Editing Margaret of Anjou (section)

== Early life and marriage ==
=== Childhood ===
Margaret was born on 23 March 1430<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brooke |first1=C.N.L. |last2=Ortenberg |first2=V. |date=June 1988 |title=The Birth of Margaret of Anjou |journal=Historical Research |volume=61 |issue=146 |pages=357–358 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.1988.tb01072.x}}</ref> at [[Pont-à-Mousson]] in [[Lorraine]], a fief of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] east of France ruled by a [[cadet branch]] of the French kings, the [[House of Valois-Anjou]]. Margaret was the second daughter of [[René of Anjou]], and of [[Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine]]. She had five brothers and four sisters, as well as three half-siblings from her father's relationships with mistresses. Her father, popularly known as "Good King René" (Bon Roi René), was [[Counts and dukes of Anjou|duke of Anjou]] and titular [[king of Naples]], [[Sicily]], and [[Jerusalem]]; he has been described as "a man of many crowns but no kingdoms". Margaret was baptised at [[Toul]] in Lorraine and, in the care of her father's old nurse Theophanie la Magine, she spent her early years at the [[castle at Tarascon]] on the river [[Rhône]] in [[Provence]] and in the old royal palace at [[Capua]], near Naples in the [[Kingdom of Sicily]]. Her mother took care of her education and may have arranged for her to have lessons with the scholar [[Antoine de la Sale]], who taught her brothers. In childhood, Margaret was known as ''la petite créature'' (the little creature)<ref name=":0" /> and was interested in French romances and hunting.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Dockray |first=Keith |title=Henry VI, Margaret of Anjou, and the Wars of the Roses from Contemporary Chronicles, Letters, and Records |publisher=Fonthill Media |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-78155-469-2}}</ref>

Her family included several prominent women who exercised power in politics, war, and administration as regents and queen-lieutenants. Her mother, [[Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine|Isabella of Lorraine]], fought wars on behalf of her husband while he was imprisoned in 1431-1432 and 1434-1436 by the duke of Burgundy, [[Philip the Good]], and ruled the [[Duchy of Lorraine]] in her own right. Her paternal grandmother, [[Yolande of Aragon]], ruled the Duchy of Anjou as regent for her son while Margaret was a child, repelling an English military presence and supporting the disinherited [[Charles VII of France]] (Dauphin).<ref name="K19">Kendall, p. 19.</ref><ref name="MaurerH" /> It has been suggested that this family example provided her with precedents for her later actions as regent for her son.<ref name="K19" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Elizabeth |title=Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI |publisher=Head of Zeus |year=2019 |isbn=9781784979645 |pages=190}}</ref> Attitudes to women's exercise of power were different in [[Western Europe]] than in England at the time, with England more opposed to women exercising authority.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Earenfight |first=Theresa |title=Queenship in Medieval Europe |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2013 |isbn=9780230276468}}</ref>

=== Marriage, concession of Maine, and subsequent rule ===
Margaret met with English envoys at [[Tours]] on 4 May 1444 to discuss her marriage to Henry VI of England.<ref name=":1" /> On 24 May, she was formally betrothed to Henry by proxy. Her uncle, [[Charles VII of France]], who may have suggested the marriage as part of peace efforts between France and England near the conclusion of the [[Hundred Years' War]], was present.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Brut; or, the Chronicles of England|publisher=Early English Text Society|year=1908|editor-last=Brie|editor-first=Friedrich|location=London|pages=486}}</ref> The marriage was negotiated principally by [[William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk|William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk]], and the settlement included a remarkably small dowry of 20,000 [[francs]] and the unrealised claim, via Margaret's mother, to the territories of [[Mallorca]] and [[Menorca]], which had been occupied for centuries by the [[Crown of Aragon]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Elizabeth |title=Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI |publisher=Head of Zeus |year=2019 |isbn=9781784979645}}</ref> The marriage settlement also contained the promise of a twenty-three-month truce with France.<ref name="MaurerH" /><ref name=":3" /> Opinions were mixed as to the wisdom of the marriage,<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Griffiths |first=Ralph Alan |title=The reign of King Henry VI |date=2004 |publisher=Sutton |isbn=0-7509-3777-7 |pages=740–741 |oclc=474634628}}</ref> but the prevailing understanding was that it represented a genuine effort at peace.<ref name="MaurerH" />

[[File:Vigiles du roi Charles VII 15.jpg|right|thumb|The marriage of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] and Margaret of Anjou is depicted in this miniature from an illustrated manuscript of ''Vigilles de Charles VII'' by [[Martial d'Auvergne]]]]
[[Image:Titchfield Abbey 1.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Titchfield Abbey]] in 2014]]

