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- BIOGRAPHY
In 1445, to strengthen the ties between England and France, she married Henry VI, King of England. However, in 1453 when their son Edward, Prince of Wales, was born, Henry VI had already lapsed into insanity and was unable to recognise his heir.
Margaret became embroiled in factional struggles at court and stirred up opposition to the very interests she was trying to protect. She linked herself and the king with William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, and Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, who sought peace with Charles VII of France even at the price of giving up English possessions in France. Then, in 1445, she encouraged Henry VI to surrender Maine to Charles VII.
Richard, Duke of York, became her rival and champion of the magnates who opposed her influence over Henry VI. In 1453, with the onset of the king's insanity, Richard had himself made protector of the realm. When Henry VI recovered in 1454, Margaret persuaded him to dismiss Richard, ending the protectorate. Richard led an armed force to confront Margaret and Edmund Beaufort, and the two sides clashed at St. Albans on 22 May 1455 in the first battle of the War of the Roses. Beaufort was killed and Richard's protectorate re-established. In 1456 Margaret left Henry VI briefly, apparently infuriated by his weak character, and was seemingly reconciled to Richard; but after 1458 she began intriguing against him. In 1459 she despatched a force which clashed with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the Kingmaker), near Newcastle under Lyme. In 1460 when open war broke out between the king's supporters and the Yorkist allies, she led the Lancastrian forces.
In June 1460 she fled with her son into Cheshire after her husband's defeat and capture at Northampton. However, six months later she led the Lancastrians to victory at the battle of Wakefield where Richard, Duke of York, was killed. Margaret executed her enemies with great brutality after defeating the Earl of Warwick, then liberated her husband after the second battle of St. Albans in February 1461, but failed to seize London and secure a final victory.
On 29 March 1461 at the battle of Towton, Margaret and Henry VI were defeated and fled north to Scotland. In 1465 Henry VI was captured by the forces of Edward IV who, in 1461, had replaced Henry, and Margaret never saw him again.
In 1470 she allied with the Earl of Warwick and backed his invasion of England which forced Edward IV to flee to Flanders. In October 1470 Henry VI was restored to the throne and Margaret led a landing at Weymouth on 14 April 1471, the day of the battle of Barnet at which Warwick was killed and her husband recaptured. On 4 May 1471 at the battle of Tewkesbury her son was killed and, on 21 May, her husband put to death.
From 1471 until 1475 she remained a Yorkist prisoner until she was ransomed by Louis XI, King of France. Until her death in 1482 she lived in penury; she was buried in the cathedral at Angers. .
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