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MARGARET OF ANJOU

MARGARET OF ANJOU

TIME-LINE AND ADDITIONAL FACTS ON MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN CONSORT TO KING HENRY THE VI OF ENGLAND.

 TIME-LINE OF MARGARET OF ANJOU

#House of Valois-Anjou#
#Margaret of Anjou's arms as Queen consort of England#
1430
  • 23RD MARCH: Margaret is born the daughter of René of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine in Pont-à-Mousson, Lorraine
1432
  • 2ND FEBRUARY: Margaret’s father René of Anjou as King of Naples.
1442
  • JUNE: Margaret’s father is no longer king of Naples; Alfonso V of Aragon is now king of Naples.
1444
  • William De La Pole (Nicknamed Jacknapes) negotiates the marriage of Margaret and Henry VI England
  • 22ND MAY: The Treaty of Tours, sealed the agreement of the marriage between Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI of England
  • 28TH MAY Margaret is welcomed into London with a great Pageant
  • 16TH OCTOBER: Margaret’s brother Louis of Anjou died
1445
  • Margaret made the journey to England accompanied by William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk.
  • 9TH APRIL Margaret landed at Portchester
  • 23RD APRIL: Margaret married Henry VI of England, and became queen, her marriage was part of peace negotiations at Titchfield Abbey by the bishop of Salisbury.
  • 30TH MAY: The coronation of Margaret as Queen of consort of England followed by three days of feasting and tournaments.
1448
  • APRIL Queens' College, Cambridge is founded by Margaret, after being granted the lands of St Bernard's college to build a new college
  • 29TH OCTOBER The French recapture Rouen from the English.
1450
  • Margaret’s sister Anne died
  • 2ND MAY William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, Henry’s chief minister, friend to Margaret, was accused and found guilty of treason. However, he was pardoned by the King and sent into exile but he was murdered on his way to his ship.
  • Henry VI has lost Normandy in France by this point
1452
1453
  • 28TH FEBRUARY: Margaret’s mother, Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine died
  • 17TH JULY The Battle of Castillon. Battle part of the hundred years of war. Result Decisive French Victory
  • The End of The Hundred Years of War.
  • Margaret’s husband Henry VI is mentally ill for a full year
  • 19TH OCTOBER: Henry VI England is no longer king of France
  • 13TH OCTOBER: Margaret’s son Edward of Westminster is born, at the Palace of Westminster, London, England
  • Margaret and the Duke of Buckingham presented her son Edward to Henry VI his father for his blessing but he was incapable of acknowledging the child.
1454
  • 15TH MARCH Margaret’s son, Edward, was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
  • The great council of peers appointed Richard Plantagenet Duke of as York lord protector and he governed the country responsibly
  • 27TH MARCH Duke of York Richard Plantagenet is named as lord protector of the realm and regent
  • 10TH SEPTEMBER: Margaret’s father, René of Anjou married his second wife Anne de Laval
  • DECEMBER Henry VI began to regain his senses again, and come out of his mental breakdown
1455
  • MAY: Margaret calls for a great council meeting, but does not invite any Yorkist.
  • Beginning of The War of the Roses
  • 22ND MAY: The First Battle of St Albans, Margaret’s husband is commander, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset is killed, and Henry VI is captured, which resulted in Richard Duke of York re-instated as lord protector Result Decisive Yorkist victory
1459
  • 12TH OCTOBER: Battle Of Ludford Bridge: Part of the Wars of The Roses. Henry VI of England commander Result Lancastrian victory
1460
  • FEBRUARY: Margaret’s forces rescue her husband Henry VI England.
  • 10TH JULY: Battle of Northampton and Margaret’s husband, Henry VI is captured
  • Margaret managed to escape with her son Edward and made her way to Jasper Tudor and Harlech Castle
  • 25TH OCTOBER The Act Of Accord. under the act, King Henry VI of England was to retain the crown for life but York and his heirs were to succeed, excluding Henry VI son Edward of Westminster.
  • 30TH DECEMBER Battle of Wakefield. Part of the Wars of The Roses.Result Decisive Lancastrian victory
  • Richard Plantagenet and his son Edmund are killed at the Battle of Wakefield
1461

 

