Queen Of Four Kingdoms, The (32 page)

‘Duke Jean – I believe you met René at Angers some years ago; now he is my experienced young chevalier!’ And René bows, rather too effusively.

‘Ah yes, I remember him as a young lad when I brought your daughter home to you from Paris,’ says Jean, looking up appraisingly at her young giant. ‘Welcome, welcome to Brittany – I take it this is your first visit? I pray you will come often hereafter.’

Jean of Brittany is a most civilized host and makes his many guests extremely comfortable. After resting, they descend the great staircase to dinner, led down by the duke to the agreeable sounds of an excellent group of musicians. Meals are a delight in Jean’s company, with sparkling conversation, music and delicious fare. Having exchanged all the usual pleasantries, Yolande gently broaches a number of current issues with her host.

‘You know, my dear Duke Jean, I have noticed in Anjou that the people are not happy at the idea of having foreign rulers. How is it here in Brittany? Is it not the same?’ And the good duke, spearing a particularly juicy piece of meat with his knife, agrees that he has become aware of the same sentiments among his people.

She continues very slowly, toying with her goblet. ‘I would welcome your advice. Correct me, please, if I, as a foreigner born, have misunderstood, but do the French ruling families not have mutual interests, as we do in our Spanish territories of Aragon and Castile?’ And when her host once again agrees, she smiles and begins to speak of something else.

She continues in this way throughout her stay, which lasts a month – a few comments about the commonality of the ruling families and their loyalty to France, and then off on to something quite unrelated but agreeable. Her way of achieving her ends is always understated, but once they leave Nantes, she is able to confide to René:

‘Darling son – thank you for your support while we stayed with that vacillating old duke. I am confident I have sown the seeds of doubt in his mind about his recent re-alliance with England and Burgundy against his own country.’

‘Maman, are you sure? You never once raised the subject of his alliance with the English!’ replies René, confused.

‘You will see, my darling. I sow seeds and wait for the harvest. Crops do not grow overnight, you know.’ And she smiles at him mysteriously.

Sadly for her, René must return to Nancy to help in whatever way he can towards the defence of Lorraine, but she can see she has piqued his curiosity regarding her slow manoeuvring.

Her place now is back in Angers to prepare the defence of Anjou, for the English will surely try to engage them again. They work hard and their efforts are not in vain. One month later, in September, the Angevins win a resounding victory against the English at Gravelle.

But such an excellent outcome is tempered by unexpected and shocking news. Yolande’s port city of Marseilles has been invaded by a flotilla of ships from her homeland! This is devastating for her. The flotilla was led by her cousin Alfonso, now reigning as King Alfonso V in Aragon, and in conflict with her son Louis over the kingdom left to the Anjous, Naples and Sicily. In a vicious attack, he has taken revenge on Louis’ claim by devastating the great port of her son’s sovereign inheritance of Provence.
It is just this kind of situation that my marriage was supposed to have prevented
, thinks Yolande bitterly. Alfonso’s sack of Marseilles on his way home from Naples was his act of revenge for the city’s support of the Anjous. Three thousand houses were burnt, although he did at least give orders to spare the women and children. After four days of pillage, he sailed his fleet away to Aragon. It is a heavy price for the people of Marseilles to pay for their support of the Angevin cause.

In retaliation, Louis is spurred to go on the offensive on the Italian peninsula. Joined by a large number of his men from Provence, determined on revenge, he conquers several of his enemy’s garrisons, even Alfonso’s largest fortress in Naples itself. Some retribution at least, and Louis has written to his mother how encouraged he feels.

It seems the city of Marseilles has become a ghost town and the morale of the citizens badly needs uplifting. Yolande knows how much the physical presence of a member of their family would help. Before he left for Naples, Louis appointed her youngest son, fourteen-year-old Charles d’Anjou, as his viceroy in his absence. Together with Pierre de Beauveau, a loyal and experienced Angevin, to support him, she sends young Charles to reassure the good citizens of Marseilles. Since René cannot leave Lorraine and Louis is in Naples, Charles’ presence will demonstrate how they, as a family, want to show their concern for the catastrophe, and hopefully give the people of Marseilles a measure of comfort. To her great relief, Yolande hears from Jacques Coeur, who is often in Marseilles, what a help her son’s presence has been to the unfortunate citizens. Without their support, Louis cannot hope to regain and hold his kingdom of Naples and Sicily.

