Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Record Number: 11053
  • Author(s)/Creator(s): Cron , B. M.
  • Contributor(s):
  • Title: The Duke of Suffolk, the Angevin Marriage, and the Ceding of Maine, 1445 [argues that the negotiations for Margaret's marriage did not involve a secret promise by Suffolk to surrender Maine to either René of Anjou or Charles VII of France].
  • Source: Journal of Medieval History 20, 1 (March 1994): Pages 77 - 99.
  • Description:
  • Article Type: Journal Article
  • Subject (See Also): Diplomacy Henry VI, King of England Kings Maine, France Margaret of Anjou, Wife of Henry VI, King of England Marriage Politics Queens William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk
  • Award Note:
  • Geographic Area: British Isles;France
  • Century: 15
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  • Abstract: There is a long-standing tradition that at Nancy in 1445 Henry VI of England was married by proxy to Margaret of Anjou, being represented by the Earl of Suffolk. (If so, this was the second such proxy wedding, as Suffolk had already stood in for Henry at a canonical ceremony at Tours in May of the previous year.) Some historians believe, variously, that during his preliminary negotiations at Tours, or at Nancy, Suffolk gave an undertaking to the French to cede those parts of the county of Maine which were still in English hands. Others think that Suffolk made no such promise, that it was the French who subsequently made this claim, and it was used by the English parliament to discredit and impeach the powerful minister. Who was responsible for ceding Maine to France? And what role did Suffolk and Margaret play in the negotiations? This article reexamines the evidence for what happened at Nancy and discusses these questions from a different perspective. [Reprinted from the Journal of Medieval History 20, Cron, "The duke of Suffolk, the Angevin marriage, and the ceding of Maine, 1445," 77, 1994, with permission from Elsevier Science.]
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  • Conference Info: - , -
  • Year of Publication: 1994.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN/ISBN: 03044181