Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/168

 156 MARGAKET OF ANJOU some she lingered till June 10, 1094). She was canonized in 1251 by Innocent IV. ; and Clement X. in 1G73 made her the patron saint of Scotland. Her feast is celebrated on Juno 10. St. Margaret's chapel, built in her honor by H.ivid L, is still visited in the castle of Edinburgh. It was restored in 1853, and in the chancel are three stained-glass windows with portraits of the saint, Malcolm Canmore, and David I. The life of St. Margaret was ritt.-n in Latin by her chaplain and confessor, Theodoric or Thierry, a monk of Durham ; in French by Lefebvre"(Douai, 1660); and by the Bollandists in Acta Sanctorum." St. Marga- ret's cup " or " draught " was a custom intro- duced by her into the Scottish court for the purpose of repressing drunkenness, and con- sisted in her filling with her own hand a cup of choice wine, of which all partook, with the promise to drink no more. After this grace was said. This custom became general in Great Britain, Flanders, and Germany, several popes attaching an indulgence to the "grace cup " on condition that it should be the last for that day. This was especially observed by guilds and brotherhoods at their yearly ban- quets, and many of these indulgenced cups, called "mazers," are still preserved. MARGARET OF AXJOC, queen of England, daughter of Ren6, duke of Lorraine and count of Provence, and titular king of Sicily and Jerusalem, and of Isabella of Lorraine, born at Pont-a-Mousson, March 23, 1429, died at the chateau of Dampierre, Aug. 25, 1481. Her childhood was passed, amid the troubles that befell her family, in Italy, France, and Lor- raine. Her hand was sought by the count de St. Pol and by the count de Nevers. Report of her beauty having reached Henry VI. of England, from a gentleman of Anjou, who acted under the inspiration of Cardinal Beau- fort, her portrait was obtained for his inspec- tion. This decided the king's action, and com- missioners were appointed to negotiate a truce with France and Burgundy. Charles VII. fa- vored the marriage, with the view of making it the basis of peace. Not only was no dowry asked with Margaret, but England ceded An- iou and Maine to Ren6, who claimed them as his hereditary dominions. The war party in England, headed by the duke of Gloucester, opposed both the peace and the marriage, but the Beaufort party proved victorious; and Suffolk, who was elevated to a marquisate, married Margaret as Henry's proxy at Nancy in November, 1444. Margaret did not reach England until the next April, when her mar- riage took place in Titchfield abbey. In 1447 occurred the death of the duke of Gloucester, of which she has been accused by some histo- rian-. She soon became unpopular, and the English connected the loss of their French possessions with her marriage. The York family. t:ikinir advantage of the weakness of the king, aimed to obtain the crown, which belonged to their chief by the law of descent. Margaret's only child, Edward, born Oct. 13, 1453, was said by her enemies to be either the offspring of adultery or a supposititious child. Prince Edward was born while his father was suffering from one of his fits of imbecility, and when the queen was at the head of the government. The duke of York was made protector, but on the restoration of the king's health he was dismissed, where- upon he asserted his right by an appeal to arms, and the Yorkists won the first battle of St. Albans, which restored them to power. Parliament censured the queen and her friends, but in 1456 Henry assumed his rights, and the government was virtually in Margaret's hands. Personal ill feeling between the queen and the earl of Warwick, the most powerful of the Yorkist leaders, caused a renewal of the war, and the Lancastrians were at first victorious ; but the Yorkists rallied, defeated their foes, and obtained possession of the person of the king, who recognized York as his successor. Margaret fled with her son, first to Wales, and thence to Scotland. Receiving assistance from the Scotch, she returned to England, and was joined by her supporters in the northern coun- ties. York advanced to oppose her, and was defeated and slain at Wakefield. Marching to London, she defeated Warwick in the second battle of St. Albans, and released her husband. The Londoners would not admit her into their city, but recognized York's eldest son as king, by the title of Edward IV. She retreated north, and was followed by Edward. After the fatal battle of Towton, March 29, 1461, Margaret fled to Scotland with her husband and son. Thence she went to France, in the hope of obtaining aid from Louis XL, in which she met with little success. Pierre de Brez6, seneschal of Normandy, armed in her support, and by his aid she landed in England, but ac- complished nothing, and returned to Scotland, There she raised forces and invaded England, and at first obtained some successes, but was defeated in the battle of Hexham, in 1464. She returned again to Scotland, and afterward went to Flanders. After remaining some time at Bruges, she took up her residence in her father's dominions, where she superintended her son's education, aided by Sir John Fortes- cue. She visited the French court, at Tours, in 1469 ; and it was under the mediation of Louis XL that a reconciliation between her and the earl of Warwick was effected in 1470 T the earl having broken with Edward IV. and fled from England. The earl's youngest daugh- ter, Anne Neville, was betrothed to the queen's son, Edward of Lancaster. Warwick returned to England and marche.d to London ; the Lan- castrians were for the time triumphant ; Ed- ward IV. fled to the continent, and Henry VI. regained the throne. Margaret prepared to re- turn to England, but contrary winds delayed her purpose, and it was not till April 14, 1471, that she landed at Weymouth, accompanied by her son. Warwick, however, had been defeated