The body was laid on a chariot drawn by four black horses. Above it was a bed on which lay a figure made of leather, and painted to resemble the dead king. On the head of this figure was a crown of gold and precious stones, and around the body a purple robe lined and trimmed with ermine. In the right hand was a sceptre, in the left a globe of gold with a cross rising from it. The face was uncovered, and a canopy superbly decorated was held above it. The {277} [Illustration: 0281] {279}King of Scots and a number of princes, lords, and knights followed in deep mourning. Four hundred armed knights rode around the car with their lances pointing downward, and these were followed by a company of men clothed in white bearing lighted torches. The queen with her retinue came about a mile behind. When the procession reached London it was met by fifteen bishops, a score of abbots, and a vast crowd of priests and people. They proceeded along the streets chaunting hymns for their dead king. After his burial Katherine raised a magnificent tomb to his memory. The little prince was just eight months old when his mother returned to him at Windsor, where she spent the first few weeks of her widowhood. When parliament met, four months later, she removed to London and passed through the city on a throne drawn by white horses and surrounded by all the princes and nobles of England. With her infant on her lap, the young mother looked very pretty and interesting, and it is said that the little fellow behaved remarkably well. As he grew up he was present each year at the opening of parliament, and when he reached the age of seven the Earl of Warwick was appointed his tutor. He was crowned at Westminster, and afterwards the ceremony was repeated at Paris. In the meantime his mother had become reconciled to the loss of her husband, and had married one Owen Tudor, with whom she lived very privately. After Henry V. died, the English met with many disasters in France, for there was nobody to lead them as this great warrior had done. This was a cause of deep sorrow to Katherine, and, with other anxieties, broke down her health. She died on the 3d of January, 1437, and was buried in "Our Lady's Chapel" at Westminster Abbey. {280} CHAPTER XVIII. MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF HENRY VI. (A.D. 1429-1479.) |Margaret was the last of the Provençal Queens of England, and she filled a most important position for more than a quarter of a century. Through her mother she was a direct descendant of the great Emperor Charlemagne, and her father, René of Anjou, was the son of the King of Sicily and Jerusalem.