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| Henry IV of France @Wikipedia |
(1553-1610)
Son of: Antoine I de Navarre & Jeanne III de Navarre.
1. Marguerite de Valois, Reine de France (1553-1615)
Daughter of Henri II de France & Marie de' Medici.
2. Marie de' Medici. mar 1600.
" . . . Although not classically beautiful, Maria was young and attractive. Her eyes flashed with intelligence, her hair was as golden as her dowry rich, and her alabaster skin glowed like Chinese porcelain. Such a bride should have been sufficiently alluring to pique of a middle-aged king." (Young. Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver: Stories of Dinner as a Work of Art: 66)
Henri IV's unique place in the long history of France.
"In the long history of France, Henri IV has a unique place. It has been said that he was 'the only king whose memory was cherished by the people.' His subjects remembered him as Henri le Grand, Henri the Great. In physical terms he (like Champlain) was not a large man. But there was a greatness in his acts and thoughts, a largeness in his energy and resolve, and an astonishing amplitude in both his virtues and his vices. . . The character of Henri IV appeared in the nicknames that his subjects invented for him. They celebrated him as le roi de coeur, the king of hearts. Others called him le passionne, the passionate one; or le roi libre, the free king. The literati liked to write of him as le vert-galant, the green gallant---vert with its ambiguous connotations of youth, energy,and (in French) promiscuous sexuality; galant in in its mixed association with courtesy and inconstancy. These sobriquets referred to Henri's public and private life. In his many love affairs Henri IV was indeed le roi de coeur, le roi passionne, and le roi libre all at once, in a sense that had nothing to do with political theory or public policy. At the same time, Henri's nicknames also described a unique style of kingship that flowed from the heart. Other monarchs cultivated a distance between themselves and their subjects. They used remoteness as an instrument of royal power. Henri went another way. He was known to leave his palace incognito, and mix with his subjects in informal ways. As a leader he was open, informal, warm, free-spirited, brave, witty, clever, generous to friends and enemies alike. He was also thought to be merciful, fickle, unreliable, and untrustworthy. Another nickname, borrowed from his father, was 'Henri l'ondoyant,' Henri the Unsteady. His best friends acknowledged his flaws, but his warmth and magnetism drew even his enemies to his service." (Champlain's Dream: 47)
Henri IV's personal & family background.
"The young prince's father, Antoine de Bourbon, came from one of the great noble families of France. He was a brave soldier, but some described him with the same word that others would later use for his son: ondoyant, unsteady, unreliable. Henri's mother, Jeanne d'Albret, was made of sterner stuff. She was handsome, headstrong, smart, tough, and extraordinarily able. As heiress to the kingdom of Navarre and the county of Bearn, she held great power in her hands, and she used it to great effect." (Champlain's Dream: 48)
Henri IV's personality and character.
". . . Navarre [Henri IV] . . . had been brought up in a rustic court with a rather austere Protestant sensibility; he was 'neither fastidious in his person nor circumspect in his habits.' His clothes were often worn and dirty, and rarely bathed. As the historian R.J. Knecht baldly noted, 'He reputedly stank like carrion.' Navarre's sexual exploits became legendary, and his appetite indiscriminate. . . . " (Wellman: 228)
More than 50 known sexual partners.
"Although it is uncommon for a man, especially a king, to be pilloried for his sexual adventures, Henry was far more indiscriminate than usual. Those who have tried to track his sexual liaisons have recorded more than fifty known sexual partners. His later popularity and the pens of Bourbon historians meant that his sexual adventures did not detract from his reputation. To some degree they added to his allure as a virile alternative to the last Valois kings, who were perceived as effeminate and degenerate. It is still somewhat surprising that so little opprobrium attaches to Henry's behavior, especially since, on occasion, he neglected his political interests to pursue his passions." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Good King Henry.
". . . Henry's reputation, like Gabrielle's, was to some degree redeemed or at least spared by his unexpected and early death. His contemporaries appreciated his reign as having ended civil war, won peace with Spain, and promulgated the Edict of Nantes. Their appreciation shaped the 'Good King Henry' legend which eulogized him as a man of the people---a king of largess and humanity who brought peace and the beginning of prosperity before his reign was tragically cut short---certainly no small accomplishments. his Bourbon descendants built on his positive reputation to assert the value of monarchy. They did not treat his sexual peccadilloes, except as they reinforced his masculinity. . . ." (Queens & Mistresses of Renaissance France:n.d.)
Henry the Celebrity.
" . . . The character of Henri IV appeared in the nicknames that his subjects invented for him. They celebrated him as le roi de coeur, the king of hearts. Others called him le passionne, the passionate one; or le roi libre, the free king. The literati like to write of him as le vert-galant, the green gallant---vert with its ambiguous connotations of youth, energy, and (in French) promiscuous sexuality; galant in its mixed association with courtesy and inconstancy. These sobriquets referred to Henri' public and private life. In his many love affairs Henri IV was indeed le roi de coeur, le roi passionne and le roi libre all at once, in a sense that had nothing to do with political theory or public policy. . . . " (Fischer: 478)
Bassompierre's revelations & reflections about King Henri's amorous life.
"It does undoubtedly appear very strange to our contemplation that the most civilized nation of Europe should have been, for so many centuries, made the footstool of a race so generally corrupt as the house of Bourbon. Some few exceptions there were indeed in this long line of kings, whose names are still honoured, and justly honoured, for the benefits which they have conferred upon mankind both by their example and their precepts. He who was particularly distinguished by the title of St. Louis, according to all the testimony of history well deserved that distinction. He was faithful to his word, attentive to the interests of his subjects, a sincere and zealous observer of all the charities of his private life, and of all the duties of religion. When we come to compare the character of such a man as this with the much vaunted character of Henry IV, whose prowess in war, and whose magnificence in peace, are the perpetual theme of history and song in France, we find that the claims of the latter are but the tinkle of the cymbal, a loud but an empty sound, scarcely worthy of reaching the ear. In truth, it would appear, we apprehend, upon a full investigation, that Henri Quatre was not a whit better that the infamous Regent Orleans, or the debauched and voluptuous Louis XV. . . ." (The Monthly Review: 292)
France's Don Giovanni.
" . . . The list of his mistresses (Italics supplied) is almost as long as that of Don Giovanni himself:--- Henry married, in 1572, Marguerite de Valois, sister of the King of France; which did not prevent him from having for mistresses the Greek Dayelle, and Charlotte de Beaune de Samblancai, wife of Simon de Fizes, Baron de Sauves, both maids of honour of Catherine de Medicis, whom that queen, in 1578, according to her usual line of policy, brought into Gascony to seduce the King of Navarre. He had also many other mistresses of divers conditions; such were the demoiselles Tignonville, de Montaigu, and 'l'Arnaudine, Catherine de Luc, demoiselles d'Agen, Fleurette, daughter of the gardener of the Chateau de Nerac; the demoiselle Rebours, and Francoise de Montmorency, maids of honour to the Queen his wife; he had also, while he was in Gascony, another demoiselle called the Leclain. Bassompierre thus continues the list of mistresses of Henry IV: After his marriage (with Marguerite de Valois) he fell in love with madame de Narmoustier. After that, being at Pau, he was smitten with the widow of the count de Grammont, named the countess de la Guiche; and the desire of seeing her again made him lose all the advantages which he might have drawn from gaining the battle of Coutras. During that passion he came to the crown; and having seen, in passing, the countess de la Roche-Guyon (marchioness of Guercheville) he fell in love with her; and, in order to go to see her, he made foolish and hazardous journeys, in which he was very near being taken by his enemies. This lady was one of those to whim this prince paid his addresses, who had the honour to resist him; she said to him, 'I am too poor to be your wife, and of too good a family to be your mistress.' Having seen Gabrielle d'Estree,' continues Bassompierre, 'he became so enamoured of her that he forgot the countess de la Roche-Guyon. Soon after the death of Gabrielle, Henry took another mistress, Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues. The favours of this lady had cost him, according to the Economies Royales of Sully, a hundred thousand crowns; she further extorted from him a promise of marriage, which Sully had the courage to tear to pieces in presence of the king himself. In 1599, Henry succeeded in dissolving his marriage with Marguerite de Valois, who consented to the divorce; and in 1600 he espoused Mary de Medici. Although provided with this new wife, he continued his old habits. He became enamoured, but without success, of the duchess de Nevers; he was more fortunate with the demoiselle la Bourdaisiere, whom he quitted for an attachment to the wife of a counsellor named Quelin. He then loved, without success, the wife of the master of requests, Boinville. The countess de Limous was less severe. He contracted a more lasting liaison with Jacqueline de Breuil, whom he created countess de Moret. Presently, however, he sought to console himself for infidelities in the affections of the demoiselle des Essarts, whom he created countess de Romorantin, and by whom he had two daughters legitimated. This woman, after the example of the countess de Moret, was guilty of several infidelities towards the king, particularly with Louis de Lorraine, cardinal and archbishop of Rheims. Henry IV had also for his mistress a lady of honour of the queen his wife, called Foulebon. At last he came desperately enamoured of the princesse de Conde, and this was his last love." (The Monthly Review: 293)
Passing from love to love.
" . . . With great facility he passed from love to love---La Petite Tignonville, Mlle. de Montagu, Arnaudine, La Garce (the Wench), Catherine de Luc, Anne de Cambefort. He molted creeds and mistresses without distressing his conscience or shifting his aim." (The Age of Reason Begins: 356)
Bestowing his wayward Heart on factual or fictional amourettes?.
"Careless in regard to himself, Henri did not seek refinements in those on whom, en passant, he bestowed his wayward heart. The anecdotiers and popular tradition ascribe to him at this period of his life many amourettes in which the damsel of his choice was of lowly birth and habits. There were, inter alia, we are told, Arnaudine of Agen; Fleurette, the daughter of the palace gardener at Nerac; a certain Demoiselle Maroquin; Xaintes, his wife's femme-de-chambre; and Picotine Pancoussaire, otherwise the Boulangere de St. Jean: in addition to all the ladies of the Court whom he honoured with his glances. But, except in one or two instances, such as that of Xaintes, those early love affairs remain vague, shadowy, authenticated only by the few passing allusions of memoir-writers and anecdotiers, and---in regard to details---transmitted to us only by popular report in the form of stories, such as merry fellows have told at evening by the fireside in some snug inn or tavern, when a bleak wind from the Pyrenees has been sweeping across the valleys of Bearn. Handed down in this wise from father to son, embellished from time to time just like so many Church legends, those tales undoubtedly testify to the virile reputation which the most amorous of Kings left behind him, but it is difficult to say whether they are even in the smallest degree founded upon fact. As with Queen Marguerite, so has it been with Henri. If one were to believe some accounts, she became the mistress of every man with whom she ever had the slightest intercourse; and in like way one might believe that Henri became the favoured lover of every woman, were the she grande dame, bourgeoisie, servant girl, or country wench, at whom he ever glanced or smiled, with whom he ever jested, or whom, perchance, he chuckled under the chin and gaily kissed as he rode through some village on his way to battle and victory." (Favourites of Henry of Navarre: 54)
Henri IV's amorous adventures with his first mistresses.
"Agrippa d'Aubigne, who in his Histoire Universelle depuis 1550 jusqu'en en 1601, does not disdain to relate in detail some of the amorous adventures of the King of Navarre, and reviews, in the Confession de Sancy, the first mistresses of this Prince, obscure ones or of low degree, who enjoyed but an ephemeral reign and who were frequently ill-paid. He commences by revealing the 'infamous amours' of Bearnais with Catherine de Luc of Agen, 'who afterward died of hunger, she and an infant which she had by the King;' he then goes on to speak of the demoiselle of Mantaigu (daughter of Jean de Balzac, superintendent of the household of the Prince de Conde), whom the chevalier of Mont Luc had left to the mercy of the Prince of Navarre through the mediation of a gentleman of Gascony, named Salbeuf, 'at which he was put to much pain,' for the reason that the poor demoiselle was greatly taken with the chevalier of Mont Luc, whom she had followed all the way to Rome, and for the reason that she felt a profound aversion to the King, 'then full of . . . . contracted by sleeping with Arnaudine, lass of the huntsman Labrosse.' D'Aubigne later names 'the little Tignonville, who was impressionable before being married.' She was the daughter of the governess of the Princess of Navarre, sister of the young Henry; the latter became foolishly enamoured of her, and his passion only grew with the resistance which it encountered. Sully reports, in his Oeconomies Royales, that, about 1576, the Prince went to Bearn, under pretext of seeing a sister, but no one at court was ignorant of the fact that the object of his voyage was to meet with the young Tignonville, 'of whom he was then amorous.' He wished to employ d'Aubigne to 'pimp that pretty creature' (maquinonner cette belle farouche); d'Aubigne refused to undertake such a task, and the Prince was forced to look elsewhere to achieve his end. Tignonville was obstinate and would hear nothing, before being provided with a husband, who would take upon his own shoulders the burden of the adventure; the Prince of Navarre finally married her off and obtained the right of prelibration.The Prince did not blush to descend even to chambermaids and girls of the servants' quarters. He had contracted a venereal malady, in forgetting himself in a stable of Agen, with a concubine of a palfrey, and barely was he cured when he slipped one night into the chamber of a servant maid whose affections he shared with a valet named Goliath; this goujat did not suspect that he had for rival the King his master, and endeavored to kill the latter by hurling a tuck at him at the moment when Henri of Navarre was leaving the bed of this Jourgandine. We can understand how, under such amorous auspices as these, the Prince was shaken in his assault upon the virtue of a demoiselle of Rabours, who did not hesitate to prefer him that Admiral of Anville, 'who loved her more honestly.'" (History of prostitution: 412)
More adventurous amours.
"D'Aubigne merely cites in summary fashion 'the amours with Dayel, the Fosseuse; with Fleurette, daughter of a gardener of Nerac; with Martine, wife of a doctor in attendance on the Princess of Conde' with the wife of Sponde' with Esther Imbert, who died, along with the son which she had by the King, of poverty, as well as the father of Esther, who died of hunger at Saint-Denys, pursuing the fortunes of his daughter. Afterward came the affairs with Maroquin, an old Gascon debauchee, to whom this nickname had been given 'because she had a leatherish skin and some sort of syphilis' . . .; with an old baker woman of Saint-Jean; with Madame de Petonville' with la Baveresse (the Slobberer), 'so named because she sweated so;' with Mademoiselle Duras; with the daughter of a concierge' with Picotin, an oven keeper (pan-coussaire) at Pau; with the Countess of Saint-Megrin; with the nurse of Castel-Jaloux, 'who wished to give him a slash with a knife, because for a crown which he gave this lady he got back fifteen sols for the maquerelle;' and, finally, with the two sisters of l'Epee. . . ." (History of prostitution: 414)
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| Henri d'Albret King of Navarre |
Henri IV's lovers were:
Bourbon Mistresses @YouTube
Madame Vincent.
She was one of the earliest of Henri IV's lovers.
Lover in 1571-1572.
Daughter of: the gardener of the Chateau de Nerac
"In the long list of fifty-six mistresses of Henry IV, complied from contemporary records by M. de Lescure in the middle of the last century---a list which that historian rightly says is incomplete---the eighth name is that of Fleurette. This young girl is called by other writers Florette, and she is generally designated by them as being, not the eighth, but the first object of the adoration of Henri de Navarre. She was the daughter of the head gardener of the Chateau de Nerac, was sprightly, with laughing dark eyes, and not more than a couple of years older than the Prince. By this demoiselle of Bearn, of plebeian origin, the precocious Henri became a father for the first time. What became of her, subsequently, or of the child that she bore to the future King of Navarre, and later of France, the records do not say. Even had the Prince of Bearn, afterwards so ready to publicly acknowledge his illegitimate offspring, and to ennoble them, been his own master, he would scarcely have dared to have indulged his pride in early parentage, so far as to legitimise a child of such humble origin. Nor do we know what Queen Jeanne thought or said about the matter. She had, it is true, become by that time a rigid Calvinist, but she had been brought up in the giddy Court of her uncle, Francois I. Therefore, although we fortunately possess no proof of the damaging assertion, made by Henri III to the King of Navarre, that his mother's good name had not always been above suspicion, we may deem it probably that she was not too severe with her son for this first youthful fredaine [an escapade] , to be followed shortly by many more." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 24)
"In the long list of fifty-six mistresses of Henry IV, complied from contemporary records by M. de Lescure in the middle of the last century---a list which that historian rightly says is incomplete---the eighth name is that of Fleurette. This young girl is called by other writers Florette, and she is generally designated by them as being, not the eighth, but the first object of the adoration of Henri de Navarre. She was the daughter of the head gardener of the Chateau de Nerac, was sprightly, with laughing dark eyes, and not more than a couple of years older than the Prince. By this demoiselle of Bearn, of plebeian origin, the precocious Henri became a father for the first time. What became of her, subsequently, or of the child that she bore to the future King of Navarre, and later of France, the records do not say. Even had the Prince of Bearn, afterwards so ready to publicly acknowledge his illegitimate offspring, and to ennoble them, been his own master, he would scarcely have dared to have indulged his pride in early parentage, so far as to legitimise a child of such humble origin. Nor do we know what Queen Jeanne thought or said about the matter. She had, it is true, become by that time a rigid Calvinist, but she had been brought up in the giddy Court of her uncle, Francois I. Therefore, although we fortunately possess no proof of the damaging assertion, made by Henri III to the King of Navarre, that his mother's good name had not always been above suspicion, we may deem it probably that she was not too severe with her son for this first youthful fredaine [an escapade] , to be followed shortly by many more." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 24)
"Despite the surveillance of his stern Huguenot preceptor, Florent Chretien, Henri entered upon his career of gallantry at La Rochelle when he was barely fifteen. The object of this first attachment was a damsel named Florette or Fleurette, who would appear to have been a daughter of a gardener, and is said to have presented him with a son. . . . "(Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 2)
"After this singular debut [that is, affair with Madame de Beauvais], the monarch addressed the same homage to 'une petite jardiniere,' by whom he had a daughter, who was brought up without scandal and married secretly to a gentleman of some position. . . ." (Five Fair Sisters: 66)
Chateau de Nerac
Suzanne des Moulins.
Lover in 1572?
Wife of: Pierre de Martines de Morantin (d.1591), Professor of Greek & Hebrew, University for Protestants.
