Margaret of Anjou

Background

On March 23, 1430, Margaret was born in Lorraine to Isabel of Lorraine and Rene I, then Count of Guise. She was a niece of Charles VII of France and a cousin of Louis XI.

Education

Margaret spent her early youth at a castle in the Rhone Valley and at a palace in Naples. She received a good education and was probably tutored by Antoine de la Salle, a famous writer and tournament judge of the era.

Career

Margaret became involved in the increasing factionalism at court as England lost further ground after the resumption of war in 1449. The year 1453 saw the final defeat of the English in France and the first attack of the mental illness that was to afflict King Henry, never a strong-willed ruler at the best of times, throughout his reign. The birth of a son, Edward, to Margaret and Henry, strengthened her political position as mother of the heir to the throne. However, Richard, Duke of York, who had emerged as the leader of the anticourt faction, was appointed "protector and defender of the realm" for the duration of the king's illness. The basis for the factions was known to history as Lancastrian and Yorkist were being established. Margaret would emerge as the political and military leader of the Lancastrian faction, and the conflict would later be termed the Wars of the Roses.

Henry's recovery at Christmas 1454 removed power from York's hands, forcing him into open rebellion. York defeated the Lancastrians and captured Henry at St. Albans in May 1455 and was named Protector of the Realm. Margaret responded by rallying her supporters and was able to establish an effective power base on her estates in the northwest and west Midlands of England and in Wales. York tied to Ireland in 1459 after an armed face-off at Ludford Bridge. However, Margaret's regime was too narrowly based to bring stability to the country, and the Yorkists regrouped, capturing the king at the Battle of Northampton in June 1460. York returned from exile and for the first, the time stated his own claim to the throne as a descendant of Edward III; baronial opposition prevented him from seizing the throne, but he was recognized as heir apparent, supplanting Margaret's son Edward.

Margaret fled to Scotland, where, having obtained the support of King James III of Scotland, she invaded England to regain her son's rights. York was defeated and killed at Wakefield in December 1460, where thirty-year-old Margaret led the army and probably had a hand in commanding the Lancastrian center on the battlefield. However, York's son Edward, earl of March, defeated Margaret's allies at Mortimer's Cross the following February. Marching at the head of her army, Margaret advanced on London and defeated the earl of Warwick's Yorkist army at St. Albans on 17 February, liberating her husband. Although Margaret did not formally take command on the battlefield, she was present at the battle and was probably responsible for masterminding a flanking maneuver that created the Lancastrian victory. However, the victory was nullified by the City of London's refusal to admit Margaret. Instead, March was able to enter the capital and have himself proclaimed King Edward IV. Retreating northwards, Margaret's army was defeated at Towton before she escaped to Scotland again.

Margaret did not accept defeat despite ten years in exile in Scotland and France and seized the opportunity to take up the Lancastrian cause once more when Edward alienated his most powerful supporter, the Earl of Warwick. Believing that Henry would prove a more pliable king, Warwick allied himself with Margaret in July 1470 and restored her husband to the throne with the aid of Louis XI of France. However, Edward returned to England in April 1471 and at Barnet defeated and killed Warwick and recaptured Henry, just as Margaret and her son were landing at Weymouth. Despite this shattering blow, the queen was persuaded to continue her invasion, attempting to cross the Severn to join her allies in Wales. Edward advanced westwards from London; Margaret skillfully evaded his pursuing army but was caught at Tewkesbury on 3 May, where her army was routed by Edward's attack, and her son the Prince of Wales was killed. Margaret, who this time did not lead her army on the field of battle, was captured attempting to escape. She was taken to the Tower of London on the very night that her husband was murdered there, extinguishing the direct Lancastrian line, and with it, Margaret's purpose and will to fight on. She remained in comfortable captivity for the next four years until she was ransomed out by her cousin Louis XI of France. Returning to France, she lived out the rest of her life in obscurity in Anjou and died at age fifty-two.

Achievements

• Margaret of Anjou was a leader of the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses, trying to obtain the crown for her son. Owing to her husband's frequent bouts of insanity, Margaret ruled the kingdom in his place.
  
  Margaret is a major character in William Shakespeare's 1st Tetralogy of History plays.

Politics

When Henry VI fell into a catatonic state for 18 months and was unable to be brought to his senses, Margaret came to the fore. She was the one who called for a Great Council in May 1455 that excluded Richard Duke of York, sparking the series of battles between York and Lancaster that would last more than thirty years.

Personality

Margaret of Anjou was described as beautiful, passionate, proud and strong-willed.

Margaret has often been decried as somebody whose arrogance and refusal to compromise condemned England to nearly two decades of civil war. A more sympathetic assessment, however, would suggest that almost alone of the main participants in the Wars of the Roses, she was steadfast in a cause - the defense of her husband's and son's rights to the throne - rather than being motivated by personal gain or the desire for power. The extent to which she commanded her armies on the field is a matter of debate, but she certainly led her armies on campaign in 1461 and 1471 and showed a strong sense of strategy and leadership in the victory at St. Albans and in nearly outmaneuvering the Yorkist army in the Tewkesbury campaign. However, she did not have the political skill to exploit her victories in war or to overcome factionalism in peacetime.

Connections

On 23 April 1445, Margaret married King Henry VI of England, who was eight years her senior. Margaret was crowned Queen Consort of England on 30 May 1445 at Westminster Abbey by John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of fifteen. On October 13, 1453 their son, Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, was born.

Father:

Rene I, King of Naples

Mother:

Isabella of Lorraine

Uncle:

Charles VII

Son:

Edward of Westminster

husband:

Henry VI of England

Sister:

Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine

Brother:

John II, Duke of Lorraine

Brother:

Louis of Anjou, Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson

Brother:

Charles, Count of Guise

Sister:

Marie, Countess of Harcourt

Sister:

Anne of Anjou

Sister:

Louise of Anjou

Sister:

Isabelle of Anjou

Cousin:

Louis XI of France

For years, Margaret plotted in exile but was unable to raise an army. She made allies with the King of France, Louis XI.

References

• Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou and the Wars of the Roses: From Contemporary Chronicles, Letters and Records
  2016
• Margaret of Anjou: Queen of England
  1970
• Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England
  2005
• The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou
  2011
• Margaret of Anjou: Makers of History Series
  2010
• Amazons to Fighter Pilots: A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women
  2003
• She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth
  2012
• Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou: A Marriage of Unequals
  2018