Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/72

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50
ANN.

nation; and she appeased the duke de Bourbon by bestowing oil him the sword of the constable of France, which he had long been ambitious to obtain. But the duke of Orleans was not so easily satisfied. He, too, was her brother-in-law, having been married, against his own wishes, by Louis the Eleventh, to his younger daughter, Jeanne, who was somewhat deformed. Having offended Anne by some passionate expressions, she ordered him to be arrested; but he fled to his castle on the Loire, where, being besieged by Anne, he was compelled to surrender, and seek shelter in Brittany, under the protection of Francis the Second.

The union of Brittany with the crown of France, had long been a favourite project of the lady of Beaujeu, and she at first attempted to obtain possession of it by force of arms. The duke of Orleans commanded the Bretons against the forces of Anne, but was taken prisoner and detained for more than two years. Philip de Comines, the celebrated historian, also suffered an imprisonment of three years, for carrying on a treasonable correspondence with the duke of Orleans. Peace with Brittany was at length concluded, and the province was annexed to the crown of France, by the marriage of the young duchess, Anne of Brittany, who had succeeded to her father's domain, to Charles the Eighth of France.

The lustre thrown over the regency of Anne, by the acquisition of Brittany, received some diminution by the restoration of the counties of Roussillon and Cerdagne to the king of Spain. Anne became duchess of Bourbon in 1488, by the death of John, her husband's elder brother; and though, before this, Charles the Eighth had assumed the government, she always retained a rank in the council of state. Charles the Eighth dying without issue in 1498, was succeeded by the duke of Orleans; and Anne dreaded, and with reason, lest he should revenge himself for the severity she had exercised towards him; but, saying "That it became not a king of France to revenge the quarrels of the duke of Orleans," he continued to allow her a place in the council.

The duke de Bourdon died in 1503; and Anne survived him till November 14th., 1522. They left one child, Susanne, heiress to the vast possessions of the family of Bourbon, who married her cousin, the celebrated and unfortunate Charle8 de Montpensier, constable of Bourbon.

ANNE OF BOHEMIA,

Daughter of the emperor Charles the Fourth, was born about 1367, and was married to Richard the Second of England, when she was fifteen years of age. This was just after the insurrection of Wat Tyler; and the executions of the oppressed people who had taken part with him, had been bloody and barbarous beyond all precedent, even in that sanguinary age. At the young queen's earnest request, a general pardon was granted by the king; this mediation obtained for Richard's bride the title of "the good queen Anne." Never did she forfeit the appellation, or lose the love of her subjects.

She was the first of that illustrious band of princesses who were "the nursing mothers of the Reformation;" and by her influence the life of Wickliffe was saved, when in great danger at the council at Lambeth, in 1382. Anne died in 1394; she left no children;