THE ROSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 31 



eral furious civil wars, after having flooded the whole kingdom 

 with blood, and after the tragical death of three kings, Henry 

 VII., of the house of Lancaster, re-united, in 1486, the two fam- 

 ilies by marrying Elizabeth, the heiress of the house of York. 



The adoption of the red rose, by the house of Lancaster, was 

 at a period far prior to these civil wars. About 1277, the Count 

 of Egmont, son of the King of England, and who had taken the 

 title of Count of Champagne, was sent by the King of France to 

 Provence, with some troops, to avenge the murder of William 

 Pentecote, mayor of the city, who had been killed in an insurrec- 

 tion. 



When this prince returned into England, after executing his 

 orders, he took for his device the red rose, that Thibaut, Count 

 of Brie and of Champagne, had brought from Syria, on his re- 

 turn from the crusade some years before. — That Count of Eg- 

 mont was the head of the house of Lancaster, who preserved the 

 red rose on their arms, while the house of York, on the other 

 hand, adopted the white rose as their device. 



An anecdote is told of the Prince of Bearne, afterwards Henry 

 IV. of France, who was not 15 years of age when Charles IX. 

 came to Nerae, in 1.566, to visit the court of Navarre. 



The fifteen days that he spent there, were marked by sports 

 and fetes, of which, the young Henry was already the chief orna- 

 ment. Charles IX. loved to practice archery ; in providing for 

 him that amusement, they thought that none of his courtiers, 

 not even the Duke of Guise, who excelled at this sport, would 

 venture to prove himself more adroit than the monarch. The 

 young Henry, however, advanced, and at the first shot, carried off 

 the orange, Avhich served for a mark. According to the rules of 

 the sport, he wished, as victor, to shoot first in the next trial ; the 

 King opposed it, and repulsed him with warmth ; Henry stepped 

 back a little, drew his bow, and directed the arrow against the 

 breast of his adversary ; the monarch quickly took shelter behind 

 the largest of his courtiers, and requested them to take away 

 "that dangerous little cousin." Peace being made, the same 

 sport was continued on the following day ; Charles found an 



