The Wars of the Roses; or, Stories of the Struggle of York and LancasterEdgar, John G. (John George)
History
The Wars of the Roses; or, Stories of the Struggle of York and Lancaster
Edgar, John G. (John George)
Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
The heir of Burgundy was some years younger than the dauphin, and in
character presented a remarkable contrast with the exiled prince,
being violent, ungovernable, and, in all cases, ruled by his anger and
pride. Round this incarnation of feudalism Louis had the art to wind
himself, as the ivy does around the oak it is destined to destroy. They
feasted together, hawked together, hunted together, and, in fact, were
bosom friends; and when, in 1456, Isabel de Bourbon, the first wife
of Charles, gave birth to a daughter, at Brussels, it was Louis who
figured as sponsor at the baptism of the infant princess; and it was
Louis who gave Mary of Burgundy her Christian name, in honor of his
mother, Mary of Anjou.
When the dauphin had for years enjoyed the Duke of Burgundy's
hospitality, Charles the Seventh died; and, shortly after the battle of
Towton, the exiled prince, at the age of thirty-eight, succeeded to the
crown of St. Louis. Hardly, however, had the dauphin become king, when
he forgot all his obligations to the house which had sheltered him in
adversity. Eager to weaken the influence of the two great feudatories
of France, he sought to create hostility between the Duke of Brittany
and the Count of Charolois. With this object he granted each of them
the government of Normandy, in hopes of their contesting it, and
destroying each other. Discovering the deception, however, they united
against the deceiver, rallied around them the malcontents of France,
and placed at their head the king's brother, Charles de Valois, who
claimed Normandy as his appanage.
A formidable alliance, called "The League for the Public Good," having
been formed, Charolois, attended by the Count of St. Pol, and the
Bastard of Burgundy, who afterward tilted at Smithfield with Anthony
Woodville, led his forces into France in hostile array. Louis, though
taken by surprise, girded himself up for a conflict, and, on the 16th
of July, 1465, met his foes at Montlhéry. A fierce battle followed; and
the king fought with courage. The day, however, went against France;
and Louis was forced to leave the field, with the loss of some hundreds
of his men and several of his captains, among whom was one who, in
the Wars of the Roses, had spent a fortune, and enacted a strange and
romantic part. For among the slain at Montlhéry, was Sir Peter de
Brezé, celebrated for his chivalrous admiration of Margaret of Anjou,
who, at the tournament given in France in honor of her nuptials, had
distinguished himself by feats of arms, and who, when years of sorrow
had passed over her head, came to England to prove his devotion by
fighting for her husband's crown.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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