Natural offspring: A son who died.
" . . . Among the balls and fetes which celebrated the conclusion of the peace at La Rochelle, Henri de Navarre, now a young and successful hero, was not long in discerning a very handsome face. It was that of a young married lady, wife of Pierre de Martines, an aged professor of Greek and Hebrew. Suzanne des Moulins, the spouse of the instructor in an University for Protestants largely endowed by the Bearnais, Coligny, and Prince Henri de Conde, was a compatriot of Henri de Navarre, who was not quite eighteen when he first met her. She was born at Arguedas, in Navarre, but, beyond the fact of her being many years the Professor's junior at the time when she was first distinguished by what the contemporary writers call the Prince's 'kindness,' the young lady's age is unknown. The warlike renown, the rank, and the good nature of one who was to become the King, soon won the heart and overcame the scruples of the fair Suzanne, and again, although Henri seems to have thrown no cloak over the liaison which soon took place between them, his strong-minded mother does not appear to have intervened to cause her son to behave with greater propriety." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 28)
". . . It was also at La Rochelle that, after a brief interval, we hear him laying successful siege to the heart of Suzanne des Moulins, wife of Pierre Mathieu, a professor at the University. This lady likewise presented him with a pledge of her affection, but the child also a son only lived a short time." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 2)
Madame de Martines's other lovers.
Madame de Martines's other lovers.
"According to La Confession de Sancy, that lively satire of the faithful follower and historian of Henri IV, Agrippa d'Aubigne, this tender-hearted lady found place in her affections for other lovers when the Prince had become as openly inconstant as he had been openly devoted. Among these was a man of considerable note as an author, the Seigneur de Fay, the grandson of de l'Hopital, the celebrated Chancellor of Catherine de Medicis." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 30)
Natural offspring.
Natural offspring.
"For five years after the death of her son by Henri de Navarre the amiable Madame de Martines had no children. Shen then gave birth in rapid succession to two sons and two daughters, but, like the son of a Royal father, these all died in early infancy. During her married life after, save for an occasional meeting, Henri had passed out of it, Susanne would not seem to have been inconsolable." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 30)
Effects of the affair on the lovers' families and society.
"The ministers of the Reformed religion at La Rochelle did not view the matter with equal complacency---they did not scruple to call the Prince to book from the pulpit on account of his misconduct. Bassompierre says in his Memoires: 'Being in the springtime of his youth at La Rochelle, Henry IV seduced a bourgeoise named the lady Martines, by whom he had a son, who died. The ministers and the consistory addressed public remonstrances to him in the Protestant meeting-house.' In spite of this public reprobation to which the Bearnais and his lightly conducted paramour were thus exposed, that the worthy Professor seems to have thought very little of the matter is evident from a further passage in the same Memoires: He did not even complain of the Prince's attentions, thinking that Madame Martinia and Henri did not go beyond the bounds of simple gallantry, and did not push the matter further than play'. . . [I]t is more than probable that, like many other husband whose wife has been honoured by the 'kindness' of Royalty, he found it more to his interest to pretend that he could not see that which the clergy declared to be an open scandal. He may even . . . have considered in the light of an honour the attentions to his young spouse of the Prince who had called him from Navarre to a lucrative position at Rochelle. Be that as it may, the Professor never treated Suzanne other than kindly, and when he died, twenty years later in 1591, expressed himself in most effusive terms in his will, and left her all his property." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 28)
Bretine de Duras.
Lover in 1573-1574.
Daughter of a miller
French aristocrat, beauty, courtier & royal mistress
1. Simon de Fizes, Baron de Sauve (d.1579) mar 1569
2. Francois de La Trémoille, Marquis de Noirmoutiers, mar 1584.
Natural offspring: Jeanne-Huguette de Beaune Semblançay (1572-?)
"Charlotte de Beaune-Sembancay (1551-1617) became Comtesse de Sauve on her marriage to Simon de Fizes (d.1579), Baron de Sauve. She took a second husband, Francois de La Tremoille, Marquis de Noirmoutier. Her numerous lovers included Henry of Navarre, d'Alencon, Souvre, and du Guast. Marguerite called her a 'Circe'. Henry of Navarre said that she was responsible for the bestiality which alienated him from d'Alencon. Of her many lovers, she remained most attached to Henry de Guise." (La Reine Margot: 481)
Bretine de Duras.
Lover in 1573-1574.
Daughter of a miller
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| Charlotte de Sauve @Wikimedia |
Charlotte de Sauve (1551-1617)
Lover in 1573-1576.French aristocrat, beauty, courtier & royal mistress
1. Simon de Fizes, Baron de Sauve (d.1579) mar 1569
2. Francois de La Trémoille, Marquis de Noirmoutiers, mar 1584.
Natural offspring: Jeanne-Huguette de Beaune Semblançay (1572-?)
"Charlotte de Beaune-Sembancay (1551-1617) became Comtesse de Sauve on her marriage to Simon de Fizes (d.1579), Baron de Sauve. She took a second husband, Francois de La Tremoille, Marquis de Noirmoutier. Her numerous lovers included Henry of Navarre, d'Alencon, Souvre, and du Guast. Marguerite called her a 'Circe'. Henry of Navarre said that she was responsible for the bestiality which alienated him from d'Alencon. Of her many lovers, she remained most attached to Henry de Guise." (La Reine Margot: 481)
Charlotte became the mistress of Catherine’s son Francois, Duc d’Alencon and then of her son-in-law Henry of Navarre. Charlotte was also the mistress of Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise and was with him the night before his assassination at Blois (Dec 23, 1588). During the reign of Henry IV (1588–1617) Madame de Noirmoutiers attended the Bourbon court but though she was received there by the royal family, she never lived down her previous scandalous reputation. With the death of her husband (Feb, 1608), she became the Dowager Marquise de Noirmoutiers. Madame de Noirmoutiers died (Sept 30, 1617) aged sixty-six. Charlotte appears as a character in the historical novel entitled Evergreen Gallant (1965) by British novelist Jean Plaidy." (Women of History)
Louise de La Beraudiere
Louise de La Beraudiere (1530-1586)Lover in 1575.
Maid-of-honour to Catherine de' Medici, Maid of Honour to Marguerite de Valois
Daughter of: Louis de La Beraudiere.
Her other lovers were:
1. Antoine I de Navarre, Henri IV's father.
2. Henri III de France
Marguerite d'Avila (1553-1625)
Lover in 1575 & 1578-1579.
Cypriot lady.
Daughter of: Antoine d'Avila & Florence Synticlico.
Wife of: Jean d'Hemeries, Sieur de Villers, a Norman gentleman
Louise Borre (1555-1632).
Lover in 1575-1576.
Daughter of: Jehan Borre, a royal notary.
Wife of: Perrine Lebreton, mar 1603
Natural offspring:
1. Herve Borre (1576-1634)
Jeanne de Tignonville.
Lover in 1577-1578.
Baronne de Panges.
Daughter of: Lancelot de Montceau, Seigneur de Tignonville & President of Parliament of Paris
Wife of: Francois de Pardaillan, Baron de Panges.
"It was not, however, until the autumn of 1578 that Marguerite was permitted to join him, and, in the interval, his Majesty would appear to have got on excellently well without his consort. To this epoch belongs his affair with Mlle. de Tignonville, daughter of Lancelot de Montceau, Seigneur de Tignonville, first maitre d'hotel to the King of Navarre. So enamoured did he become of this damsel, that he made the long journey to Bearn, under the pretext of seeing his sister Catherine, in order to pay court to her. At first Mlle. de Tignonville would have none of him, but he is believed to have triumphed over her resistance, eventually, by the aid of a Gascon named Salboeuf, who, says, d'Aubigne, 'did not play the part of a gentleman in this matter.'" (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 3)
" . . . Nevertheless, the King of Navarre was at this very time engaged himself in casting sheep's-eyes, which for a time thrown in vain, at a very pretty and interesting young lady, one of his own subjects. We have mentioned how Henri had regained his sister Catherine from guardianship or imprisonment which she had been undergoing at the Court of France, and that she had then become a Protestant again, as she had been in her childhood. He now took her off to the Court of Navarre, which its King was in the habit of gathering around him alternately at the two Bearnese capitals, Nerac and Pau. There he appointed, as governess to his sister, now termed 'Madame,' a lady of noble birth, Madame de Tignonville. This lady had a young and beautiful daughter, Jeanne, for whom her amorous King was soon sighing full blast with all the fury of a furnace. The girl, however, was virtuous, or at any rate determined to remain chaste until her marriage. Thereupon Henri vainly imagined that he could employ his faithful follower and watch-dog d'Aubigne, to overcome the young lady's scruples. He had, however, got hold of the wrong man; there were not many things that d'Aubigne would not do in peace or war to oblige the King of Navarre, but to play the role of Mercury to his Jove was not one of them. Accordingly, in spite of prayers and menaces, and likewise various bad turns which the malicious Henri played his servant, the gallant d'Aubigne remained most obstinately incorruptible; and we honour him accordingly, as being a man of far more principle than his master." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre & Marguerite de Valois: 148)
'Thence the King of Navarre made his journey into Gascony. Thereupon the young King having commenced his amours with the young Tignonville, who, as long as she remained a maid, virtuously resisted, the King sought to employ Aubigne in the matter, having asserted, as a certain fact, that to him nothing was impossible." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre & Marguerite de Valois: 149)
"In the meanwhile Jeanne de Tignonville remained on her side equally inflexible, until the King of Navarre having provided her with a husband in the person of Francois, Baron de Pardaillan, comte de Pangeas, she considered that her reputation was no longer at stage, and yielded to her Sovereign's desires. At last, then, the Ling of Navarre was successful in attaining the object of his passion, apparently with no opposition on the part of Jeanne's husband, who, with the usual facility of the husbands of those days in the presence of royalty, doubtless eclipsed himself until the fickle fancy of the young King had been enchained elsewhere. . . ." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre & Marguerite de Valois: 150)
Dayelle the Cyprian (1553-1584)
Lover in 1578.
Spanish lady-in-waiting, Maid of Honour of Queen Marguerite.
Daughter of: Francisco de Ayala & Portia Pagano.
Wife of: Camille de Fera (1513-1594) mar 1580.
"The King had been previously 'very amorous' of one of these beautiful maids, so well trained, as Hardouin de Parefixe tells us, by the Queen mother 'to amuse the princes and the seigneurs and to discover all their thoughts.' This maid was La Dayelle, native of the Isle of Cyprus, who won her dowry by amusing Henri of Navarre, and who afterwards wed Jean d'Hemerits, a Norman gentleman. Dayelle had not occupied the King's attention seriously enough to distract him from his vagabond amours; he also had a 'kindly feeling' (bontes) in passing for the wife of the scholar, Martinius, professor of Greek and Hebrew, who insisted on believing that his Martine and the King 'would not carry things any further than a game,' as Colomiez says (in his Gaule Orientale, page 93).
After the departure of Dayelle, the King,' relates Marguerite, 'set about seeking for Rebours, daughter of the president of the Parliament of Paris, who was a malicious girl,' and one who had no love for the Queen but who did the latter all the bad offices of her power. This maid, who died a short time afterward at Chenonceaux, where Marguerite went to visit her and forgave her all, had given the King a rival in the hope of making a husband of this lover, who was Geoffrey de Buad, Seigneur de Frontenac. La Rebours was not yet dead when the King 'commenced to embark with Fosseuse, who was very beautiful and then quite a child and altogether innocent. Francoise de Montmorency, called La belle Fonsseuse, for the reason that her father was Baron of Fosseux, was one of the maids of honor of the Queen mother; but she consented to enter the house of Queen Marguerite, in order to be near the King, whom she love 'extremely,' although she had not 'permitted jim any privileges which decency might not permit;' but Henri was once more jealous of his brother-in-law, the Duke of Alencon, who was courting La Fosseuse at the same time; the latter, in order to remove his jealousy and let him know that she loved none but him, so abandoned herself to content him in all things that he might want of er that she unfortunately become pregnant.' Marguerite lent a hand in concealing this pregnancy, and it was she who took in the infant whom La Fosseuse brought into the world. This maid promised herself that she would one day supplant the Queen, and marry the father of her son. But the child did not live, and the mother, cast aside like all those who who preceded her, proceeded to wed, at the King's good pleasure, Francois de Broc, Seigneur de Saint_Mars." (History of prostitution: 417)
"In these pages we prefer to speak only of those love affairs of Henri's of which there is some evidence. Respecting his infatuation for Dayelle very few details have come down to us. We know, however, that he lost her when Catherine de' Medici, having established peace between him and her son Henri III, at least returned to Paris. For Dayelle went thither with the Queen-mother, and soon afterwards became the wife of a Norman noble, Jean d'Hemerits, Sieur de Villers. . . ." (The Favourites of Henry of Navarre: 55)
" . . . Henry's latest attractions were Victoria d'Ayala (dubbed Dayelle by Marguerite)... Considering her own behaviour Marguerite had little cause to complain about Dayelle and Fosseuse and indeed made light of the matter, describing Henry's penchant for young mistresses as an 'erreur de jeunesse'. . . ." (Honeyman. Shakespeare's Sonnets and the Court of Navarre: 57)
". . . Henri de Navarre paid more attention to the Cyprian beauty known as Dayelle. She and her brother, it appears, were of Greek birth, and had escaped from Cyprus, when in 1570 that island was wrested by the Turks from the Venetians. Coming to France. the brother was patronized by the Duke d'Alencon, who made him a gentleman of his chamber, while the sister was added to that battalion of frail fair ones with whom Catherine de' Medici loved to surround herself. Henri de Navarre had already met Dayelle in Paris at the time of his infatuation for Mme. de Sauves, but he had then paid little heed to her; whereas now it was Mme. de Sauves whom he neglected, reserving all his glances for the languorous eastern beauty of the almond-eyed Cyprian." (Vizetelly: 51)
". . . His independence had also allowed him to cultivate a penchant for sexual adventure. When his wife and mother-in-law joined him, Navarre [Henri IV] immediately became involved with Victoria de Ayata, a new Spanish lady-in-waiting to Catherine, Whatever its personal dynamic, religion and politics further complicated their relationship." (Wellman: 292)
Anne de Balzac de Montaigu.
Lover in 1578 or 1579.
Wife of
1. Francois de l'Isle &
2. Louis-Seguier de Brisson.
Marguerite de Rebours (1557-1610)
Lover in 1579.
Maid-of-honour to Queen of Navarre Marguerite de Valois 1579
Daughter of one Montabert, Sieur de Rebours, a Huguenot nobleman of Dauphine.
Mademoiselle de Rebours's other lovers were:
1. Charles de Montmorency, Duc de Damville.
2. Geoffroy de Buade, Seigneur de Frontenac.
"Madame de Sauve and the fascinating Mlle. Dayelle having followed Catherine to Paris, Henri turned for consolation to one of his wife's maids-of-honour, Mlle. de Rebours, 'a malicious girl,' says Marguerite, 'who disliked me and endeavoured by every means in her power to prejudice me in the eyes of the King my husband.' Mlle. de Rebours's favour, however, was not of long duration, for when the Court quitted Pau for Nerac, in the following June, she was ill and had to be left behind, and by the time she was sufficiently recovered to regain it, her place in the King's affections had been usurped by another of Marguerite's maids-of-honour, Mlle. de Fosseux. . . . " (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 6)
Mlle. de Rebours's physical appearance & personal qualities.
" . . . Marguerite, Mlle. de Rebours was a very malicious young person, who did not like her, but did every possible ill turn. Slight and slender, however, she was also very delicate, and thus Henri's intrigue with her was of short duration. 'Amidst these contrarieties,' writes Marguerite (referring to the dislike which the more zealous Huguenots evinced for her), 'God, to whom I always had recourse, at last took pity on my tears, and permitted that we should depart from that little Geneva, Pau, where, by a piece of good fortune for me, Rebours remained lying ill, in such wise that the King, my husband, losing sight of her, also lost his affection for her, and began to engage with Fosseuse, who was much prettier, and at that time young and very good-natured.'" (The favourites of Henry of Navarre: 57)
Mlle. de Rebours's personal & family background.
"There was a certain Mlle. de Rebours, whose parentage is somewhat doubtful, some authorities saying that she was the daughter of one Montabert, Sieur de Rebours, a Huguenot nobleman of Dauphine, killed at the St. Bartholomew massacre; while according to others her father was a judge, first at Calais, and later of the Parliament of Paris. L'Estoille chronicles a somewhat amusing jeu de mots respecting his personage, who was in the capital at the time Henri de Navarre besieged it. His troops having planted a couple of cannon on the height of Montmartre, were firing on the city when a ball from one of the guns broke one of M. de Rebours' legs. Thereupon, as he was suspected of secretly favouring the royal cause, the preachers of the League made a great joke of the affair, declaring from the pulpit that 'the cannon shots of the Royalists went a rebours.'" (The favourites of Henry of Navarre: 56)
Anne de Cambefort.
Lover in 1579.
"She threw herself out of the window when the King left her." (Histoire de France)
Arnaudine de Agen.
Lover in 1579.
Maid of Catherine Luc.
Catherine de Luc d'Agen.
Lover in 1579.
Daughter of a doctor in Agen
" . . . She gives birth to a child of the King. When the King abandons her, she lets herself die of hunger." (Histoire de France)
Aimee Le Grand.
Lover in 1579.
Lover in 1579-1581.
Maid-of-honour to Queen Marguerite 1579
Bridesmaid to Queen Catherine de' Medici.
Daughter of: Pierre I de Montmorency-Fosseux, Sire de Fosseuse & Marquis de Thury & Jacqueline d'Avaugour.
Wife of: Francois de Broc, Baron de Cinq-Mars, mar 1596.
