he wore in his helmet a fox's tail, ornamented with precious stones. It must be owned, that the warrior king of England now and then indulged in a few whims regarding dress. Henry conducted the princess and her mother up to the high altar, and there the articles of peace were read. Queen Isabeau and Katherine apologized for the non-attendance of king Charles VI. on account of his infirm health, saying, "that the king was ill disposed." The unfortunate father of Katherine could not go through the scene, which apparently annihilated the hopes of his young heir; but the duke of Burgundy officiated as the deputy of his royal kinsman, and the important treaty was signed.* The betrothment of Henry and Katherine instantly followed; and when the English monarch received her promise, he placed on her finger a ring of inestimable value,— supposed to be the same worn by our English queen-consorts at their coronation." After the conclusion of the ceremony, Henry presented to his betrothed bride his favourite knight, sir Louis de Robsart, to whom he committed the defence of her person, and the office of guarding her while in France,the real meaning of which ceremony was, that Henry V. took the princess into his own custody after betrothment, and would have retained her by force, if her family had changed their minds regarding his marriage. Katherine was now his property; and it was the duty of sir Louis de Robsart to guard the safe keeping of that property. Henry himself announced the peace and betrothment in a letter addressed to his council of regency, the duke of Gloucester being just appointed regent of England : : "Right trusty and well-beloved Brother. Right worshipful Fathers in God, and trusty and well-beloved. Forasmuch, that we wot well that your desires 1 Godwin's Life of Henry. 'Monstrelet. Notes of London Chronicle, by sir Harris Nicolas, p. 161. * Speed's Chronicles. • Monstrelet. The English of Henry V.'s letters, both in phraseology and orthography, is better than that of his successors for more than a century. Sir John Fenn, in his Paston Papers, observes that the highly educated persons of this era write letters as well spelled as in the era of Charles I., and adduces the autograph letters of Edmund Clere. Henry V. spells all his small words, of the preposition and conjunctive kind, perfectly. were to hear joyful tidings of our good speed, we signify to you, (worshipped be our Lord, that of our labour hath sent us good conclusion,)-"Upon Monday, the 20th day of this May, we arrived at this town of Troyes; and on the morrow hadden a convention betwixt our moder the queen of France, and our brother the duc of Burgoigne, (as commissaires of the king of France,) our fader for his partie, and us in our own person for our partie, [side]. And the accord of peace perpetual was there sworn by both the said commissioners, in the name of our aforesaid fader, and semblably by us in our own name. And the letters thereupon forthwith ensealed under the great seal of our said fader to usward, and under ours to him-ward, the copy of which letter we send you enclosed in this. Also, at the said convention was marriage betrothed betwixt us and our wyf, daughter of our aforesaid fader, the king of France." The treaty of peace, which the king declares is enclosed in his letter, is addressed to his viscounts' of London. extracts are of a curious nature: Some "It is," says Henry, "accorded between our fader of France and us, that forasmuch as by the bond of matrimony made for the good of peace between us and our dear and most beloved Katherine, the daughter of our said fader and of our most dear moder Isabel his wife, the said Charles and Isabel be made our fader and moder; therefore them, as our fader and moder, we shall have and worship, as it fitteth such and so worthy a prince and princess to be worshipped, before all other temporal persons of this world. Also, that the said Katherine shall take and have dower in our realm of England, as queens of England hitherward were wont to take and have. That is to say, to the sum of forty thousand scutes [crowns] by the year, of the which, twain algates [always] shall be worth a noble, English money. Also, if it happen that the said Katherine shall overlive us, she shall take in the realm of France, immediately from our death, twenty thousand francs yearly. Also, that after the death of our said fader, and from thenceforward, the crown and realm of France, with all their rights and appur tenances, shall remain, and abide, and be of us and of our heirs for evermore." "On Trinity-Sunday, June 3," says Monstrelet, "the king of England wedded the lady Katherine at Troyes, in the parish church near which he lodged. Great pomp and magnificence were displayed by him and his princes, as if he had been king of the whole world." John Rous, an artist who possessed, no small claims to original talent, was in attendance on his master the earl of Warwick at this time. In his pictorial history of that hero, he has drawn the scene of the royal wedlock at Nôtre Dame, in Troyes. King Henry is receiving the hand and vow of Katherine the Fair, who, 1 Lord mayor and aldermen. 2 There would have been no English dower for Katherine the Fair, if the unfortunate widow of Henry IV. had not been robbed of hers under the frivolous pretence of scrcery. See preceding biography. 3 Beauchamp MS., Brit. Museum. crowned with the arched diadem of empire, raises the other hand in sign of asseveration as she repeats the obligation of marriage after the archbishop of Sens. The dress of Katherine varies in no particulars from the coronation costume; the royal mantle, with its cord and tassels, presents no difference from the mantle of her predecessors, Matilda Atheling or Joanna of Navarre. Whatsoever may be thought of the features of Katherine the Fair, it is certain that John Rous took good likenesses, since her portrait presents the style of countenance of the royal family of France. The facial line of the descendants of St. Louis was remarkable: the features somewhat slanted, and the ear followed the same line; the nose was long, and fell a little over the mouth. This peculiarity is familiar to every one, from Titian's portrait of Francis I., whose features are strongly marked with this slanting physiognomy. Those who know the portraits of St. Louis (Louis IX.) will see the same family face, but with a better expression; those who have looked upon the fine statue of Katherine's grandfather, Charles the Wise, to the left at the entrance of the library he founded, the Bibliothèque