MARGARET OF ANJOU, Queen of Benry the Sixth. CHAPTER I. Parentage of Margaret of Anjou-Her father's talents and misfortunes-Her childhood-Character of Henry the Sixth-Failure of Gloucester's efforts to procure him a bride-Beaufort resolves to establish peace with France by a marriage between Henry and Margaret-The craft by which he accomplishes his purposeThe marriage negociated by Suffolk-Betrothment and journey of Margaret to England-Her illness on landing-Doctor's bill-Marriage and coronationAscendancy over the mind of her husband-Regard for Beaufort-Death of Gloucester-And of Beaufort-Margaret's unpopularity-She founds Queen's College-Directs the minds of the people to the arts of peace. ARGARET OF of his era despised him, whilst by the ANJOU, a princess people he was adored for his benificence, whose history is one and surnamed the Good. When the tissue of exciting Duke of Lorraine died in 1430, his sucincidents, was the session to that valuable fief was disputed daughter of René, by Count Vaudemonte. A fierce warDuke of Anjou, and fare ensued. And at length René was Isabella, daughter defeated and made prisoner in the little and heiress of the Duke of Lorraine. but sanguine battle of Bulgneville, in She first saw the light in March, 1429, 1431. The mother of Margaret, a at the noble castle of Pont a Mousson princess of parts, energy, and perseverin Lorraine. Her more accomplished ance, born and nurtured amidst scenes of than chivalrous father was the son of trouble and warfare, and withal the paLouis the Second, King of Sicily and troness of Agnes Sorel, and the contemJerusalem, Duke of Anjou, and Count porary of the celebrated heroine of of Provence, and a poet, a musician, France, Joan of Arc, exerted all her and an artist of no mean order. To energies to obtain the release of her him we owe the origin of the opera lord; but as he had already been conballet; and many of his beautiful mu-signed to his bitter foe, the Duke of sical compositions have retained their Burgundy, her efforts were fruitless, popularity even to the present day. He, however, lived in turbulent times, and being of a gentle and charitable disposition, the rude, lion-hearted nobles and for six years the father of Margaret of Anjou languished a closely confined captive in the highest tower of the castle of Dijon. René only obtained his release by the payment of an enormous ransom to the Duke of Burgundy, by consenting to a marriage between his eldest daughter Yolante, and Frederick, son and heir of his rival, Count Vaudemonte, and by betrothing the young Margaret of Anjou to the Count St. Pol. Meanwhile, in 1436, Louis, titular King of Naples, died; the succession devolved upon René; and his faithful consort prepared to immediately assert his rights against the posterity of Charles Durazzo, who really held possession of the kingdom and the crown. With her mother the young Margaret hastened to Naples, when first at Capua, the Neapolitan residence of the Anjou family, and afterwards, on the release and arrival of her father, at the superb palace furnished by his predecessor, Joanna the Second, she resided and received her education under the care of the learned Antoine de Salle. René had worn the crown of Naples but a few months, when Alphonso, King of Arragon, drove him from the throne, and pressed him so hard, that it was with difficulty he escaped with his wife and family to Lorraine; where, as the English had possessed themselves of nearly the whole of Anjou and Maine, he was reduced to the unpleasant strait of living almost wholly on the bounty of his brother-in-law, the King of France. At this period Henry the Sixth, the bachelor King of England, was twentythree years of age, cultivated in mind, mild in disposition, pure and holy in thought, and pining to enter the married state. His morality was most exemplary, and when any of the frail damsels at court sought to wile him into an unlawful intimacy, he would turn away with disdain exclaiming, "Fie, fie, indeed! ye be greatly to blame." By those rival statesmen, the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, the procuring a consort for the King was viewed as the deciding point of political mastery. In 1442, Gloucester had recommended to Henry one of the daughters of the Count of Armagnac, under a belief that the power of that nobleman, who was then at war with France, might form an impregnable bulwark of defence to Guienne. But before the delicate business could be brought to an issue the French King learned the secret, and prevented the match, by making the Count and his family prisoners. Beaufort, however, was more successful in his efforts. With the astuteness and cunning of the English cardinals in our own times, he foresaw that as Henry was devoid of capacity, the Queen, whoever she might be, would possess unbounded influence over the mind of her husband, and therefore, should she be tender of age and possessed of energy and superior endowments of mind, he might, possibly, through her influence, crush the power of his political adversaries, and bring about a peace with France, a measure wise as it was humane; it being absurd to suppose that England could retain the mastery over a country so extensive, so civilized, and so populous as France, whilst the very attempt to do so had already done much to annihilate the arts of civilization, and to plunge both kingdoms into the very depths of crime and misery. Actuated by these motives, and a desire to conceal his purpose from his enemies, the cardinal, through the agency of Champchevrier, an Ăngevin prisoner belonging to Sir John Falstolf, but then at large, directed the choice of Henry towards Margaret of Anjou, a princess but just in her teens, of surprising beauty and wit, and of great energies of mind. Champchevrier painted the beauty and the accomplishments of Margaret in such glowing colours, that Henry, almost in love with her from hearsay, dispatched him with great privacy to the court of her povertystricken father for her portrait, which, says the King in his instructions, "must be an exact ymagine alike in statute, countenance, beauty, colour of skin, and every particular, just the like as ye see." Meanwhile, Sir John Falstolf, not being in the secret, became