"Henry IV was not called the green-gallant for nothing. In addition to his official mistresses, the king also lived small stories more or less short. The first of his known mistresses was Francoise de Montmorency-Fosseux, called the "beautiful Fosseuse". She was an unmarried girl, born in 1562 and who became the mistress of Henri IV in 1579, being one of the bridesmaids of Catherine de Medici. Francoise was the first love of the king who was suffering from his marriage with Marguerite de Valois. Francoise quickly became pregnant with Henri, which provoked the wrath of 'Queen Margot'. The latter arranged for the birth to take place as discreetly as possible. Francoise gave birth to a stillborn daughter in 1581 and was expelled by the wife of her lover in 1582. If Mlle de Montmorency had given birth to a son who had lived, it could have blocked access to the throne of Henri IV to the death of Henry III." (L'Envers de l'Histoire)
". . . (T)he king my husband, losing sight of her [Mademoiselle de Rebours], lost all his affection too, and began to flirt with Fosseuse, who was very pretty, quite a child, and very virtuous. . . .'" (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 188)
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| Henry of Navarre & La Belle Fosseuse @Wikipedia |
"During their journey the King of Navarre fell ill, and Marguerite tells us how she nursed him for seventeen days and nights without undressing; and in this task she was aided by the Comte de Turenne, afterwards Duc de Bouillon. Her peace of mind, relative as it was, was soon disturbed once more. Troubles broke out in Guienne between the Catholics and the King of Navarre, and who should appear on the scene as a peacemaker, but the Duc d'Alencon, who soon managed to conclude a peace which was afterwards ratified by Henri III. The duke, unfortunately for all parties, fell in love with Fosseuse. Knowing that the King of Navarre would suspect her of furthering the suit of the duke, her brother, Marguerite relates how she implored him to take his departure, and Fosseuse, seeing his Majesty, whom she loved, exceedingly jealous, consented to become his mistress. What followed appears almost incredible. Fosseuse, when about to become a mother, gained complete ascendancy over the king, who not only neglected his wife, but wished to oblige her to accompany him and his mistress to Aigues Chaudes. Marguerite resisted, and in the end her husband and Fosseuse set out for the baths accompanied by Villesavin and Rebours. Marguerite shortly afterwards learned that the king had promised to marry Fosseuse if she were confined of a son. . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 189)
"The renewal of the civil war temporarily interrupted his Majesty's courtship of Fosseuse, and when, after some months, the conclusion of peace gave him leisure to resume it, he found, to his mortification, that he no longer had the field to himself. The Duc d'Anjou had been sent to Gascony to treat for peace on behalf of Henri III and after his diplomatic labours were over, he remained as a guest at his brother-in-law's court. Monsieur, who had a marvelous aptitude for making mischief wherever he went, did not fail to maintain his reputation in this respect. He fell in love with the fair Fosseuse, and, for a time, there reigned between him and his royal host a rivalry almost as bitter as had existed in the days when they were both at the feet of Madame de Sauve. . . ." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 3-4)
Xainte.
Lover in 1580.
Maid of honour to Queen Marguerite
"At the same time that he flirted with this ingenue, the Bearnais cast a favourable eye upon a soubrette in his wife's service called Xainte, 'avec laquelle il familiarisait.' The Queen, however, was not in a position to protest having a little affair of her own, with the handsome Vicomte de Turenne, afterwards Duc de Bouillon." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 7)
"Having seen Gabrielle d'Estrees,' continues Bassompierre, 'he became so enamoured of her that he forgot the Countess de la Roche-Guyon.
Madame de Sponde.
Lover in 1580.
Wife of: Jean de Sponde, a classical scholar
"Henri had upon his subsequent visits to La Rochelle various other tender love-passages with ladies of that Protestant city. Of his connection with Madame de Sponde, another Navarrese lady and wife of another classical scholar, who translated Homer and Hesiod, there is not much worthy of remark, save that d'Aubigne, who never loved the mistresses of the master whom he served so well, hated both the husband and wife, and abuses both alike." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 30)
Beneficiaries of the affair.
"Jean de Sponde evidently was one of those who profited by his wife's infidelities; he was appointed to a very high position at La Rochelle, which he filled very badly, and wherein he caused great municipal confusion by his mismanagement." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 30)
Anne de Petonville.
Lover in 1580.Marguerite de Gramont (1555-1620).
Lover in 1582.
Wife of: Philibert de Gramont (d.1580), Comte de Gramont and de Guiche, Governor of Bayonne, Seneschal of Bearn. mar 1567
A lover worthy of divorcing a wife?.
" . . . The passion of Henri IV for this lady was so great that he declared his intention of obtaining a divorce from Marguerite de Valois, for the purpose of making her his wife; a project from which he was dissuaded by D'Aubigny, who represented that the contempt which could not fail to be felt by the French for a monarch who had degraded himself by an alliance with his mistress, would inevitably deprive him of the throne in the event of the death of Henri III and the duc d'Alencon." (The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France: 46)
A cut above the rest of royal lovers.
"Madame de Gramont, who was a year or two older than her royal lover, was a very different kind of woman from the frail beauties who had hitherto engaged Henri's attentions. In the first place, she was very wealthy, being the only child of Paul d'Andouins,Vicomte de Gramont, the favourite of Henri III, who was mortally wounded at the siege of La Fere in August 1580; and her affection for the king was quite disinterested. In the second, she was a woman of considerable intellectual attainments and most accomplished musician, and in 1673 had given proof of a courage and sang-froid very unusual in one of her sex, when she had saved the life of her father-in-law, attacked at the Chateau of Hagetmau, near Pau, by a band of Protestant rebels, led by the Baron d'Arras. Lastly, though she passed several years of her married life amidst the corrupting atmosphere of the dissolute Court of the Valois, where vice was the mode, and virtue, even ordinary decency, was mocked and derided, she has the great honour not to figure in the scandals to which the chroniclers of the time devote so many pages." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 14)
First encounter.
"It was not indeed, until after the death of her husband, when she was living at the Chateau of Hagetmau, that her liaison with the King of Navarre, whom she had known since the time when they were children, began. The date is uncertain, but it was probably shortly after the departure of Marguerite and the fair Fosseuse for Paris in January 1582, though some historians place it at the end of 1580. . . . " (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 15)
" . . . Henry of Navarre's eyes were at last opened, and he decided to escape from the Court of the Valois, and regain his liberty. He succeeded in his design and passing the Seine at Poissy, arrived first at Alencon and then at Tours. It was soon afterwards that Henry of Navarre went as a matter of duty to visit the Comte de Gramont, whose family had rendered him important services, and for the first time met Diane de Gramont, known as 'la belle Corisande.' The Comtes de Gramont were very devoted followers of the princes of Navarre . . . Philibert de Gramont, Comte de Guiche, fought by the side of Henry in his battles, lost his arm and soon afterwards his life in the service of his king. . . ." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: the Romance of the Crowned and Uncrowned Kings and Queens of Europe: 25)
"It was during this period that the King of Navarre made the conquest of the Comtesse Diana de Guiche, the widow of Philibert de Gramont, who had fallen in the service of his Majesty. The countess, who went by the name of La belle Corisande, appears to have held a sort of court of love at her castle of Louvigny. The inflammable Henri de Navarre had no sooner seen this lady than he became violently enamoured of her, and aware of the scandalous life which his wife was leading in Auvergne, proposed to marry her. He is said even to have signed a promise to this effect with his blood, and to have consulted his advisers as to the expediency of divorcing Marguerite de Valois and marrying his new love. La belle Corisande had given Henri de Navarre very solid proofs of her affection for himself and his cause; she had pawned her broad lands and sold her jewels to enable him to pay his army. Henri at this moment, remarked Capefigue, despaired of ever becoming King of France, and seriously thought of founding a new kingdom composed of Aquitaine and Gascony. Now the house of Gramont-Guiche was descended in direct line from the Dukes of Gascony, and what could he do better than marry La belle Corisande, and share with her his new throne? . . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 198)
Why Diane d'Andouins?.
". . . Madame de Gramont inspired in the volatile heart of the Bearnais the love the most worthy, as well as the most durable, which he had yet experienced; he gave her his fullest confidence and treated her with almost as much respect as he would have shown to a queen." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 15)
"Henry was sufficiently enamoured of Corisande to make her a promise of marriage, signed in blood; to offer to recognize her son; and to weep bitterly when the one she gave him died in infancy. His love for her was augmented by the admiration and gratitude he felt towards the woman whose heroic devotion to him, during this war, went as far as to pledge lands and jewels in order to procure him men and horses. She was the soul of all his expeditions, a faithful friend in his days of need, and Henry, in his turn, gave her strongg proofs of his attachment, and it was no fault of his that these did not receive the seal of matrimony." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: 26)
Promised marriage or true love?.
"Henry de Navarre dipped a pen in the blood of his wounds and signed a paper in which he gave his royal word to marry the beautiful Corisande, once he had rid himself, by means of a divorce, of his wife, Marguerite de Valois, the famous Reine Margot, to whom he was only nominally married. We are told that Corisande refused to listen to the King's protestations of love, or to lend a willing ear to his assiduities until the contract had been signed with his blood. To do justice, however to the Comtesse de Gramont, we must point out that she loved Henry for himself. Among the many mistresses of this king she was perhaps the only one who was disinterested. She loved him in the days of his adversity. He knew it, and he appreciated it. He was grateful for her affection, and out of gratitude he gave her that contract signed with his blood." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: 27-28)
Affair's end & aftermath.
"We shall have to refer to two more letters to Corisande further on in connection with the King of Navarre's sister, Catherine de Bourbon. Suffice it to say that at this moment Corisande was terribly jealous, and continued to load the King of Navarre with reproaches in spite of all his protestations of fidelity. It was not until March, 1591, that the rupture came, and that Henri IV wrote his quondam mistress a letter which brought their liaison to a close. In a fit of jealousy she had presumed to revenge herself by meddling with the family affairs of his Majesty." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol ume 1: 202)
"The fugitive attachments of the King of Navarre did not prevent him from continuing his correspondence with Corisande, whom he constantly assured of his unalterable fidelity; he wrote to her from the trenches of Arques, after the death of Henry III, and when he had become King of France, and this correspondence did not cease until 1591, or nearly two years after the monarch had fallen in love with La Be Gabrielle. It was brought to a close because Corisande, who had lost all her personal charms, and had become coarse and corpulent, vexed at the conduct of her lover, determined to revenge herself. For this purpose, contrary to the wishes of the king, she did what she could to favour the marriage of his Majesty's sister, Catherine de Bourbon, with the Comte de Soissons. She even persuaded them to get married secretly, in the absence of the king, who was campaigning in the company with Gabrielle d'Estrees. Henri IV, greatly irritated at this interference in his domestic policy, seized the opportunity to break off all further relations with Corisande. . . According to Sully, the Comtesse de Guiche was irritated not only because the king, having loved her, loved others, but because, when she had lost her attractions, he was ashamed of ever having loved her. . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Volume 1: 210)
Personal & family background.
Diane d'Andouins, Vicomtesse de Louvigni, dame de l'Escun, was the only daughter of Paul, Vicomte de Louvigni, Seigneur de l'Escun, and of Marguerite de Cauna. While yet a mere girl, she became the wife of Philibert de Grammont, Come de Guiche, Governor of Bayonne, and Seneschal of Bearn...." (The Life of Marie de Medicis: 46)
Diane's spouse & children.
" . . . On August 7, 1567, this same Philibert de Gramont and Toulongeon, Comte de Gramont, known as Comte de Guiche, Vicomte d'Aster, Mayor of Bordeaux, Governor of Bayonne, and Seneschal of Bearn, married Diane d'Andouins, Vicomtesse de Louvigny, the only daughter of Paul, Viscount de Louvigny, and Lord of Lescun. She was surnamed Corisande, after the fashion of the time which made the grand ladies of the Court of France adopt some name of a heroine, borrowed from the novels of the chivalrous middle ages. . . ." (Royal Lovers & Mistresses: 25)
Natural offspring: Gideon (1587-1588)
"Alas! Henri's fidelity to Corisande was very far from being so 'white and spotless' as he asserted. During the years of their liaison the names of quite a number of women are associated with his. His affair with the wife of the learned and unsuspecting Pierre Martine, of La Rochelle, belongs to this period, and about the same time his Majesty gained the favour of a certain Mlle. Esther de Boyslambert, of that town, who, in August 1587, presented him with a son. Henri lived quite openly with this lady in the Hotel d'Hure, Rue de Bazoges, at La Rochelle, to the great scandal of the Calvinist pastors, who exhorted him from the pulpit to amend the irregularities of his life. . . ." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 23).
Lover in 1582.
Vicomtesse de Duras.
Sister of Corisande
Wife of Jean de Durfort, Vicomte de Duras
Friend & Maid of Honour of Queen Marguerite de Valois
"Philibert de Gramont died in August 1580 at the siege of La Fere. Montaigne writes of accompanying the funeral cortege to Soissons in 'Of diversion.' In 1582 his widow became the mistress of the Protestant leader, Henry, the king of Navarre. She supported Montaigne's political career and became a conduit between him and Henry, including his two visits to the chateau de Montaigne in December 1584 and October 1587. Nearer the end of the book that would appear in 1580, Montaigne placed a long aside to Marguerite d'Aure-Gramont, Madame de Duras. Daughter of the governor of Bearn and sister of Philibert de Gramont, she married in 1572 Jean de Durfort, Viscount of Duras. He abjured his Protestant faith after the Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre and shifted his support to the Catholic forces, thereby earning the animosity of Henry of Navarre. . . ." (The Oxford Handbook of Montaigne: 589)
Diane d'Andouins (1554-1620)
Lover in 1582-1587.
Comtesse de Guiche, Vicomtesse de Louvigny, Dame de Lescun, Comtesse de Gramont y Guiche.
Daughter of: Paul Vicomte de Louvigny, Seigneur de l'Escun & Marguerite de Cauna.
Lover in 1582-1587.
Comtesse de Guiche, Vicomtesse de Louvigny, Dame de Lescun, Comtesse de Gramont y Guiche.
Daughter of: Paul Vicomte de Louvigny, Seigneur de l'Escun & Marguerite de Cauna.
Wife of: Philibert de Gramont (d.1580), Comte de Gramont and de Guiche, Governor of Bayonne, Seneschal of Bearn. mar 1567
A lover worthy of divorcing a wife?.
" . . . The passion of Henri IV for this lady was so great that he declared his intention of obtaining a divorce from Marguerite de Valois, for the purpose of making her his wife; a project from which he was dissuaded by D'Aubigny, who represented that the contempt which could not fail to be felt by the French for a monarch who had degraded himself by an alliance with his mistress, would inevitably deprive him of the throne in the event of the death of Henri III and the duc d'Alencon." (The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France: 46)
A cut above the rest of royal lovers.
"Madame de Gramont, who was a year or two older than her royal lover, was a very different kind of woman from the frail beauties who had hitherto engaged Henri's attentions. In the first place, she was very wealthy, being the only child of Paul d'Andouins,Vicomte de Gramont, the favourite of Henri III, who was mortally wounded at the siege of La Fere in August 1580; and her affection for the king was quite disinterested. In the second, she was a woman of considerable intellectual attainments and most accomplished musician, and in 1673 had given proof of a courage and sang-froid very unusual in one of her sex, when she had saved the life of her father-in-law, attacked at the Chateau of Hagetmau, near Pau, by a band of Protestant rebels, led by the Baron d'Arras. Lastly, though she passed several years of her married life amidst the corrupting atmosphere of the dissolute Court of the Valois, where vice was the mode, and virtue, even ordinary decency, was mocked and derided, she has the great honour not to figure in the scandals to which the chroniclers of the time devote so many pages." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 14)
First encounter.
"It was not indeed, until after the death of her husband, when she was living at the Chateau of Hagetmau, that her liaison with the King of Navarre, whom she had known since the time when they were children, began. The date is uncertain, but it was probably shortly after the departure of Marguerite and the fair Fosseuse for Paris in January 1582, though some historians place it at the end of 1580. . . . " (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 15)
" . . . Henry of Navarre's eyes were at last opened, and he decided to escape from the Court of the Valois, and regain his liberty. He succeeded in his design and passing the Seine at Poissy, arrived first at Alencon and then at Tours. It was soon afterwards that Henry of Navarre went as a matter of duty to visit the Comte de Gramont, whose family had rendered him important services, and for the first time met Diane de Gramont, known as 'la belle Corisande.' The Comtes de Gramont were very devoted followers of the princes of Navarre . . . Philibert de Gramont, Comte de Guiche, fought by the side of Henry in his battles, lost his arm and soon afterwards his life in the service of his king. . . ." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: the Romance of the Crowned and Uncrowned Kings and Queens of Europe: 25)
"It was during this period that the King of Navarre made the conquest of the Comtesse Diana de Guiche, the widow of Philibert de Gramont, who had fallen in the service of his Majesty. The countess, who went by the name of La belle Corisande, appears to have held a sort of court of love at her castle of Louvigny. The inflammable Henri de Navarre had no sooner seen this lady than he became violently enamoured of her, and aware of the scandalous life which his wife was leading in Auvergne, proposed to marry her. He is said even to have signed a promise to this effect with his blood, and to have consulted his advisers as to the expediency of divorcing Marguerite de Valois and marrying his new love. La belle Corisande had given Henri de Navarre very solid proofs of her affection for himself and his cause; she had pawned her broad lands and sold her jewels to enable him to pay his army. Henri at this moment, remarked Capefigue, despaired of ever becoming King of France, and seriously thought of founding a new kingdom composed of Aquitaine and Gascony. Now the house of Gramont-Guiche was descended in direct line from the Dukes of Gascony, and what could he do better than marry La belle Corisande, and share with her his new throne? . . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 198)
Why Diane d'Andouins?.
". . . Madame de Gramont inspired in the volatile heart of the Bearnais the love the most worthy, as well as the most durable, which he had yet experienced; he gave her his fullest confidence and treated her with almost as much respect as he would have shown to a queen." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 15)
"Henry was sufficiently enamoured of Corisande to make her a promise of marriage, signed in blood; to offer to recognize her son; and to weep bitterly when the one she gave him died in infancy. His love for her was augmented by the admiration and gratitude he felt towards the woman whose heroic devotion to him, during this war, went as far as to pledge lands and jewels in order to procure him men and horses. She was the soul of all his expeditions, a faithful friend in his days of need, and Henry, in his turn, gave her strongg proofs of his attachment, and it was no fault of his that these did not receive the seal of matrimony." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: 26)
Promised marriage or true love?.
