Читать книгу The Queens of England - Strickland Agnes - Страница 19

Eleanor of Provence was married when she was only fourteen years old, and became the most unpopular queen that ever reigned over the English court. She was so beautiful as to be called La Belle, but her judgment was too immature tor her to stand all the adulation she received without being spoiled by it.

Before she entered her teens, Eleanor had written a poem in the Provençal dialect, which is remembered in her native country to this day. Born in that land of poetry and song, of parents who were both popular poets among the troubadors, young Eleanor's talent was fostered and encouraged by the very air she breathed.

It was this talent that was the means of placing her on the throne, for she wrote a romance in verse, selecting Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who was then preparing a crusade, for her hero. Romeo, her tutor, and one of the greatest Italian poets of his day, was so proud of his pupil, that he carried the composition to Richard, who was immensely flattered by it. But he could not, in return for the compliment, offer his hand and heart to La Belle Eleanor because he was already provided with one wife; therefore he did the next best thing—recommended her to his brother, Henry III.

So delighted was this king with the accounts he received of the beauty and genius of the maid of Provence, that he put 'a stop to the treaty under way for the hand of Joanna, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke, and forthwith despatched ambassadors to the court of Count Berenger to demand his daughter Eleanor in marriage. With the covetousness for which he was noted, he added a dower of twenty thousand marks to his demand.

The court objected to so large a sum. Henry lowered it, but even then the father would not agree, and so much bargaining was the result that the high-spirited court was on the point of putting an end to the affair altogether, when a peremptory order came from the king to conclude the marriage at once, with or without money. Then the contract was signed and the maiden was delivered with due solemnity to the ambassadors.

When she commenced her journey to England, the royal bride was attended by a train of knights, ladies and minstrels who accompanied her to the French frontier. There she was met by her eldest sister, the wife of King Louis, and after receiving the congratulations of her relatives, she embarked for Dover and landed there January 4, 1236.

A.D. 1236. She was married at Canterbury, where King Henry had received her with a splendid train of followers, and after the ceremony the royal couple proceeded to London, where preparations on a very grand scale had been made for the reception and coronation of the new queen.

Her apartments at Westminster Palace had been newly decorated and furnished by order of the king, and all the streets of London had been thoroughly cleansed.

The 20th of January was appointed for the coronation, and on the previous Saturday, Henry laid the first stone of the Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey.

The streets through which the procession passed were

hung with flags, banners and garlands of flowers, and the houses were gaily decorated. Three hundred and sixty equestrians, preceded by the king's trumpeters, who sounded as they moved along, accompanied the royal pair from the tower. These were loyal citizens, who, mounted on richly caparisoned horses and clad in bright, embroidered satin and velvet garments, each carried in his hand a gold or silver cup to be used at the banquet. They were called cellarers, and it was their duty to hand wine to the royal butler, who passed it to the sovereigns. After the banquet, the butler always claimed the cup out of which the king had drank, the curtain that hung behind the royal table became the property of the doorkeepers, other perquisites being divided among the cooks and scullions. King Henry was very charitable and did not forget the poor, among whom a liberal supply of money was distributed by his orders.

At this coronation were worn the most splendid garments ever seen in England. They were made of the costliest satin and velvet, richly, embroidered in gold and silver, and the ladies wore head-dresses composed of rare and precious gems. The queen's crown was worth £1500, and her girdle was studded with jewels of great value.

The king, who had a taste for finery not often seen in men, wore a garment of gold tissue that glittered with every motion.

The expenses of Eleanor's coronation were so enormous that the king had to petition the Lords for money. They refused, saying, "that they had amply supplied funds both for his marriage and that of his sister Isabella, who had just been united to the Emperor of Germany; and as he had wasted the money he might defray the expenses of his wedding as best he could."

Great dissatisfaction was felt in England on account of the number of foreigners who had accompanied Queen Eleanor. Among these was her uncle, Peter of Savoy, who by the end of a year had gained such complete control over Henry that all the affairs of the kingdom were submitted to him.

Throughout his reign, Henry III. too frequently made demands on the purses of his subjects, to supply his unbounded extravagance, and Queen Eleanor was no check to him in this respect. Their tastes were similar, and Henry had in his wife a congenial companion, interested, as he was, in literature and art. Her influence over him was unbounded, and he was never known to refuse any demand she made, no matter how unreasonable it was.

