ng this period
consisted of the wars waged between France and England for the
possession of the territory which now forms the northern portion of
France. A large portion of that territory, during the reigns that
immediately preceded the time of Margaret of Anjou, had belonged to
England. But the kings of France were continually attempting to regain
possession of it--the English, of course, all the time making
desperate resistance. Thus, for a hundred years, including the time
while Margaret lived, England was involved in a double set of
wars--the one internal, being waged by one branch of the royal family
against the other for the possession of the throne, and the other
external, being waged against France and other Continental powers for
the possession of the towns and castles, and the country dependent
upon them, which lay along the southern shore of the English Channel.

[Sidenote: Origin of Difficulty.]

In order that the story of Margaret of Anjou may be properly
understood, it will be necessary first to give some explanations in
respect to the nature of these two quarrels, and to the progress which
had been made in them up to the time when Margaret came upon the
stage. We shall begin with the internal or civil wars which were waged
between the families of York and Lancaster. Some account of the origin
and nature of this difficulty is given in our history of Richard III.,
but it is necessary to allude to it again here, and to state some
additional particulars in respect to it, on account of the very
important part which Margaret of Anjou performed in the quarrel.

The difficulty originated among the children and descendants of King
Edward III. He reigned in the early part of the fourteenth century. He
occupied the throne a long time, and his reign was considered very
prosperous and glorious. The prosperity and glory of it consisted, in
a great measure, in the success of the wars which he waged in France,
and in the towns, and castles, and districts of country which he
conquered there, and annexed to the English domain.

[Sidenote: The sons of Edward III.]

In these wars old King Edward was assisted very much by the princes
his sons, who were very warlike young men, and who were engaged from
time to time in many victorious campaigns on the Continent. They began
this career when they were very young, and they continued it through
all the years of their manhood and middle life, for their father lived
to an advan