"Henry de Navarre dipped a pen in the blood of his wounds and signed a paper in which he gave his royal word to marry the beautiful Corisande, once he had rid himself, by means of a divorce, of his wife, Marguerite de Valois, the famous Reine Margot, to whom he was only nominally married. We are told that Corisande refused to listen to the King's protestations of love, or to lend a willing ear to his assiduities until the contract had been signed with his blood. To do justice, however to the Comtesse de Gramont, we must point out that she loved Henry for himself. Among the many mistresses of this king she was perhaps the only one who was disinterested. She loved him in the days of his adversity. He knew it, and he appreciated it. He was grateful for her affection, and out of gratitude he gave her that contract signed with his blood." (Royal Lovers and Mistresses: 27-28)
Affair's end & aftermath.
"We shall have to refer to two more letters to Corisande further on in connection with the King of Navarre's sister, Catherine de Bourbon. Suffice it to say that at this moment Corisande was terribly jealous, and continued to load the King of Navarre with reproaches in spite of all his protestations of fidelity. It was not until March, 1591, that the rupture came, and that Henri IV wrote his quondam mistress a letter which brought their liaison to a close. In a fit of jealousy she had presumed to revenge herself by meddling with the family affairs of his Majesty." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol ume 1: 202)
"The fugitive attachments of the King of Navarre did not prevent him from continuing his correspondence with Corisande, whom he constantly assured of his unalterable fidelity; he wrote to her from the trenches of Arques, after the death of Henry III, and when he had become King of France, and this correspondence did not cease until 1591, or nearly two years after the monarch had fallen in love with La Be Gabrielle. It was brought to a close because Corisande, who had lost all her personal charms, and had become coarse and corpulent, vexed at the conduct of her lover, determined to revenge herself. For this purpose, contrary to the wishes of the king, she did what she could to favour the marriage of his Majesty's sister, Catherine de Bourbon, with the Comte de Soissons. She even persuaded them to get married secretly, in the absence of the king, who was campaigning in the company with Gabrielle d'Estrees. Henri IV, greatly irritated at this interference in his domestic policy, seized the opportunity to break off all further relations with Corisande. . . According to Sully, the Comtesse de Guiche was irritated not only because the king, having loved her, loved others, but because, when she had lost her attractions, he was ashamed of ever having loved her. . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Volume 1: 210)
Personal & family background.
Diane d'Andouins, Vicomtesse de Louvigni, dame de l'Escun, was the only daughter of Paul, Vicomte de Louvigni, Seigneur de l'Escun, and of Marguerite de Cauna. While yet a mere girl, she became the wife of Philibert de Grammont, Come de Guiche, Governor of Bayonne, and Seneschal of Bearn...." (The Life of Marie de Medicis: 46)
Diane's spouse & children.
" . . . On August 7, 1567, this same Philibert de Gramont and Toulongeon, Comte de Gramont, known as Comte de Guiche, Vicomte d'Aster, Mayor of Bordeaux, Governor of Bayonne, and Seneschal of Bearn, married Diane d'Andouins, Vicomtesse de Louvigny, the only daughter of Paul, Viscount de Louvigny, and Lord of Lescun. She was surnamed Corisande, after the fashion of the time which made the grand ladies of the Court of France adopt some name of a heroine, borrowed from the novels of the chivalrous middle ages. . . ." (Royal Lovers & Mistresses: 25)
Esther Imbert de la Rochelle (1565-1592/1570-1593)
Lover in 1587-1588.
Daughter of Jacques Imbert de Boisambert, Vogt (Bailiff) of Aunis & Master of Requests of the Royal Court & Catherine Rousseau
"Alas! Henri's fidelity to Corisande was very far from being so 'white and spotless' as he asserted. During the years of their liaison the names of quite a number of women are associated with his. His affair with the wife of the learned and unsuspecting Pierre Martine, of La Rochelle, belongs to this period, and about the same time his Majesty gained the favour of a certain Mlle. Esther de Boyslambert, of that town, who, in August 1587, presented him with a son. Henri lived quite openly with this lady in the Hotel d'Hure, Rue de Bazoges, at La Rochelle, to the great scandal of the Calvinist pastors, who exhorted him from the pulpit to amend the irregularities of his life. . . ." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 23).
Benefits to the paramour.
Affair's end & aftermath.
"If we may believe L'Estoile, Henri treated this poor lady very shabbily. 'At the end of this year (1592),' he writes, 'a woman called Madame Esther, who had been one of the mistresses of the King at La Rochelle, pressed by necessity and seeing herself, owing to the death of her son, cast off and almost abandoned by his Majesty, came to seek him at Saint-Denis, to implore him to have pity upon her. But the King, hindered by other affairs, and having also his mind occupied by other amours, took no account of her and refused wither to see or to hear her. Upon which the poor creature, overwhelmed by sorrow and mortification, fell ill at the said Saint-Denis and died.'" (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 24). Reference: [Vizetelly, p. 292]
Maid-of-Honour to Queen Marguerite.
"That, instead of at once treating Esther with neglect, this young King endowed Esther with a pension is apparent from two documents still in existence, both headed 'De Par le Roy De Navarre,' signed 'Henry,' and counter-signed by 'Duplessis-Mornay, by the very express command of His Majesty.' These provide for the payment, quarterly in advance, of the sum of two thousand crowns, sols, valued at six thousand livres, tournois. They are dated at La Rochelle October 13th and 14th 1587. There is also still present in the archives of the Basses-Pyrenees the first receipt signed by Esther for her quarter's allowance, while four other receipts, given by her to the Treasurer-General of the King of Navarre, remain as further testimony to contradict the crude statement of d'Aubigne, followed by others, that Henri allowed the infant son of Esther Ymbert to die in poverty, of starvation." (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 35)
Esther Imbert's personal & family background.
"This young lady, called by some chroniclers merely Esther, by others Ester Imbert, or Ymbert, was the daughter of Jacques Ymbert, Seigneur de Boyslambert, a gentleman whom Michelet merely designates as 'an honourable Protestant Magistrate of La Rochelle.' He was, however, a man of property, and held various other appointments. His wife was Catherine Rousseau, and Esther, the eldest of their ten children, was baptized in the Protestant church of La Rochelle on January 5th, 1565. . . As the King of Navarre won this young lady to his will in 1586, Esther was twenty-one years of age when she became his mistress. As for her father having been 'an honourable magistrate,' it would appear rather as if he had trafficked in his daughter's shame with the King of Navarre. . . For we find Jacques Ymbert de Boyslambert about this time becoming Bailly of the Grand Fief of Aunis, and, a little later, receiving from the Prince who had seduced his daughter the high appointment of 'Counsellor and Master of Requests of the House of Navarre.' These facts do not seem to speak very highly of the father's honour and the presumption is that he deliberately sacrificed that of his innocent daughter to the whim of a debauched young Monarch, then thirty-three years of age." (: 30-31) " (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 34)
"This young lady, called by some chroniclers merely Esther, by others Ester Imbert, or Ymbert, was the daughter of Jacques Ymbert, Seigneur de Boyslambert, a gentleman whom Michelet merely designates as 'an honourable Protestant Magistrate of La Rochelle.' He was, however, a man of property, and held various other appointments. His wife was Catherine Rousseau, and Esther, the eldest of their ten children, was baptized in the Protestant church of La Rochelle on January 5th, 1565. . . As the King of Navarre won this young lady to his will in 1586, Esther was twenty-one years of age when she became his mistress. As for her father having been 'an honourable magistrate,' it would appear rather as if he had trafficked in his daughter's shame with the King of Navarre. . . For we find Jacques Ymbert de Boyslambert about this time becoming Bailly of the Grand Fief of Aunis, and, a little later, receiving from the Prince who had seduced his daughter the high appointment of 'Counsellor and Master of Requests of the House of Navarre.' These facts do not seem to speak very highly of the father's honour and the presumption is that he deliberately sacrificed that of his innocent daughter to the whim of a debauched young Monarch, then thirty-three years of age." (: 30-31) " (The Amours of Henri de Navarre and of Marguerite de Valois: 34)
Affair's end & aftermath.
"If we may believe L'Estoile, Henri treated this poor lady very shabbily. 'At the end of this year (1592),' he writes, 'a woman called Madame Esther, who had been one of the mistresses of the King at La Rochelle, pressed by necessity and seeing herself, owing to the death of her son, cast off and almost abandoned by his Majesty, came to seek him at Saint-Denis, to implore him to have pity upon her. But the King, hindered by other affairs, and having also his mind occupied by other amours, took no account of her and refused wither to see or to hear her. Upon which the poor creature, overwhelmed by sorrow and mortification, fell ill at the said Saint-Denis and died.'" (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 24). Reference: [Vizetelly, p. 292]
Charlotte de Foulebon.
Lover in 1589.
Madame de Barbezieres-Chemerault.Lover in 1589.
Maid-of-Honour to Queen Marguerite.
Widow of: Francois de Barbezieres-Chemerault.
Henriette de Foulebon.
Duchesse de Beaufort
Duchesse de Verneuil
Marquise de Monceaux
Daughter of: Antoine d'Estrees, Baron de Boulonnois, Governor of the l'Ile de France & Francoise Babou de la Bourdaisiere.
Wife of: Nicole d'Amerval, Seigneur de Liancourt.
Gabrielle's physical appearance and personal qualities.
" . . . 'Madame Gabrielle was the most lovely woman without dispute in France: her hair was of a beautiful blonde cendree; her eyes blue and full of fire; her complexion was like alabaster; her nose well shaped and aquiline;a mouth filled with pearly teeth, and lips upon which the god of Love perpetually dwelt; a stately throat and perfect bust; a slender hand; in short, she possessed the deportment of a goddess---such were the charms which none could gaze upon with impunity." (History of the Reign of Henry IV: 150)
Prized physical attributes.
" . . . At seventeen, Gabrielle had the physical attributes prized in Henri's time---a fleshy body, a fair complexion, and full lips---although she lacked Corisande's quick wit and exalted tone. . . ." (Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
As described by a rival to king's amour.
"Gabrielle d'Estrees must have approximated pretty exactly to the feminine ideal of her age: long-limbed, blonde and pale of complexion. Her face 'was as smooth and translucent as a pearl, with all its delicacy and lustre'. This was not written by some flattering courtier but by a woman who had reason to be critical of Gabrielle: Mademoiselle de Guise, a rival for the king's favour. She continued: 'Though she wore a dress of white silk, it seemed black compared with the snow of her skin' x x x Gabrielle's diminutive blonde head seems relatively small on an over-long neck and a sturdily built body, and her finely waved hair, taken up in a severe coiffure, reinforces this impressions. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
The beauty so long concealed in a feudal castle.
''Shortly after the accession of Henri Quatre to his precarious throne, he despatched on a mission to Monsieur D'Estrees the first gentleman of his chamber, the handsome and accomplished Duke de Bellegarde. This brilliant courtier gazed with wonder on the beauty so long concealed in the obscurity of a feudal castle. Her tresses glowed with burnished gold; her blue eyes sparkled with a dazzling fire, her complexion was 121 radiantly fair, her nose well shaped and aquiline, her mouth was well fitted with pearly teeth, and her lips resembled the all-compelling bow of the god of love. A stately throat, a gently swelling bust, a rounded arm and slender hand—these completed the charms which a fascinating address and natural elegance of movement rendered still more irresistible." (Women of History: 121)
Endowed from birth with all the gifts and graces of nature.
" . . . Gabrielle d'Estrees, grandmother of the Duke of Vendome, of whom we now treat, was the favourite mistress of Henri IV of France and Navarre, and sister of Frances (sic) Hannibal d'Estrees. She was endowed from her birth with all the gifts and graces of nature. The King, who saw her for the first time in 1591, at the chateau de Coeuvres, where she lived with her father, was so smitten with her figure and wit, that he resolved on making her his mistress. In order to obtain an interview, he disguised himself like a countryman, passed through the enemies' guards, and pursued his way at the imminent hazard of his life. Gabrielle, who was attached to the Duke of Bellegarde, the master of the horse, hesitated at first to comply with the ardent affection of the King; but the elevation of her father and her brother, the sincere attachment of her lover Henri UV, his affable and obliging manners, at length prevailed on her. In order that he might visit her more freely, he made her marry Nicholas Ameval, lord of Liancourt, with whom she never cohabited. Henry loved her so violently, that he resolved to marry her himself. It was with this view that Gabrielle engaged her lover to drop the Protestant religion, to enable him to attain a bull from the Pope, to dissolve his marriage with Marguerite de Valois, and joined her utmost efforts to remove the obstacles that prevented their union; but these schemes were defeated, first by that honest minister, Sully, and finally by her sudden death. It is pretended that she was poisoned by the rich financier Zamet. She died, however, in dreadful convulsions; and at the moment of her death her face was so disfigured and distorted, that it was impossible to know her. Of all Henry's mistresses, he was most attached to this woman, whom he created Duchess of Beaufort: and at her death put on mourning, as if she had been a princess of the blood. Yet she had not so entire a sway over his heart as to alienated him from his ministers, who were not agreeable to her, much less to make him dismiss them. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV: 335)
Henri IV at 33 years old when he first met Gabrielle.
"Henry of Bearn was then in his thirty-third year, the age of maturity and strength; but such had been the vicissitudes of his life, his hardships and disappointments, the wear and tear of war and dissipation, that his face was already deeply ploughed with wrinkles and his naturally bronzed complexion had become of almost as dark a hue as that peculiar to the elderly Basques. In the last campaign he had undergone such deep anxiety that his hair and beard had grown streaked with grey. But Henry, despite thi war-worn and unattractive exterior, was still the most brilliant cavalier of France. Courageous by nature, first in the assault and last in the retreat, ever ready to draw his sword for his country's right, his spirit and resolution never failed him under the most trying reverse. . . ." (Royal Favourites, 1: 329)
Gabrielle when the king first saw her.
"Dreux de Radier draws a most captivating portrait of the 'charming' Gabrielle' at this time. He affirms that she was then indisputably the loveliest woman in France, with hair of a beautiful blonde cendree, eyes blue and full of fire, and a complexion as fair as alabaster; her nose well shaped and aquiline, a mouth showing a set of pearly teeth, with lips whereon the god of love had set his seal; a swan-like throat and perfectly formed bust; a taper hand; in short, says he, she had the demeanour of a goddess. . . " (Royal Favourites, 1: 330)
Introduced to the king by current lover.
"Born in 1573, Gabrielle was fifteen when she arrived at the court of the last Valois king, Henri III. The court was a hotbed of scandal, and before long she was reported to have had various affairs, one with the handsome M. de Bellegarde. . . M. de Bellegarde was the master of the royal stables and fought alongside the monarch. During a pause in the fighting, he was so incautious as to tell Henri of his beautiful lover, Gabrielle d'Estrees. And on the 7th of November 1590 Bellegarde introduced the two." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
First encounter -- 1590.
"It was in 1590 that the amorous Henri IV made the acquaintance of La Belle Gabrielle d'Estrees, a lady whose virtue was not irreproachable, but whose faults have in all probability been greatly exaggerated by the chroniclers of the period. When Henri IV met her she was the mistress of Bellegarde, one of the king's most distinguished captains. She appears, indeed, to have been passionately in love with him, and to have retained her affection for him even after she became the mistress of Henri IV, who bitterly complained of her infidelity in a letter which we shall presently quote." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 2)
Henri's first encounter with Gabrielle.
"In 1590, la belle Corisande had been succeeded in the King's affections by a new mistress, who had gained over her royal lover an ascendancy even greater than that which her predecessor had enjoyed. This was the celebrated Gabrielle d'Estrees, the 'model mistress,' one of the six daughters of Antoine d'Estrees, Grand Master of the Artillery, and of Francoise Babou de la Boudaisiere. Both mother and daughter were notorious for their gallantries, and the girls and their brother were known as the 'seven deadly sins,' Gabrielle had been presented to Henri by her lover, the Duc de Bellegarde, one of the King's favourites. His Majesty fell violently in love on the spot, and though the fair Gabrielle at first rejected his suit, and told him to his face that 'she found him so ugly that she was unable to look at him,' he made her such brilliant promises, including . . . the customary offer of marriage, that she eventually relented. To save appearances, the King married his new enchantress to Nicole d'Amerval, Seigneur de Liancourt, a widower with fourteen children, who, however, was not permitted to be her husband in anything but name. . . ." (The Birthgrave: 352)
Their first conversation.
" . . . The first interview between the king and Mademoiselle d'Estrees was on the evening of a day of a hard-fought battle, when, as we have said, Henry chanced to seek a night's repose in the chateau de Coeuvres; and smitten with the grace and beauty of the youthful chatelaine whilst dispensing her father's hospitalities, from that moment Henry became the assiduous guest of the marquis whenever war and state affairs permitted, and his buoyant gaiety and merry wit soon converted him into a hopeful lover." (Royal Favourites, 1: 330)
Where Henri IV saw her for the first time.
"Who has not heard of the fair Gabrielle? Henry saw her first at the chateau of her father, during one of his campaigns, and became enamored. He frequently stole from his cap in disguise, and crossed the enemy's lines to visit her. A hundred stories are told of the romantic adventures he underwent whilst wooing. He won, and was happy.
". . . (T)he beautiful Angelique Paulet . . .at seventeen had turned the head of Henri IV, and escaped the fatal influence of that imperious sovereign's infatuation by his timely, or untimely, death. Fair and brilliant, the best singer of her time, skilled also in playing the lute, and gifted with a special dramatic talent, she was always a favorite, much loved by her friends and much sung by the poets. Her proud and impetuous character, her frank and original manners, together with her luxuriance of blonde hair, gained her the sobriquet of La Belle Lionne. . . . " (The Women of the French Salons)
" . . . Angelique Paulet (1591-1650), one-time mistress of Henri IV and star of the salons where she was known as variously as 'the lioness' and 'Parthenie.'" (Dumas: 799)
Lover in 1589.
Lover in 1589-1590.
Marquise de Guercheville; Comtesse de La Roche-Guyon, Marquise de Guercheville; Sovereign du Canada
Maid-of-Honour to Catherine de' Medici
Daughter of: Antoine de Pons, count de Marennes, and of Marie de Montchenu, heiress of Guercheville.
Wife of: Henri de Silly, Comte de La Rocheguyon (d.1586)
La marquise spurns the king.
