She was, indeed, as one historian
declares, the last heroine of knighthood. Her very titles suggest
the days of chivalry. She was Daughter of Holland, Countess of
Ponthieu, Duchess of Berry, Lady of Crevecoeur, of Montague and
Arloeux. Brought up in the midst of tilts and tournaments, of
banquets and feasting, and all the lavish display of the rich
Bavarian court, she was, as we learn from her chroniclers, the
leader of adoring knights and vassals, the idol of her parents,
the ruler of her soft-hearted boy husband, an expert falconer, a
daring horsewoman, and a fearless descendant of those woman
warriors of her race, Margaret the Empress, and Philippa the
Queen, and of a house that traced its descent through the warlike
Hohenstaufens back to Charlemagne himself.
All girls admire bravery, even though not themselves personally
courageous. It is not, therefore, surprising that this intrepid
and romance-reared young princess, the wife of a lad for whom she
never especially cared, and whose society had for political
reasons been forced upon her, should have placed as the hero of
her admiration, next to her own fearless father, not the Dauphin
John of France, but this brave young rebel lad, Otto, the Lord of
Arkell.
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