enraged at the absence of his prisoner without leave or license, and wrote to the King of France, detailing the particulars, and requesting that he might be restored to him. Champchevrier was accordingly arrested on his return with the portrait, | as a pauper. He had been driven out and conveyed before Charles, who, on of Naples; England possessed Anjou learning his mission and perceiving the and Maine; to pay his ransom, he had advantages that might accrue to France mortgaged Bar to the Duke of Burfrom the union of Henry and Margaret, gundy, and now he neither possessed a immediately released him, and bid him castle nor an acre of land that he could speed to England and tell King Henry call his own. To the marriage he wilthat the marriage would be fully ap- lingly consented, but on conditions that proved of by the court of France. His the bride's wedding portion should be reappearance at Windsor, however, ex- only her charms and rare endowments, cited the suspicions of the Duke of which he pronounced to be of greater Gloucester; and these suspicions were worth than all the riches of the world; shortly afterwards fully confirmed by and that Henry should restore to him his again departing on a secret mission the provinces of Anjou and Maine; "for from the King to the father of the por- how," he demanded, "can I think of tionless Margaret. The subject was marrying my daughter to the King of therefore laid before the council, and England whilst he withholds from me after much warm discussion, and despite my patrimonial territories?" These obthe determined opposition of Gloucester, jections, although reasonable, were it was resolved to negociate a peace with highly embarrassing. To receive the France, based upon the marriage of the bride without a wedding portion, would King with the French Queen's niece, be a bold stroke, considering the poverty Margaret of Anjou. of the King and the hostility of the nation to all that was French; but in addition to this, to resign the duchies of Anjou and Maine for the favour of her hand would indeed be an experiment no less dangerous than daring. However, as the handsome Count de Nevers of Burgundy, her passionate lover, was at the time earnestly urging his suit in person, Suffolk, in an evil hour for himself, yielded to the demands of King Réne; and the restitution of Anjou and Maine was stipulated in the marriage treaty. The conduct of the negociation was entrusted to the Earl of Suffolk, and accepted by him with real or affected unwillingness. His former endeavours to establish a peace had impressed the people with a belief that he was favourable to the interests of France. Then, probably, he feared the menaces of the act passed in the reign of Henry the Fifth, which made it penal to conclude a peace without first obtaining the consent of the three Estates in both nations; or, perhaps, he dreaded the future malice of Gloucester. But, however this may be, he certainly would not undertake the mission until he was secured, as he vainly supposed, from imputation or peril by an order signed by the King, and approved by the parliament, enjoining him to undertake the commission, and pardoning before-hand any error of judgment into which he might fall. He met the French commissioners at Tours. A truce was concluded for two years; and afterwards the subject of the marriage was brought forward. On the part of France no objections were raised; but on the part of England there were several obstacles, and some of them startling ones. The bride's father, with all his high-sounding titles, was as poor On his return, Suffolk, after a strong opposition from Gloucester and his partizans, obtained the thanks of the council, the Lords and the Commons, for so ably concluding the marriage treaty; with the terms of which they expressed themselves fully satisfied. Immediately afterwards he was created Marquis, and by the King's commands wended back his steps to France, where, on the twenty-eighth of October, he was solemnly contracted, as proxy for Henry, to Margaret of Anjou, by the Bishop of Toul, in the cathedral of Nanci; the imposing ceremony being performed in the presence of the bride's father and mother, the English embassy, the King and the Queen of France, the Dukes of Brittany and Orleans, and, in fact, all T his release by the payment of an enormous ransom to the Duke of Burgundy, by consenting to a marriage between his eldest daughter Yolante, and Frederick, son and heir of his rival, Count Vaudemonte, and by betrothing the young Margaret of Anjou to the Count St. Pol. Meanwhile, in 1436, Louis, titular King of Naples, died; the succession devolved upon René; and his faithful consort prepared to immediately assert his rights against the posterity of Charles Durazzo, who really held possession of the kingdom and the crown. With her mother the young Margaret hastened to Naples, when first at Capua, the Neapolitan residence of the Anjou family, and afterwards, on the release and arrival of her father, at the superb palace furnished by his predecessor, Joanna the Second, she resided and received her education under the care of the learned Antoine de Salle. René had worn the crown of Naples but a few months, when Alphonso, King of Arragon, drove him from the throne, and pressed him so hard, that it was with difficulty he escaped with his wife and family to Lorraine; where, as the English had possessed themselves of nearly the whole of Anjou and Maine, he was reduced to the unpleasant strait of living almost wholly on the bounty of his brother-in-law, the King of France. At this period Henry the Sixth, the bachelor King of England, was twentythree years of age, cultivated in mind, mild in disposition, pure and holy in thought, and pining to enter the married state. His morality was most exemplary, and when any of the frail damsels at court sought to wile him into an unlawful intimacy, he would turn away with disdain exclaiming, "Fie, fie, indeed! ye be greatly to blame.” By those rival statesmen, the Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort, the procuring a consort for the King was viewed as the deciding point of political mastery. In 1442, Gloucester had recommended to Henry one of the daughters of the Count of Armagnac, under