Their first child was born at Westminster in 1239, and received the name of Edward, in honor of Edward the Confessor.

An attempt was made on the king's life one night by a crazy man named Ribald, who concealed himself in the palace during the day and stole into the king's bed-chamber at midnight. Fortunately Henry spent the night in another apartment, otherwise the score of stabs that the madman inflicted on the bolster would certainly have put an end to his majesty. The shrieks of one of the queen's maids of honor, who heard the would-be murderer shouting horrible threats with each thrust of his dagger, aroused the household, and the wretch was taken into custody.

A.D. 1241. In 1241, a year after the birth of her daughter Margaret, Queen Eleanor accompanied her husband to France, on an expedition against their brother-in-law, King Louis. After a series of defeats, they took refuge in Bordeaux, where many of Henry's knights and nobles forsook him and returned to England. He revenged himself by imposing upon them heavy fines—his favorite mode of punishment

Henry and Eleanor spent a merry winter at Bordeaux, amusing themselves with feasts and pageants that they could ill afford, and on their return to England, in 1243, Henry issued an order compelling the principal inhabitants of every town on the route to appear on horseback to give them welcome.

A.D. 1243. The marriage of the queen's youngest sister, to the king's brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who had become a widower, was solemnized in England the following autumn. On that occasion Henry called upon his Jewish subjects to furnish funds for the sumptuous festivities that he saw fit to give, and he spared no expense, for the wedding-dinner alone consisted of thirty thousand dishes.

But he remembered the poor as usual, and ordered all the children from the streets and highways of Windsor and its neighborhood to be collected together and feasted in the great hall of the palace, after which the royal children—of whom there were then three—were weighed, and silver coin placed in the balance was distributed among the destitute individuals present.

The following year the threatened war between England and Scotland was averted by a contract of marriage between the infant Princess Margaret of England and the heir of Scotland.

England was in such a dreadful state of misrule at this time that no traveller was safe from plunder; and in some counties no jury dared to punish the plunderer. Henry himself sat on the bench of justice and tried many cases. Once he summoned Lord Clifford for some offence, but the gentleman not only refused to answer, but forced the king's officers to eat the royal warrant, seal and all. He was severely punished.

One great cause of Eleanor's unpopularity was the means she employed for extorting money from her subjects. She compelled vessels carrying valuable cargoes to unload at her quay, no matter how inconvenient it might be, in order that she might receive the toll. When the royal funds were almost exhausted, the king and queen, with their son, Prince Edward, daily invited themselves to dine with the different rich men of London in turn, to save the expense of keeping up a table of their own. They added to this economical mode of living by insisting on costly presents from their entertainers as a proof of loyalty.

A.D. 1251. The year 1251 closed with the marriage of the Princess Margaret and Alexander III. of Scotland, whose engagement had been signed seven years before. As the bride was just ten years of age, and the groom twelve, they probably had not much choice in this matter.

On the morning preceding the ceremony, the youthful groom was knighted at York Cathedral. The wedding feast was served by the archbishop at a cost of four thousand marks; and he supplied six hundred oxen, that were all consumed at one meal. The costumes worn by the nobility were, as when Eleanor, her mother, was married, of the most extravagant material, scolloped, embroidered and ornamented with costly jewels. The queen and her ladies wore robes that trailed on the ground, but, as they were the same length all around, they had to be held up to enable the wearers to walk. The height at which they were raised depended upon the beauty or ugliness of the feet and ankles, no doubt. During this reign the hair was gathered under a network of gold, over which was usually thrown a gauze veil. Unmarried ladies wore ringlets, or long braids hanging down the back and fastened with ribbons. A head-dress made in the shape of a knight's helmet, with an aperture for the face to peep through, was

worn by ladies, old and young, in the street, and must have been very becoming.

After Margaret's marriage, the king became even more extortionate in his demands for money than ever, and thus made a host of enemies. He applied for funds for a crusade, but was refused, and shortly after he was called upon to quell an insurrection at Guienne. This was the result of the recall of the Earl of Leicester, who had been governor there.

