"To promote a woman to bear rule, superiority, dominion, or empire above any realm, nation or city is repugnant to nature, contumely to God, a thing most contarious to his revealed will and approved ordinance, and finally it is the subversion of good order, of all equality and justice."
Queen Margaret of Anjou(1430-1482), wife of King Henry VI of England(1421-1471)has been reveled for centuries. She was nicknamed "she-wolf of France" by Shakespeare and depicted as a ruthless, murderous, cold-hearted monster. However, this may not be an accurate representation of Margaret. She was a powerful woman; born into a life of violence, instability, and loss which shaped her personality into that of a queen who was as formidable as Elizabeth I.
Born March 23, 1430, Margaret of Anjou (Margaret d'Anjou in French)at Pont-à-Mousson, France to Rene of Anjou and Isabella, Duchess of Loreine. Margaret had been born into a great noble family, not only was she the daughter of a duke and niece of King Charles VII of France, she was also a descent of two queens of England: Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror and Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II. Yet while Margaret grew up in a cultured court setting, the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), a conflict over the French throne between main belligerents of France and England was raging. The constant threat of danger would have a greater affect on a young Margaret more than anyone could have imagined.
As child, Margaret was raised primarily by her mother and grandmother; her father had been taken hostage in Dijon, Burgundy when she was only a few years old. With her mother in charge of her education, Margaret was able to study with the same tutors who taught her brothers until the age of fift...
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... Louis XI to bury her in Angers Cathedral at Chateau Dampiere between her mother and father. Margaret of Anjou died August 25, 1482 at the age of fifty-two years old, Louis did follow her final request and her remains are still there today.
Works Cited
Gregory, Philippa. The Kingmaker's Daughter. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2012.
Kendall, Paul Murray. Richard the Third. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2002.
Castor, Helen. She-Wolves: The Women who Ruled England before Elizabeth. N.p.: Harper Collins Publishers, 2011.
"Henry VI." English Monarchs. Accessed April 15, 2014. http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet_11.htm.
Henry VI Part 3. Written by William Shakespeare.
Blakman, John. Henry the Sixth. London: Cambridge University Press, 1919. Accessed April 15, 2014.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29689/29689-h/29689-h.htm.
“For men are forbidden to take notice of women, and women are forbidden to take notice of men. But we think of one among women, they whose name is Liberty 5-3000, and we think of no others.” (p.14)
Kanner, Barbara, ed. The Women of England: From Anglo Saxon Times to the Present. Hamden: The Shoe String Press, 1979.
Joan of Arc (Jehanne Darc) was born January 6th, 1412 in a little village of Domremy, France. She grew up as a faithful Catholic and a sweet, respectful maiden girl. According to a prediction, a young maiden girl would save France and sure enough Joan would be that girl. Starting at age twelve, she began having visions of different Angels and hearing voices from the Saints and God himself. And with these orders, she made a sacred promise to always stay a virgin and disobeyed her father even though he warn her not to be influence by this craziness. By the time she was nineteen, she was up on trial for claims of witchcraft even though she saved France. Throughout her adventures, she inspired others and showed she was no different even though she was a girl.
Joan lived during a turbulent time in French history. The French and English states had been at war since 1337 over disputed territories in France and who could inherit the French throne. The English claimed that their king could inherit the French throne through shared royal bloodlines and also inherit vast territories in present-day southwestern France. By the time of Joan’s birth, the English had secured almost all of France and were poised to capture the French crown. The French heir to the throne, the Dauphin, was forced into hiding and Paris was under English control. It was under these dire circumstances that Joan emerged.
Joan of Arc was born in 1412 in Domremy, France. Her family consisted of peasants, including her mother, Isabelle Romee, father, Jacques d'Arc, one of the leaders of the village for collecting taxes and being the head of the town’s watch, her sister, Catherine, and three other brothers. The family lived in a small farmhouse near the village’s church, where Joan would tend the animals. Throughout her childhood to death, Joan lived through the Hundred Year War, a civil war between the French Royalists and the Anglo-Burgundians allied with the English as the war was simply a feud for the French throne as the rightful French king and the
Elizabeth the first, born on September 7, 1533, is the most different and intriguing monarch in the English history (Dunn). Elizabeth is known as the Virgin Queen all of her reign. She used that image to keep out of marriage, prevent war and become one of the most beloved monarchs of the people. This image helped her also fend off Mary Queen of Scots claim to the throne. Between her vivacious and often volatile personality she led her kingdom well up until the day she died on March 24, 1603 (Alchin). The kingdom went into genuine morning for their queen of The People who had made herself loved by all of her subjects.