a belief that the power of that nobleman, who was then at war with France, might form an impregnable bulwark of defence to Guienne. But before the delicate business could be brought to an issue the French King learned the secret, and prevented the match, by making the Count and his family prisoners. Beaufort, however, was more successful in his efforts. With the astuteness and cunning of the English cardinals in our own times, he foresaw that as Henry was devoid of capacity, the Queen, whoever she might be, would possess unbounded influence over the mind of her husband, and therefore, should she be tender of age and possessed of energy and superior endowments of mind, he might, possibly, through her influence, crush the power of his political adversaries, and bring about a peace with France, a measure wise as it was humane; it being absurd to suppose that England could retain the mastery over a country so extensive, so civilized, and so populous as France, whilst the very attempt to do so had already done much to annihilate the arts of civilization, and to plunge both kingdoms into the very depths of crime and misery. Actuated by these motives, and a desire to conceal his purpose from his enemies, the cardinal, through the agency of Champchevrier, an Angevin prisoner belonging to Sir John Falstolf, but then at large, directed the choice of Henry towards Margaret of Anjou, a princess but just in her teens, of surprising beauty and wit, and of great energies of mind. Champchevrier painted the beauty and the accomplishments of Margaret in such glowing colours, that Henry, almost in love with her from hearsay, dispatched him with great privacy to the court of her povertystricken father for her portrait, which, says the King in his instructions, "must be an exact ymagine alike in statute, countenance, beauty, colour of skin, and every particular, just the like as ye see." Meanwhile, Sir John Falstolf, not being in the secret, became enraged at the absence of his prisoner without leave or license, and wrote to the King of France, detailing the particulars, and requesting that he might be restored to him. Champchevrier was accordingly arrested on his return with the portrait, | as a pauper. He had been driven out and conveyed before Charles, who, on of Naples; England possessed Anjou learning his mission and perceiving the advantages that might accrue to France from the union of Henry and Margaret, immediately released him, and bid him speed to England and tell King Henry that the marriage would be fully approved of by the court of France. His reappearance at Windsor, however, excited the suspicions of the Duke of Gloucester; and these suspicions were shortly afterwards fully confirmed by his again departing on a secret mission from the King to the father of the portionless Margaret. The subject was therefore laid before the council, and after much warm discussion, and despite the determined opposition of Gloucester, it was resolved to negociate a peace with France, based upon the marriage of the King with the French Queen's niece, Margaret of Anjou. The conduct of the negociation was entrusted to the Earl of Suffolk, and accepted by him with real or affected unwillingness. His former endeavours to establish a peace had impressed the people with a belief that he was favourable to the interests of France. Then, probably, he feared the menaces of the act passed in the reign of Henry the Fifth, which made it penal to conclude a peace without first obtaining the consent of the three Estates in both nations; or, perhaps, he dreaded the future malice of Gloucester. But, however this may be, he certainly would not undertake the mission until he was secured, as he vainly supposed, from imputation or peril by an order signed by the King, and approved by the parliament, enjoining him to undertake the commission, and pardoning before-hand any error of judgment into which he might fall. He met the French commissioners at Tours. A truce was concluded for two years; and afterwards the subject of the marriage was brought forward. On the part of France no objections were raised; but on the part of England there were several obstacles, and some of them startling ones. The bride's father, with all his high-sounding titles, was as poor and Maine; to pay his ransom, he had mortgaged Bar to the Duke of Burgundy, and now he neither possessed a castle nor an acre of land that he could call his own. To the marriage he willingly consented, but on conditions that the bride's wedding portion should be only her charms and rare endowments, which he pronounced to be of greater worth than all the riches of the world; and that Henry should restore to him the provinces of Anjou and Maine; "for how," he demanded, "can I think of marrying my daughter to the King of England whilst he withholds from me my patrimonial territories?" These objections, although reasonable, were highly embarrassing. To receive the bride without a wedding portion, would be a bold stroke, considering the poverty of the King and the hostility of the nation to all that was French; but in addition to this, to resign the duchies of Anjou and Maine for the favour of her hand would indeed be an experiment no less dangerous than daring. However, as the handsome Count de Nevers of Burgundy, her passionate lover, was at the time earnestly urging his suit in person, Suffolk, in an evil hour for himself, yielded to the demands of King Réne; and the restitution of Anjou and Maine was stipulated in the marriage treaty. On his return, Suffolk, after a strong opposition from Gloucester and his partizans, obtained the thanks of the council, the Lords and the Commons, for so ably concluding the marriage treaty; with the terms of which they expressed themselves fully satisfied. Immediately afterwards he was created Marquis, and by the King's commands wended back his steps to France, where, on the twenty-eighth of October, he was solemnly contracted, as proxy for Henry, to Margaret of Anjou, by the Bishop of Toul, in the cathedral of Nanci; the imposing ceremony being performed in the presence of the bride's father and mother, the English embassy, the King and the Queen of France, the Dukes of Brittany and Orleans, and, in fact, all T |