" . . . The king during intervals in the siege of Dreux, amused himself, in his own characteristic manner, by paying devoirs to the young chatelaine of Nonancourt, the marquise de Guercheville et de la Rocheguyon. Antoinette de Pons had been a widow three years, when she attracted the notice of Henri Quartre. She first saw the king in Normandy, after the siege of Falaise, when, as in the case of madame de Beauvilliers, she sent to ask royal protection for her dower castle and lands in that province. The marchioness who was heiress of the house of Guercheville, at the period when Henry besieged Dreux, reside in her own castle of Nonancourt. Henri pursued his suit with great ardour; and went even so far, it is said, as to promise to espouse the marchioness, when his ill-omened marriage with queen Marguerite shroud be dissolved. Madame de Guercheville, however, being a woman of honour and virtue, steadily repulsed Henry's suit; and derided the supposition that, under any circumstances, a private gentlewoman might aspire to the exalted rank of queen consort. 'Sire, you have before given that same promise, report says, to madame de Guiche, and to mademoiselle de Guise---though this latter princess, indeed, might aspire to your legitimate alliance.' The resistance of the marchioness only augmented the king's passion. He treated the marquise, nevertheless, with gallant respect; and not only gave her a guard of soldiers to defend the chateau of Nonancourt, but promised to escort her in safety to Tours, and to protect her lands in Normandy. The star of the fair Gabrielle de Estrees had not yet risen, or madame de Guercheville might have beheld that even about to be realized which she then deemed impossible---the elevation of a private gentlewoman to the throne of the fleurs-de-lis. The urgency of military affairs, at length compelled king Henry to suspend his suit to Antoinette de Pons, and concentrate his attention on the proceedings of the duke de Mayenne. . . ." (History of the reign of Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: 117)
"Whilst these agitations were pending, Henry IV was establishing his court and council of state in the town of Mantes. The wives and daughters of many of the royalist cavaliers responded with alacrity to Henry's summons. Nevertheless, to the great regret of the king's most trusty counsellors, madame de Beauvilliers quitted Senlis, and took up abode in Mantes. The king also invited madame de Guercheville, to whom his majesty still persisted in making suit. 'Sire, I will accept a husband from your majesty, but not dishonour!' was the resolute reply of the marquise. Henry greatly commended the winning sweetness and dignity of madame de Guercheville's manner; and magnanimously said 'that as the madame la marquise proved herself to be a true lady of honour, she should fill the post of lady of honour, about the person of any future queen his consort.' The king, moreover, promised eventually to negotiate a marriage for madame de Guercheville, honourable to herself and advantageous for her children. Henry kept his word; and bestowed the hand of the marquise on Charles Duplessis de Liancourt, count de Beaumont. This marriage, however, did not take place until the year 1594, when Henry himself signed the contract, and bestowed a rich reversion on the bride. . . ." (History of the reign of Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: 144)
"This was a lady of honor to the Queen, Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville, once renowned for grace and beauty, and not less conspicuous for qualities rare in the unbridled court of Henry's predecessor, where her youth had been passed...." (France and England in North America: 211)
"Antoinette de Pons, marchioness of Guercheville, a French lady, remarkable for her noble answer to Henry IV, who meditated an attack on her virtue. 'If,' said she, 'I am not noble enough to be your wife, I am too noble to be your mistress.' When that monarch married Mary de Medicis, he made her lady of honor to his queen, saying, 'Since you are a lady of honor, be one to my wife.'". . . ." (A Universal Biography, 3rd Series: 84)
"Meantime, Henri had courted Antoinette de Pons, Comtesse de Guercheville, a very pretty young widow, who made him forget, for the moment at any rate, his other conquests. So enamoured did he become that, according to Mlle. de Guise, 'he spoke of marriage to the countess, since she was unwilling to listen to him otherwise.' However, the lady is believed to have declined to yield to the solicitation of the monarch, and the latter experienced a similar rebuff at the hands of Catherine de Rohan, Duchesse des Deux-Ponts, who informed him that 'she was too poor to be his wife and of too good a family to be his mistress.'"(The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 23)
"After the death of Catherine de Medicis a reconciliation took place between Henri III and the King of Navarre, and both monarchs attacked the League, laying siege to Paris. During these operations the King of Navarre found time to fall in love first with Charlotte des Essarts, then with the noble Marquise de Guercheville, Madame de Rocheguion, and next with the Abbesse de Montmartre. The first appears to have offered mop resistance to the advances of his Majesty, but it was a different affair with the Marquise de Guercheville, whose scruples the King of Navarre could not overcome; she told him that, owing to her position, she could not be with his wife, but that that position could not permit of her being his mistress. And we are told that Henri IV afterwards rewarded this exemplary lady by appointing her a lady of honour to Marie de Medicis, remarking to the Abbesse de Montmartre---'because she has really been a lady of honour.' . . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Volume 1: 208)
Catherine de Verdun.
Lover in 1590.
Abbesse de Vernon.
Daughter of: Nicolas de Verdun, Seigneur des Places
" . . . Before the time of Henry IV they had become the scene of corrupt practices, so that he seems to have had no difficulty in taking Catherine de Verdun, a nun of the age of 22, from the convent to be his mistress. . . ." (Chamber's Encyclopaedia: 153)
Marie-Catherine de Beauvilliers (1574-1667)
Lover in 1590.
Abbess of Montmartre 1601
Goddaughter of Marie Babou
Cousin of Diane de Poitiers & Corisande.
Daughter of Claude de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan and Marie Babou de la Bourdaisiere.
"As for the Abbesse de Montmartre, Mademoiselle de Beauvilliers, who was assailed by the King of Navarre in prose and verse, the chroniclers differ. Some represent her as being as virtuous as the Marquise de Guercheville, others with forgetting her vows, and lending a too willing ear to her royal suitor. This, however, is a matter of no great importance in the history of the King of Navarre, as only three of his mistresses exercised any serious influence on his career." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 210)
" . . . She took her own religious vows four years later, becoming a nun at Montmartre Abbey in Paris on 11 June 1590. It was at about this time, aged 16, that she became a mistress of King Henry IV. The king, accompanied by an army of approximately 12,000 men, was undertaking a siege of Paris in the context of the religious wars of the time. He mounted two artillery guns on the abbey and took it over as army accommodation. Most of the nuns fled into the city in order to avoid the carnal attentions of the soldiers, but some of the youngest of them were left behind. The king and the young nun fell in love, their relationship becoming the subject of much comment among the soldiers and the Paris citizenry, while Montmartre Abbey acquired the popular soubriquet, "magasin des putains de l'armée" (loosely: "The army shop of whores"). The lovers became inseparable and when the king moved on to Senlis, Marie-Catherine agreed to leave the abbey in order to accompany him. She was received with great fanfare in Senlis, but the affair quickly ran its course and she was supplanted in the king's affections by Gabrielle d'Estrées. The two women were cousins: theirs mothers had been sisters. Marie-Catherine remained in Senlis for a few months after the end of the affair and then, displaying some courage, returned to Montmartre." (Wikipedia)
"Henry the Third and the king of Navarre were occupied in laying siege to Paris, where Mary de Beauvilliers, daughter of count Saint-Aignan, abbess of Montmartre, requested of Henry of Navarre a safe pass through the camp, which was immediately granted by the king. Some days after, this lady presented herself to his majesty in order to return thanks, upon which occasion the abbess conducted herself with so much grace, that finding her beauty and mental acquirements peculiarly fascinating. Henry conceived it would be cruel in the extreme that so lovely a female should be doomed to terminate her life in a cloister. This charming woman, whom the austerities of a conventual life had not rendered obdurate, felt a secret pleasure in observing, that under such disadvantageous apparel, her beauty had still the effect of captivating the king. Henry was not in the habit of stifling a growing passion and remaining satisfied with half measures: he explained his sentiments, was favourably received, and had the gratification to find that his advances would not be unattended by success." (Memoirs of Henry the Great, and of the Court of France: Vol 2: 13)
Claude de Beauvilliers (1573-1626)
Lover in 1590.
Abbesse de Pont-aux-Dames
Daughter of: Claude de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan & Marie Babou de la Bourdaisiere & Lescure.
" . . . In 1590, Henri de Navarre (later Henri IV, the Vert Galant) kept Paris under siege from his garrison on Montmartre hill, and handsome Henri seduced the head abbess, Claude de Beauvilliers. His example was swiftly followed by his lieutenants and other nuns. Word spread to the besieged Parisians, who began referring the the abbey as 'the army's whorehouse on the hill.' After the siege was lifted, the enamored Claude de Beauvilliers followed Henri to Senlis, where she introduced him to her German cousin, Gabrielle d'Estrees. Henri allegedly seduced the cousin and eventually gave Claude another abbey to run in recompense." (Mroue)
Maid of honour to Queen Marguerite
Antoinette de Pons (1560-1632)
Lover in 1589-1590.
Marquise de Guercheville; Comtesse de La Roche-Guyon, Marquise de Guercheville; Sovereign du Canada
Maid-of-Honour to Catherine de' Medici
Daughter of: Antoine de Pons, count de Marennes, and of Marie de Montchenu, heiress of Guercheville.
Wife of: Henri de Silly, Comte de La Rocheguyon (d.1586)
La marquise spurns the king.
" . . . The king during intervals in the siege of Dreux, amused himself, in his own characteristic manner, by paying devoirs to the young chatelaine of Nonancourt, the marquise de Guercheville et de la Rocheguyon. Antoinette de Pons had been a widow three years, when she attracted the notice of Henri Quartre. She first saw the king in Normandy, after the siege of Falaise, when, as in the case of madame de Beauvilliers, she sent to ask royal protection for her dower castle and lands in that province. The marchioness who was heiress of the house of Guercheville, at the period when Henry besieged Dreux, reside in her own castle of Nonancourt. Henri pursued his suit with great ardour; and went even so far, it is said, as to promise to espouse the marchioness, when his ill-omened marriage with queen Marguerite shroud be dissolved. Madame de Guercheville, however, being a woman of honour and virtue, steadily repulsed Henry's suit; and derided the supposition that, under any circumstances, a private gentlewoman might aspire to the exalted rank of queen consort. 'Sire, you have before given that same promise, report says, to madame de Guiche, and to mademoiselle de Guise---though this latter princess, indeed, might aspire to your legitimate alliance.' The resistance of the marchioness only augmented the king's passion. He treated the marquise, nevertheless, with gallant respect; and not only gave her a guard of soldiers to defend the chateau of Nonancourt, but promised to escort her in safety to Tours, and to protect her lands in Normandy. The star of the fair Gabrielle de Estrees had not yet risen, or madame de Guercheville might have beheld that even about to be realized which she then deemed impossible---the elevation of a private gentlewoman to the throne of the fleurs-de-lis. The urgency of military affairs, at length compelled king Henry to suspend his suit to Antoinette de Pons, and concentrate his attention on the proceedings of the duke de Mayenne. . . ." (History of the reign of Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: 117)
"Whilst these agitations were pending, Henry IV was establishing his court and council of state in the town of Mantes. The wives and daughters of many of the royalist cavaliers responded with alacrity to Henry's summons. Nevertheless, to the great regret of the king's most trusty counsellors, madame de Beauvilliers quitted Senlis, and took up abode in Mantes. The king also invited madame de Guercheville, to whom his majesty still persisted in making suit. 'Sire, I will accept a husband from your majesty, but not dishonour!' was the resolute reply of the marquise. Henry greatly commended the winning sweetness and dignity of madame de Guercheville's manner; and magnanimously said 'that as the madame la marquise proved herself to be a true lady of honour, she should fill the post of lady of honour, about the person of any future queen his consort.' The king, moreover, promised eventually to negotiate a marriage for madame de Guercheville, honourable to herself and advantageous for her children. Henry kept his word; and bestowed the hand of the marquise on Charles Duplessis de Liancourt, count de Beaumont. This marriage, however, did not take place until the year 1594, when Henry himself signed the contract, and bestowed a rich reversion on the bride. . . ." (History of the reign of Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: 144)
"This was a lady of honor to the Queen, Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville, once renowned for grace and beauty, and not less conspicuous for qualities rare in the unbridled court of Henry's predecessor, where her youth had been passed...." (France and England in North America: 211)
"Antoinette de Pons, marchioness of Guercheville, a French lady, remarkable for her noble answer to Henry IV, who meditated an attack on her virtue. 'If,' said she, 'I am not noble enough to be your wife, I am too noble to be your mistress.' When that monarch married Mary de Medicis, he made her lady of honor to his queen, saying, 'Since you are a lady of honor, be one to my wife.'". . . ." (A Universal Biography, 3rd Series: 84)
"Meantime, Henri had courted Antoinette de Pons, Comtesse de Guercheville, a very pretty young widow, who made him forget, for the moment at any rate, his other conquests. So enamoured did he become that, according to Mlle. de Guise, 'he spoke of marriage to the countess, since she was unwilling to listen to him otherwise.' However, the lady is believed to have declined to yield to the solicitation of the monarch, and the latter experienced a similar rebuff at the hands of Catherine de Rohan, Duchesse des Deux-Ponts, who informed him that 'she was too poor to be his wife and of too good a family to be his mistress.'"(The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 23)
"After the death of Catherine de Medicis a reconciliation took place between Henri III and the King of Navarre, and both monarchs attacked the League, laying siege to Paris. During these operations the King of Navarre found time to fall in love first with Charlotte des Essarts, then with the noble Marquise de Guercheville, Madame de Rocheguion, and next with the Abbesse de Montmartre. The first appears to have offered mop resistance to the advances of his Majesty, but it was a different affair with the Marquise de Guercheville, whose scruples the King of Navarre could not overcome; she told him that, owing to her position, she could not be with his wife, but that that position could not permit of her being his mistress. And we are told that Henri IV afterwards rewarded this exemplary lady by appointing her a lady of honour to Marie de Medicis, remarking to the Abbesse de Montmartre---'because she has really been a lady of honour.' . . . ." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Volume 1: 208)
Catherine de Verdun.
Lover in 1590.
Abbesse de Vernon.
Daughter of: Nicolas de Verdun, Seigneur des Places
" . . . Before the time of Henry IV they had become the scene of corrupt practices, so that he seems to have had no difficulty in taking Catherine de Verdun, a nun of the age of 22, from the convent to be his mistress. . . ." (Chamber's Encyclopaedia: 153)
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| Marie-Catherine de Beauvilliers |
Lover in 1590.
Abbess of Montmartre 1601
Goddaughter of Marie Babou
Cousin of Diane de Poitiers & Corisande.
Daughter of Claude de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan and Marie Babou de la Bourdaisiere.
"As for the Abbesse de Montmartre, Mademoiselle de Beauvilliers, who was assailed by the King of Navarre in prose and verse, the chroniclers differ. Some represent her as being as virtuous as the Marquise de Guercheville, others with forgetting her vows, and lending a too willing ear to her royal suitor. This, however, is a matter of no great importance in the history of the King of Navarre, as only three of his mistresses exercised any serious influence on his career." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 210)
" . . . She took her own religious vows four years later, becoming a nun at Montmartre Abbey in Paris on 11 June 1590. It was at about this time, aged 16, that she became a mistress of King Henry IV. The king, accompanied by an army of approximately 12,000 men, was undertaking a siege of Paris in the context of the religious wars of the time. He mounted two artillery guns on the abbey and took it over as army accommodation. Most of the nuns fled into the city in order to avoid the carnal attentions of the soldiers, but some of the youngest of them were left behind. The king and the young nun fell in love, their relationship becoming the subject of much comment among the soldiers and the Paris citizenry, while Montmartre Abbey acquired the popular soubriquet, "magasin des putains de l'armée" (loosely: "The army shop of whores"). The lovers became inseparable and when the king moved on to Senlis, Marie-Catherine agreed to leave the abbey in order to accompany him. She was received with great fanfare in Senlis, but the affair quickly ran its course and she was supplanted in the king's affections by Gabrielle d'Estrées. The two women were cousins: theirs mothers had been sisters. Marie-Catherine remained in Senlis for a few months after the end of the affair and then, displaying some courage, returned to Montmartre." (Wikipedia)
"Henry the Third and the king of Navarre were occupied in laying siege to Paris, where Mary de Beauvilliers, daughter of count Saint-Aignan, abbess of Montmartre, requested of Henry of Navarre a safe pass through the camp, which was immediately granted by the king. Some days after, this lady presented herself to his majesty in order to return thanks, upon which occasion the abbess conducted herself with so much grace, that finding her beauty and mental acquirements peculiarly fascinating. Henry conceived it would be cruel in the extreme that so lovely a female should be doomed to terminate her life in a cloister. This charming woman, whom the austerities of a conventual life had not rendered obdurate, felt a secret pleasure in observing, that under such disadvantageous apparel, her beauty had still the effect of captivating the king. Henry was not in the habit of stifling a growing passion and remaining satisfied with half measures: he explained his sentiments, was favourably received, and had the gratification to find that his advances would not be unattended by success." (Memoirs of Henry the Great, and of the Court of France: Vol 2: 13)
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Claude de Beauvilliers @Les Favorites Royales |
Lover in 1590.
Abbesse de Pont-aux-Dames
Daughter of: Claude de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan & Marie Babou de la Bourdaisiere & Lescure.
" . . . In 1590, Henri de Navarre (later Henri IV, the Vert Galant) kept Paris under siege from his garrison on Montmartre hill, and handsome Henri seduced the head abbess, Claude de Beauvilliers. His example was swiftly followed by his lieutenants and other nuns. Word spread to the besieged Parisians, who began referring the the abbey as 'the army's whorehouse on the hill.' After the siege was lifted, the enamored Claude de Beauvilliers followed Henri to Senlis, where she introduced him to her German cousin, Gabrielle d'Estrees. Henri allegedly seduced the cousin and eventually gave Claude another abbey to run in recompense." (Mroue)
Personal & family background.
She was a daughter of Claude de Beauvilliers, Comte de Saint-Aignan, and Marie Babou de la Bourdaisiere, and Lescure and other historians have confused her with her sister Marie de Beauvilliers, who became Abbess of Montmartre in 1598. . . . " (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 25)
Affair's benefits to mistress.
" . . . Once he was crowned, he may have taken ironic delight in using his commendatory powers to benefit his mistresses. A famous ladies' man, his preference for convents as lodgings became a joke and a scandal. In 1590, he stayed at Montmartre and thanked the abbess Claude de Beauvilliers for her hospitality by adding Pont-aux-Dames to her benefices. . . . " (Sisters in Arms: Catholic Nuns Through Two Millennia: 428)
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| Gabrielle d'Estrees |
Gabrielle d'Estrees (1573-1599)
Lover in 1591-1599.