The accomplishments Joan achieved affected life in the Renaissance and even life today. Her success and dedication brought new hope to war-weary people, and drove the English out of France (Pegues par 1). Because of Joan, Charles VII reached his rightful place at throne and stayed there even 30 years after Joan’s Death (Gascoigne par 2). During her lifetime many people thought she used sorcery to convince people, but when she died people realized that indeed, she was divinely led (Gale Free Resources par 18). Joan’s legend of dedication and belief will always be in the world’s heart.
Joan of Arc lived for a very short time, but was involved in so much of the middle ages of Europe. She motivated the French army, when at their lowest to aggressively attack the English with spiritual words and actions. She was captured and tried for a false crime by a corrupt jurisdiction and put to death. Following she would be burned alive and forever remembered as a Patron Saint of the Roman Catholic Church. She is and has been an inspiration to both men and women for almost 600 years and stories will be told about her for another 600 more.
Gender was the leading cause of distress in the 1500’s: King Henry VIII wanted nothing more than to have a son, yet was “cursed” with the legacy of a sickly son, whom died before the age of 18 and two daughters, one of whom broke every convention of her gender. Queen Elizabeth I never married nor had children, yet can be considered one of England’s most successful monarchs. By choosing King James VI of Scotland as her heir, unbeknownst to her, she created the line that leads to the modern Queen of England, Elizabeth II. The question posed is then, how did Elizabeth I’s gender affect her rule?
Joan of Arc was born at Domremy in Champagne most likely on January 6, 1412. Jacques d’Arc was Joan’s father and he was a poor peasant farmer. Joan was the youngest of a family of five, and was rather uneducated. She, however, was skilled in sewing and spinning. Joan’s family was also very religious and when she was about thirteen and a half; she became aware of her manifestations, which came to her in forms of voices. She recognized these voices later as St. Michael, St. Catherine. St. Margaret, and others. However, Joan was ever so reluctant to speak of her voices to anyone. She gradually learned that she was chosen by God to unite France and to give aid to Dauphin Charles, who she believed was to be King of France. She waited until she was about sixteen to act upon her voices because she had been too scared and meek at age fourteen...
Joan of Arc was born in the village of Domremy in 1412. Like many girls her age she was taught like many other young girls her age not how to read or write but to sew and spin. but unlike some girls her father was a peasant farmer. At a inferior age of thirteen she had experienced a vision known as a flash of light while hearing an unearthly voice that had enjoined her to be diligent in her religious duties and be modest. soon after at the age fifteen she imagined yet another unearthly voice that told her to go and fight for the Dauphin. She believed the voices she heard were the voices of St. Catherine and St. Margaret and many other people another being St. Michael. She believed they also told her to wear mens attire, cut her hair and pick up her arms. When she first told her confessor she did not believe her. When she tried telling the judges she explained to them how the voices told her it was her divine mission help the dauphin and rescue her country from the English from the darkest periods during the Hundred Years’ War and gain the French Throne. She is till this day one of the most heroic legends in womens history.
Joan was taken captive by Burgundians. The Burgundians later exchanged Joan with the English for 10,000 francs. Joan was placed in a court of law and was charged with 70 charges against her. Witchcraft, heresy, and dressing like a man are just a few (Joan of Arc). The court case was originally a public case, but later turned private. In addition, she was placed in a military prison and was threatened to be raped and tortured. Following this, she denied divine guidance but was still sentenced to be put to death. After being interrogated at court over ten times, Joan was burned at stake at the age nineteen in the middle of town before a crowd of 10,000 (Joan of Arc
There was a prophesy that France would be ruined by a woman and restored by a virgin from the borders of Lorraine (Portraits of a Saint). Joan of Arc was born in 1492 in the small town called Domremy, a village east of France as a peasant. She helped feed animals and take care of their farm. At this time the long hundred year war between the French and English were raging, her father often told her of the poor condition of France, and that the English had almost all of the land under control. The country of France was divided, with the Bergundian Territory aligning themselves with the English. Joan constantly thought about and pitied her poor country, she was a Christian so she probably prayed; she was not taught to read and write but her mother instilled in her a deep love of her faith in the Catholic religion.
Margaret of Valois in Queen Margot undergoes a transformation from a seductress to a virtuous woman as a...
She was one of the most important people in England. Elizabeth was well liked and respected by her subjects. The young queen was wise beyond her years and knew how to compromise with her people. She referred to herself as “Supreme Governor” over spiritual matter rather than “Supreme Head” of the church. This minor change between Elizabeth I and Henry VIII made a huge difference in how her subjects saw her. She worked hard to unify her country and did exactly what she set out to do.