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26 26 B. MARGARET Margaret spent some years of her youth at Aiz in Provence, at the Court of her grandfather, King Bene, famous as a patron of ^onhadonrs. At his death she went to live with her hrother Rene, dnke of Lorraine, who married her, in 1488, to Ren6 de Yalois, duke of Alen^on, oonnt of le Perche, yiscoimt of Beande- mont. Her married life lasted little more than foar years, and at thirty, she was left a widow with three children. Her inclination wonld have led her to religious retirement, but for the sake of her children, she went to the Court of her relation Charles VIII. to be pro- tected and confirmed in their guardian- ship. On the accession of Louis XII. she went to Court to congratulate him, as her son had to take part in the cere- mony of his coronation. The king made her stay for his second marriage with Anne of ^retagne, who was a firm friend of Margaret On this occasion she also paid a visit of affection and respect to the ex-queen St. Jane (10). Margaret brought up her children with great care and was so good a manager of their pro- perty that, during the minority of her son, she paid off debts and burdens to the amount of 133,000 crowns, without diminishing the state required of him as a prince of the blood. She took great care that his subjects should live in peace and safety, and spared no pains to provide good magistrates to look after them and do them justice. She made great alliances for her children, marrying her son Charles, duke of Alen9on, to the only sister of the Due de Vaiois, after- wards King Francis I. ; her elder daugh- ter, first to one duke and then to another, and the younger to the Marquis de Montferrat, a member of the imperial family of Paloologus. All these expenses and economies did not prevent her from giving immense sums in charity ; and not content with giving, she waited in person on the poor, dressing their sores, feeding and nursing them. Her ladies were unable to overcome their repug- nance to these charitable works, and could not assist her. She built five monasteries: Argentan, Alen9on, la Fl^he, Mortagne, and Cb&teau Gontier ; the last was for the Third Order of St. Francis, and had a hospital attached to it for sick persons and for the enter- tainment of pilgrims. When she had been a widow twenty- four years, and had set all her family affjEiirs in good order, she took leaye of King Francis I. and assumed the habit of the Third Order of St Francis, in presence of her son and daughters. After a year of probation, she took the vows in 1518. She lived as a nun of the Order of St Clara, at Argentan, for four years in great peifection, and died in the odour of sanctity, 1521. She was buried in the church of her convent, where, not- withstanding the damp, her body re- mained perfect and lifelike for many years, and smelt of the gardens of Paradise. Steps were taken for her canonization in the reign and by the wish of her grandson Louis XIII., but owing to his death and the long minority of his son, the subject was allowed to drop. The Bollandists say that her worship has never been authorized, but the people of Argentan and Alen9on persist in honouring and invoking her as a saint. AA.SS, Hueber, Menologium Franeis- canum (Nov. 5). L6on, Aureole de Sle. Claire, Coste, Eloges des Beines. Lau- rent, Hiet, de Marguerite de Lorraine. In the church of St. Germain at Argentan, on the left side of the great door, is the chapel of B. Clara, which is always called by the populace the Chapel of St. Margaret (meaning the Duchess of Alen9on). There her heart is built up in the wall, and there pious persons light candles and put money on the altar, and often demand to have masses said in honour of Margaret. Women near their confinement invoke her and provide themselves with her relics, and the nuns of her conyents resort to her intercession and protection with advantage on all occasions. B. Margaret (29) Plantagenet, May 4, 28, 14G9 or 1473-1541, was born at Farley Castle near Bath. Daughter of George, duke of Clarence, and Isabella, daughter of the Earl of Warwick. Mar- garet was niece of Edward IV. and Bichard III. Her brother Edward was beheaded on Tower Hill in 1499. She