was visited by some of these, es- 
 pecially by some young nobles, who came to 
 her exasperated, and all on fire with rage and 
 resentment, on account of the death of their 
 friends and relatives, who had been slain in 
 the battle. 
 
 They found Margaret, however, in a state 
 of mind very different from their own. She 
 was beginning to be discouraged. The long- 
 continued and bitter experience of failure and 
 disappointment, which had now, for so many 
 years, been her constant lot, seemed at last 
 to have had power to undermine and destroy 
 even her resolution and energy. Her friends, 
 when they came to see her, found her plunged 
 in a sort of stupor of wretchedness and de-
 
 1471.] CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 293 
 
 Her friends encourage her. Little success. Her wishes. 
 
 spair from which they found it difficult to 
 rouse her. 
 
 And when, at length, they succeeded in so 
 far awakening her from her despondency as to 
 induce her to take some interest in. their con- 
 sultations, her only feeling for the time being 
 seemed to be anxiety for the safety of her son. 
 She begged and implored them to take some 
 measures to protect him. They endeavored to 
 convince her that her situation was not so des- 
 perate as she imagined. They had still a pow- 
 erful force, they said, on their side. That force 
 was now rallying and reassembling, and, with 
 her presence and that of the young prince at 
 their head-quarters, the numbers and enthusi- 
 asm of their troops would be very rapidly in- 
 creased, and there was great hope that they 
 might soon be able again to meet the enemy 
 under more favorable auspices than ever. 
 
 But the queen seemed very unwilling to ac- 
 cede to their views. It was of no use, she said, 
 to make any farther effort. They were not 
 strong enough to meet their enemies in battle, 
 and nothing but fresh disasters would result 
 from making the attempt. There was nothing 
 to be done but for herself and the young prince, 
 with as many others as were disposed to share 
 her fortunes, to return as soon as possible to
 
 294 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 The young prince. An army collected. To Bath. 
 
 France, and there to remain and wait for bette* 
 times. 
 
 But the young prince was not willing to adopt 
 this plan. He was young, and full of confidence 
 and hope, and he joined the nobles in urging 
 his mother to consent to take the field. His in- 
 fluence prevailed; and Margaret, though with 
 great reluctance and many forebodings, finally 
 yielded. 
 
 So she left the sanctuary, and, with the prince, 
 was escorted secretly to the northward, in order 
 to join the army there. The western counties 
 of England, those lying on the borders of Wales, 
 had long been very favorable to Henry's cause, 
 and when the people learned that the queen 
 and- the young prince were there, they came 
 out in great numbers, as the nobles had pre- 
 dicted, to join her standard. In a short time a 
 large army was ready to take the field. 
 
 Margaret was at this time at Bath. She soon 
 heard that King Edward was coming against 
 her from London with a large army. Her own 
 forces, she thought, were not yet strong enough 
 to meet him ; so she formed the plan of cross- 
 ing the Severn into Wales, and waiting there 
 until she should have a larger force concen- 
 trated. 
 
 Accordingly, from Bath she went down to
 
 1471.] CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 295 
 
 To Bristol. Endeavors to cross the river. Arrival of Edward. 
 
 Bristol, which, as will be seen from the map, is 
 on the banks of the Severn, at a place where the 
 river is very wide. She could not cross here, 
 the lowest bridge on the river being at Glou- 
 cester, thirty or forty miles farther up ; so she 
 moved up to Gloucester, intending to cross 
 there. But she found the bridge fortified, and 
 in the possession of an officer under the orders 
 of the Duke of Gloucester, who was a partisan 
 of King Edward, and he refused to allow the 
 queen to pass without an order from his master. 
 It seemed not expedient to attempt to force 
 the bridge, and, accordingly, Margaret and her 
 party went on up the river in order to find 
 some other place to cross into Wales. She was 
 very much excited on this journey, and suffer- 
 ed great anxiety, for the army of King Edward 
 was advancing rapidly, and there was danger 
 that she would be intercepted and her retreat 
 cut off; so she pressed forward with the utmost 
 diligence, and at length, after having marched 
 thirty-seven miles in one day with her troops, 
 she arrived at Tewkesbury, a town situated 
 about midway between Gloucester and Wor- 
 cester. When she arrived there, she found that 
 Edward had arrived already within a mile of 
 the place, at the head of a great army, and was 
 ready for battle.
 
 296 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 They, make a stand. Battle of Tewkesbury. Preparations for the fight. 
 