T
hroughout 1423, Charles VII is defeated in a number of conflicts, the most important being the Battle of Cravant, where, to the sorrow of the French, his formerly victorious Scots troops refused to yield to the superior Burgundian forces, and were cut to pieces. The following year, Charles is saddened by the death of James, Earl of Buchan, another excellent Scottish military leader, who fought so well for him that he had appointed him Constable of France. At this critical time, however, fortune chooses to smile on the French; England’s powerful and effective regent, the Duke of Bedford, is obliged to return home to deal with problems of his own, and his absence brings a welcome respite from endless battles.

Fighting keeps soldiers and courtiers occupied, but with Bedford gone and peace restored, Yolande begins to exchange urgent letters with Marie about finding ways for her to occupy Charles in some worthwhile kingly pursuits. Since her daughter is continually pregnant and unable to move with the court, Yolande knows how hard it is for Marie to have much influence on Charles. After the birth of her son, the Dauphin Louis, poor Marie has miscarried four times. It is a great disappointment for her not to fill her nursery with companions for the boy.

Without a war to engage him, and despite the good men his
bonne mère
has placed at his court in Bourges, Charles has once again dissolved into his former state of lethargy and self-indulgence. As she witnesses this change in him, Yolande’s worst fear is that he will develop his father’s madness.

The following year, Philippe of Burgundy signs a truce of four years with Charles VII. This is not a peace treaty, nor has he withdrawn his demand for the murderers of his father at Montereau to be punished. The truce is there to enable Philippe’s forces and the population of the rest of the country, to take advantage of the absence of the English to recover. Without the English or the Burgundians breathing heavily down their necks, surely the French can prosper? Unfortunately, Yolande’s son-in-law is still influenced by the Armagnacs at court and therefore avoids a complete reconciliation with Burgundy.

How can Charles rule a kingdom so divided?

After much thought, Yolande conceives a strategy. Her first step is to persuade the Duke of Brittany to break his agreement with England; she has sown the seeds for that during her month long sejour at Nantes with René. But she also knows that the strongest unifying force within the French upper classes is a blood alliance. To further persuade Jean of Brittany to return to supporting his king and country, her plan is to betroth her eldest son and heir Louis to the daughter of this vacillating duke. Such an alliance would benefit both families and also neutralize the danger from Burgundy, at least on one side of Yolande’s land of Anjou. Louis and his mother correspond; he recognizes the advantages of this marriage for his Anjou inheritance, and from Naples he agrees. Hopefully Brittany will feel the same.

Yolande’s next step is to persuade the king to meet with Brittany’s brother, Arthur of Richemont, at Angers the following October. If they could meet on agreeable, neutral ground, conversing in a purely social setting, who knows what might come of it? Richemont was a member of the court prior to his banishment through the machinations of La Trémoille, but he had not been admitted within the king’s immediate circle, and they never had occasion or opportunity to converse.

Like his brother, Richemont has served the Anglo-Burgundian cause for some time, and Yolande wonders if she will be able to turn him back to wholly supporting his king. Richemont’s title and estates are English; his mother’s second husband was King Henry IV of England, making her the stepmother of Henry V! Richemont himself was brought up at the court of Burgundy by his uncle, Duke Philippe-le-Hardi, and he is married to the sister of the Duke of Burgundy. His Burgundian ties are strong, and it will be difficult to extract him from his allegiance.
Difficult, but not impossible,
thinks the Queen of Sicily.

During the battle of Agincourt, Richemont was seriously wounded, his face badly smashed. He was captured, taken to England and imprisoned. There his injuries healed but he was left horribly disfigured with dreadful scars, in particular to his face. He was allowed to see his mother occasionally, but despite her position, he was held in the Tower of London for five years. In 1420, Henry V gave him permission to serve in the English army on condition that he would return to prison should the king demand it. Putting himself at the head of a troupe of his brother’s Bretons, he offered his services to Henry V in France.

