AXJOU. 



ANKARSTROM, JOHAN JAKOB. 



2:4 



llo was furioui at hi* loa, n<l challenged Peter of Angoo to single 

 combat; and IVt<-r, whose object wmi to pnin time, accepted Uic chal- 

 Iram. but subsniiiriitlT il. .-line.! it, and whiUt Charles wai struggling 

 aruMt repeated disattm, be died at Foggia, in the kingdom of Naples, 

 at ill* age of teveoty-fiv*. in the early part of 1 J85. 



Tb posterity of Charles of Anjou continued, notwithstanding, to 

 fiU for a time the throne of Naples and aim that of Hungary, and 

 thu* became stranger* to tub province, and to France iUelf. ID con 

 ideratiuo of thu, king John of France reunited Aojou to the crown, 

 giving it coon afU-r in appanage to hi* ton Louis, who thu* commenced 

 the third bout* of Anjou. The county wa* derated into a duchy, by 

 an ordinance of John, in 1 MO, and Lonu U thu* the fint of the ducal 

 hone*. Be wa born in 1SS9, wa taken prisoner with his father at 

 the battle of Pettier*, and remained long in England, but at length 

 broke hit parole, and fled. On the death <>f hw brother Charles V., 

 be became regent, bat iued hi* powrr chiefly to recoTer the kingdom 

 of Napln. to which Jeann<>, Uie beirea* of the laat lioure of Anjou, 

 bad given him a title hy adoption. Th pope, as usual, seconded the 

 attempt of the French prince, and Louis was accordingly crowned 

 king of Sicily and Jerusalem at Avignon in 1382. He then led bis 

 armiee to the oonqnest of Naples, but they perished, as Louis did him- 

 elf. by dianwe, in 1364. 



II i eon. Loui* II., duke of Anjou, wa* also crowned king of Sicily 

 by the pope, but be failed in establishing himself, and died in 1417. 



Louis lit, son of the last duke, attacked Naples in 1420, but was 

 equally unsuccessful, and died at Coeenia in 1 434. 



He was succeeded, not so much in hi* kingdom as in his claim, by 

 his brother Kent, snmamed the Good King Kenf, who not only failed 

 in recovering the Italian empire of hi* family, but was dispossessed of 

 Anjou iUeir by Louis XI. [RENE.] 



From the days of Louis XI. the titlo of Anjou lay dormant, whilst 

 the suveieigns of France themselves prosecuted their claims to Italian 

 dominion, a* heirs of the Angevin princes. With Francis I. these 

 hopes expired. His successor, Henri II., bestowed the duchy of Anjou 

 upon bis third ton, who bore this title when elevated to the throne of 

 Poland. A* this prince however succeeded to the throne of France, 

 be is better known under the name of HENRI III. Henri's younger 

 brother, at first duke of Aleucon, succeeding to the title of Anjou, is 

 best known under this latter name. 



This prince was born in 1554, and wa* first christened Hercules, a 

 name that was afterwards changed for that of Francis at confirmation. 

 He had the small-pox when Tery young, and wan so ' horribly spoiled ' 

 that his mother, Catherine of Medici*, took a dislike to the boy, and 

 sent him to Amboise to be educated apart from his brothers ami from 

 the court. Having once visited this place, Catherine spoke of him as 

 4 a little moricaud (black), who had nothing but war and tempest in 

 hi* head.' The young prince naturally returned hi* mother's aversion ; 

 and this may have been the original cause of hi* liberality of opinion, 

 since it threw him into the confidence and friendship of Catherine's 

 enemies, the Huguenots. He was subsequently proposed as a husband 

 to the quern of England, but the massacre of St. Bartholomew, which 

 soon after occurred, created a distance and aven-ion between the two 

 courts. 



