Much public business was transacted during the king's stay at Saint Germain; and a marriage was concluded between the duke of Valois, count of Angoulême, and the princess Claude. They were married in their mourning, in the chapel of the castle, in the presence of the king, the princes of the blood, and many others of high rank, on the 18th of May, in the year 1513. About this period, and before the king had quitted St Germain en Laye, his ambassadors sent him intelligence of their having concluded a peace with England, on condition of his marrying the princess Mary. King Henry sent ambassadors to Paris, to confirm the marriage between king Louis and his sister, and to ratify the treaty of peace that had been agreed on between the two kingdoms, which was now publicly proclaimed in both realms. On Monday the 16th of August, in this year, a grand procession was made from the great hall of the palace, with trumpets and clarions, when the herald, called Mont-joye, proclaimed a magnificent tournament to be holden at Paris, by the duke of Valois, Brittany, and count of Angoulême, to which he invited all princes, lords, and gentlemen to assist. It was about this time that the princess Mary was escorted to France by many of the great nobles of England, in company with the lords of France who had gone thither to attend on her. The king left Paris, with his court, and went as far as Abbeville to meet the new queen, where she arrived on the 8th of October, and made her public entry very triumphantly, attended by the duke of Valois and numbers of nobles, as well English as French, all most richly dressed, with large golden chains, especially the English. The queen was most handsomely attired, and seated in a brilliant car: in short, the whole was a beautiful sight. She was preceded by a body of two hundred english archers, gallantly accoutred, with their bows in hand, and quivers full of arrows. The king, hearing of her coming, mounted his horse, and, attended by his nobles, rode out into the plain, under pretence of hawking, but it was to meet her; and on his approaching her, he kissed her on horseback, paying her many fair compliments, as he knew well how to do. Her reception in Abbeville was most honourable,--and the inhabitants exerted themselves who should surpass the other in testifying their joy at her arrival.