The White Lady of Hazelwood: A Tale of the Fourteenth CenturyHolt, Emily Sarah
General
The White Lady of Hazelwood: A Tale of the Fourteenth Century
Holt, Emily Sarah
England -- Fiction; Historical fiction
The only authority hitherto discovered giving any hint of the history of
Marguerite after this date, is a contemporary romance, _Le Roman de la
Comtesse de Montfort_, which states that she retired to the Castle of
Lucinio, near Vannes, and passed the rest of her life in tranquillity.
Even Mrs Everett Green, in her _Lives of the Princesses of England_,
accepted this as a satisfactory conclusion. It was, indeed, the only
one known. But two entries on the public records of England entirely
dissipate this comfortable illusion. On 26th September 1369, the Patent
Roll states that "we allowed 105 pounds per annum to John Delves for the
keeping of the noble lady, the Duchess of Bretagne; and we now grant to
Isabel his widow, for so long a time as the said Duchess shall be in her
keeping, the custody of the manor of Walton-on-Trent, value 22 pounds,"
and 52 pounds from other lands. (Patent Roll, 43 Edward the Third, Part
2.) The allowance originally made had evidently been increased. The
hapless prisoner, however, was not left long in the custody of Isabel
Delves. She was transferred to that of Sir Godfrey Foljambe, whose
wife, Avena Ireland, was daughter of Avena de Holand, aunt of Joan
Duchess of Bretagne, the second wife of young Montfort. Lastly, a Post
Mortem Inquisition, taken in 1374, announces that "Margaret Duchess of
Bretagne died at Haselwood, in the county of Derby, on the 18th of
March, 48 Edward the Third, being sometime in the custody of Godfrey
Foljambe." (Inquisitions of Exchequer, 47-8 Edward the Third, county
Derbyshire).
It is therefore placed beyond question that the Countess of Montfort
died a prisoner in England, at a date when her son had been for ten
years an independent sovereign, and though on friendly terms with Edward
the Third, was no longer a suppliant for his favour. Can it have
occurred without his knowledge and sanction? He was in England when she
died, but there is no indication that he ever went to see her, and her
funeral, as is shown by the silence of the Wardrobe Rolls, was without
any ceremony. Considering the character of the Duke--"violent in all
his feelings, loving to madness, hating to fury, and rarely overcoming a
prejudice once entertained"--the suspicion is aroused that all the early
sacrifices made by his mother, all the gallant defence of his dominions,
the utter self-abnegation and the tender love, were suffered to pass by
him as the idle wind, in order that he might revenge himself upon her
for the one occasion on which she prevented him from breaking his
pledged word to King Edward's daughter, and committing a _mesalliance_
with Alix de Ponteallen. For this, or at any rate for some thwarting of
his will, he seems never to have forgiven her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account