MAHAUT, COUNTESS OF ARTOIS 



ended in a tragedy. The devout Isabelle, Louis's 

 sister, was praying in the early morning, as was 

 her wont, within her curtained bed, and either 

 lost in prayer or overcome with fatigue by the 

 length of her orisons, did not notice the arrival 

 of the packers, who rolled up the bed without 

 drawing the curtains, and the praying Princess 

 within must have been smothered had not her 

 lady-in-waiting, Agnes de Harcourt, heard her 

 stifled cries, and hastened to her rescue. This 

 quaint episode so amused Louis, that he ever 

 after recounted it when telling of the piety of 

 his sister. 



Let us now go in imagination to the Castle 

 of Hesdin, and see something of its treasures and 

 of the daily life of the Countess Mahaut. 



Soon after her accession to Artois, her two 

 daughters married sons of King Philip le Bel, 

 and her little son, Robert, then became her 

 principal care. A little boy of noble family had 

 been chosen as his companion to share in his 

 education and to join with him in play. It would 

 seem that the two were treated on an absolute 

 equality, even to having their doublets cut from 

 the same piece of cloth, and their tunics and 

 cloaks trimmed with the same fur. Beyond 

 their ordinary lessons, they were early taught 

 the games of tables and chess, both of which 

 were considered essential to a knight's education. 

 They also rode to the chase and attended tourna- 

 ments, and at the age of fourteen themselves 

 held the lance as part of their training in the art 



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