On that occasion the Duke of Alencon maintained an honourable 

 part. He so openly expressed his abhorrence of the event, and hi* 

 admiration for Coligny, that he became a* much an object of suspicion 

 as any of the Huguenots. He was sent against La Rochelle, as to a 

 school of martial orthodoxy, where he was nearly killed by a shot from 

 the ramparta, but the Huguenots continued to entertain a favourable 

 opinion of him. Charles IX. was lingering under a mortal malady ; 

 bis brother, the next hrir, was in Poland. The Protestant* hoped to 

 elevate the Duke of Alencon to the throne in his place ; thus exchanging 

 a monarch whom they detested for one who favoured their own 

 opinion*. A plot was accordingly formed, which utterly failed through 

 the perfidy and weakness of him whom it was designed chiefly to 

 benefit. The Duke of Alencon, instead of escaping at the appointed 

 moment, hum. d to his mother's feet, and confessed the whole affair. 

 The coDsvqueuce was the arrest of all who were implicated, and the 

 failure of the enterprise. To render the act more bae on the part of 

 AUncoo, the whole weight of vengeance fell upon his confidants and 

 followers. H however reaped no advantage from the act. Catherine 

 of Median took him and Henry of Navarre with her, when, after the 

 death of Charles IX., she went to welcome Henri III. on bis return to 

 Poland. She presented them as prisoners to the new king, who at fint 

 awmed severe, but inflicted no punishment At length the Duke of 

 Aiencon became reconciled to the Huguenot*. He escaped from court 

 in the autumn of 1676, and plaoed himself at the head of the armies 

 rabid by the reformers. A truce first, and a peace afterwards, were 

 the fruit of a year's show of hostility. The Duke of Alencon secretly 

 MX>|iussd to d<sert his party once more; but the Huguenot chiefs 

 {aviated open favourable terms, which they obtained, in name at least, 

 in 1S7. The duk- on bis part obtained advantages equally favour- 

 able, Utter, patent being won after issued, which gave him the 

 dncbici of Anjou, Tonrraine, and Bern. 



In tbt< arrangement however the negociators on both sides may be 

 aid truly -to have reckoned without their host.' The Catholics, dis- 

 puted with the wrmkM** of the monarch, formed the league, 1 which 

 soon after rendered the crticles of peace null. The Protestant* on 



their aide, little trusting to empty promise*, kept armed and in an 

 hostile posture, and Henry of Navarre was now rising among them to 

 fill the place of honour that the new Duke of Aujou had ceiled. War 

 in consequence recommenced, and, strange to say, the Duke of Anjou 

 himself appeared in command of a Catholic army. 



Catherine of Medici* and llniri III., reconciled to their son and 

 brother, now laboured to procure for the Duke of Anjou those very 

 prize* that Coligny had before sought to give him the sovereignty of 

 Flanders, and the hand of Queen Elizabeth. At tho bead of a French 

 army the Duko of Aujou marched against Don John of Austria. Ha 

 had at fint some success, but not being so well received by the Fleming* 

 a* he expected, his carver of conquest wa* suspended. In pursuance 

 of the other part of his scheme, he had deputed to Elisabeth his envoy, 

 Simier. The French manners and gallantry of this personage quite 

 won the English queen, who threw off much of her habitual prudery, 

 ami began to entertain serious thoughts of marrying Anjou. 



He was elected sovereign of the Netherlands in 1581, and took 

 possession of Cambray in spite of the Prince of Parma. Thus, crowned 

 with honour, the duke hastened over to England to tenmn.it.- in person 

 his suit with the queen. Nothing could be more brilliant or warm 

 than his reception. Elizabeth detained him for months, feasted, and 

 promised, and avoided him ; beguiling him and, perhaps, herself, with 

 hope* of a union which her prudence could never permit. 