Loans were taken out by the government in order to pay for the considerable expense of transporting Margaret to England. Solicitation for the loans emphasised the rôle that the marriage, and Margaret herself, would play in seeking peace with France. This was a theme that continued throughout the preparations for her wedding. She arrived in England on 9 April 1445 and travelled to London accompanied by various lords and courtiers.<ref name="MaurerH" /> She reached London on 28 May, where she was met by the mayor and [[Alderman|aldermen]] of the city. The predicted turnout for her arrival and procession was so large that on 8 May, an inspection of roofs and balconies was ordered due to the expectation that spectators would use them as vantage points for her progress.<ref>Corporation of London Records Office, Journal IV.</ref>

Her ceremonial progress through the city lasted two days, the intervening night spent, by custom, in the [[Tower of London]]. It was accompanied by eight theatrical pageants. Five of these pageants concerned the peace with France, casting Margaret as a symbol of, or the agent of, peace. Three spoke of her spiritual role as a redeemer and intercessor.<ref name="MaurerH" /> It is uncertain whether these pageants represented a propaganda effort on the part of the Crown<ref name=":4" /> or reflected popular sentiment.<ref name="MaurerH" />

On 23 April 1445, Margaret married King Henry VI of England at [[Titchfield Abbey]] in [[Hampshire]]. She was fifteen and he was twenty-three. She was then crowned [[List of English royal consorts|Queen of England]] on 30 May 1445 at [[Westminster Abbey]] by [[John Stafford (bishop)|John Stafford]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref name=":0">Margaret Lucille Kekewich, ''The Good King: René of Anjou and Fifteenth Century Europe'', (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), 101.</ref> Those that anticipated the future return of English claims to French territory believed that she already understood her duty to protect the interests of the Crown fervently.<ref name="MaurerH">{{cite book |last1=Maurer |first1=Helen E. |title=Margaret of Anjou: Queenship and Power in Late Medieval England |date=2004 |publisher=Boydell |isbn=978-1-84383-104-4 |location=Woodbridge |ref=MaurerH}}</ref> The wedding and her transport were very expensive, estimated by some historians at more than [[Pound sterling|£5,000]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wolffe |first=Bertram Percy |title=Henry VI |year=2001 |isbn=0-300-08926-0 |pages=180 |publisher=Yale University Press |oclc=1039082963}}</ref>

Shortly after her coronation, René of Anjou entered negotiations with the English crown in an attempt to barter a lifetime's alliance and a twenty-year truce in exchange for the cession of the English-held territory of [[Maine (province)|Maine]] to [[Duchy of Anjou|Anjou]] and Henry's agreement to abandon his claim to Anjou.<ref name="MaurerH" /> Ultimately, the agreement ended without an alliance with Anjou and with the loss of Maine.<ref name=":3" /> Margaret, alongside Henry, corresponded closely with Charles VII regarding the agreement, attempting to act as a mediator.

The loss of Maine, regarded as a betrayal, was deeply unpopular with the English public,<ref name="MaurerH" /> who were already inclined to mistrust Margaret due to her French origins.<ref name=":2" /> Blame was cast on William de la Pole, due to his rôle in negotiations. The reputation of Margaret's marriage suffered as a result, although she herself was not openly blamed for the loss.<ref name="MaurerH" />

In the early years of their marriage, prior to Henry's illness, Margaret and Henry spent significant proportions of their time together by choice. They shared an interest in education and culture. On 30 March 1448, she was granted licence to found [[Queens' College, Cambridge]].<ref name=":3" /> Prior to 1453, there is little evidence of public political efforts on her part.<ref name=":5" /> Most of her surviving letters were written during that period, and the majority pertain to acts of intercession, mediation, and intervention in matters on which she had been asked to act, such as the arranging of marriages, the return of wrongfully taken property, and the collection of alms. These were expected and important parts of the rôle of a noblewoman or queen. Some were successful, and others regarded as high-handed or ill-thought-out. On one occasion, she recommended a man named Alexander Manning to the rôle of gaoler at [[Newgate Prison|Newgate]]; shortly after, he turned the prisoners loose in an act of protest at his rumoured dismissal for negligence and was then gaoled himself.<ref name="MaurerH" />

=== Birth of a son ===
Henry, who was more interested in religion and learning than in military matters, was not a successful king.<ref>{{Cite book |title=1066 And All That |url=https://archive.org/details/1066allthatmemor0000sell |url-access=registration |last1=Sellar |first1=W. C. |last2=Yeatman |first2=R. J. |publisher=Methuen |year=1930 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/1066allthatmemor0000sell/page/46 46]}}</ref> He had reigned since he was only a few months old, and his actions had been controlled by protectors, magnates who were effectively regents. When he married Margaret, his mental condition was already unstable, and by the time of the birth of their only son, [[Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales]] (born 13 October 1453), he had suffered a complete breakdown.