 There was, however, now an opportunity for 
 Margaret to cross the river and retire for a time 
 into Wales, and she was herself extremely de- 
 sirous of doing so, but the young nobles who 
 were with her, and especially the Duke of Som- 
 erset, a violent and hot-headed young man, who 
 acted as the leader of them, would not consent. 
 He declared that he would retreat no farther. 
 
 " We will make a stand here," said he, " and 
 take such fortune as God may send us." 
 
 So he pitched his camp in the park which 
 lay upon the confines of the town, and thre w 
 up intrenchments. Many of the other leaders 
 were strongly opposed to his plan of making a 
 stand in this place, but Somerset was the chief 
 in command, and he would have his way. 
 
 He, however, showed no disposition to shel- 
 ter himself personally from any portion of the 
 danger to which his friends and followers were 
 to be exposed. He took command of the ad- 
 vanced guard. The young prince, supported 
 by some other leaders of age and experience, 
 was also to be placed in a responsible and im- 
 portant position. When all was ready, Marga- 
 ret and the prince rode along the ranks, speak- 
 ing words of encouragement to the troops, and 
 promising large rewards to them in case they 
 gained the victory.
 
 1471.] CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 299 
 
 Margaret's maternal anxiety. She witnesses the fight. Somerset, 
 
 Margaret's heart was full of anxiety and agi- 
 tation as the hour for the commencement of 
 hostilities drew nigh. She had often before 
 staked very dear and highly-valued friends in 
 the field of battle, but now, for the first time, 
 she was putting to hazard the life of her dear- 
 ly beloved and only son. It was very much 
 against her will that she was brought to incur 
 this terrible danger. It was only the sternest 
 necessity that compelled her to do it. 
 
 When the battle began, Margaret withdrew 
 to an elevation within the park, from which she 
 could witness the progress of the fight. For 
 some time her army remained on the defens- 
 ive within their intrenchments, but at length 
 Somerset, becoming impatient and impetuous, 
 determined on making a sally and attacking 
 the assailants in the open field. 
 
 So, ordering the others to follow him, he is- 
 sued forth from the lines. Some obeyed him, 
 and others did not. After a while he returned 
 within the lines again, apparently for the pur- 
 pose of calling those who remained there to ac- 
 count for not obeying him. He found Lord 
 Wenlock, one of the leaders, sitting upon his 
 horse idle, as he said, in the town. He imme- 
 diately denounced him as a traitor, and, riding 
 up to him, cut him down with a blow from his 
 battle-axe, which cleft his skull.
 
 300 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 Panic and flight. Margaret's terror. She swoons. Capture of the prince. 
 
 The men who were under Lord Wenlock's 
 banner, seeing their leader thus mercilessly 
 slain, immediately began to fly. Their flight 
 caused a panic, which rapidly spread among all 
 the other troops, and the whole field was soon 
 in utter confusion. 
 
 When Margaret saw this, and thought of the 
 prince, exposed, as he was, to the most immi- 
 nent danger in the defeat, she became almost 
 frantic with excitement and terror. She in- 
 sisted on rushing into the field to find and save 
 her son. Those around found it almost im- 
 possible to restrain her. At length, in the 
 struggle, her excitement and terror entirely 
 overpowered her. She swooned away, and her 
 attendants then bore her senseless to a carriage, 
 and she was driven rapidly away out through 
 one of the park gates, and thence by a by-road 
 to a religious house near by, where it was 
 thought she would be for the moment secure. 
 
 The poor prince was taken prisoner. He was 
 conveyed, after the battle, to Edward's tent. 
 The historians of the day relate the following 
 story of the sad termination of his career. 
 
 When Edward, accompanied by his ofiicers 
 and the nobles in attendance upon him, cover- 
 ed with the blood and the dust of the conflict, 
 and fierce and exultant under the excitement
 
 1471.] CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 303 
 
 Death of the Prince of Wales. Margaret receives the tidings. 
 
 of slaughter and victory, came into the tent, 
 and saw the handsome young prince standing 
 there in the hands of his captors, he was at 
 first struck with the elegance of his appear- 
 ance and his frank and manly bearing. He, 
 however, accosted him fiercely by demanding 
 what brought him to England. The prince 
 replied fearlessly that he came to recover his 
 father's crown and his own inheritance. Upon 
 this, Edward threw his glove, a heavy iron 
 gauntlet, in his face. 
 
 The men standing by took this as an indica 
 tion of Edward's feelings and wishes in respect 
 to his prisoner, and they fell upon him at once 
 with their swords and murdered him upon the 
 spot. 
 
