Margaret of Anjou

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Margaret of Anjou (French: Marguerite; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Through marriage, she was also nominally Queen of France from 1445 to 1453. Born in the Duchy of Lorraine into the House of Valois-Anjou, Margaret was the second eldest daughter of René of Anjou, King of Naples, and Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine. Margaret was one of the principal figures in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses and at times personally led the Lancastrian faction. Some of her contemporaries, such as John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, praised "her valiant courage and undaunted spirit", and the 16th-century historian Edward Hall described her personality in these terms: "This woman excelled all other, as well in beauty and favour, as in wit and policy, and was of stomach and courage, more like to a man, than a woman". Owing to her husband's frequent bouts of insanity, Margaret ruled...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Talbot Master (fl. in Rouen, c. 1430–60), Public domain