B. PRANCES 325 some religions house, but the duke did not encourage the idea. He assembled all the barons and lords who were at Nantes at the time, and brought his three sons into their presence, and also Made- moiselle d'Ambioise, and bade her choose which of the three should be her hus- band. She chose Peter, for whom she had already been destined, and they were then formally betrothed. The marriage, which took place in 1442, when Frances was fifteen, was a very happy one, except that during a short time Peter appears to have been tor- mented with groundless jealousy, and to have been very unkind in consequence. They lived at Guingamp, now in the department C6tes-du-Nord. Frances had a great devotion to St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins, and in their honour she gave a dinner every Wednesday to eleven girls, served them at table, and after dinner presented each of them with five sous. Many other proofis and instances of her charity and piety are recorded by Albert le Grand. Peter's elder brother Francis seems to have succeeded his father about the time of the marriage of the saint. He had a younger brother Giles, married to Fran- 9oise de Dinan, dame de Gh&teaubriand. The duke was much under the influence of a young nobleman named Arthur de Montauban, who was madly in love with the beautiful young wife of Giles; and in the hope of getting rid of her husband, he accused him of being in correspond- ence with the English, and had him imprisoned. The duke assembled the states of Bretagne, but they would not sanction the execution of Giles. Prince Peter and his wife remonstrated strongly with Duke Francis, but he resented their interference, and kept Giles in prison. Montauban still schemed the destruction of his rival, and ultimately gained his end. Prince Giles was taken from one prison fortress to another, and finally confined in the castle of Hardouinaye, where, in 1450, after various attempts on his life, his keepers strangled him. His sister-in-law, Frances, was deeply afiQicted, and caused a great number of masses to be said for his soul. Duke Francis was besieging the English at Avranches when he heard of the murder. As soon as the town was taken, he went to Mont St. Michel, and ordered a solemn service for the soul of Giles. When crossing the sands on his return to Avranches, he met a monk, who said, " I bring you a message from your murdered brother. He has appealed against your injustice and cruelty to a Higher Tri- bunal, and summons you to meet him there within forty days." The duke was greatly distressed. His fate soon overtook him. He was seized with fever, and after two or three attacks of it, he arrived, very ill, at his country house, Plaisance, near Yannes. There his brother Peter and the Blessed Frances hastened to visit him. Frances per^ ceived at once that her brother-in-law was dying, and although his attendants flattered him by making light of his illness, she found means to speak to him privately, and persuaded him to see his confessor and prepare for death. He died on July 17, 1450, exactly forty days after receiving his brother's message. Peter succeeded his brother as Duke of Brittany, and he and Frances were crowned at Eennes. Frances insisted that the murderers of Giles should be brought to justice. She persuaded her husband to give up a heavy tax he was going to impose upon his people. The canonization of St. Vincent Ferrer was due in a great measure to her exer- tions. She built a Clarissan convent at Nantes, and sent for some nuns to establish it. She brought them into the presence of the duke, who was very ill, and who made them a gift of the convent, and asked them to pray for him. He died soon afterwards, 1457. The night before his death, a great white cross was seen over the castle of Nantes where he was lying. He was succeeded by his uncle Arthur, the constable of France, the same who had arranged the marriage of Peter and Frances ; but although he had shown so much affection for her for so many years, he changed his behaviour to her after he became duke, being offended that she took no part in the general rejoicings and festivities. She