The earl had been replaced by Prince Edward, who was only fourteen, and therefore incapable of managing public affairs. Before his departure, King Henry appointed Eleanor regent of England, but requested her to advise with his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, on matters of importance. He sailed from Portsmouth August 6, and arrived at Bordeaux on the 15th of the same month.

Queen Eleanor's first act, on finding herself in power, was to tax the London citizens more heavily than her husband had ever done, and those who refused her unjust claims were sent to the Marshalsea Prison. This conduct aroused universal indignation, and the following year, when parliament was summoned for the purpose of demanding aid to carry on the war in Gascony, they peremptorily declined to give it.

Every other means having failed, Henry instructed his brother to extort money from the Jews, and no sooner did he get it than he sent for Eleanor to help him to squander it on the nuptials of Princess Eleanor of Castile with their eldest son, Prince Edward. Queen Eleanor willingly resigned the cares of government to the Earl of Cornwall, and with his wife, Prince Edmund, her second son, and a retinue of knights and ladies, sailed for Bordeaux, where she was warmly welcomed by her husband.

A.D. 1255. After Prince Edward's marriage, his parents went to pass a fortnight at the court of King Louis. The day after their arrival, King Henry distributed so much money among the poor of Paris and gave such a grand entertainment to the crowned heads assembled to meet him, that it was called the Feast of Kings.

On their return home, which occurred January 27, 1255, the king and queen made a public entry into the city of London, and received a present of a hundred pounds and a valuable piece of plate from the citizens.

Shortly after, the royal couple were made extremely anxious by a report that the young king and queen of Scots were deprived of their rights and kept in close confinement by the regents, Sir John Baliol and Comyns. The queen's physician was immediately despatched to Scotland to ascertain the facts. He managed to obtain a secret interview with Margaret, who gave a lamentable account of her treatment. She said, "that she had been rudely torn from her husband and shut up in a dismal place, the dampness of which had seriously injured her health, and, so far from having any share in the government, she and he were treated with disrespect and were in danger of their lives."

Queen Eleanor was so distressed at the condition of her child, that she accompanied the king on a northern campaign, constantly urging him to do something to aid her. The Earl of Gloucester was sent to Scotland for that purpose, and with John Mansel gained admittance to Edinburgh castle, by disguising themselves in the dress of Baliol's tenants. Then, secretly admitting their followers, they surprised the garrison, restored the young king and queen to each other's society and carried their cruel jailers, Baliol and Ross, before King Henry at Alnwick. Throwing themselves at the feet of the sovereign, the traitors implored for mercy and were forgiven, but as Baliol

was Henry's own subject he had to pay a heavy fine, which his majesty pocketed for his own private wants.

Queen Eleanor was lying ill at Wark Castle, and requested her daughter Margaret, with the young king of Scotland, to join her without delay. They obeyed, and as soon as the royal mother was convalescent, accompanied her to Woodstock, where King Henry joined them. The court was kept with extraordinary splendor at that beautiful palace, which contained three kings and three queens, with their retinues, during the winter of 1255, for besides the English and the Scottish royal couples, there was Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who had been elected King of the Romans, and his second wife, Queen Eleanor's sister.

They all made a public entry into London in February, wearing their crowns and royal robes, and the entire populace assembled to witness the splendid procession. After the departure of the royal visitors, there was a season of misery and gloom caused by a dreadful famine, and by the drain that had been made on the public treasury by the King and Queen of the Romans, who, on departing for Aix-la-Chapelle, where they were to be crowned, carried with them seven hundred thousand pounds sterling. Added to this were the battles of the barons, to whom both Henry and Eleanor had made themselves obnoxious by frequent acts of selfishness and injustice, and finally the shameful attack upon the Jews, whose wealth had excited the envy of the nation.

The mob was led on by the Marshal of London and John Fitz-John, a powerful baron, killing and plundering without mercy, men, women and children of that noble race, and driving hundreds from their beds into the street half clad as they were. The next morning they began again with such demoniacal yells that the queen, who was at the Tower, was so terrified that she got into her barge with several of her ladies, intending to escape to Windsor Castle. But as soon as the populace observed the royal barge, they made a rush for the bridge, crying: "Drown the witch!—drown the witch!" at the same pelting the queen with mud and trying to sink the vessel by hurling down huge blocks of wood and stone that they tore from the unfinished bridge. There was nothing for Eleanor to do but to hasten back to the Tower, where she remained until nightfall, then sought shelter in the Bishop of London's palace at St. Paul's, whence she was privately removed to Windsor Castle, where Prince Edward was garrisoned with his troops.