Duchesse de Beaufort
Duchesse de Verneuil
Marquise de Monceaux
Daughter of: Antoine d'Estrees, Baron de Boulonnois, Governor of the l'Ile de France & Francoise Babou de la Bourdaisiere.
Wife of: Nicole d'Amerval, Seigneur de Liancourt.
Gabrielle's physical appearance and personal qualities.
" . . . 'Madame Gabrielle was the most lovely woman without dispute in France: her hair was of a beautiful blonde cendree; her eyes blue and full of fire; her complexion was like alabaster; her nose well shaped and aquiline;a mouth filled with pearly teeth, and lips upon which the god of Love perpetually dwelt; a stately throat and perfect bust; a slender hand; in short, she possessed the deportment of a goddess---such were the charms which none could gaze upon with impunity." (History of the Reign of Henry IV: 150)
Prized physical attributes.
" . . . At seventeen, Gabrielle had the physical attributes prized in Henri's time---a fleshy body, a fair complexion, and full lips---although she lacked Corisande's quick wit and exalted tone. . . ." (Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
As described by a rival to king's amour.
"Gabrielle d'Estrees must have approximated pretty exactly to the feminine ideal of her age: long-limbed, blonde and pale of complexion. Her face 'was as smooth and translucent as a pearl, with all its delicacy and lustre'. This was not written by some flattering courtier but by a woman who had reason to be critical of Gabrielle: Mademoiselle de Guise, a rival for the king's favour. She continued: 'Though she wore a dress of white silk, it seemed black compared with the snow of her skin' x x x Gabrielle's diminutive blonde head seems relatively small on an over-long neck and a sturdily built body, and her finely waved hair, taken up in a severe coiffure, reinforces this impressions. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
The beauty so long concealed in a feudal castle.
''Shortly after the accession of Henri Quatre to his precarious throne, he despatched on a mission to Monsieur D'Estrees the first gentleman of his chamber, the handsome and accomplished Duke de Bellegarde. This brilliant courtier gazed with wonder on the beauty so long concealed in the obscurity of a feudal castle. Her tresses glowed with burnished gold; her blue eyes sparkled with a dazzling fire, her complexion was 121 radiantly fair, her nose well shaped and aquiline, her mouth was well fitted with pearly teeth, and her lips resembled the all-compelling bow of the god of love. A stately throat, a gently swelling bust, a rounded arm and slender hand—these completed the charms which a fascinating address and natural elegance of movement rendered still more irresistible." (Women of History: 121)
Endowed from birth with all the gifts and graces of nature.
" . . . Gabrielle d'Estrees, grandmother of the Duke of Vendome, of whom we now treat, was the favourite mistress of Henri IV of France and Navarre, and sister of Frances (sic) Hannibal d'Estrees. She was endowed from her birth with all the gifts and graces of nature. The King, who saw her for the first time in 1591, at the chateau de Coeuvres, where she lived with her father, was so smitten with her figure and wit, that he resolved on making her his mistress. In order to obtain an interview, he disguised himself like a countryman, passed through the enemies' guards, and pursued his way at the imminent hazard of his life. Gabrielle, who was attached to the Duke of Bellegarde, the master of the horse, hesitated at first to comply with the ardent affection of the King; but the elevation of her father and her brother, the sincere attachment of her lover Henri UV, his affable and obliging manners, at length prevailed on her. In order that he might visit her more freely, he made her marry Nicholas Ameval, lord of Liancourt, with whom she never cohabited. Henry loved her so violently, that he resolved to marry her himself. It was with this view that Gabrielle engaged her lover to drop the Protestant religion, to enable him to attain a bull from the Pope, to dissolve his marriage with Marguerite de Valois, and joined her utmost efforts to remove the obstacles that prevented their union; but these schemes were defeated, first by that honest minister, Sully, and finally by her sudden death. It is pretended that she was poisoned by the rich financier Zamet. She died, however, in dreadful convulsions; and at the moment of her death her face was so disfigured and distorted, that it was impossible to know her. Of all Henry's mistresses, he was most attached to this woman, whom he created Duchess of Beaufort: and at her death put on mourning, as if she had been a princess of the blood. Yet she had not so entire a sway over his heart as to alienated him from his ministers, who were not agreeable to her, much less to make him dismiss them. . . ." (Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV: 335)
Henri IV at 33 years old when he first met Gabrielle.
"Henry of Bearn was then in his thirty-third year, the age of maturity and strength; but such had been the vicissitudes of his life, his hardships and disappointments, the wear and tear of war and dissipation, that his face was already deeply ploughed with wrinkles and his naturally bronzed complexion had become of almost as dark a hue as that peculiar to the elderly Basques. In the last campaign he had undergone such deep anxiety that his hair and beard had grown streaked with grey. But Henry, despite thi war-worn and unattractive exterior, was still the most brilliant cavalier of France. Courageous by nature, first in the assault and last in the retreat, ever ready to draw his sword for his country's right, his spirit and resolution never failed him under the most trying reverse. . . ." (Royal Favourites, 1: 329)
Gabrielle when the king first saw her.
"Dreux de Radier draws a most captivating portrait of the 'charming' Gabrielle' at this time. He affirms that she was then indisputably the loveliest woman in France, with hair of a beautiful blonde cendree, eyes blue and full of fire, and a complexion as fair as alabaster; her nose well shaped and aquiline, a mouth showing a set of pearly teeth, with lips whereon the god of love had set his seal; a swan-like throat and perfectly formed bust; a taper hand; in short, says he, she had the demeanour of a goddess. . . " (Royal Favourites, 1: 330)
Introduced to the king by current lover.
"Born in 1573, Gabrielle was fifteen when she arrived at the court of the last Valois king, Henri III. The court was a hotbed of scandal, and before long she was reported to have had various affairs, one with the handsome M. de Bellegarde. . . M. de Bellegarde was the master of the royal stables and fought alongside the monarch. During a pause in the fighting, he was so incautious as to tell Henri of his beautiful lover, Gabrielle d'Estrees. And on the 7th of November 1590 Bellegarde introduced the two." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
First encounter -- 1590.
"It was in 1590 that the amorous Henri IV made the acquaintance of La Belle Gabrielle d'Estrees, a lady whose virtue was not irreproachable, but whose faults have in all probability been greatly exaggerated by the chroniclers of the period. When Henri IV met her she was the mistress of Bellegarde, one of the king's most distinguished captains. She appears, indeed, to have been passionately in love with him, and to have retained her affection for him even after she became the mistress of Henri IV, who bitterly complained of her infidelity in a letter which we shall presently quote." (The Marriages of the Bourbons, Vol 1: 2)
Henri's first encounter with Gabrielle.
"In 1590, la belle Corisande had been succeeded in the King's affections by a new mistress, who had gained over her royal lover an ascendancy even greater than that which her predecessor had enjoyed. This was the celebrated Gabrielle d'Estrees, the 'model mistress,' one of the six daughters of Antoine d'Estrees, Grand Master of the Artillery, and of Francoise Babou de la Boudaisiere. Both mother and daughter were notorious for their gallantries, and the girls and their brother were known as the 'seven deadly sins,' Gabrielle had been presented to Henri by her lover, the Duc de Bellegarde, one of the King's favourites. His Majesty fell violently in love on the spot, and though the fair Gabrielle at first rejected his suit, and told him to his face that 'she found him so ugly that she was unable to look at him,' he made her such brilliant promises, including . . . the customary offer of marriage, that she eventually relented. To save appearances, the King married his new enchantress to Nicole d'Amerval, Seigneur de Liancourt, a widower with fourteen children, who, however, was not permitted to be her husband in anything but name. . . ." (The Birthgrave: 352)
Their first conversation.
" . . . The first interview between the king and Mademoiselle d'Estrees was on the evening of a day of a hard-fought battle, when, as we have said, Henry chanced to seek a night's repose in the chateau de Coeuvres; and smitten with the grace and beauty of the youthful chatelaine whilst dispensing her father's hospitalities, from that moment Henry became the assiduous guest of the marquis whenever war and state affairs permitted, and his buoyant gaiety and merry wit soon converted him into a hopeful lover." (Royal Favourites, 1: 330)
Where Henri IV saw her for the first time.
"Who has not heard of the fair Gabrielle? Henry saw her first at the chateau of her father, during one of his campaigns, and became enamored. He frequently stole from his cap in disguise, and crossed the enemy's lines to visit her. A hundred stories are told of the romantic adventures he underwent whilst wooing. He won, and was happy.
Affair's start -- 1591.
" . . . In February 1591, Henri laid siege to Chartres . . . Gabrielle, too, finally surrendered to Henri's entreaties during the siege and became his mistress. . . ." (Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
Public appearance with the king.
"Henry was so taken with Gabrielle d'Estrees, that he never quitted her, not even in the most important state affairs; he carried her with him in the public assemblies, into the great solemnities; she was by his side in the councils; she figured in the assembly of the states held at Rouen in 1596. . . ." (The Monthly Review: 296)
The affair's benefits to Gabrielle.
"In time, Gabrielle began to enjoy her life as the king's recognized concubine. She savoured the king's triumphal progress, which was the more successful after his conversion to Catholicism. When Paris was finally conquered, she entered the city at the king's side. She accumulated titles and gold; others could not approach her without kissing the hem of her robe; more and more she enjoyed the status of a rightful queen. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 206)
Gabrielle's royal gifts.
"The ring that Gabrielle d'Estrees is holding over the rim of the tub [in the painting Gabrielle d'Estrees and one of his sisters by the School of Fontainbleau, c1600] was placed on her finger by the king on the 2nd of March 1599. It was the investiture ring, with which France was ceremonially entrusted to Henri IV at his coronation. He gave it to Gabrielle when she was pregnant as an engagement ring: Henri meant her to be his lawful wife and queen. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 206)
Affair's impact on lovers' family, other people and society.
"Gabrielle d'Estrees - Duchess of Beaufort - Henri had lived apart from Marguerite for several years when he first started his relationship with Gabrielle in 1591. She bore him three children, Cesar 1594 - 1665, Catherine-Henriette 1596 - 1663 and Alexandre 1598 - 1629. Since Marguerite had not produced children, Henri wished to divorce her and marry Gabrielle, thereby creating legitimate heirs. However Marguerite would not agree to the divorce. Gabrielle died on 10th April 1599, after falling ill, possibly due to food poisoning or deliberate poisoning. She was pregnant at the time which may also have contributed to her death. In December 1599 Henri was divorced from Marguerite. It seems Henri would have made Gabrielle his queen if she had survived." (Henri IV's Mistresses)
The fate of Gabrielle's husband.
"The king's visit to the château was not attended by any disastrous consequences. He returned to La Fêre in safety, and his devotion to the lady became well known all over France; but her father was determined 124 to save her honour by a method not unusual in those days. He chose a husband for his daughter, and intimated that no option would be allowed her. This was Monsieur de Liancourt, who was many years her senior, and a widower, with nine children,—wealthy, ignorant, weak in mind, and disagreeable in person. In vain Gabrielle appealed to the king against a marriage which was little better than "a living death." Henry was well pleased with an event which he foresaw would vanquish the beauty's last lingering reluctance. He said "he would cause her to be carried away within one hour of the celebration of her espousals." Her marriage took place at Cœuvres in January 1591, and she made her preparations to escape immediately from the bridegroom she loathed to the gallant Henry. The following day a royal order exiled Monsieur de Liancourt. Thenceforth Gabrielle reigned supreme in the heart of Henri Quatre." (Women of History: 121)
Affair's end and aftermath.
" . . . He [Henri IV] ordered preparations to be made for the wedding. The bridal gown had already been sewn. On April 5th, Henri sent Gabrielle, now extremely pregnant, back to Paris alone to spend Easter there. He beloved accepted the hospitality of a wealthy Italian banker named Zamet, who was famed for the cuisine at his table and who helped cook personally for distinguished guests. Gabrielle was taken with pains; on April 8th she gave orders to be removed to her aunt's house, and there, the following day, gave birth to a stillborn child. Her condition deteriorated and she began a fearful struggle with death; neither doctor nor priest attended upon her, and everyone deserted the dying favourite. On April 9th, the king was informed that she had died, to prevent him from hastening to her. In fact Gabrielle d'Estrees died om April 10th, 'a revolting and terrible death, her eyes rolling, her neck contorted and bent back upon itself'. When doctors finally went to her, they declared 'this was the hand of God' -- not daring to say 'the hand of the devil' aloud." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
Gabrielle's personal & family background.
"It was at a period of fierce intestine struggle and heroic suffering in France that a tender sentiment of the Fair Gabrielle had its birth in the bosom of Henry of Navarre. This celebrated beauty was the daughter of Antoine, Marquis d'Estrees, grandmaster of the artillery---a brave soldier, distinguished for his noble defence of Noyon against the Duke of half Huguenot, half Catholic, who hoped in the end to secure the crown to Henry of Bearn. (Royal Favourites, 1: 328)
"Gabrielle was the daughter of Antoine IV d'Estrees, Marquis de Coeuvres, Governor, Seneschal and 1st Baron of Boulonnois, Viscount of Soissons and Bersy, Knight of the Order of the King, Governor of La Fere, Paris, and the Isle of France, and Francoise Babou de Bourdaisiere.
"Elsewhere was the chateau of Coeuvres, near Soissons, where Henri stopped in November 1590 while trailing Parma's army. The chateau belonged to an unimportant courtier, Antoine d'Estrees. One of his daughters, Gabrielle d'Estrees, caught the king's eye. . . Gabrielle's mother, Francoise Babou de la Bourdaisiere, belonged to a family whose women were renowned for their beauty and for their success at the court of France as companion to the powerful. Francoise Babou had played her part in the court intrigues of the 1570s, while Gabrielle's sister Diane had been a mistress of Epernon and their aunt Isabelle, marquise de Sourdis, was the mistress of Chancellor de Cheverny." (Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
The family of 'the seven deadly sins'.
"On her mother's side, Gabrielle d'Estrees was of a family which the chronicler Tallemant de Reaux described with palpable relish as 'the richest in spirited ladies that France has ever seen. There at least twenty-five or twenty-six of them, nuns and married ladies alike, all of whom delight in sexual congress.' Among the married ladies was Gabrielle's mother, who ran awa with a lover when the children were small. One of the nuns was Gabrielle's sister, the abbess of Maubuisson, who was eventually obliged to leave her convent after bearing twelve children, by different fathers. Another sister is probably seen here with Gabrielle in the bathtub: Julienne d'Estrees, Duchess of Villars. She did not balk at sitting bare-breasted below the pulpit when Capuchin monk she fancied was preaching. The God-fearing man was forced to flee the confessional and indeed the city, so persistent were her passionate advances. No wonder Julienne, the abbess, Gabrielle, three further daughters, and the one son of M. d'Estrees were widely known collectively as 'the seven deadly sins'." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
Henri & Gabrielle's natural offspring.
With whom she had César (1594-1665), Catherine Henriette (1596-1663), Alexandre (1598-1629) and a stillborn son (1599). [Estrées was a family of mistresses. The grand mother of these was a reputed roman beauty who had the record of powerful lovers : A king, an emperor and a pope. The mother, beautiful too, was not virtuous. Aunts, nieces, granddaughters of this family continued a tradition. Even it was said their virginity was sold very soon. Their education had a finality. It was an old institution. Their posterity succeeded finally: The Savoia-Nemours sisters, descendants of this illegitimate union, became queens of Portugal and Sardinia. they had both Estrees blood. The one took to Portugal the disaster and the crime, the other, the inconscience and the frivolity to Savoy. The beauty. (Alexander Palace Forum). (See also Hale, p. 308)
"Gabrielle d'Estrees expected a child by Henri IV on four occasions;min 1594 she bore him a son, Cesar, and subsequently another son and then a daughter. In 1599 she was pregnant once again, and precisely this fertility endeared her to the king. His queen, Margaret of Valois, from whom he had long been living in separation, had borne him no children, so that he and his realm still lacked an heir. He had fathered bastards, and had recognized them as his children, but with non of the pomp and ceremony that now accompanied the birth of Gabrielle's children. For first time in his life, the king found everything he prized in women united in one, Gabrielle: in addition to her fertility, her 'beauty of form, modest demeanour, gentleness of nature and spirit'."
(What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
"The sons of the deceased Gabrielle d'Estrees, Cesar and Alexandre de Vendome, together with their sister, Catherine-Marie, were in a special category: they were born before their half brother Louis. King Henry favored Cesar to the point of giving him special ceremonial functions and sumptuously marrying him off when the dauphin was nine. The Vendome-Louis rivalry was not only a childhood torment for the dauphin, but it led to conspiracy and rebellion by his half brothers when became their king." (Louis XIII the Just: 28)
Natural offspring:
1. Cesar de Bourbon, Duc de Vendome (1594-1665)
2. Catherine-Henriette de Bourbon, Duchesse d'Elbeuf. (1596-1663)
Legitimee de France 1596, Legitimee-duchesse 1619, Mademoiselle de Vendome
Daughter of: Henri IV de France &Gabrielle d'Estrees.
Wife of Charles II de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf
Charles II de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf married in 1619
Children: a) Charles III de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf; b) Henri de Lorraine, Abbe d'Homblieres; c) Francois-Louis de Lorraine, Comte d'Harcourt; 3) Francois-Marie de Lorraine, Prince de Lillebonne; d) Catherine de Lorraine, nun at Port Royale; & e) Marie-Marguerite de Lorraine, Mademoiselle d'Elbeuf.
Gabrielle d'Estrees' other lovers were:
"Henry was so taken with Gabrielle d'Estrees, that he never quitted her, not even in the most important state affairs; he carried her with him in the public assemblies, into the great solemnities; she was by his side in the councils; she figured in the assembly of the states held at Rouen in 1596. . . ." (The Monthly Review: 296)
The affair's benefits to Gabrielle.
"In time, Gabrielle began to enjoy her life as the king's recognized concubine. She savoured the king's triumphal progress, which was the more successful after his conversion to Catholicism. When Paris was finally conquered, she entered the city at the king's side. She accumulated titles and gold; others could not approach her without kissing the hem of her robe; more and more she enjoyed the status of a rightful queen. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 206)
Gabrielle's royal gifts.
