ns and rebuilt by Foulques
the Red of Anjou. When Francis I. ascended the French throne
he presented the barony of Amboise with its hundred and
forty-six fiefs to his mother, Louise of Savoy.

Numerous authorities state, however, that Margaret spent most of her
time in study with her preceptors and in the devotional exercises which
then had so large a place in the training of princesses. Still she was
by no means indifferent to the pastimes in which her brother and his
companions engaged. Gaston de Foix, the nephew of the King, William
Gouffier, who became Admiral de Bonnivet, Philip Brion, Sieur de
Chabot, Fleurange, "the young adventurer," Charles de Bourbon, Count
of Montpensier, and Anne de Montmorency--two future Constables of
France--surrounded the heir to the throne, with whom they practised
tennis, archery, and jousting, or played at soldiers pending the time
when they were to wage war in earnest. (1)

Margaret was a frequent spectator of these pastimes, and took a keen
interest in her brother's efforts whenever he was assailing or defending
some miniature fortress or tilting at the ring. It would appear also
that she was wont to play at chess with him; for we have it on high
authority that it is she and her brother who are represented, thus
engaged, in a curious miniature preserved at the Bibliotheque Nationale
in Paris. (2) In this design--executed by an unknown artist--only the
back of Francis is to be seen, but a full view of Margaret is supplied;
the personage standing behind her being Artus Gouffier, her own and her
brother's governor.

1 Fleurange's _Histoire des Choses memorables advenues du
Reigne de Louis XII. et Francois I_.

2 Paulin Paris's _Manuscrits francois de la Bibliotheque du
Roi_, &c., Paris, 1836, vol. i. pp. 279-281. The miniature
in question is contained in MS. No. 6808: _Commentaire sur
le Livre des Echecs amoureux et Archiloge Sophie_.

Whatever time Margaret may have devoted to diversion, she was certainly
a very studious child, for at fifteen years of age she already had the
reputation of being highly accomplished. Shortly after her sixteenth
birthday a great change took place in her life. On August 3rd, 1508,
Louise of Savoy records in her journal that Francis "this day quitted
Amboise to become a courtier, and left me all alone." Margaret
accompanied her brother upon his entry into the world, the young couple
repairing to Blois, w