 Margaret did not know what had become of 
 her son until the following day. By that time 
 King Edward had discovered the place of her 
 retreat, and he sent a certain Sir "William Stan- 
 ley, who had always been one of her most in- 
 veterate enemies^ to take her prisoner and bring 
 her to him. It was this Stanley who, when he 
 came, brought her the news of her son's death. 
 He communicated the news to her, it was said, 
 in an exultant manner, as if he was not only 
 glad of the prince's death, but as if he rejoiced 
 in having the opportunity of witnessing the
 
 304 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1471. 
 
 She ia borne to London. Her condition on the journey. Her last hope. 
 
 despair and grief with which the mother was 
 overwhelmed in hearing the tidings. 
 
 Stanley conveyed the queen to Coventry, 
 where King Edward then was, and placed her 
 at his disposal. Edward was then going to 
 London in a sort of triumphant march in hon- 
 or of his victory, and he ordered that Stanley 
 should take Margaret with him in his train. 
 Anne of Warwick, her son's young bride, was 
 taken to London too, at the same time and in 
 the same way. 
 
 During the whole of the journey Margaret 
 was in a continued state of the highest excite- 
 ment, being almost wild with grief and rage. 
 She uttered continual maledictions against Ed- 
 ward for having murdered her boy, and noth- 
 ing could soothe or quiet her. 
 
 It might be supposed that there would have 
 been one source of comfort open to her during 
 this dreadful journey in the thought that, in 
 going to the Tower, which was now undoubt- 
 edly to be her destination, she should rejoin 
 her husband, who had been for some time im- 
 prisoned there. But the hope of being thus 
 once more united to almost the last object of 
 affection that now remained to her upon earth, 
 if Margaret really cherished it, was doomed 
 to a bitter disappointment. The death of the
 
 1471.] CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW. 305 
 
 Murder of the king. Terrible reverse of fortune. 
 
 young prince made it now an object of great 
 importance to the reigning line that Henry him- 
 self should be put out of the way, and, on the 
 very night of Margaret's arrival at the Tower, 
 her husband was assassinated in the room which 
 had so long been his prison. 
 
 Thus all Queen Margaret's bright hopes of 
 happiness were, in two short months, complete- 
 ly and forever destroyed. At the, close of the 
 month of March she was the proud and happy 
 queen of a monarch ruling over one of the 
 most wealthy and powerful kingdoms on the 
 globe, and the mother of a prince who was en- 
 dowed with every personal grace and noble 
 accomplishment, affianced to a high-born, beau- 
 tiful, and immensely wealthy bride, and just 
 entering what promised to be a long and glo- 
 rious career. In May, just two months later, 
 she was childless and a widow. Both her hus- 
 band and her son were lying in bloody graves, 
 and she herself, fallen from her throne, was shut 
 up, a helpless captive, in a gloomy dungeon, 
 with no prospect of deliverance before her to 
 the end of her days. The annals even of roy- 
 alty, filled as they are with examples of over- 
 whelming calamity, can perhaps furnish no 
 other instance of so total and terrible reverse 
 of fortune as this. 
 2O20
 
 306 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [147L 
 
 The body of King Henry. Borae away on the river to Cherteey. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ON the day following the assassination of 
 Henry, the body was taken from the Tow- 
 er and conveyed through the streets of London, 
 with a strong escort of armed men to guard it, 
 to the Church of St. Paul's, there to be public- 
 ly exhibited, as was customary on such occa- 
 sions. Such an exhibition was more necessary 
 than usual in this case, as the fact of Henry's 
 death might, perhaps, have afterward been call- 
 ed in question, and designing men might have 
 continued to agitate the country in his name, 
 if there had not been the most positive proof 
 furnished to the public that he was no more. 
 
 The body remained lying thus during the 
 day. When night came, it was taken away 
 and carried down to Blackfriar's a landing 
 upon the river nearly opposite Saint Paul's. 
 Here there was a boat lying ready to receive 
 the hearse. It was lighted with torches, and 
 the watermen were at their oars. The hearse 
 was put on board, and the body was thus borne 
 away, over the dark waters of the river, to the
 
 1471.] CONCLUSION. 309 
 
 Margaret in confinement. Wallingford. She 'is ransomed. 
 
 lonely village of Chertsey, where it had been 
 decided that he should be interred. 
 