du Roi, (now in Rue-Richelieu, Paris,) will see the same features, which may be traced even in the handsome faces of Louis XIII., Louis XIV. and XV., in every one of which the nose slightly inclines over the upper lip. This physiognomy degenerates into ugliness in the face of Louis XI., and is apparent, mixed with an insane character, in that of Katherine's father, Charles VI. When joined with great brilliancy of complexion, and softened in female faces, it did not preclude the princesses Isabella of Valois and her sister Katherine the Fair from renown for beauty in our portraits of both, the length of the nose slanting downwards over the mouth may be observed. If the family outline of the race of Valois does not sustain the character for beauty which the contemporaries of these queens of England chose to insist on for them, nevertheless they prove the authenticity of the portraits by coincidence with family resemblance. In the marriage group from the pencil of Rous, the royal bride of England is accompanied by her mother and sisters. King Henry resembles, in person and costume, his portrait on the frieze round the chantry over his tomb in Westminster-abbey: his brothers and the earl of Warwick are in attendance near him. The archbishop of Sens went in state to bless the bed of the queen, and during the night a grand procession came to the bedside of the royal pair, bringing them wine and soup, because Henry chose in all things to comply with the ancient customs of France; and it appears this strange ceremonial was one of the usages of the royal family. The next day, after a splendid feast, where the knights of the English court proposed a succession of tournaments, he let them know "that playing at fighting was not to be the amusement of his wedding, but the actual siege of Sens, where they might tilt and tourney as much as they chose." The letters written on occasion of these nuptials by Henry and his courtiers, are the earliest specimens extant of English prose. The following epistle by John Ufford affords to the reader as brief and comprehensive a view of affairs at that period as can possibly be presented : "WORSHIPFUL MAISTER, "I recommend me to you. And as touching tidings, the king our sovereign lord was wedded, with great solemnity, in the cathedral church of Troy about mid-day on Trinity-Sunday. And on the Tuesday suing [following], he removed towards the town of Sens, sixteen leagues thence, leading with him thither our queen and the French estate. And on Wednesday next ensuing was siege laid to that town-a great town, and a notable; it lieth toward Bourgoigne ward, and is holden strong with great number of Armagnacs.3 The which town is worthily besieged; for there lie at that siege two kings, two queens, [Isabeau, queen of France, and the newly married queen of England,] four ducks, with my loord of Bedford, when he cometh hither. The which [the duke of Bedford] on the 12th day of June shall lodge beside Paris, hitherward coming. "And at this siege also are lien many worthy ladies and jantilwomen, both French and English, of the which many of them began feats of arms long time agone, but of lying at sieges now they begin first. 66 I pray that ye will recommend me to my worshipful lord the chancellor, and to my lord the treasurer. And, furthermore, will ye wit [know] that Paris, with other, is sworn to obey the king our sovereign lord, as heriter and governor of France, and so they do. And on Witsund-Monday final peace was proclaimed in Paris, and on Tuesday was a solemn mass of Our Lady, and a solemn procession of all the great and worthy men of Paris, thanking God for this accord. 1 Monstrelet. 2 Rymer's Fodera, vol. ix. The party of the dauphin, the disinherited brother of Katherine, were called Armagnacs, from the count of Armagnac, kinsman and prime-minister to Charles VI., the upholder of the rights of his son. Dukes; but the word is thus spelt. "And now Englishmen go into Paris oft as they will, without any safe-conduct or any letting, [giving leave]. And Paris and all other towns, turned from the Armagnac party, make great joy and mirth every holiday, in dancing and carolling. I pray God send grace to both realms of much mirth and gladness, and give you in health much joy and prosperity, long to endure. "I pray that ye will vouchsafe to let this letter commend me to Abel Howit and Bayley, and to sir John Brockholes, and to greet well Richard Prior, (whom the fair town of Vernon on Seine greeteth well also,) and Will Albtow, and Lark and all the meinie, and king Barbour and his wife. Written at the siege of Sens, the 6th day of June, in haste. Sens is further than Paris thirty-four leagues, and Troyes is further than Paris thirty-six leagues. "Will ye say to my brother, maister Piers, that I send him a letter by the bringer hereof? "Your own Servant, "JOHAN OFORT." Thus was the honeymoon of Katherine the Fair passed at sieges and leaguers: her bridal music was the groans of France. Horror, unutterable horror, was the attendant on these nuptials; for the cruel massacre of Montereau' took place within a fortnight of the queen's espousals. Yet Katherine was no unwilling bride; for, as her brother-in-law, Philip the Good of Burgundy, expressly declared, "She had passionately longed to be espoused to king Henry; and, from the moment she saw him, had constantly solicited her mother, with whom she could do any thing, till her marriage took place." But not a word, not a sign of objection to the cruelties and slaughter that followed her marriage is recorded; nor did the royal beauty ever intercede for her wretched country with her newly wedded lord. Sens received Henry and Katherine within its walls soon after the siege had commenced in form. The king and queen of England entered in great state, accompanied by the archbishop of Sens, who had a few days before joined their hands at Troyes. This prelate had been expelled from his diocese by the party of the Armagnacs, but he was reinstated by Henry V., who, turning to him with a smile as they entered the cathedral, said, Now, monseigneur Archevesque, we are quits, for you gave me my wife the other day, and I restore yours to you this day." This sad page of history is detailed by Monstrelet. Henry V., exasperated by the desperate defence of this town for its native sovereign, butchered the Farrison under pretence of revenging the death of John duke of Burgundy, with e death the garrison had not the slightest concern, nor was Henry in the last called upon to avenge it. Martin's Chronicle. 3 Monstrelet. |