A.D. 1264. While the civil war continued King Henry took the queen and her children to France, where she remained under the care of King Louis and her sister Margaret.

At the battle of Lewes, the king and Prince Edward were captured and locked up in the Castle of Wallingford. As soon as Eleanor heard their sad fate she sent word to Sir Warren de Basingbourne, her son's favorite knight, that Wallingford was feebly guarded and could not resist an attack. Sir Warren lost no time in crossing the country with three hundred horsemen, and laid siege to the castle, which, contrary to his expectation, was warmly defended. At last the besiegers called out to Sir Warren that "if they wanted Prince Edward, they should have him bound hand and foot, and shot from the mangonel"—a war engine used for throwing stones. On hearing this, the prince begged leave to speak with his friends, and appearing on the wall "assured them that if they persevered in the siege, he should be destroyed." Thereupon Sir Warren and his chevaliers withdrew.

The royal prisoners were afterwards removed to Kenilworth Castle, and Lady Maud Mortimer, who was warmly attached to the queen, helped Prince Edward to escape. Having sent him the necessary instructions, she had a swift horse concealed in a thicket on a certain day when it was planned that he was to ride races with his attendants. When all the horses were tired out, he approached the spot where Lady Maud's fresh one awaited him, and after mounting, he turned to his guard and said: "Commend me to my sire, the king, and tell him I shall soon be at liberty." He then galloped off to a hill, about a mile distant, where a band of armed knights awaited him.

Although the queen was living in France at this time, she made several secret visits to England, to ascertain the true state of affairs there. After her husband's dreadful defeat at Lewes, she pawned all her jewels, and, with the money thus raised, collected a powerful army that might have subdued the whole kingdom if they had ever reached it. But the Almighty mercifully ordained otherwise, and before Queen Eleanor, with her foreign troops, set sail, the battle of Evesham was fought and won by Prince Edward.

A.D. 1265. At this battle King Henry was wounded in the shoulder and would have been cut down by one of his own soldiers, who mistook him for an enemy, had he not cried out in a feeble voice: "Slay me not, I am Henry of Winchester, your king."

An officer who happened to be within hearing, conducted him to Prince Edward, and thus the royal father and son met once more. After tenderly embracing his sire, the prince knelt to receive his blessing.

A succession of victories for Edward soon put an end to the barons' wars and reinstated the royal family of England. It is much to the credit of King Henry, that after he was restored to power, not one of his enemies was brought to the scaffold. But he punished them with such heavy fines that many of the rebel barons were reduced to penury.

A.D. 1269. Henry III. lived to witness the completion of St. Edward's chapel at Westminster, which he had begun fifty years before. On St. Edward's day, October 13, 1269, assisted by his two sons and his brother, the King of the Romans, he bore the bier of Edward the Confessor to the chapel and deposited it in the new receptacle. This ceremony was witnessed by the whole court, and Queen Eleanor offered at the shrine a silver image of the Virgin, besides jewels of great value. King Henry reserved the old coffin of the saint for his own use, and was placed in it just three years later, having expired on the 16th of November, 1272.

He was buried at Westminster Abbey, near the shrine of Edward the Confessor. His funeral was conducted with great magnificence by the Knights Templars-military monks who, in the middle ages, acted as bankers and money-brokers to all Europe—and they raised a fine monument to his memory, which was afterwards inlaid with precious stones brought from the Holy Land for that purpose, by Edward I., King Henry's heir.

Queen Margaret, of Scotland, followed her royal father to the grave within the year, and then, bowed down with suffering and sorrow, Queen Eleanor retired to Ambresbury, where four years later she entered the convent and took the veil.

A.D. 1291. She survived her husband nineteen years, and when she died her body was embalmed and placed in a vault until King Edward, her son, returned from his campaign in Scotland. Then he summoned all his barons and clergy to Ambresbury, where the funeral rites were duly performed and his mother's body was buried. Her heart was conveyed to London and interred in a church.