Note 115 — Chapter I · —How the King of France cajoled the English after the Duke of Burgundy’s Death, for fear they should have interrupted him in the Conquest of the Territories belonging to the said Duke.—1477. (continued 2)
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Margaret was then three years and a half old, and the Dauphin rather more than twelve. Their meeting took place on Sunday, the 22nd of June, 1483, at a place called Metairie le Rayne, near Amboise. “The Dauphin,” says a contemporary letter, “left the Castle of Amboise, dressed in a robe of crimson satin, lined with black velvet, and mounted on a hackney, and attended by thirty archers. At the bridge he dismounted, after having saluted the ladies, and changed his dress and put on a long robe of cloth of gold.... Presently the Dauphiness arrived, and descended from her litter; and immediately they were betrothed by the prothonotary, nephew of the Grand Seneschal of Normandy, who demanded of the Dauphin in a loud voice, so that all could hear him, If he would have Margaret of Austria in marriage? and he answered, Yes; and a similar question was put to the Dauphiness, who gave the same answer. Upon which, they joined hands, and the Dauphin kissed the Dauphiness twice; and then they returned to their lodgings. And the streets of Amboise were hung with cloth, and in the market place was a figure of a Siren, who spouted forth white wine and red from her breasts.” The next day, the young couple went through the ceremony of marriage in the chapel of the castle.—Dupont, iii. 345, 352.