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marriage between him and the princess Isabella. When the English embassy arrived at Paris, they were lodged near the Croix du Tiroir, and their attendants and horses, to the number of five hundred, in the adjoining streets. The king of France resided at the Louvre, and the queen and her children at the hôtel de St. Pol, on the banks of the Seine; and to please the English lords, their request was granted to visit the queen and her family, and especially the little princess, whom they were soliciting to be bestowed as the wife of their king, as they were impatient to behold her. This had been at first refused, for the French council excused themselves by observing, That she was as yet but eight years; how could any one know how a young child would conduct herself at such an interview ?"" She had, however, been carefully educated, as she proved when the English nobles waited upon her; for "when the earl-marshal dropped upon his knee, saying, 'Madam, if it please God, you shall be our lady and queen;' she replied instantly, and without any one prompting her, 'Sir, if it please God, and my lord and father, that I be queen of England, I shall be well pleased thereat, for I have been told I shall then be a great lady.' She made the earl-marshal rise, and, taking him by the hand, led him to queen Isabeau her mother, who was much pleased at her answer, as were all who heard it. The appearance and manners of this young princess were very agreeable to the English ambassadors, and they thought among themselves she would be a lady of high honour and worth."

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and bound in crimson velvet, with ten silver gilt studs, and roses of the same in the middle, with two large clasps of silver gilt, richly worked with roses in the centre. The king asked me, 'Of what the book treated ?' I replied, 'Of love." He was pleased with the answer, and dipped into several places, reading parts aloud remarkably well, for he read and spoke French in perfection. He ther gave it to one of his knights, sir Richard Credon, to carry it to his oratory, and made me many acknowledgments for it." This knight was probably the author of Creton's Metrical Chronicle. The king did not confine his gratitude to empty thanks, for we find he afterwards presented the minstrel-historian with a fin chased silver goblet, containing one hundred nobles, a benefaction which, a Froissart adds, was of infinite use to him. The whole of this scene is a precio: relic of the domestic history of English royalty, and carries the reader back fou centuries as if it were but yesterday.

Froissart.

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Just before the young Isabella arrived in England, the duke of Lancaster thought fit to give his princely hand to Katherine Rouet, who had been governess to his daughters, and was already mother to those sons of the duke so celebrated in English history as the Beauforts. Serious were the feuds this mis-alliance raised in the royal family. "When the marriage of the duke of Lancaster was announced to the ladies of royal descent in England, such as the duchess of Gloucester and the countess of Arundel (who was a Mortimer of the line of Clarence), they were greatly shocked, and said, The duke had disgraced himself by marrying a woman of light character, since she would take rank as second lady in the kingdom, and the young queen would be dishonourably accompanied by her; but, for their parts, they would leave her to do the honours of the court alone, for they would never enter any place where she was. They themselves would be disgraced if they permitted such a base-born duchess, who had been mistress to the duke, both before and after his marriage with the princess Constance, to take precedence of them, and their hearts would burst with grief were it to happen.' Those persons of the royal family who were the most outrageous on the subject, were the duke and duchess of Gloucester." Thus was the court of king Richard in a state of ferment with the discontents of the princesses of the house of Plantagenet, just at the time when he required them to assemble for the purpose of receiving his infant bride. While these ladies were settling their points of precedency, the princess Isabella was espoused in Paris by the earl-marshal, s proxy for his royal master. "She was from that time," ays Froissart, "styled the queen of England. And I was at he time told it was pretty to see her, young as she was, ractising how to act the queen."

About this time the king of France sent to England the Lunt St. Pol, who had married Richard's half-sister, Maud Holland, surnamed 'the Fair.' King Richard promised his brother-in-law that he would come to Calais and have an interview with the king of France, when his bride was to be

