 |
| Illustration in the Talbot Shrewsbury Book (1445) |
- King Henry VI of England (m. 1445 - 1471)
- With King Henry VI of England
- Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (1453 - 1471)
Appearance:
She was described as exceptionally beautiful, and possibly had blonde or strawberry-blonde hair.
Character:
Margaret was incredibly intelligent, brave, and ambitious. She was also strong and independent, having to step up and defend her family during the Wars of the Roses, while her husband suffered multiple mental breakdowns.
She was politically astute, but also was known to be quite ruthless and vengeful. She was fiercely protective of her son and his claim to the throne of England. Thus, she could also be quite manipulative, often taking advantage of her husband's weak and fragile mental state in order to get her own way.
However, she could also be quite witty, and enjoyed pleasant relationships with those closest to her. Despite occasionally manipulating him, she was close with her husband.
Margaret also enjoyed reading and learning, promoting education throughout her life.
Biography:
Margaret was born in the Duchy of Bar in the Holy Roman Empire in the year 1430. She was the sixth child of King René I of Naples, and his first wife, Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Overall, she had twelve brothers and sisters, though some of them were illegitimate. She would mainly grow up in the care of her nurse within Provence, as well as the Kingdom of Sicily. Her childhood nickname was 'the little creature.'
Growing up, Margaret was quickly exposed to the idea that women could be just as powerful and effective rulers as men, and was highly influenced by her mother's own prowess. Her local area within Europe was also often more accepting of powerful women than in the Kingdom of England, where she would eventually come to live and rule.
During the 1440s, it's likely that her uncle, King Charles VII of France, began suggesting her as a possible marriage candidate for King Henry VI of England, in order to secure peace between the two countries, who were still fighting the Hundred Years War against each other. Margaret was officially betrothed to Henry VI by 1444, and she arrived in England a year later. Her arrival attracted large crowds, and safety inspections had to be carried out in order to ensure buildings could hold the large number of spectators who had turned up to catch a glimpse of their new queen. Both Margaret and Henry were married a few days later, with Margaret aged 15, and Henry aged 23.
Over the next few years, both she and her new husband maintained a rather happy and content marriage, and were reported to have gotten along really well with each other. However, Margaret would often not be trusted due to her French origins and ties, and was blamed for England's loss of Maine. Margaret also initially did not play a large role in politics, instead focusing her efforts on education and mediation. However, her husband's mental health began to decline (likely the result of schizophrenia), and he was a weak ruler. By 1453, he suffered a complete mental breakdown and would not respond to anyone, not even to the news of the birth of his and Margaret's only child, Prince Edward of Westminster.
With her husband indisposed, Margaret at first focused all of her attention on raising her son, but it soon became clear that the Duke of York, who had been appointed Lord Protector while her husband remained ill, was potentially plotting to overthrow him. The Duke of York had a strong claim to the English crown, and Henry VI was largely unpopular and regarded as a weak king. Margaret became more and more paranoid, and was determined to maintain the crown both for her husband, and for her son. She believed that she should rule as regent while her husband remained too ill to govern.
However, her husband would ultimately end up recovering enough by 1455, but through Margaret's influence, the Yorkist faction was excluded from his council. This created further tensions, and the Duke of York began to believe that Margaret and the Lancastrian faction were plotting against him. Thus, the armed conflict of the Wars of the Roses began.
The Lancastrians were defeated in the First Battle of St Albans, and King Henry VI was captured. There was a very brief thaw in tensions as her husband attempted to make peace with the Yorkist faction while being their captive, but this would soon lead to fighting again in 1459. French forces took advantage of their fighting, and a powerful French general invaded and burned down the town of Sandwich, killing the mayor in the process. As the general was an associate of Margaret's, this made her even more unpopular, and in order to show her loyalty to England, she was forced to hire Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury, and the Duke of York's close friend, to help protect the English coast.
Margaret continued to raise support for her husband, and the Lancastrians finally achieved a victory at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460, in which the Duke of York and Richard Neville were executed. However, her husband was still in captivity, and Margaret embarked on a rescue mission, leading the Lancastrians in the Second Battle of St Albans. She managed to locate Henry VI, who then begged her to spare the guards who had been watching over him; Margaret did not listen and had them beheaded.
This luck would not last, however, as the Lancastrians would finally be defeated by the new Duke of York, Edward, who had succeeded his father. Margaret and her forces were officially defeated at the Battle of Towton in 1461, and Henry VI was officially deposed and fled into hiding. Edward was proclaimed King Edward IV of England.
Meanwhile, Margaret was forced to flee alongside her son into Wales, then Scotland, before finally returning to France. Her cousin, King Louis XI of France, would take her in, and it was here that she began to plot her husband's rescue and return to the throne. It was here that her former enemy, the Earl of Salisbury, Richard Neville, would approach her and offer his support, after both he and Edward VI fell out with each other, resulting in his loss of power and influence in the English government. To cement an alliance, Richard Neville married his daughter, Anne Neville, to Margaret's son, Prince Edward.
Neville was able to return to England and defeat Edward IV and his forces in 1470, restoring Henry VI back onto the throne. Margaret began her return to England along with her son and new daughter-in-law. During this time, though, Edward IV quickly returned from his brief period of hiding, and was able to defeat and kill Richard Neville in 1471.
As a result, Margaret led her own army into the Battle of Tewkesbury where the Lancastrians would suffer a dramatic defeat. Her son, Prince Edward, was killed in battle, and this completely devastated Margaret. She fell into a deep depression, and no longer had the energy to fight. She was taken prisoner, alongside her husband, in the Tower of London. Henry VI was officially deposed for the final time, and he would die under mysterious circumstances while imprisoned; he was likely murdered on the orders of Edward IV who had retaken the crown.
Meanwhile, Margaret was then held for ransom by the Duchess of Suffolk for a number of years, until King Louis XI of France was able to pay for her release in 1475. She returned to France having lost absolutely everything. She fell into poverty, and lived as a ward of her cousin, the King of France, for the rest of her life.
Not much is known about Margaret's activities after this point, and she eventually died in 1482 of unknown causes.
Rule:
During Margaret's early reign, she undertook the more typical roles associated with a royal consort, such as mediation. She was also a patron of education, and founded the Queens' College at the University of Cambridge.
It was not until her husband's mental breakdown that she began to play a more strong and dominant role, becoming a key leader in the Lancastrian faction. She ruled as regent while her husband suffered from mental breakdowns, and though ultimately unsuccessful, she was able to help maintain her family's place on the throne of England and re-capture it from the Yorkist faction.
During the Wars of the Roses, she was able to successfully obtain powerful allies, demonstrating a great deal of negotiating skills. As well as this, she also raised armies, commanded them in battle, and even personally rescued her husband after he was captured. Her downfall was perhaps that she may have been too manipulative and brutal, which did nothing to improve relations between the factions, and further increased bloodshed.
Though she fought hard throughout her reign, her eventual loss of her son, husband, and allies left her broken, and she faded into irrelevancy.
- She is one of the historical figures who inspired the character of Cersei Lannister in George R. R. Martin's book series, A Song of Ice and Fire.
No comments:
Post a Comment