At length the Duke of Anjou took hia departure from England to 

 govern the Netherlands. Unaccustomed to the free display of popular 

 and personal independence, he mistook the rival influence, of the 

 Prince of Orange, and of the citizen* of the several towns, for insult* 

 to his dignity aud treason to his right*. Instead of making use of 

 such means to overcome them, as were allowed aud might have suc- 

 ceeded with the Flemings, he proposed to seize the Flemish fortresses 

 by means of hi* soldiers, and thus to bridle the turbulence of an inde- 

 pendent people. But he mistook the character of the people. The 

 Flemish citizens mastered his soldiers everywhere ; the people of 

 Antwerp especially made a successful resistance, and not only Anjou 

 himself, but the French were expelled by thu united force, and amidst 

 the general execrations of the country. 



From this hour the Duke of Anjou sunk into insignificance. He 

 wo* too low in fortune and in character to mingle, or to have influence 

 with any party, or in any struggle. He expired soon after, iu 15S4, at 

 Chateau Thierry. 



ANKARSTKOM, JOHAN JAKOB, the assassin of Gustavus III. 

 of Sweden, wa* the Bon of a Swedish noble, and was born iu the year 

 1759. He early entered the army as an ensign iu the Royal Blue 

 Guards, but quitted the service iu a very few years. After leaving the 

 army, be visited various part* of Europe, and resided for a short time 

 in England, where he was reduced to great poverty. On his return 

 to Sweden, he became connected with a large body of disaffected 

 nobles, who, disgusted with the two regal revolutions of 1772 and 

 1789, and partaking of the Jacobinical opinions just then so triumphant 

 in France, were ready to adopt any desperate measure* to take venge- 

 ance on Gustavus for hia past acts, and to prevent his threatened 

 interference by arms in favour of Louis XVIII. Hi* assassination wo* 

 resolved on, and Ankarstriitu was pitched upon to do the deed. Two 

 others of the conspirators, Count liibbing nud De Horn, it is said, drew 

 lots with Ankarstrom for what they considered an honour. 



After two or three ineffectual attempts, the assassination took place 

 on the 16th of March, 1722, during a masked ball at the Opera House 

 at Stockholm. The king had received an anonymous letter iu the 

 morning, cautioning him not to go to the ball, as his life would bo 

 attempted ; but he was too courageous to allow himself to appear 

 afraid, and he resolved to go. He had been only a short time iu the 

 room, when, notwithstanding his mask and domino, he was easily 

 recognised, and a number of masks began to crowd around him. One 

 of them (Count de Horn) tapped him on the shoulder, with the saluta- 

 tion, " Bon Boir, beau masque," which was the signal agreed on among 

 the conspirators, and Aukurstrum immediately fired a pitol, fully 

 charged with powder, balls, and rusty nails, point blank at the king. 

 Gustavus fell into the arms of his favourite, the Count d'Essen, and 

 the conspirators raised a preconcerted cry of " Fire ! " in order to 

 escape in the confusion. The doors however were quickly closed, and 

 no one wo* permitted to depart, until he had been registered by the 

 police, and had signed his name in a book. Aukorstrom was the last 

 to quit the place, and he passed with so easy and confident an air as 

 to avoid all suspicion. After it was cleared of visitors the room was 

 searched, and a pair of pistols, one loaded, the other not, and a formi- 

 dable dagger, was found on the floor, where they had been left by the 

 assassin. They were soon recognised as belonging to Ankarstrom by 

 the gunsmith and cutler of whom he had bought them, and his arrest 

 immediately ensued. On bis examination he displayed great firmness, 

 at once avowing and glorying in his crime, but denying that he had 

 any accomplices. The researches of the police however in a short time 

 led to the apprehension of between twenty and thirty of the principa 

 i "H ] H nitons. 



The king survived bis wounds twelve days. As his son was only 

 thirteen years old, hi* brother, the Duke of Sudermauia, became regent, 

 and the dying Uustavu* is aid to have exacted a promise from him 

 that only the actual murderer should suffer death. Ankarstrom, 

 after a lengthened trial, was condemned, on the 21'th of April, to suffer 



