Margaret of Anjou - FULL Audio Book - by Jacob Abbott SUBSCRIBE to https://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=GreenAudioBooks - Margaret of Anjou (French: Marguerite d'Anjou) (23 March 1430 -- 25 August 1482) was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. She also claimed to be Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453. Born in the Duchy of Lorraine, into the House of Valois-Anjou, Margaret was the second eldest daughter of René I of Naples and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. She was one of the principal figures in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses and at times personally led the Lancastrian faction. Due to her husband's frequent bouts of insanity, Margaret ruled the kingdom in his place. It was she who called for a Great Council in May 1455 that excluded the Yorkist faction headed by Richard, Duke of York, and thus provided the spark that ignited a civil conflict that lasted for over thirty years, decimated the old nobility of England, and caused the deaths of thousands of men, including her only son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Margaret was taken prisoner by the victorious Yorkists after the Lancastrian defeat at Tewkesbury. In 1475, she was ransomed by her cousin, King Louis XI of France. She went to live in France as a poor relation of the French king, and she died there at the age of 52. EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE OF MARGARET OF ANJOU Margaret was born on 23 March 1430[1] at Pont-à-Mousson in the Duchy of Lorraine, an imperial fief east of France that was ruled by the cadet branch of the French kings, the House of Valois-Anjou. Margaret was the second eldest daughter of René of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. She had five brothers and four sisters, as well as three half-siblings from her father's relationships with mistresses.[2] Her father, popularly known as "Good King René" was Duke of Anjou and titular King of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem; he has been described as "a man of many crowns but no kingdoms".[3] Margaret was baptised at Toul in Lorraine and, in the care of her father's old nurse Theophanie la Magine, she spent her early years at the castle of Tarascon on the River Rhône in southern France and the old royal palace at Capua in Naples. Her mother took care of her education and may have arranged for her to have lessons with the scholar Antoine de la Sale, who taught her brothers. In childhood Margaret was known as la petite creature - On 23 April 1445, Margaret married King Henry VI of England, who was eight years her senior, at Titchfield in Hampshire. Henry at the time also claimed the Kingdom of France and controlled various parts of northern France. Margaret's uncle Charles VII, who also claimed the crown of France, agreed to the marriage of his niece to his rival on the condition that he would not have to provide the customary dowry and instead would receive the lands of Maine and Anjou from the English. This provision was kept secret from the English public, since a highly negative reaction was feared. Margaret was crowned Queen consort of England on 30 May 1445 at Westminster Abbey by John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury.[2] She was fifteen years old. She was described as beautiful, and furthermore "already a woman: passionate and proud and strong-willed".[4] It was felt that she already understood her duty to protect the interests of the Crown fervently.[4] She seems to have inherited this indomitability from her mother, who fought to establish her husband's claim to the Kingdom of Naples, and her paternal grandmother Yolande of Aragon, who actually governed Anjou "with a man's hand", putting the province in order and keeping out the English.[4] Thus by family example and her own forceful personality, she was fully capable of becoming the "champion of the Crown" - If you enjoyed listening to "Margaret of Anjou - FULL Audio Book - by Jacob Abbott" please rate, comment and subscribe to GreenAudioBooks, We really appreciate it :) Thanks for viewing Margaret of Anjou - FULL Audio Book - by Jacob Abbott We hope you enjoyed Margaret of Anjou - FULL Audio Book - by Jacob Abbott Audio is courtesy of Librivox. For more Librivox audio book recordings please refer to http://librivox.org

• published: 27 Feb 2013
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