had wooed and won her. As to the third charge, that of supporting the claims of her son King John against those of his rival Arthur, she by so doing only acted in accordance with the wish of her favourite son, King Richard; and although, merely as a question of primogeniture, the crown of England belonged to Arthur, we must not forget that it was the custom of the age for the reigning Monarch to bequeath the primogeniture right to whom he pleased; and in this instance Richard had willed the throne to John, and therefore Eleanora was fully justified in supporting the claims of John against the groundless pretensions of Arthur. That she used her utmost influence to save Arthur from his cruel death, we are assured by several old chroniclers, and Paulus Emilius declares, that "when she heard what a terrible crime John had committed, her heart swelled with sorrow, and she died of grief." In justice to her memory, she, by her talents and patronage of learning, more than by her birth and station, must be ranked as one of the most illustrious women of the twelfth century. And if a somewhat lower position in the scale of moral excellence be awarded to her, we, in Christian charity, should not overlook the unfortunate incidents which clouded her youthful dreams of earthly bliss, and which taught her, too late, the stern lesson, that without moral excellence beauty, royalty, and riches only bestrew the path of life with thorns, which pierce deeper and deeper as we journey onward. After the death of her beloved husband Richard the First, Berengaria retired from active life. Her dower consisted of the tin mines in Cornwall and Devonshire, valued at the annual sum of two thousand marks, together with the continental territory of Mans, and the city of Bigorre, in Aquitaine. From the year 1200 to 1230, she resided mostly at Mans, where she founded, and in the last-named year completed, the building of the stately Abbey of L'Espan. Once during this period she quitted Mans, and meeting King John at the city of Chinon, sold to him her English dower, for a life annuity of two thousand marks, after which she retired to the secluded cloister of her own munificently endowed Abbey of L'Espan. But very soon John began to neglect the payment of the annuity, and, at length, after much fruitless negociation with her dishonest brotherin-law, she laid her wrongs at the feet of Pope Innocent, who forthwith threatened the English King with an interdict if he did not speedily satisfy the just demands of the Dowager Berengaria. However, the only effect produced by the threat of the Holy See was several soothing letters, by which means the unprincipled King succeeded again and again in obtaining from the Dowager Queen an extension of time, till at last he died, and the debt was never paid. Henry the Third, following the unworthy example of his father, John, likewise endeavoured to avoid the payment of Berengaria's annuity; but on the Pope's intercession, her pecuniary troubles were terminated by the Templars becoming guarantees and agents for the payments, which were made half-yearly. The affectionate and gentle Berengaria died at an advanced age, and was buried in her own noble abbey, where a tomb was erected to her memory. With A few years back, the learned antiquarian, Mr. Stothard, visited Mans, and found the Abbey of L'Espan converted into a barn, and the effigy of Berengaria buried under a heap of wheat. the exception of the loss of the left arm, the effigy was in excellent preservation: it represents the Queen with a crown on her head, and holding in her hands a book, singular from the circumstance of its having embossed on the cover a second representation of herself as lying on a bier, with waxen torches burning in candlesticks on either side of her. By the effigy were lying the bones of the Queen, the silent witnesses of the sacrilegious demolition of the tomb. It appears from an inscription on a slate, found in a wooden box containing bones and pieces of linen, beneath the monument, that on the twenty-seventh of May, 1672, the tomb was restored and removed to a place in the church more sacred than its former site, and that in it were deposited the bones and other remains found in the ancient sepulchre. ISABELLA OF ANGOULEME, Queen of John CHAPTER I. Parentage of Isabella-In ner childhood she is betrothed to Hugh de LusignanKing John divorced from the bride of his early choice-He falls in love with Isabella-Causes her to be abducted from Count Hugh, and marries her-Challenge of Hugh de Lusignan-Isabella comes to England with John-Her coronation-Dower --She resigns herself