 For some time after Henry's death Margaret 
 was kept in close confinement in the Tower. At 
 length, finding that every thing was quiet, and 
 that the new government was becoming firmly 
 established, the rigor of the unhappy captive's 
 imprisonment was relaxed. She was removed 
 first to Windsor, and afterward to Wallingford, 
 a place in the interior of the country, where she 
 enjoyed a considerable degree of personal free- 
 dom, though she was still very closely watched 
 and guarded. 
 
 At length, about four years afterward, her 
 father, King Rene', succeeded in obtaining her 
 ransom for the sum of fifty thousand crowns. 
 Eene was not the possessor of so much money 
 himself, but he induced King Louis to pay it, 
 on condition of his conveying to him his family 
 domain. 
 
 The ransom was to be paid in five annual in- 
 stallments, but on the payment of the first in- 
 stallment the queen was to be released and al- 
 lowed to return to her native land. It was stip- 
 ulated, too, that, as a condition of her release, 
 she was formally and forever to renounce all 
 the rights of every kind within the realm of
 
 310 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1476. 
 
 The commissioner. Margaret crosses the Channel. At Rouen. 
 
 England to which she might have laid claim 
 through her marriage with Henry. It might 
 have been supposed that they would have re- 
 quired her to sign this renunciation before re- 
 leasing her. But it was held by the law of En- 
 gland, then as now, that a signature made under 
 durance was invalid, the signer not being free. 
 So it was arranged that an English commission- 
 er was to accompany her across the Channel, 
 and go with her to Kouen, where he was to de- 
 liver her to the French embassadors, who, in the 
 name of Louis, were to be responsible for her 
 signing the document. 
 
 This plan was carried into effect. Margaret 
 set out from the castle of Wallingford under 
 the care of a man on whom Edward's govern- 
 ment could rely for keeping a close watch over 
 her, and taking care that she went on quietly 
 through England to the port of embarkation. 
 This port was Sandwich. Here she embarked 
 on board a vessel, with a retinue of three ladies 
 and seven gentlemen, and bade a final farewell 
 to the kingdom which she had entered on her 
 bridal tour with such high and exultant ex- 
 pectations of grandeur and happiness. 
 
 She arrived at Dieppe in the beginning of 
 1476, and proceeded immediately to Eouen, 
 where the commissioner, who came to attend
 
 1476.] CONCLUSION. , 311 
 
 Her renunciation. Feelings with which she signed it. 
 
 her, delivered her to the French embassadors 
 appointed to receive her, and attend to the sign- 
 ing of the renunciation. 
 
 The document was written in Latin, but the 
 import of it was as follows : 
 
 I, Margaret, formerly in England married, re- 
 nounce all that I could pretend to in England, 
 by the conditions of my marriage, with all oth- 
 er things there, to Edward, now King of En- 
 gland. 
 
 It cost Margaret no effort to sign this paper. 
 With the death of her husband and her son all 
 hope had been extinguished in her bosom, and 
 life now possessed nothing that she desired. 
 She signed this fatal document, renouncing not 
 only all claims to be henceforth considered a 
 queen, but all pretension that she had ever been 
 one, with a passive indifference and unconcern 
 which showed that her spirit was broken, and 
 that the fires of pride and ambition which had 
 burned so fiercely in her breast were now, at 
 last, extinguished forever. 
 
 When the paper was signed Margaret was 
 dismissed and left at liberty to go her own way 
 to her native province of Anjou, where it was 
 her intention to spend the remainder of her
 
 312 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1476. 
 
 Ungenerousness of Louis. An escort offered. Danger. 
 
 days. Her plan was to pass by the way of Par- 
 is, in order to see once more her cousin, King 
 Louis, who had treated her with so much con- 
 sideration and honor when she was on her way 
 to England with a fair prospect of finding her 
 husband upon the throne. But the case was 
 different now, Louis thought, and instead of re- 
 ceiving kindly her intimation that she was in- 
 tending to visit Paris on her way home, he sent 
 her word that she had better not come, and ad- 
 vised her instead to make the best of her way 
 to her father in Anjou. 
 
 He, however, as if to soften this incivility, 
 sent an escort to accompany her in her journey 
 home, but Margaret was so stung by her cous- 
 in's heartless abandonment of her in her dis- 
 tress that she resolved to accept no favor at his 
 hands ; so she refused the escort, and set out 
 with her few personal companions alone. 
 
 This little blazing up of the old flames of 
 pride and resentment in her heart came near, 
 however, to costing Margaret her life, for she 
 had not gone far on her journey before an emer- 
 gency occurred in which an escort would have 
 been of great service to her. It seems that 
 when the English were driven out of Norman- 
 dy, many families and some whole villages re- 
 mained of people who were too poor to return.
 