With the death of the English king, Richemont considered himself no longer bound by his promise made, after all, personally to Henry V and not to England. However, when he married Philippe of Burgundy’s sister, his position was firmly established with the Burgundians. Yes, Arthur of Richemont will be difficult to extract from that allegiance.
But not impossible
, thinks the Queen of Sicily.

She decides to invite Arthur of Richemont with a group of agreeable friends to stay at Angers, and to ask the king to join them as well. If Charles were to get to know Richemont, he would see his qualities and realize how useful he could be. When he was at court during the time of La Trémoille, Yolande heard that Charles would not agree to meet Arthur due to his horror of any physical disfigurement. Therefore banishing him from court for Trémoille’s lie was easily done.

When there is important work to be done, or a great challenge to be met in the interests of France, the Queen of Sicily’s mind never ceases examining every potential opportunity. The death of the Scottish Earl of Buchan has left vacant the post of Constable of France. As the most prestigious appointment in the land, it gives its holder power and authority second only to that of the monarch. René agrees with his mother that if Arthur of Richemont was appointed constable, it would suit all their purposes. Since the councillors of both the English and the Burgundian parties will only transact business with their peers, and never with a commoner, as an aristocrat Richemont possesses another asset. He would be ideal for the post – were he not firmly entrenched within the Burgundy camp.

‘Maman, I agree that his
qualifications
for the post are ideal’, says René, come from Nancy to join his mother at court, ‘since he can influence both his ducal brother of Brittany, and his ducal brother-in-law of Burgundy, but how can we move him to
our cause
with such strong Burgundian links?’

Doesn’t René know me yet?

‘Have faith,’ she tells him, with her most mysterious smile, ‘and remember: if you cannot achieve your ends by force of arms or diplomacy, you must work on the
pride
of men.’

Thanks to her vigilant agents, Yolande is aware that Arthur of Richemont’s vanity has recently suffered a crushing blow. It seems this French earl, stepson of an English queen, loyally attached to England’s ally Burgundy, has been sidelined by the English regent. On his return to Paris, and for no known reason, the Duke of Bedford has recently refused Richemont quite a minor command he requested.

‘Pride,’ she tells René, ‘is one of the great motivators of men. And Richemont’s has been badly bruised by Bedford’s petty rejection. The Duke of Brittany’s forces are top heavy with capable and experienced captains, therefore he has little chance of a great position in his brother’s army. But, with my help and yours – if you will join me at Angers – Richemont could achieve the most prestigious, senior military and court position in France! That would more than make up for his humiliation by Bedford.’

An invitation is issued to Arthur of Richemont from the Queen of Sicily to join her guests for a pleasant stay of some days at her chateau of Angers in Anjou during October.

Since Charles has never refused her anything, he agrees to join them. But before Richemont will enter the lion’s den, the capital of the Angevin domains, he demands some serious guarantees. Jean de Dunois and Guillaume d’Albret, the king’s two most senior captains, are to become hostages in Richemont’s stead, and the king’s own surety for Arthur’s safety is to place in bond four of his most strategic castles. Memories of Montereau have not faded.

‘Come my son; Charles will lodge in the abbey and we will line the way there with obsequious citizens – you must show them how to bow low.’ And she has to do her best not to laugh as René shows them. ‘Not so low,’ she hisses, ‘or they will fall over’. . . . ‘Rest assured, Maman’, says René, ‘while he is waiting with us for the king’s arrival at Angers, Richemont
will
be impressed – and I am longing to see Charles’s face!’

As he rides up the path, Yolande and René can see Charles’s curious look at the rows of bowing Angevins lining the road as he makes his royal entry – and his quizzical look at his
bonne mère
as he rides on up to the castle entrance. Yolande has to bite her lip before she makes her deep reverence and gives him her sweetest smile of welcome.

The next day, when Richemont calls on the king, Yolande and René are present. Charles, carefully schooled by his
bonne mère
, appears both affable and royal. René whispers in his mother’s ear: