Catherine De Valois: Student - Teacher Edition

By Laurel A. Rockefeller

Best known as Henry V's Agincourt bride from Shakespeare's "Henry V," Catherine de Valois was an extraordinary woman of faith, courage, and conviction in an age of politically powerful women.

A younger daughter to King Charles VI of France terrorized by his mental illness, Princess Catherine survived the ravages of his schizophrenia, a civil war at home, and King Henry's war with France to become one of Renaissance England's most fascinating and courageous queens.

Student-Teacher edition features study guide questions following every chapter plus challenging puzzles to practice reading comprehension, logic, and critical thinking skills.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Laurel A. Rockefeller
• Release date: Apr 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463654446

Laurel A. Rockefeller

Born, raised, and educated in Lincoln, Nebraska USA Laurel A. Rockefeller’s passion for animals comes through in everything she writes. First self-published in 2012 as social science fiction author (the Peers of Beinan series), Laurel has expanded her work into the animal care/guide, history, historical fiction, and biography genres.Find Laurel’s books in digital, paperback, and hardcover in your choice of up to ten languages, including Welsh, Chinese, and Dutch. Audio editions are published in all four available languages for audible: English, French, Spanish, and German.Besides advocating for animals and related environmental causes, Laurel A. Rockefeller is a passionate educator dedicated to improving history literacy worldwide, especially as it relates to women’s accomplishments. In her spare time, Laurel enjoys spending time with her cockatiels, travelling to historic places, and watching classic motion pictures and classic television series.

Book preview

Catherine de Valois

Student-Teacher Edition

By Laurel A. Rockefeller

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2020 Laurel A. Rockefeller

Cover art by Laurel A. Rockefeller

This book is a work of narrative history based on events in the life of French princess and English Queen Catherine de Valois and constructed using primary and secondary historical sources, commentary, and research.

In this student/teacher edition, study guide questions immediately follow each chapter. In most cases, there are no right or wrong answers. Instead, the purpose is to provoke critical thinking while practicing reading and improving reading comprehension skills.

Consulted sources appear at the end of this book. Interpretation of source material is at the author’s discretion and utilized within the scope of the author’s imagination, including names, events, and historical details.

Check out these related biographies by Laurel A. Rockefeller

Mary Queen of the Scots, the Forgotten Reign

Queen Elizabeth Tudor: Journey to Gloriana

His Red Eminence, Armand-Jean du Plessis de Richelieu

Table of Contents

War of the Roses Family Tree

Prologue

Study Guide Questions to Prologue

Chapter One

Study Guide Questions to Chapter One

Chapter Two

Study Guide Questions to Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Study Guide Questions to Chapter Three

War of the Roses Family Tree

PROLOGUE

I Margaret take thee Edmund to be my lawfully wedded husband, vowed Margaret Beaufort in front of the door of the small chapel in Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire where she was born and raised as the daughter of the duke of Somerset, John Beaufort and his wife, Margaret Beauchamp . At just twelve years old, Margaret’s tiny frame complimented that of her Welsh bridegroom, the twenty-three year old Edmund Tudor whose bloodline as a descendent of the Welsh prince Gruffydd ap Rhys radiated in his dark hair and blue eyes. The wedding vows taken, their priest opened the big red door into the chapel for the wedding mass.

As mass finished and as the priest said his final words of blessing, Edmund’s older half-brother, King Henry VI hugged Margaret warmly, Congratulations, Cousin!

Margaret bowed deeply, lowering her eyes respectfully, Thank you Your Majesty!

Henry turned to Edmund, When do you leave for Wales?

Soon – a week if it pleases Your Majesty.

Henry motioned for Edmund and Margaret to follow him down a corridor filled with portraits of Margaret’s ancestors, With your permission, I would like to stay here in Bletsoe with you both until you depart.

Edmund smiled at Margaret, What do you think?

Still young and somewhat timid in the company of her king and bridegroom, Margaret struggled for a few seconds before answering, It would be an honor, Your Majesty. Fidgeting a little, she raised her eyes to both of them, Is it true you are brothers?

It is, affirmed the king. After my father died, our mother married Edmund’s father, bearing him three sons before retiring to Bermondsey Abbey.

You never knew your father, did you, Your Majesty? asked a slightly more confident and emboldened Margaret.

No, no – he died in France when I was a baby. Strange that after my father won the concession from my grandfather, King Charles VI for me to be crowned king of France that he would continue to war with France.

Your father was a great man, Your Majesty.

Henry smiled wistfully, "Some say so. Certainly here in England most people believe that he was. He was an able ruler. He established English as the language of government for the first time since King William of Normandy. But my father had a fatal flaw: he loved war