1 Froissart.

delivered to him; and if a peace could not be agreed upon, a truce for thirty or forty years was to be established. The duke and duchess of Gloucester, with their children, were asked by the king to be of the party, as were the dukes and duchesses of York and Lancaster. The duchess of Lancaster, despite of all the displeasure of the ladies of the blood-royal against her, was staying with the king and her lord at Eltham, and had already been invited to the king's marriage. With this royal company king Richard crossed the sea to Calais, while the king of France, his queen, and the young princess, advanced as far as St. Omer, where they remained till the treaty of peace assumed some hopeful form. It was, however, in vain that the French strove to soften the opposition of the duke of Gloucester by flattering attentions and the handsome presents they offered him. He accepted the presents, " but the same rancour remained in his breast, and in spite of every thing, when the peace was mentioned, his answers were as crabbed and severe as ever. It was observed, that he pointed out the rich plate of gold and silver to his friends, observing 'that France was still a very rich country, and that peace ought not to be made," "-a remark more worthy of a bandit than a royal guest. The king of England at last contrived to discover the means of allaying this bellicose disposition in his uncle: the bribe was enormous, considering the duke's constant exhortations in regard to reformation and economy in the government. The king was forced to promise his patriotic uncle fifty thousand nobles on his return home, and to create his only son, Humphrey, earl of Rochester, with a pension of two thousand nobles per annum. After the application of such unconscionable bribes, no impediments remained to the peace and marriage, which were concluded without the restoration of Calais being insisted on by France.

"On the vigil of the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, which fell on a Friday, the 27th of October, 1396, the two kings left their lodgings on the point of ten o'clock, and, accompanied by a grand attendance, went to the tents that had been prepared for them.' Thence they proceeded on foot to

1 Froissart.

a certain space which had been fixed on for their meeting, and which was surrounded by four hundred French and as many English knights, brilliantly armed, who stood with drawn swords. These knights were so marshalled, that the two kings passed between their ranks, conducted in the following order: the dukes of Lancaster and Gloucester supported the king of France, while the dukes of Berri and Burgundy, uncles of the French king, conducted king Richard, and thus they advanced slowly through the ranks of the knights; and when the two kings were on the point of meeting, the eight hundred knights fell on their knees and wept for joy," a unanimity of feeling very remarkable in eight hundred knights.

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"King Richard and king Charles met bare-headed, and, having saluted, took each other by the hand, when the king of France led the king of England to his tent, which was handsome and richly adorned; the four dukes took each other by the hand, and followed them. The English and French knights remained in their ranks, looking at each other with good humour, and never stirred till the whole ceremony was When the two kings entered the tent, holding each other by the hand, the dukes of Orleans and Bourbon, who had been left in the tent to welcome the monarchs, cast themselves on their knees before them: the kings stopped, and made them rise. The six dukes then assembled in front of the tent, and conversed together; meantime the kings went into the tent and conferred solus, while the wine and spices were preparing. The duke of Berri served the king of France with the comfit-box, and the duke of Burgundy with the cup of wine. In like manner was the king of England served by the dukes of Lancaster and Gloucester. After the kings had been served, the knights of France and England took the wine and comfits, and served the prelates, dukes, princes, and counts; and after them, the squires and other officers of the household did the same to all within the tents, until every one had partaken of the wine and spices; during which time the two monarchs conversed freely.

"At eleven o'clock of the Saturday morning, the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, the king of England, attended by his uncles and nobles, waited on the king of France in his tent. Dinner-tables were laid out; that for the kings was very handsome, and the sideboard was covered with magnificent plate. The two kings were seated by themselves, the king of France at the top of the table, and the king of England below him, at a good distance from each other. They were served by the dukes of Berri, Burgundy, and Bourbon : the last entertained the two monarchs with many gay remarks, to make them laugh, and those about the royal table, for he had much drollery; and, addressing the king of England, said, My lord king of England, you ought to make good cheer, for you have had all your wishes gratified. You have a wife, or shall have one, for she will speedily be delivered to you.'' Bourbonnois,' replied the king of France, we wish our daughter were as old as our cousin of St. Pol,' though we were to double her dower, for then she would love our son of England much more.' The king of England, who understood French well, noticed these words, and, immediately bowing to the king of France, replied,- Good father-in-law, the age of our wife pleases us right well. We pay not great attention respecting age, as we value your love; for we shall now be so strongly united, that no king in Christendom can in any way hurt us.'

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When dinner was over, which lasted not long, the cloth was removed, the tables carried away, and wine and spices brought. After this the young bride entered the tent, attended by a great number of ladies and damsels. King Charles led her by the hand, and gave her to the king of England, who immediately rose and took his leave. The little queen was placed in a very rich litter, which had been prepared for her; but of all the French ladies who were there, only the lady de Coucy went with her, for there were many of the principal ladies of England in presence, such as the duchesses of Lan

This young lady was niece to king Richard, the daughter of Maud Holland, surnamed the Fair. She was probably the beauty of that festival.

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