  • 17TH FEBRUARY: Second Battle of St Albans. Part of the Wars of The Roses. Margaret is commander for the Lancastrians Richard Neville Lord Warwick attempted to block Margaret of Anjou’s southward advance on London but his defensive position was surprised. After a long and bloody battle, the Yorkists fled. Henry VI was recaptured but the Lancastrians failed to secure London and returned north. Result Lancastrian victory
  • 4TH MARCH: Margaret’s husband Henry VI is deposed as king of England and now Edward earl of march is king of England as Edward IV.
  • APRIL Following the Lancastrian defeat at the Battle of Towton, Margaret and Prince Edward fled to Scotland.
  • Margaret and Edward go into refuge in Scotland with Mary of Guelders
1462
  • MARCH Mary of Guelders pay some Scottish soldier to escort Margaret out of Scotland
  • APRIL: Margaret returns to France. Margaret and Louis XI of France sign a treaty. Margaret promised that Calais would be his if he helped her return Henry VI to the throne.
  • OCTOBER Margaret landed near Bamburgh castle on the Northumbria coast with a small army.
  • 13TH NOVEMBER Margaret was forced to flee north to Scotland when Edward IV. sent a large army north to intercept Margaret’s force.
1463
  • JULY Siege of Norham Castle
  • AUGUST: Margaret crossed to Sluys in Flanders with her son Edward. For seven years she lived at Saint-Michel-en-Barrois, educating her son with the help of Sir John Fortescue
1465
  • Margaret’s husband Henry VI is captured again by the Edward IV England and imprisoned in the Tower of London
1470
  • 22ND JULY Louis XI of France persuaded Richard Neville Earl  Warwick to set aside their differences and remove Edward IV from the throne of England.
  • Lord Warwick, Richard Neville (Kings Maker) makes an alliance with Margaret of Anjou with the aid of Louis XI France.
  • JUNE Margaret’s son Edward is made Godfather to King Louis XI France’s son Charles
  • JULY: Margaret’s son’s, betrothal. prince Edward and Anne Neville
  • 30TH OCTOBER: Margaret’s husband Henry is king again, and she is Queen
  • DECEMBER 13TH: Margaret’s son Edward married Anne Neville, the daughter of Lord Richard Warwick the king's maker
  • DECEMBER 15TH: Margaret’s brother John II of Anjou died
1471
  • APRIL: Margaret and her son Edward and Anne Neville left for France for England, and land at Weymouth
  • 11TH APRIL: Edward IV is back on the throne of England again and Henry VI is deposed and imprisoned
  • 14TH APRIL: Battle Barnet, (Richard Neville  Earl Warwick is killed) Margaret main alley Result Yorkist Victory
  • 4TH MAY: Battle Tewksbury, Margaret son Edward of Westminster own army, Edward of Westminster is killed at the battle. Margaret is also taken captive by William Stanley and then sent to Wallingford castle, and then to a more secure place the tower of London
  • 21ST MAY: Henry VI England, Margaret’s husband died in the Tower of London Margaret was imprisoned in England for five years
1472
  • Margaret is placed in the custody of one of her former ladies in waiting, Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk.
1475
  • Margaret is ransomed by King Louis XI France, treaty of Pecquigny
1476
  • 29TH JANUARY: Margaret returns to France after King Louis XI paid a ransom for her release. She lived in relative poverty in France in the castle of Dampierre-sur-Loire in Anjou which was owned by Francis de Vignolles.
1480
  • 10TH JULY: Margaret’s father René of Anjou died
1482
  • 25TH AUGUST: Margaret died at Dampierre-Sur-Loire, near Saumur
Margaret of Anjou was buried in Angers Cathedral,  at Anjou

EXTRA FACTS ON MARGARET OF ANJOU

  • Margaret was Queen consort to Henry VI of England for sixteen years

 

  • Margaret was the daughter of the René of Anjou, the King of Naples for seven years, from the house of Valois-Anjou. Margaret’s aunt Marie of Anjou had been Queen consort to Charles VII of France for thirty-nine years. Louis XIFrance, was Margaret’s first cousin.

 

  • Margaret was a key figure in the War of the Roses and often described as a She-Wolf.

 

  • Margaret of Anjou was raised in the turmoil of a family feud between her father and her father's uncle in which her father was for some years imprisoned. Margaret’s mother, Duchess of Lorraine in her own right, was well-educated for her era and since Margaret spent much of her childhood in her mother's care and that of her father's mother, Yolande of Aragon, Margaret grew up to be beautiful, highly educated, passionate, energetic, strong-willed and proud with a forceful personality.

 

 

  • Many at the royal court, doubted the paternity of Margaret’s son, as his father Henry’s, mental state at the time of conception, was not in a place where they could believe he could have even performed the act of conceiving, never the less, Henry VI, himself, acknowledged Edward as his own son. Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset was one of the names of the Queen Margaret’s accused, lovers.

 

  • Margaret hated disloyalty to the crown, and any sign of it she came down heavy on those accused.

 

  • When Margaret and her son Edward, fled to Scotland and took refuge with queen dowager of Scotland, Mary Guelders, Mary organised a betrothal between Margaret's son Edward and Mary’s daughter Margaret, in return for her support. Mary of Guelder asked for the town of Berwick, however the relationship between Margaret and Mary Deteriorated, with the increasingly friendly alliance between King Edward IV of England and Duke Philip of Burgundy. The pressure was on Scotland to call off the betrothal.

 

  • When Margaret was a prisoner of Edward IV of England, she was in the custody of her former lady in waiting for Alice Chaucer. Alice Chaucer, was not only a granddaughter to Geoffrey Chaucer the poet, and author of , but also the wife of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk.

 

  • When Margaret returned to France In 1476 she lived for six years at different places in Bar and Anjou, in poverty and dependent for a pension on King Louis XI France, who made her surrender her claims to her father's inheritance, in return for his support.

FICTIONAL PORTRAYALS OF MARGARET OF ANJOU

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