to feasting and pleasure-Confederacy against John--Isabella accompanies her husband to Normandy-John captures Count Hugh and other illustrious personages at the battle of Mirabel-Returns to England with his prisoners, many of whom are starved to death-Count Hugh liberated-Tyranny and cruelty of John-Terrible fate of the de Braose family-Royal drapery establishment-Mean attire of Isabella-Costly dress of John-His conjugal infidelityJealousy-Isabella imprisoned-Restored to her husband's affections-Her children. of France, summon to his standard all the feudal militia of the southern French provinces. SABELLA OF ANGOULEME, one of the most beautiful women of her times, was the only child of Ailmar, Count of Angoulême, and Alice de Courtenay, a descendant from Louis the Sixth of France. Of the early portion of her life but little is known, save that she was born about the year 1185, and whilst yet a child, betrothed to Hugh de Lusignan, by some writers surnamed Le Brun. This Hugh was rich and brave, and being the eldest son of Hugh the Ninth, Count de la Marche, and sovereign of French Poitou, the province forming the northern boundary of Aquitaine, his power was considerable, as his father, who entertained great affection for him, could, whenever he pleased, by virtue of his authority as marcher, or protector of the border, and without waiting for the consent of his lord paramount the King Isabella became the Queen of England under circumstances alike discreditable to her parents and her royal husband. Immediately on his accession, King John was divorced from the bride of his early choice, Avisa, the fairest of the three daughters of Robert, Earl of Gloucester. To Avisa he had been betrothed about ten years, but she being his cousin, although illegitimate, the church prohibited him from living with her, on pain of excommunication. Scarcely was the sentence of divorce pronounced, when, attracted by the fame of the beauty of the Princess of Portugal, he sent an embassy to that land of sunshine, to seek her hand. Meanwhile he proceeded in person to his transmaritime possessions, to arrange important state matters, and receive the homage of his vassals. When he reached Aquitaine, Isabella, as was the custom of the age, was residing in a castle of bravos, which he constantly kept about him, to act as his champion in case of appeal to duel. But Hugh, disdaining to fight the low-bred champion, told him to get him gone, and say to his cowardly master, that the injured lover of Isabella was too true a knight to put lance After a short stay in Normandy, John and his girlish bride sailed to England, where Isabella having been acknowledged Queen-consort by what the chroniclers name "a common council of the nation," she, for the first time, and John, for the second, were solemnly crowned, by Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Westminster Abbey, on the eighth of October. her betrothed, to be educated. But her | parents sent for her to do homage to him as heiress of Angoulême. On the messenger reaching the castle, Hugh de Lusignan was absent; his brother, however, suspecting no treachery, delivered her up, and when King John, at his recognition in Angoulême, as sove-in rest, or draw his sword with the hired reign of Aquitaine, first beheld her, al- mercenaries of his rankly, ruthless rival. though he had seen thirty-two summers, and she scarce fifteen, her budding charms so filled his heart, that he peremptorily demanded her hand in marriage. Her scheming parents listened with delight to the suit of her royal wooer, and although she herself secretly preferred Count Hugh, they made excuses for detaining her from her betrothed, and so fanned the flame of John's passion, that he completely overlooked the Princess of Portugal, and married her at Bordeaux, in August, 1200, the nuptials being solemnized by the Archbishop of Bordeaux, who, by authority of a previously held synod, had declared the marriage legal. Hugh de Lusignan no sooner heard of these doings, than he boldly pronounced against the decision of the synod, and after vainly endeavouring to gain possession of his betrothed, laid his wrongs at the feet of the Pope. However, as Isabella, prompted by her parents, and dazzled by the glitter of the triple crowns of England, Normandy, and Aquitaine, would not allow that, either by consent or vow on her part, she had been betrothed to her Provençal lover, and withal as he himself could adduce no positive proof that she had made such vow, the Pope's intercession was futile. And even had it been otherwise, Isabella, by living with Count Hugh, would have