The Tales of the Heptameron, Vol. I | Page 4

in study with her preceptors and in the devotional exercises which
then had so large a place in the training of princesses. Still she was by
no means indifferent to the pastimes in which her brother and his
companions engaged. Gaston de Foix, the nephew of the King, William
Gouffier, who became Admiral de Bonnivet, Philip Brion, Sieur de
Chabot, Fleurange, "the young adventurer," Charles de Bourbon, Count
of Montpensier, and Anne de Montmorency--two future Constables of
France--surrounded the heir to the throne, with whom they practised

tennis, archery, and jousting, or played at soldiers pending the time
when they were to wage war in earnest. (1)
Margaret was a frequent spectator of these pastimes, and took a keen
interest in her brother's efforts whenever he was assailing or defending
some miniature fortress or tilting at the ring. It would appear also that
she was wont to play at chess with him; for we have it on high
authority that it is she and her brother who are represented, thus
engaged, in a curious miniature preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale
in Paris. (2) In this design--executed by an unknown artist--only the
back of Francis is to be seen, but a full view of Margaret is supplied;
the personage standing behind her being Artus Gouffier, her own and
her brother's governor.
1 Fleurange's Histoire des Choses mémorables advenues du Reigne de
Louis XII. et François I.
2 Paulin Paris's Manuscrits françois de la Bibliothèque du Roi, &c.,
Paris, 1836, vol. i. pp. 279-281. The miniature in question is contained
in MS. No. 6808: Commentaire sur le Livre des Échecs amoureux et
Archiloge Sophie.
Whatever time Margaret may have devoted to diversion, she was
certainly a very studious child, for at fifteen years of age she already
had the reputation of being highly accomplished. Shortly after her
sixteenth birthday a great change took place in her life. On August 3rd,
1508, Louise of Savoy records in her journal that Francis "this day
quitted Amboise to become a courtier, and left me all alone." Margaret
accompanied her brother upon his entry into the world, the young
couple repairing to Blois, where Louis XII. had fixed his residence.
There had previously been some unsuccessful negotiations in view of
marrying Margaret to Prince Henry of England (Henry VIII.), and at
this period another husband was suggested in the person of Charles of
Austria, Count of Flanders, and subsequently Emperor Charles V.
Louis XII., however, had other views as regards the daughter of the
Count of Angoulême, for he knew that if he himself died without male
issue the throne would pass to Margaret's brother. Hence he decided to
marry her to a prince of the royal house, Charles, Duke of Alençon.

This prince, born at Alençon on September 2nd, 1489, had been
brought up at the Château of Mauves, in Le Perche, by his mother, the
pious and charitable Margaret of Lorraine, who on losing her husband
had resolved, like Louise of Savoy, to devote herself to the education of
her children. (1)
1 Hilarion de Coste's Vies et Éloges des Dames illustres, vol. ii. p. 260.
It had originally been intended that her son Charles should marry Susan,
daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Bourbon--the celebrated Peter
and Anne de Beaujeu--but this match fell through owing to the death of
Peter and the opposition of Anne, who preferred the young Count of
Montpensier (afterwards Constable de Bourbon) as a son-in-law. A yet
higher alliance then presented itself for Charles: it was proposed that he
should marry Anne of Brittany, the widow of King Charles VIII., but
she was many years his senior, and, moreover, to prevent the separation
of Brittany from France, it had been stipulated that she should marry
either her first husband's successor (Louis XII.) or the heir-presumptive
to the throne. Either course seemed impracticable, as the heir, Francis
of Angoulême, was but a child, while the new King was already
married to Jane, a daughter of Louis XI. Brittany seemed lost to France,
when Louis XII., by promising the duchy of Valentinois to Cæsar
Borgia, prevailed upon Pope Alexander VI. to divorce him from his
wife. He then married Anne of Brittany, while Charles of Alençon
proceeded to perfect his knightly education, pending other matrimonial
arrangements.
In 1507, when in his eighteenth year, he accompanied the army which
the King led against the Genoese, and conducted himself bravely;
displaying such courage, indeed, at the battle of Agnadel, gained over
the Venetians--who were assailed after the submission of Genoa--that
Louis XII. bestowed upon him the Order of St. Michael. It was during
this Italian expedition that his mother negotiated his marriage with
Margaret of Angoulême. The alliance was openly countenanced by
Louis XII., and the young Duke of Valois--as Francis of Angoulême
was