which were evidently written after Henry VII.'s accession." 1 "Here lies queen Katherine closed in grave, the French king's daughter fair, And of thy kingdom, Charles the Sixth, the true undoubted heir. But equal with his parents both in pure religion. Of Owen Tudor, after this, thy next son Edmund was, O Katherine, a renowned prince, that did in glory pass. Thrice happy child, but grandame she more than thrice happy sure!" Although Henry VII. had demolished the tomb of his grandmother, it is certain that he had not caused her remains to be exhumed, since he mentions her in his will as still interred in the chapel, and it is evident that he intended to restore her monument. 66 Specially as the body of our granddame of right noble memory, queen Katherine, daughter of the king of France, is interred within our monastery of Westminster, and we propose shortly to translate thither the reliques of our uncle of blessed memory, Henry VI., and whether we die within the realm or not, our body is to be buried in the said monastery-that is to say, in the chapel where our said granddame lies buried." 3 Stow's London. When Henry VII. was interred, the corpse of Katherine was exhumed; and as her ungracious descendant, Henry VIII., did not fulfil his father's intention of restoring her tomb, the bones of the unfortunate queen never found a final resting-place till the commencement of the present century. At its exhumation, the queen's corpse was found to be in extraordinary preservation; it was, therefore, shown as a curiosity to persons visiting Westminster Abbey, for at least three centuries. Weaver, in his Funeral Monuments, thus mentions its state in the time of Charles I. "Here lieth Katherine, queen of England, wife to Henry V., in a chest or coffin, with a loose cover, to be seen and handled of any who much desire it, and who, by her own appointment, inflicted this penance on herself, in regard to her disobedience to her husband for being delivered of her son, Henry VI., at Windsor, which place he forbade." In the reign of Charles II., the poor queen was made a common spectacle; for that quaint compound of absurdities, Pepys, journalizes, with infinite satisfaction, that he had this day kissed a queen," and that he might make this boast, he had kissed the mummy of Katherine the Fair, shown for the extra charge of twopence to the curious in such horrors. Late in the reign of George III., the same disgusting traffic was carried on; for Hutton reprobates it in his Tour through the Sights of London. This exordium probably drew the attention of the then dean of Westminster; for the wretched remains of Katherine the Fair have reposed since then, sheltered from public view, in some nook of the vaults in Westminster Abbey. 215 MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF HENRY VI. CHAPTER I. Parentage and descent of Margaret-Her birth-Baptism-Misfortunes of her father-His long captivity-Conjugal heroism of her motherMargaret betrothed in infancy to count St. Pol-Her residence at Tarrascon with her mother-Charms and early promise-Goes with her mother to Naples-Associated in the honours paid to queen Isabella there-Her Italian education-Her father's liberation-Her marriage with Henry VI. proposed in her childhood by duke of Burgundy-Opposed by France-Her previous courtship by count de Nevers-Poverty of her parents-Fame of her beauty and talentsHenry VI. obtains her portrait-Secret negotiations for her marriage with Henry-Treaty of Tours-King Henry's announcement of their contract-Appoints Suffolk for his procurator-Margaret married to king Henry by proxy at Nancy-Bridal fêtes and tournament-Honours paid to Margaret by king of France-The daisy her badge-Her sorrowful parting with her family-Her journey to Dieppe-Poverty of Henry VI.-Expedients to obtain funds for his marriage-Margaret's scanty equipment-Bridal wardrobe purchased by the king-His impatience for her arrival-Margaret embarks for England-Lands at PorchesterFalls sick at Southampton-Married to king Henry at Tichfield AbbeyHer bridal progress to London-Splendid pageants for her reception— Her coronation-Foreign followers-Her influence with the king— Friendship with cardinal Beaufort-Death of the duke of Gloucester and cardinal Beaufort-Queen Margaret's influence in the government— Difficulties of her position-Founds Queen's College-Suffolk's unpopularity-Proceedings of his enemies-His banishment and murder -Cade's rebellion-Terror of the queen-Persuades the king to retire ―Their retreat to Kenilworth-Revolt suppressed—Margaret's persecution of John Payn. THE history of Margaret of Anjou, from the cradle to the tomb, is a tissue of the most striking vicissitudes, and replete with events of more powerful interest than are to be found in the imaginary career of any heroine of romance; for the creations of fiction, however forcibly they may appeal to our imaginations, fade into insignificance before the simple majesty of truth. When we consider the stormy grandeur of the character of this last and most luckless of our Provençal queens, her beauty, her learning, her energetic talents, and the important position she occupied for more than a quarter of a century in the annals of this country, first as the unconstitutional, but certainly supreme, director of the power of the crown, and lastly as leader and rallying-point of the friends of Lancaster-it is remarkable that no complete and authentic memoir of this princess has ever been given to the world. René of Anjou, the father of Margaret, was the second son of Louis II., king of Sicily and Jerusalem, duke of Calabria and Anjou, and count of Provence, by Yolante of Arragon. In 1420 René was, in his thirteenth year, espoused to Isabella, the heiress of Lorraine, who was only ten years old at the period of her nuptials. This lady, who was the direct descendant of Charlemagne, in addition to her princely patrimony, brought the beauty, the high spirit, and the imperial blood of that illustrious line, into the family of Anjou. Her youngest daughter Margaret was, in all respects, a genuine scion of the Carlovingian race; she also inherited her father's love of learning, and his taste for poetry and the arts. Some of the English historians, following Monstrelet, place the date of Margaret's birth in 1425; but this is a palpable error, for her mother, who was scarcely fifteen at that time, did not give birth to her eldest child, John of Calabria, till the following year.1 Then came prince Louis, followed by Nicolas and Yolante, twin-children, who were born October 2, 1428. After the decease of René and his sons, Yolante took the title of queen of Sicily, as the next heir; and this circumstance, together with her marriage settlements, sufficiently attests the fact that she was the elder sister of our Margaret, since the dates of the birth of children having claims to a disputed succession are generally strictly authenticated by the records of their own country. Thus we see that Margaret of Anjou was four years younger than has been generally supposed. According to the best authorities 3 Margaret was born March 23, 1429, at Pont à Mousson, her mother's dower palace, one of the grandest castles in Lorraine. She was baptized under the great crucifix in the cathedral of Toul, by the bishop of that diocese. Her sponsors were her uncle Louis III., king of Naples, and Marguerite duchess of Lorraine, her maternal grandmother. Margaret was yet in the arms of her father's faithful nurse Theophanie, by whom she was reared, when the fierce contest for the succession to Lorraine commenced between her father and her mother's uncle, Anthony of 1 Moreri. Wassaburg. Villeneuve. Chron. de Lorraine. 2 Again this fact is incontestably demonstrated by the deed in which Margaret yields the reversion of her father's inheritance to Louis XI., in case the heirs of her elder sister Yolante should fail. 3 Richard Wassaburg, a contemporary chronicler. M. M. de St. Marthe. Moreri. Limiers. Prevost. Villeneuve. The kind-hearted René raised a beautiful monument to this humble friend, who died in the year 1458, just as queen Margaret's troubles commenced. The good king had the effigy of his nurse carved, holding in her arms two children, himself and queen Marie the consort of Charles VII.; he added an epitaph of his own writing, the lines very naïve and pleasing.-Vie du Roi René. VOL. III. L |