Amboise: The Queen of England in Exile.
Margaret of Anjou
During the late 1400s there were two queens living in the Royal Château of Amboise. Charlotte of Savoy, Queen of France and Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England.
Margaret was in exile with her teenage son Edward, Prince of Wales.
Down on her luck, tolerated as the poor relation, she had safe haven there after yet another bloody battle during what became known as the Wars of the Roses. Her husband, the mentally unstable Henry VI (King of England), had been captured and was in the Tower of London.
Margaret was a chip off the old block. Her formidable grandmother Yolande of Aragon, like Margaret, strapped on armour and rode into the fray.
Louis XI (King of France) didn’t support Margaret because they were first cousins*. He wanted Calais back. Margaret told him he would get it if he helped restore her husband to the English throne.
Neither did Louis offer sanctuary out of the kindness of his heart (an oxymoron where Louis was concerned). Always with an eye to the main chance, if he could help get her re-instated, the financially crippling Hundred Years War with England would be over.
Louis supported the winning side. When Margaret was no longer Queen of England, he treated her shamefully.
You do wonder what Charlotte and Margaret talked about. Apart from their high rank they had little in common. Margaret, the elder by eleven years, was a hardened warrior. Gentle, self-effacing Charlotte was a bookworm.
* In 1444, in St. Martin’s Church, Tours, his mother Marie of Anjou was at the betrothal ceremony of Margaret to Henry VI. During the banquet which followed, Knights jousting from camels made for unusual entertainment.
Read more about The Ladies of Royal Château Amboise in Out of the Shadows by Pamela Shields.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art). Artwork by Mark.
Out of the Shadows
The Ladies of Royal Château Amboise
