he Count
of Angouleme was a prince of the blood royal of France by virtue of his
descent from King Charles V., his grandfather having been that monarch's
second son, the notorious Duke Louis of Orleans, (2) who was murdered in
Paris in 1417 at the instigation of John the Bold of Burgundy.

1 The value of the Paris livre at this date was twenty
sols, so that the amount would be equivalent to about L1400.

2 This was the prince described by Brantome as a "great
debaucher of the ladies of the Court, and invariably of the
greatest among them."--_Vies des Dames galantes_ (Disc. i.).

Louise, who, although barely nubile, impatiently longed to become a
mother, gave birth to her first child after four years of wedded
life. "My daughter Margaret," she writes in the journal recording the
principal events of her career, "was born in the year 1492, the eleventh
day of April, at two o'clock in the morning; that is to say, the tenth
day, fourteen hours and ten minutes, counting after the manner of
the astronomers." This auspicious event took place at the Chateau of
Angouleme, then a formidable and stately pile, of which nowadays there
only remains a couple of towers, built in the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. Soon afterwards Cognac became the Count of Angouleme's
favourite place of residence, and it was there that Louise gave birth,
on September 12th, 1494, to her second child, a son, who was christened
Francis.

Louise's desires were now satisfied, but her happiness did not long
remain complete. On January 1st, 1496, when she was but eighteen years
old, she lost her amiable and accomplished husband, and forthwith
retiring to her Chateau of Romorantin, she resolved to devote herself
entirely to the education of her children. The Duke of Orleans, who,
on the death of Charles VIII. in 1498, succeeded to the throne as Louis
XII., was appointed their guardian, and in 1499 he invited them and
their mother to the royal Chateau of Amboise, where they remained for
several years.

The education of Francis, who had become heir-presumptive to the throne,
was conducted at Amboise by the Marshal de Gie, one of the King's
favourites, whilst Margaret was intrusted to the care of a venerable
lady, whom her panegyrist does not mention by name, but in whom he
states all virtues were assembled. (1) This lady took care to regulate
not only the acts but also the language of the young princess, who was
provided with