sacrificed her patrimony to her lord paramount, King John, as by the feudal law any heiress marrying without the consent of her suzerain, forfeited her lands. Being forced to bow to stern and withal unjust necessity, Count Hugh became enraged and sought revenge by challenging the English King to mortal combat. John received the cartel with the coolness of a stoic, and instead of either making reparation, or himself facing the cruelly-used Count, he sent, as his deputy, one of those skilled desperate By a charter still extant, it being the earliest document of the kind yet discovered, Isabella is declared to have been crowned Queen of England by the willing assent of the barons, clergy, and people of the whole realm; and as Queen of England, not, be it observed, simply as the wife of the King, is assigned to her for her right royal dower, the whole county of Rutland, the cities of Exeter, Wilton, Waltham, Wiltershawe, Chinchester, Ilchester, Belesdun, Malmsbury, the honors of Rochester, Berkhampstead, Queenhithe Wharf in London, and the continental towns of Calais, Bonville, and Damfront, besides all other lands, cities, and incomes that were appointed to Eleanora of Aquitaine. In addition to her splendid dower, Isabella derived a considerable income, denominated "Queen's Gold," from various fines, grants, licences, &c. This tax of "Queen's Gold" consisted, for the most part, of a per centage of a tenth, and it appears to have existed long before the time of Isabella; indeed, according to Prynne, it was most probably a Norman custom, introduced by the Conqueror, or his immediate successor. For several months after their coronation, King John and his bewitching consort resigned themselves to feasting and pleasure; and it then being the good custom for all ranks to breakfast at five and dine at half-past ten in the morning, they greatly scandalized their court by not rising from their pillows till midday. At Easter, they were entertained by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and as, in those days, the Primate always placed the crown on the head of the King and Queen whenever they took up their residence near to his, he again crowned them. and the entreaties of the weak, supported his own extravagancies and profligacy by seizing on the revenues of the church and the poor, and by mercilessly mulcting the barons, knights, city corporations, Jews, &c. When the nobles murmured at these and other unconstitutional extortions, the tyrannical King, The blissful enjoyments of the royal under a pretext that Queen Isabella repair were soon destroyed by rumours of quired a bevy of pages and waitingwars and troubles on the continent. maids, forced them to surrender their Anjou and Maine had armed in the children as hostages for their good faith, cause of Arthur Plantagenet; and Count on pain of incurring his vengeful disHugh, to revenge the abduction of Isa-pleasure-a thing terrible indeed, as we bella, had raised the cry of revolt in learn from the fate of the De Braose faPoitou and Brittany. Not a moment mily, who, because, when John demanded was to be lost, and embarking in differ- her eldest son, Lady De Braose had iment vessels, King John and his consort prudently declared she would never sursailed from Portsmouth for Normandy. render her son to the keeping of a King Foul weather drove the King to the Isle who had assassinated his own nephew of Wight-a spot he was peculiarly fond were all seized, father, mother, and of visiting-for shelter, and when at five unoffending sons and daughters, length he reached Barfleur, he found and, by the orders of the cruel wretch, Isabella awaiting him, her staunch gal-John, deliberately starved to death in ley having bravely weathered the storm, Old Windsor Castle. and bore her in speed and safety across the channel. Having gained the battle of Mirabel, where he took prisoners Arthur, his foe in dominion, and Count Hugh, his rival in love, King John, after faint, futile efforts to restore his continental possessions to order, embarked with his consort and prisoners for England, in December, 1203. Immediately on landing, he closely confined Isabella's unfortunate lover in Lristol Castle, where also was imprisoned Eleanora, the sister of Arthur, surnamed the Pearl of Brittany. Hugh was doubtless saved from starvation-the cruel fate of the other noble Poictevin prisoners - by the strenuous exertions of the Queen. At length, in 1206, the continued alarming rebellion in Aquitaine and other provinces induced John to liberate Hugh, and after conciliating him to the utmost, to embark with him for the continent, where, by