Page:The Queens of England.djvu/221

 MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF HENRY THE SIXTH. Margaret, daughter of Rene of Anjou, subsequently King of Sicily, and Isabella of Lorraine, was the youngest of her par- ents' five children, and, according to history, the most favored by nature of them all. Her grandmother was Yoland, or Viol- ante, of Arragon (at this time a constant visitant at the French court), and the Spanish blood thus intermingled did not slum- ber in this one, at least, of her descendants. Margaret's own mother, a scion of the line of Charlemagne, was also as spirited as she was beautiful ; but Rene himself, so unfortunate in his career, appears to have naturally approximated more closely to the future consort of his daughter, being devoted to the refine- ments of art, and attached to the peaceful enjoyments of do- mestic life. The members of this family were united to each other by bonds of the strongest affection ; and Margaret, we are told, was alike the favorite and admiration of France and themselves. Possessed of "a masculine, courageous spirit, of an enterprising temper, endowed with solidity as well as vivac- ity of understanding, she had not been able to conceal those great talents even in the privacy" of her father's narrowed court, "and it was reasonable to expect that when she should mount the throne they would break out with still superior luster." She was, says Hume, "the most accomplished woman of her age, both in body and mind, and seemed to possess those qualities which would equally qualify her to acquire the ascendant over Henry and to supply all his defects and weak- nesses." With these attractions it is not extraordinary that other proposals, anterior to those of the King of England, had been made for the hand of the Infanta (as she was called among the Provencals) ; and, indeed, the gallant Count de St. Pol, and the Duke of Burgundy's handsome nephew, Count de Nevers, are both mentioned as favored lovers of Margaret ; in fact, to the first she is reported to have been engaged ; but 187