"The ring that Gabrielle d'Estrees is holding over the rim of the tub [in the painting Gabrielle d'Estrees and one of his sisters by the School of Fontainbleau, c1600] was placed on her finger by the king on the 2nd of March 1599. It was the investiture ring, with which France was ceremonially entrusted to Henri IV at his coronation. He gave it to Gabrielle when she was pregnant as an engagement ring: Henri meant her to be his lawful wife and queen. . . ." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 206)
Affair's impact on lovers' family, other people and society.
"Gabrielle d'Estrees - Duchess of Beaufort - Henri had lived apart from Marguerite for several years when he first started his relationship with Gabrielle in 1591. She bore him three children, Cesar 1594 - 1665, Catherine-Henriette 1596 - 1663 and Alexandre 1598 - 1629. Since Marguerite had not produced children, Henri wished to divorce her and marry Gabrielle, thereby creating legitimate heirs. However Marguerite would not agree to the divorce. Gabrielle died on 10th April 1599, after falling ill, possibly due to food poisoning or deliberate poisoning. She was pregnant at the time which may also have contributed to her death. In December 1599 Henri was divorced from Marguerite. It seems Henri would have made Gabrielle his queen if she had survived." (Henri IV's Mistresses)
The fate of Gabrielle's husband.
"The king's visit to the château was not attended by any disastrous consequences. He returned to La Fêre in safety, and his devotion to the lady became well known all over France; but her father was determined 124 to save her honour by a method not unusual in those days. He chose a husband for his daughter, and intimated that no option would be allowed her. This was Monsieur de Liancourt, who was many years her senior, and a widower, with nine children,—wealthy, ignorant, weak in mind, and disagreeable in person. In vain Gabrielle appealed to the king against a marriage which was little better than "a living death." Henry was well pleased with an event which he foresaw would vanquish the beauty's last lingering reluctance. He said "he would cause her to be carried away within one hour of the celebration of her espousals." Her marriage took place at Cœuvres in January 1591, and she made her preparations to escape immediately from the bridegroom she loathed to the gallant Henry. The following day a royal order exiled Monsieur de Liancourt. Thenceforth Gabrielle reigned supreme in the heart of Henri Quatre." (Women of History: 121)
Affair's end and aftermath.
" . . . He [Henri IV] ordered preparations to be made for the wedding. The bridal gown had already been sewn. On April 5th, Henri sent Gabrielle, now extremely pregnant, back to Paris alone to spend Easter there. He beloved accepted the hospitality of a wealthy Italian banker named Zamet, who was famed for the cuisine at his table and who helped cook personally for distinguished guests. Gabrielle was taken with pains; on April 8th she gave orders to be removed to her aunt's house, and there, the following day, gave birth to a stillborn child. Her condition deteriorated and she began a fearful struggle with death; neither doctor nor priest attended upon her, and everyone deserted the dying favourite. On April 9th, the king was informed that she had died, to prevent him from hastening to her. In fact Gabrielle d'Estrees died om April 10th, 'a revolting and terrible death, her eyes rolling, her neck contorted and bent back upon itself'. When doctors finally went to her, they declared 'this was the hand of God' -- not daring to say 'the hand of the devil' aloud." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
Gabrielle's personal & family background.
"It was at a period of fierce intestine struggle and heroic suffering in France that a tender sentiment of the Fair Gabrielle had its birth in the bosom of Henry of Navarre. This celebrated beauty was the daughter of Antoine, Marquis d'Estrees, grandmaster of the artillery---a brave soldier, distinguished for his noble defence of Noyon against the Duke of half Huguenot, half Catholic, who hoped in the end to secure the crown to Henry of Bearn. (Royal Favourites, 1: 328)
"Gabrielle was the daughter of Antoine IV d'Estrees, Marquis de Coeuvres, Governor, Seneschal and 1st Baron of Boulonnois, Viscount of Soissons and Bersy, Knight of the Order of the King, Governor of La Fere, Paris, and the Isle of France, and Francoise Babou de Bourdaisiere.
"Elsewhere was the chateau of Coeuvres, near Soissons, where Henri stopped in November 1590 while trailing Parma's army. The chateau belonged to an unimportant courtier, Antoine d'Estrees. One of his daughters, Gabrielle d'Estrees, caught the king's eye. . . Gabrielle's mother, Francoise Babou de la Bourdaisiere, belonged to a family whose women were renowned for their beauty and for their success at the court of France as companion to the powerful. Francoise Babou had played her part in the court intrigues of the 1570s, while Gabrielle's sister Diane had been a mistress of Epernon and their aunt Isabelle, marquise de Sourdis, was the mistress of Chancellor de Cheverny." (Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
The family of 'the seven deadly sins'.
"On her mother's side, Gabrielle d'Estrees was of a family which the chronicler Tallemant de Reaux described with palpable relish as 'the richest in spirited ladies that France has ever seen. There at least twenty-five or twenty-six of them, nuns and married ladies alike, all of whom delight in sexual congress.' Among the married ladies was Gabrielle's mother, who ran awa with a lover when the children were small. One of the nuns was Gabrielle's sister, the abbess of Maubuisson, who was eventually obliged to leave her convent after bearing twelve children, by different fathers. Another sister is probably seen here with Gabrielle in the bathtub: Julienne d'Estrees, Duchess of Villars. She did not balk at sitting bare-breasted below the pulpit when Capuchin monk she fancied was preaching. The God-fearing man was forced to flee the confessional and indeed the city, so persistent were her passionate advances. No wonder Julienne, the abbess, Gabrielle, three further daughters, and the one son of M. d'Estrees were widely known collectively as 'the seven deadly sins'." (What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
Henri & Gabrielle's natural offspring.
With whom she had César (1594-1665), Catherine Henriette (1596-1663), Alexandre (1598-1629) and a stillborn son (1599). [Estrées was a family of mistresses. The grand mother of these was a reputed roman beauty who had the record of powerful lovers : A king, an emperor and a pope. The mother, beautiful too, was not virtuous. Aunts, nieces, granddaughters of this family continued a tradition. Even it was said their virginity was sold very soon. Their education had a finality. It was an old institution. Their posterity succeeded finally: The Savoia-Nemours sisters, descendants of this illegitimate union, became queens of Portugal and Sardinia. they had both Estrees blood. The one took to Portugal the disaster and the crime, the other, the inconscience and the frivolity to Savoy. The beauty. (Alexander Palace Forum). (See also Hale, p. 308)
"Gabrielle d'Estrees expected a child by Henri IV on four occasions;min 1594 she bore him a son, Cesar, and subsequently another son and then a daughter. In 1599 she was pregnant once again, and precisely this fertility endeared her to the king. His queen, Margaret of Valois, from whom he had long been living in separation, had borne him no children, so that he and his realm still lacked an heir. He had fathered bastards, and had recognized them as his children, but with non of the pomp and ceremony that now accompanied the birth of Gabrielle's children. For first time in his life, the king found everything he prized in women united in one, Gabrielle: in addition to her fertility, her 'beauty of form, modest demeanour, gentleness of nature and spirit'."
(What Great Paintings Say, Vol 2: 204)
"The sons of the deceased Gabrielle d'Estrees, Cesar and Alexandre de Vendome, together with their sister, Catherine-Marie, were in a special category: they were born before their half brother Louis. King Henry favored Cesar to the point of giving him special ceremonial functions and sumptuously marrying him off when the dauphin was nine. The Vendome-Louis rivalry was not only a childhood torment for the dauphin, but it led to conspiracy and rebellion by his half brothers when became their king." (Louis XIII the Just: 28)
Natural offspring:
1. Cesar de Bourbon, Duc de Vendome (1594-1665)
2. Catherine-Henriette de Bourbon, Duchesse d'Elbeuf. (1596-1663)
Legitimee de France 1596, Legitimee-duchesse 1619, Mademoiselle de Vendome
Daughter of: Henri IV de France &Gabrielle d'Estrees.
Wife of Charles II de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf
Charles II de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf married in 1619
Children: a) Charles III de Lorraine, Duc d'Elbeuf; b) Henri de Lorraine, Abbe d'Homblieres; c) Francois-Louis de Lorraine, Comte d'Harcourt; 3) Francois-Marie de Lorraine, Prince de Lillebonne; d) Catherine de Lorraine, nun at Port Royale; & e) Marie-Marguerite de Lorraine, Mademoiselle d'Elbeuf.
 |
| Alexandre de Bourbon Chevalier de Vendome |
3. Alexandre de Bourbon, Chevalier de Vendome (1598-1629)
Legitime de France 1599, Chevalier de Malte 1604, Abbe de Marmoutier 1610, Grand Prior of France.
Son of: Henri IV de France & Gabrielle d'Estrees.
Gabrielle d'Estrees' other lovers were:
 |
| Roger, Duc de Bellegarde by Moncornet, 1657 |
French aristocrat
Louise de Budos (1575-1598)
Lover in 1595-1596.
Duchesse de Montmorency
Duchesse of Bouteville.
Wife of: Henri I de Montmorency, Duc de Montmorency (1534-1614)
" . . . The brightest star of the court, next to madame Gabrielle, was the youthful duchesse de Montmorency, Louise de Budos. To the most exquisite beauty, madame de Montmorency united dignity of deportment and a consciousness of what was due her exalted rank, unusual in these days of almost universal licence. 'The disposition of madame de Montmorency and her rank exempted her from all care and ambition. So well satisfied was she with her position that she was as indifferent to the dislike borne her by the ladies of the court, as to the love and admiration of its cavaliers,' says mademoiselle de Guise. This haughty dame survived her marriage with the constable de Montmorency only five years, dying in the prime of her youth in the year 1598, at the age of twenty-three. . . . " (History of the Reign of Henry IV, King of France, Vol 1, Issue 2: 208)
Comtesse de Romorantin
Dame de Sautour
Mademoiselle de La Haye.
Daughter of: Francois des Essarts, Seigneur de Sautour, Seigneur de Sornery, Equerry of the King's Stable & Charlotte de Harlay de Chanvallon, Dame de Bonnard.
Wife of: 1. Louis III de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise (1575-1621), mar 1611
"Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise, son of Henri, Duc de Guise, who was killed at the States of Blois. He obtained a dispensation from the Pope to effect his marriage with Mademoiselle des Essarts. He was a warlike prelate; and his death, which took place at Saintes in 1621, was caused by the extreme fatigue that he underwent during the campaign of Guienne, and at the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angel, whither he accompanied Louis XIII." (The Life of Marie de Medicis: Queen of France, Volume 1: 382)
Natural offspring:
1. Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon (1608-1670), Abbesse de Fontevrault
2. Marie-Henriette de Bourbon (1609-1629), Abbesse de Chelles.
Charlotte-Marguerite de Montmorency (1594-1650)
Courted in 1609-1610.
Princesse de Conde
Duchesse de Montmorency 1632
Dame d'Arvilliers.
Daughter of: Henri de Montmorency, Duc de Montmorency & Louise de Budos.
Wife of Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Conde (1588-1646), Duc d'Enghien, Duc de Chateauroux, Duc de Bellegarde, Duc d'Albret, Comte de Sancerre (married in 1609)
Princesse de Conde's physical appearance.
"Charlotte, who had made her first appearance at the Court in the spring of 1608, while only in her sixteenth year, had inherited her mother's beauty. 'From the time she was four years old,' writes Tallemant de Reaux, 'it was clearly seen that she would be an accomplished beauty.' She had 'blonde hair, a full figure, a perfect face.'. . . And the Cardinal di Bentivoglio declares that she was 'marvellously fair and possessed in her eyes and her countenance incomparable charms." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 202)
Traded? to another man as wife.
"That night Henri IV sent for Bassompierre, and. . . informed him that he intended to marry him to Mlle. d'Aumale and revive the duchy of that name which her father, Claude de Lorraine, had forfeited during the Wars of Religion, in his favour. . . And then, to Bassompierre's consternation, he went on to confess that he was 'not only enamoured, but madly and furiously so, of Mlle. de Montmorency.' If she became Bassompierre's wife and loved him, he, the King, would hate the happy husband; if she loved the King, her husband would hate the King. In either case there would be enmity between them. He had therefore decided to marry her to the Prince de Conde, who was poor and who cared more for hunting than for women. He would give him a hundred thousand livres a year wherewith to amuse himself, and he hoped to find him tractable. The fair Charlotte he would keep near the Queen's person. 'She will be,' he added, 'the consolation and support of the old age upon which I am about to enter, and I do not wish any other favour from her than her affection, without pretending to anything further.'" (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 204)
Seigneur de Termes, Baron de Bellegarde, 1st Duc de Bellegarde 1619
Peer of France, Marquis de Versoy, Grand Ecuyer de France (Master of the Horse), Governor of Burgundy, Governor of Bresse, Master of Wardrobe, First Gentleman of the Chamber
Husband of: Anne de Bueil, Dame de Fontaine (1573-1631), daughter of Honorat, 1st Sieur de Bueil & Anne de Bueil-Sancerre, mar 1596.
" . . . In early girlhood Gabrielle had formed a warm attachment to the Duke of Bellegarde, that brave young captain of light cavalry who rose to the rank of Marshal of France; so lofty in bearing, so noble in feature, and of manners so graceful, that few women could resist the fascination of his dark eye. When Bellegarde was exiled in Poland, and afterwards in Piedmont during the civil war, he left a profound impression on the youthful heart of Gabrielle, and the Prince of Bearn came after him to dispute possession of that which he found less ambitious of a brilliant destiny than of a chivalrous and lasting affection." (Royal Favourites, 1: 329)
Peer of France, Marquis de Versoy, Grand Ecuyer de France (Master of the Horse), Governor of Burgundy, Governor of Bresse, Master of Wardrobe, First Gentleman of the Chamber
Son of: Jean de Saint-Lary, Baron de Termes & Jeanne de Villemur.
Husband of: Anne de Bueil, Dame de Fontaine (1573-1631), daughter of Honorat, 1st Sieur de Bueil & Anne de Bueil-Sancerre, mar 1596.