his influence, most of the English provinces were reduced to order and subjection. On returning to England, John set all the ancient laws of the kingdom at defiance; and disregarding the warnings of the wise, the threats of the strong, The English Kings of the middle ages kept their own drapery establishments, from which nothing was passed but by order, signed by the sovereigns themselves, and when a queen required a new dress, the king reckoned it not beneath him to minutely note down the exact quantity, quality, and kind of material required. From these orders, entered in King John's wardrobe rolls, we learn that, extravagant as he was in his own dress, he, with a niggard's hand, doled out most humble attire to his beautiful Isabella. One of these entries is an order for drab cloth and grey fur for a habit for Isabella; another is for green cloth and miniver skin for a robe; and further on is a warrant for four pairs of ornamented woman's shoes, six towels, and a pan, for her use. These entries for the Lady Queen contrast strangely with the orders in the same rolls for the costly, glittering dress of her royal lord, who, indeed, was as foppish as he was cruel. It appears that, on Christmas, 1204, he wore a red satin robe, a mantle of the same colour richly wrought with sapphires and pearls, a tunic of white damask, red satin shoes edged with gold, a richly ornamented sword-belt set with gems, white embroidered gloves, one adorned with an emerald, and another with a topaz, and a sceptre studded all over with sparkling diamonds and rubies. Isabella had been a Queen but a few years, when John, guilty as he himself was of gross conjugal infidelity, upbraided her with jealous suspicions. According to a contemporary writer, her character was not the most seemly, and, therefore, the brutal King, her husband, revenged himself on the man he supposed to be her paramour, by having him and two others, thought to be his accomplices, put to death with revolting cruelty, after which he secretly hanged their dead bodies at the foot of her bed, in plight so shocking to behold, that when she unexpectedly discovered them, she swooned, and was sorely sick for more than a week afterwards. History saith not when this tragedy was perpetrated, but Isabella certainly was imprisoned immediately afterwards. Coggeshall mentions that she was confined at Dunster, in 1209; and there is an order in the Patent Rolls, directing Theodoric de Tees "to hasten to Gloucester with our Lady Queen, and keep her in the chamber where our Princess Joanna was born till we otherwise direct." We, therefore, cannot err much in naming 1208 as the year when her incarceration commenced. How long it continued is unknown; but as she inherited the province of Angoumois in 1213, and as her mother, the Countess of Angoulême, to avoid the troubles of Aquitaine, then came to England of her own free will, and resided on terms of amity with John, it is probable that, at that period, Isabella was restored to her husband's affections and her queenly state. This conjecture is further strengthened by the dates of the births of her children by John-two Princes and three Princesses. Henry, afterwards King of England, was born at Winchester, in 1207; Richard entered the world in the following year; the Princess Joanna came into existence, probably in Normandy, in 1203; Isabella first saw the light, in England, about the year 1204; and Eleanora, the youngest daughter, in the year following. Thus, between the birth of Richard and Isabella there is a period of about six years, which, doubtless, was occasioned by the imprisonment of the Queen. CHAPTER II. The King of France having conquered Normandy, Anjou, and Maine, invades Poitou -Count Hugh marries Isabella's daughter, Joanna-He drives the French out of Poitou-John causes Matilda the Fair to be murdered-Signs Magna ChartaHis violent rage-He retires to the Isle of Wight-Emerges from his concealment, and ravages the country-Barons offer the crown to Louis-He lands in England -John is joined by some of the Barons-Loses his regalia and treasure-DiesCause of his death-His burial-place-Progress of the nation during his reignIsabella causes Prince Henry to be crowned King-The French driven from the land-Isabella hated by the nation-She retires to Angoulême-Marries her first lover, Count Hugh-Her dower is withheld from her-She detains the Princess Joanna-Causes a war with France-Sues and obtains pardon from the French King -Attempts the life of King Louis-Retires to Fontevraud-Narrow escape of her husband and son-She dies-Her tomb-Death of her husband-Her children. |