Margaretof Anjou

Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, daughter of Rene of Anjou, titular king of Naples and Jerusalem, was born in a town in Lorraine in 1429. In 1445 she was married to Henry VI. of England; Anjou and Maine were to be ceded to Rene\ Margaret, supported by Suffolk and Somerset, came into violent conflict, first with the Duke of Gloucester, and afterwards with Richard, Duke of York. After the death of Somerset at St. Albans she became herself the strongest force on the Lancastrian side, and in 1460 she succeeded in defeating York at Wakefield and the Earl of Warwick at the second battle of St. Albans. The defeat of Towton, however, obliged her to flee to Scotland and. after the disasters which succeeded it, she retired to Lorraine for six years. In 1470 it was agreed that Warwick's daughter should marry her son, but Barnet and Tewkesbury destroyed their hopes. Margaret was ransomed from prison by the French king, and died in France in 1482.