 1476.] CONCLUSION. 31S 
 
 English people in Normandy. Margaret at the inn. Riot at the inn. 
 
 These people were now in a very low and mis- 
 erable condition. They mourned continually 
 the hard necessity by which they had been left 
 without friends or protection in a foreign land ; 
 and they understood, too, that the first begin- 
 ning of the abandonment of their possessions in 
 France by the English was the cession of cer- 
 tain provinces by the government of Henry VI. 
 at the time of that monarch's marriage with 
 Margaret of Anjou, and that all the subsequent 
 misfortunes of their countrymen in France, by 
 which, in the end, the whole country had been 
 lost, had their origin in these transactions. 
 
 Now it happened that Margaret, on her jour- 
 ney from Rouen to Anjou, stopped the first 
 night at one of these villages. The people, see- 
 ing a party of strangers come to town, gathered 
 round the inn at night from curiosity to learn 
 who they might be. When they were inform- 
 ed that it was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of En- 
 gland, who had been banished from the king- 
 dom, and was now returning home, they were 
 excited to the highest pitch of anger against 
 her as the author of all their sufferings. They 
 made a rush into the house to seize her, and, if 
 they had been successful, they would doubtless 
 have killed her upon the spot. But some of 
 the gentlemen who were in her party defended
 
 314 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [1476. 
 
 Margaret arrives in Anjou. Her father. 
 
 her sword in hand, and kept the mob at bay 
 until she gained her apartment. They guard- 
 ed her there until they could send for the au- 
 thorities, who came and dispersed the mob. 
 Margaret immediately returned to Rouen, will- 
 ing enough now to accept of an escort. A prop- 
 er guard was provided for her, and under the 
 protection of it she set out once more on her 
 journey, and this time went on in safety. 
 
 When Margaret at last reached her native 
 country of Anjou, she was received very kind- 
 ly by her father, and went to live with him in 
 a castle called the castle of Kecule'e, situated 
 about a league from Angers, the capital of the 
 province. 
 
 Here she remained about four years. It was 
 a very pleasant place. The castle was situated 
 upon the bank of a river, and yet in a com- 
 manding situation, which afforded a pretty view 
 of the town. There was a beautiful garden at- 
 tached to the castle, and a gallery of painting 
 and sculpture. Her father, King Rene', was a 
 painter himself, and he amused himself a great 
 deal in painting pictures to add to his collection 
 or to give to his friends. 
 
 But Margaret could take no interest in any 
 of these things. Her mind was all the time 
 filled with bitter recollections of the past, which,
 
 1476.] CONCLUSION. 315 
 
 Dreadful depression of spirits. Its effects. Death of her father. 
 
 even if she did not cling to and cherish them, 
 she could not dispel. She dwelt continually 
 upon thoughts of her husband and her child. 
 She made ceaseless efforts to obtain possession 
 of their bodies, in order that she might have 
 them transported to Anjou, and, as she could 
 not succeed in this, she paid annually a consid- 
 erable sum to secure the services of priests tc 
 say masses over their graves in England, in or- 
 der to secure the repose of their souls. 
 
 Indeed, the anguish and agitation which con- 
 tinually reigned in her heart preyed upon her 
 like a worm in the centre of a flower. t; Her 
 eyes, once so brilliant and expressive," says one 
 of her historians, " became hollow and dim, and 
 permanently inflamed from continual weeping." 
 Indeed, the whole mass of her blood became 
 corrupted, and a fearful disease affected her 
 once beautiful skin, making her an object of 
 commiseration to all who beheld her. 
 
 She continued in this state until her father 
 died. He, on his death-bed, committed her to 
 the care of an old and faithful friend, who, aft- 
 er King Rene's decease, took her with him to 
 his own castle of Damprierre, which was situ- 
 ated about twenty-five miles farther up the 
 river. 
 
 But, though Margaret was treated very kind-
 
 316 MARGARET OF ANJOU. [147& 
 
 The closing scene. 
 
 ly by the friend to whom her father thus con- 
 signed her, she did not long survive this change. 
 She died, and was buried in the cathedral at 
 Angers, and for centuries afterward the ecclesi- 
 astics of the chapter, once every year, at the re- 
 turn of the proper anniversary, performed a 
 solemn ceremony over her grave by walking 
 round it with a slow and measured step, sing- 
 ing a hymn. 
 
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