QUEEN MARGARET'S VOYAGE.
One day in the middle of November, 1470, about three months after the
marriage of Edward of Lancaster and Anne Neville, Margaret of Anjou
visited Paris, and was received in the capital of Louis the Crafty with
honors never before accorded but to queens of France. The daughter of
King René must in that hour have formed high notions of the advantage
of Warwick's friendship, for it was entirely owing to the king-maker's
triumph that King Henry's wife was treated with so much distinction.
The news of Warwick's success and of Edward's discomfiture, which had
caused so much excitement in Calais, the Continental strong-hold of the
English, traveled rapidly to the French territories, and reached the
king, who, at Amboise, was anxiously awaiting the result of Warwick's
expedition. Louis was overjoyed at the success of his schemes, and
demonstrated his confidence in the genius of the earl by setting the
treaty of Peronne at defiance, and breaking all terms of amity with the
Duke of Burgundy. In his enthusiasm he could not even recognize the
possibility of a change of fortune. For once this apostle of deceit
was deceived by himself.
While rejoicing in the results produced by his political craft, Louis
was seized with a fit of devotion. To indulge his superstitious
emotions, the king went on a pilgrimage to the Church of St. Mary at
Celles, in Poitou; and, having there expressed his own gratitude to
Heaven, he issued orders that the clergy, nobles, and inhabitants of
Paris and other towns throughout France should make solemn procession
in honor of GOD and the Virgin, and give thanks at once for the victory
obtained by Henry of Windsor over the Earl of March, who had long
usurped his throne, and for the peace now happily established between
England and France.
The visit of Margaret of Anjou to Paris was then projected; and,
when the religious festival, which lasted for three days, was over,
preparations were made for her reception. At the appointed time,
Margaret proceeded on the journey, accompanied by the Prince and
Princess of Wales, the Countess of Warwick, the Countess of Wiltshire,
a daughter of the house of Beaufort, and other ladies and damsels
who had formed the court at Verdun, and attended by an escort of
French noblemen, among whom the Counts D'Eu, Dunois, and Vendôme were
prominent figures.
On reaching the French capital, Margaret was received with the highest
honors. "When she approached Paris," says Monstrelet, "the bishop, the
court of Parliament, the University, the provosts of Paris, and the
court of Châtelet, by express orders from the king, together with the
principal inhabitants, came out to meet her, handsomely dressed, and in
very numerous bodies. She made her entry at the gate of St. James; and
all the streets through which she passed, from that gate to the palace,
where apartments had been handsomely prepared for her, were adorned
with hangings of tapestry, and had tents pitched in all the squares."
At such a time Margaret could hardly have helped recalling to memory,
perhaps not without feelings of bitterness, how different had been her
reception when, eight years earlier, she, poor indeed and desolate, but
then as much as now Queen of the Lancastrians, came with her son in her
hand to implore her kinsman's aid to recover her husband's crown.
Enthusiastic as was the welcome of the Lancastrians to Paris, they had
no motive to prolong their stay on the banks of the Seine. Indeed, as
it was believed that nothing but the presence of the queen and Prince
of Wales was wanting to secure Warwick triumph, they were all anxiety
to set sail. In November they journeyed to the coast, but the winter
was so cold and the weather so stormy that they were fain to postpone
their voyage.
About the opening of the year 1471, the Prior of St. John, dispatched
by Warwick, came to urge the necessity of Margaret's presence, and that
of the Prince of Wales, in England. The queen again embarked, and the
earl gladly prepared to welcome the mother and the son to those shores
from which he had, seven years before, driven them poor and destitute;
but still the winds were adverse and the weather stormy, and the ships
only left Harfleur to be driven back damaged.[12]
The elements had often proved unfavorable to Margaret of Anjou, but
never under circumstances so unfortunate as on this occasion. Thrice
did she put to sea, and as often was she dashed back by contrary
winds. The partisans of each of the Roses in England put their
own interpretation on these unpropitious gales. "It is GOD'S just
provision," said the Yorkists, "that the foreign woman, who has been
the cause of so many battles and so much slaughter, should never return
to England to do more mischief." "The queen," said the Lancastrians,
"is kept away, and her journey prevented, by Friar Bungey, the Duchess
of Bedford, and other sorcerers and necromancers."
All winter the queen and prince were compelled to wait patiently for
fair winds to waft them to the shores of England; and while in this
position they learned, with some degree of alarm, that Edward of
York had landed at Ravenspur, and that Clarence, breaking faith with
Warwick, had been reconciled to his brother. But, however anxious
at this intelligence, they were not seriously apprehensive of the
consequences. Margaret knew, to her cost, the influence which Warwick
exercised in England, and, sanguine by nature, she could hardly doubt
that he would prove victorious in the event of a struggle. The prince,
though intelligent and accomplished, was young and inexperienced; and
he had been taught by Louis to believe that the alliance of Warwick and
Margaret would conquer all obstacles.
At length, when the winter passed and the spring came, when the winds
were still and the sea calm, the queen and the Prince of Wales embarked
once more, and left the French coast behind. Landing at Weymouth on
the 14th of April, they went to the Abbey of Cearne to repose from
the fatigues of their voyage before taking their way to the capital,
where they anticipated a joyous welcome. But a bitter disappointment
was reserved for the royal wanderers. The prince, instead of finding a
throne at Westminster, was doomed to fill a bloody grave at Tewkesbury.
Margaret, instead of entering London in triumph, was led thither a
captive, when a terrible defeat had destroyed hope, and a tragic
catastrophe had dissipated ambition.