" . . . In early girlhood Gabrielle had formed a warm attachment to the Duke of Bellegarde, that brave young captain of light cavalry who rose to the rank of Marshal of France; so lofty in bearing, so noble in feature, and of manners so graceful, that few women could resist the fascination of his dark eye. When Bellegarde was exiled in Poland, and afterwards in Piedmont during the civil war, he left a profound impression on the youthful heart of Gabrielle, and the Prince of Bearn came after him to dispute possession of that which he found less ambitious of a brilliant destiny than of a chivalrous and lasting affection." (Royal Favourites, 1: 329)
"Bellegarde saw and loved; nor was his evident devotion unpleasing to Mademoiselle D'Estrees, who had never before encountered a cavalier so handsome, so gallant, and so chivalrous. The course of true love seemed with this fortunate twain to run most smoothly; for though Gabrielle had been betrothed from her childhood to Andre de Brancas Sieur de Villars, brother of the Marquis de Villars, who had married her elder sister Juliette, the Marquis de Cœuvres could not resist his daughter's entreaties, and consented to affiance her to the Duke de Bellegarde. He was not, indeed, insensible to the advantages of an alliance with a noble so powerful and wealthy, and who stood so high in the favour of King Henry. The lovers exchanged rings in his presence; the duke presented his lady-love with his portrait, and then returned to his duties at court, where his engagement to an unknown beauty excited great astonishment." (Women of History: 121)
"Roger Lary, Duc de Bellegarde, had been one of the mignons or favourites of Henri III. It was he who, in 1589, had organised the murder of the two brothers, the Cardinal and the Duc de Guise: the desperate step whereby the last Valois king had sought to escape from the domination of Philip II of Spain. Bellegarde had become the confidant of Henri IV, and he was now Grand Ecuyer de France. He was also the king's competitor for the favours of the most famous, and most promiscuous, of Henri's numerous mistresses, Gabrielle d'Estrees. In this, it seems, he was successful: indeed Sully declares roundly that the Duc de Vendome was the illegitimate son not of the king but of Bellegarde. In consequence of his varied amours, Bellegarde, like so many of the French upper class at the time, suffered from venereal disease -- from lues venerea or syphilis. . . ." (Europe's Physician: 65)
Roger the (Unabashed) Rake: "Bellegarde was a mignon, a favorite of King Henri III, and he was similarly honored by Henri IV and Louis XIII. He is a traditional gallant, an unabashed rake rumored to be the real father of the duc de Vendôme. Bellegarde is known to flirt with the prim Queen Anne, who finds the old duke both shameless and fascinating." (Ballet de l'Acier)
"Roger de St. Lary, duke of Bellegarde, grand equerry of France, was acquainted before Henry IV, with Gabrielle d'Estrees. It was he who inspired that prince with the desire of seeing her; which sight is known to have kindled in him so ardent a passion that, but for the lady's death, the great Henry would perhaps have had the weakness to marry her. M. de Bellegarde soon discovered that the vain desire, too common to lovers, of having his mistress admired, had given him a rival, and a very dangerous one. History informs us of two adventures amongst others, in which the duke incurred the greatest peril on this account. The king had one morning departed, to attend to an affair of great consequence, which was expected to detain him for some time; and La Belle Gabrielle thought she might avail herself of this absence to entertain the grand ecuyer at leisure, of whom she is said to have been much fonder that of the king. Scarcely had she begun to taste the pleasure of being along with her lover, when Henry returned, and the duke had only just time to hide himself in a closet. To complete his misfortune and embarrassment, the king desired to eat some sweetmeats, and in that very closet the sweetmeats were deposited. Arphure, Gabrielle's waiting-woman, was called, for she carried the key of the closet; but Arphure was not to be found. The king, growing impatient, struck the door, and threatened to burst it open. The duke who, it may well be supposed, felt that his situation was becoming very critical, jumped out of the window, which he had the good luck to do without either hurting himself or being observed. The waiting-woman, who had only been waiting for this, immediately appeared, and hasted to unlock the door. The king, in whom all this delay had awakened some suspicions, made a strict search, but found nothing. Then his mistress, being sure of her ground, loaded him with a thousand reproaches. She told him that it appeared his love was beginning to cool, and that he was only seeking a pretext for casting her off; but that she would not give him an opportunity of doing so, for she was absolutely resolved to return to her husband. The king, alarmed at these threats, threw himself at her feet, asked her pardon, and promised never again to be jealous. For a long time after, he did not venture to testify the least suspicion, lest she should put her threat in execution." (Illustrations of the Passion of Love: 204)
"Such was Gabrielle d'Estrees on the verge of young womanhood when Roger de Saint-Lery, Duc de Bellegarde, the King's grand equerry, and one of the handsomest young men in France, first set eyes on her in the chateau of Coeuvres; and, as was inevitable, lost his heart to her at first sight. When he rode away two days later, such excellent use had he made of his opportunities, he left a very happy, if desolate maiden behind; for Gabrielle had little power to resist fascinations which had made a conquest of many of the fairest ladies at Court. When Bellegarde returned to Mantes, where Henri was still struggling for the crown which was so soon to he his, he foolishly gave the King of Navarre such a rapturous account of the young beauty of Picardy and his conquest that Henri, already weary of the faded charms of Diane d'Andouins, his mistress, promptly left his soldiering and rode away to see the lady for himself, and to find that Bellegarde;s raptures were more than justified." (Love Affairs of the Courts of Europe)
"Despite her maternal heritage, Gabrielle did not pursue Henry and initially did not even respond to his interest in her. She was instead enamored of Roger de Saint-Lery, the duke of Bellegarde, with whom she had been involved since 1587 (when she was fourteen) and whom she hoped to marry. When presented at court by the duke of Epernon, his relative and one of Henry III's favorites, Bellegarde too joined their ranks, becoming in short order grand master of the garde-robe, first gentleman of the chamber, and finally grand squire of France. When Henry III's reign was jeopardized by the League, he asked Henry of Navarre to take care of Bellegarde, who then became one of his most influential officials. Bellegarde brought Gabrielle to Henry's attention." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
"Immediately after the accession of Henry IV, the duc de Bellegarde had been sent by his majesty on a mission to M. d'Estrees. Bellegarde then first saw Mlle. d'Estrees, who had never appeared at the court of Henry III. The charms of la belle Gabrielle made profound impression upon the duke, who rapturously declared that never had he seen beauty so perfect. Mademoiselle d'Estrees, however, was then affianced to Andre de Brancas, sieur de Villars, brother of the marquis de Villars, who had espoused her elder sister, Juliette Hippolyte d'Estrees. M. de Villars, who eventually became governor of Rouen for the League, was a cavalier of great repute and honour, but possessed only of moderate wealth. It does not appear, that the heart of the young beauty had been consulted on this proposed alliance; for Gabrielle received the suit of Bellegarde with visible pleasure. The graceful and accomplished duke so insinuated himself into her favour, that Gabrielle with tears, besought her father to bestow her on Bellegarde. M. d'Estrees, feeling the advantage of so puissant an alliance, was easily induced to consent; and in his presence the duke de Bellegarde and Gabrielle exchanged rings. The duke, after presenting his picture to his betrothed bride, returned to court; where breaking off the relations which he had formerly entertained with madame d'Humieres, he faithfully devoted himself to the beautiful Gabrielle." (History of the reign of Henry IV, King of France and Navarre: 150)
"If Henri was love struck at first sight, Gabrielle was emphatically not taken with her royal suitor. She much preferred the company of the elegant Roger de Bellegarde, a former favorite of Henri III's. Henri expected Bellegarde to cede his place, and the latter was too good a courtier to attempt a public rivalry with his king. It was easier, however, to command Bellegarde's obedience than Gabrielle's affections. Rumors persisted that the younger man continued to see Gabrielle on the sly, a suspicion that periodically threw Henri into fits of rage."(Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
"If Henri was love struck at first sight, Gabrielle was emphatically not taken with her royal suitor. She much preferred the company of the elegant Roger de Bellegarde, a former favorite of Henri III's. Henri expected Bellegarde to cede his place, and the latter was too good a courtier to attempt a public rivalry with his king. It was easier, however, to command Bellegarde's obedience than Gabrielle's affections. Rumors persisted that the younger man continued to see Gabrielle on the sly, a suspicion that periodically threw Henri into fits of rage."(Henri IV of France: His Reign and Age)
"At this time Henri Quatre was holding his court at Mantes, and relieving the sterner toils of empire by sharing in the banquet and the song. The dames and demoiselles of Mantes were often the themes of the merry talk of the jocund monarch and his courtiers, and much surprise was expressed at the indifference with which the Duke de Bellegarde conducted himself among them. They could not conceive that a country maiden could be any worthy rival of the dazzling dames de la cour. The duke replied that 122 not one of them could hope to equal la dame des ses pensees, the beautiful Gabrielle D'Estrees. Henry laughed at the lover's infatuation. Bellegarde, piqued at his incredulity, invited him to accompany him to the Château de Cœuvres. The king promised; and thus, as Mademoiselle de Guise sagely observes, "the hopeful lover became the artificer of his own misfortunes," for it was due to that ill-omened visit that he perilled his happiness, and lost the favour of the king. As the château was at no great distance from Senlis, where Henry afterwards was, he and the courtiers rode hastily forward. Henry was received with the welcome due to so brave a king; and the beautiful Gabrielle did homage to him by kissing his hand, and proffered the winecup for his refreshment. Her loveliness burst upon the astonished monarch, as the glories of the new world broke on the dazzled eyes of Columbus. Fresh, and pure, and unsophisticated, it took captive the royal heart, and the memories of all former loves paled before the fervency of this new passion. When he retired to Senlis, he summoned thither the Marquis de Cœuvres and his daughter, under pretext that the marquis might take his oaths as a member of the royal council. The summons was most unacceptable to Gabrielle, who complained bitterly that Henry's attentions sullied her maiden fame, while she grieved at the popular rumour that her lover Bellegarde had been ensnared by the charms of Mademoiselle de Guise. On her arrival at Senlis, she offered Bellegarde to consent to a private marriage as the only means of evading the "evil designs" of his majesty; but the duke was not chivalrous enough to dare the royal wrath. The king persisted in demanding 123 Bellegarde's submission. He visited the beauty in the hope of soothing her disappointment and moderating her anger; but she wept continually, and, flinging herself on her knees, implored him to restore to her her affianced husband. When she found him immovable, she rose and abruptly left the apartment, and during the night quitted Senlis, and returned to her father's castle." (Women of History: 121)
The Duc de Bellegarde's other lovers were:
a . Henri III de France.
a . Henri III de France.
Daughter of: Henri I de Lorraine, Duc de Guise & Catherine de Cleves
Wife of:
1. Francois de Bourbon, Prince de Conti mar 1605
2. Francois de Bassompierre.
2. Sebastiano Zametti (1549-1614)
" . . . There was Sebastien Zamet, the court financier, famous for his splendid apartments and epicurean dinners, who had also his turn as the lover of Gabrielle d'Estrees. . . ." (Europe's Physician: 66)
"Zamet was a wealthy contractor, of Italian origin, but who had caused himself to be naturalized in France, in 1581, together with his two brothers, Horace and John-Anthony Zamet calmly replied: "You may describe me as the _lord of seventeen hundred thousand crowns_." His ready wit first procured for him the favour off Henri IV, which he subsequently retained by a system of complaisance of thoroughly Italian morality. His house was always open to the King, even for the most equivocal purposes; and so great was the familiarity with which he was treated by the dissolute monarch, that the latter constantly addressed him by a pet name, and held many of his orgies beneath his roof." (The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France: 82)
"One evening in April, while Henri was at Fontainebleau Marais in the romantically named Rue de la Cerisaie, or Street of the Cherry Orchard (which still exists). It belonged to a rather sinister figure named Sebastiano Zametti, alias Zamet, an Italian banker who also served as a kind of court jester to the King---and probably procurer. A gambling companion of the King, he was owed vast sums of money by Henri as well as by many of the French nobility. Zamet was even said to have been a lover of Gabrielle. Famous for his table, that night he treated her to one of his celebrated dinners. Almost immediately Gabrielle suffered acute convulsions of the nervous system, gave birth to a still-born son,and, aged only twenty-six, died in terrible pain before Henri could reach her side the following day. It was widely believed that Zamet had slipped her one of the notorious Medici poisons." (Seven Ages of Paris: 84)
Anne Dudey.
Lover in 1592.
Wife of: Oudart du Puy, President, Election d'Epemay
1. Francois de Bourbon, Prince de Conti mar 1605
2. Francois de Bassompierre.
2. Sebastiano Zametti (1549-1614)
" . . . There was Sebastien Zamet, the court financier, famous for his splendid apartments and epicurean dinners, who had also his turn as the lover of Gabrielle d'Estrees. . . ." (Europe's Physician: 66)
"Zamet was a wealthy contractor, of Italian origin, but who had caused himself to be naturalized in France, in 1581, together with his two brothers, Horace and John-Anthony Zamet calmly replied: "You may describe me as the _lord of seventeen hundred thousand crowns_." His ready wit first procured for him the favour off Henri IV, which he subsequently retained by a system of complaisance of thoroughly Italian morality. His house was always open to the King, even for the most equivocal purposes; and so great was the familiarity with which he was treated by the dissolute monarch, that the latter constantly addressed him by a pet name, and held many of his orgies beneath his roof." (The Life of Marie de Medicis, Queen of France: 82)
"One evening in April, while Henri was at Fontainebleau Marais in the romantically named Rue de la Cerisaie, or Street of the Cherry Orchard (which still exists). It belonged to a rather sinister figure named Sebastiano Zametti, alias Zamet, an Italian banker who also served as a kind of court jester to the King---and probably procurer. A gambling companion of the King, he was owed vast sums of money by Henri as well as by many of the French nobility. Zamet was even said to have been a lover of Gabrielle. Famous for his table, that night he treated her to one of his celebrated dinners. Almost immediately Gabrielle suffered acute convulsions of the nervous system, gave birth to a still-born son,and, aged only twenty-six, died in terrible pain before Henri could reach her side the following day. It was widely believed that Zamet had slipped her one of the notorious Medici poisons." (Seven Ages of Paris: 84)
Anne Dudey.
Lover in 1592.
Wife of: Oudart du Puy, President, Election d'Epemay
Lover in 1595-1596.
Duchesse of Bouteville.
Wife of: Henri I de Montmorency, Duc de Montmorency (1534-1614)
" . . . The brightest star of the court, next to madame Gabrielle, was the youthful duchesse de Montmorency, Louise de Budos. To the most exquisite beauty, madame de Montmorency united dignity of deportment and a consciousness of what was due her exalted rank, unusual in these days of almost universal licence. 'The disposition of madame de Montmorency and her rank exempted her from all care and ambition. So well satisfied was she with her position that she was as indifferent to the dislike borne her by the ladies of the court, as to the love and admiration of its cavaliers,' says mademoiselle de Guise. This haughty dame survived her marriage with the constable de Montmorency only five years, dying in the prime of her youth in the year 1598, at the age of twenty-three. . . . " (History of the Reign of Henry IV, King of France, Vol 1, Issue 2: 208)
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Julienne Hyppolite d'Estrées |
Julienne-Hippolyte d'Estrees (1580-1649)
Lover in 1599?
Duchesse de Villars
Daughter of Antoine d'Estrees, Marquis de Coeuvres & Francoise Babou de La Bourdaisiere
Wife of Georges de Brancas, Seigneur de Villars
(doubtful).
"During the lifetime of la belle Gabrielle, her sister, Juliette Hippolyte d'Estrees, Marquise de Cerisay, who in 1597 became the wife of Georges de Brancas, Duc de Villars, had attracted the attention of the King, whose dissipated tastes were always flattered by novelty; although if we are to credit the statements of the Princesse de Conti, this lady, so far from rivalling the beauty of her younger sister, had no personal charms to recommend her beyond her youth and her hair. Being as unscrupulous as the Duchesse de Beaufort herself, Juliette exulted in the idea of captivating the King, and left no effort untried to secure her supposed conquest; but this caprice on the part of Henry was only momentary, and his passion for Henriette d'Entragues, he soon forgot his passing fancy for Madame de Villars." (The Life of Marie De Medicis (Complete))
Lover in 1599?
Duchesse de Villars
Daughter of Antoine d'Estrees, Marquis de Coeuvres & Francoise Babou de La Bourdaisiere
Wife of Georges de Brancas, Seigneur de Villars
(doubtful).
"During the lifetime of la belle Gabrielle, her sister, Juliette Hippolyte d'Estrees, Marquise de Cerisay, who in 1597 became the wife of Georges de Brancas, Duc de Villars, had attracted the attention of the King, whose dissipated tastes were always flattered by novelty; although if we are to credit the statements of the Princesse de Conti, this lady, so far from rivalling the beauty of her younger sister, had no personal charms to recommend her beyond her youth and her hair. Being as unscrupulous as the Duchesse de Beaufort herself, Juliette exulted in the idea of captivating the King, and left no effort untried to secure her supposed conquest; but this caprice on the part of Henry was only momentary, and his passion for Henriette d'Entragues, he soon forgot his passing fancy for Madame de Villars." (The Life of Marie De Medicis (Complete))
N.O.N. (Natural Offspring Nuns): " . . . Angelique had twelve children by a number of lovers and entered them as nuns in her new establishment. Maubuisson became famous for its lavish hospitality until after Henry's death when the Cistercian abbot-general, Nicolas Boucherat, broke into the convent with his soldiers to remove Angelique." (McNamara: 428)
Persona or character.
"Quite nearly as corrupt as her mother, Angelique d'Estrees had numerous affairs, then joined the Convent of Maubisson where she rose to become abbess. She not only continued to take lovers, but encouraged the nuns in her charge to do the same, outraging even the lenient church hierarchy of the time. She was eventually banished to the Renaissance equivalent of a home for delinquents, where she lived the remainder of her life under close observation." (encyclopedia.com)
Royal Motel on Holy Ground: ". . . Its abbess was Angelique d'Estrees, sister of Gabrielle, the notorious mistress of Henry IV. Angelique had once been abbess of a convent near Amiens, where her sister often stayed for the purpose of making herself available to the king. Not wanting to travel so far for the pleasure of seeing Gabrielle, Henry transferred Angelique to Maubisson, nearer at hand, after he had removed the current abbess from her office. The king continued to be welcome at Maubisson, as were others, attracted by the abbess, who is said to have given birth to a dozen or more children while in office." (Sedgwick, 1998.)
Benefits: " . . . Once he was crowned, he may have taken ironic delight in using his commendatory powers to benefit his mistresses. . . He also allowed plural nominations at Amiens and Maubuisson to Angelique d'Estrees, sister of his mistress Gabrielle. Their double portrait, naked in the bath, still charms and amuses visitors to the Louvre. . . . " (McNamara: 428)
Lover in 1605-1609.
Dame de Breux, Baronne de Chenault, Maid-of-honour to Queen Marie de' Medici 1600.
Daughter of: Francois de Balzac d'Entragues (1541-1613), Seigneur d'Entragues, & Marie de Touchet, Dame de Belleville
[Chemault et son chateau] [Seigneurie de Boissy]
Mlle. d'Entragues's other lovers were:
1. Francois II de Bassompierre (1579-1646), Seigneur & 2nd Baron de Bassompierre, 1st Marquis d'Haroue, Marshal of France
[Aristocratic Gallery]
Natural offspring:
Louis de Bassompierre (1610-1676) Bishop of Saintes, Abbot, Almoner of the Duc d'Orleans.
2. Louis de Phelypaux (1599-1681), Seigneur de La Vrilliere
Lover in 1621.
[Favorites Royales]
"At no. 23, notice the heavy wooden door decorated with thick wooden plaques attached with metal bolts. There are several doors of this kind in the place, and each one has its own pattern. Inside the courtyard is a small garden and a vaulted brick entry. This was the Hotel de Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d'Entragues. Not only her name was impressive; her career was as well. she lived here with her mother, who had been the mistress of Charles IX. Her sister, Henriette d'Entragues. had been the mistress of Henri IV. (Decidedly, these ladies did not bring good luck to their lovers.) Marie-Charlotte was the mistress of the marechal de Bassompierre and gave birth to his soon, Louis, in 1610. Their relationship was very stormy, and Marie-Charlotte kept pressing the marechal to marry her. He refused, reneging on his written promise. So Marie-Charlotte consoled herself with a series of lovers of equal distinction or equal means, among them the archbishop of Paris, Jean-Francois de Gondi, and the financier Le Plessis-Guenegaud. We are told that there is a room in the house that still has painted beams dating from her residency, but we have never been inside." (Pariswalks: n.p.)
Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues (1579-1633)
Marquise de Verneuil
Lover in 1599-1609.
Daughter of: Marie Touchet, Charles IX de France's mistress
Natural offspring:
1) Henri de Verneuil (1600-?)
2) Henri de Bourbon-Verneuil, Bishop of Metz (1601-1682)
3) Gabrielle-Angelique, Mademoiselle de Verneuil (1602-1627)
Mlle. d'Entragues's other lovers were:
1. Bellegarde
2. Bassompierre
Henriette's character or personality.
"Catherine Henriette de Balzac D'Entragues, daughter of Francois de Balzac, Lord of Entragues, Marcoussy and Malesherbes, and of Marie Touchet, previously mistress of Charles IX, by whom she had one son, Count of Auvergne. The reputation of Henriette, according to Sully, was not quite immaculate before her connexion with Henry; and certainly the mercenary cunning which she displayed in the whole of her dealings with the King showed more of the spirit of the prostitute than the weakness of the inexperienced girl." (The Life of Henry the Fourth, Vol 3: 315)
"A French lady, who so captivated Henry IV. that he promised to marry her. His subsequent marriage with Maria de Medicis, so offended his haughty mistress, that she conspired with the Spanish court to dethrone him, and place the crown of France on the head of the son she had borne to Henry. Their intrigues were discovered, and her accomplices punished. She died in exile, 1683, aged fifty-four." (Woman's Record: 544)
"Verneuil, Henriette de Balzac d’Entragues, Marquise de – (1579 – 1633). French royal mistress. Born Catherine Henriette Balzac d’Entragues at Orleans, she was the daughter of Francois de Balzac, Seigneur d’Entragues, and his wife Marie Touchet, the former mistress of Charles IX. Tall, brunette, and ravishingly beautiful, Henriette became the mistress of Henry IV after the death of Gabrielle d’Estrees (1599). She had yielded her virginity for a large fee (100, 000 ecus) and even managed to obtain from Henry a written promise of marriage. Despite this the king was forced to yield to his ministers and make a state marriage with Marie de Medici, but he refused to give up Henriette. In mid-1600 Henriette gave birth to Henry’s son, but the infant lived only a few hours. Henry saw the death of this child as reason to free himself from his former promise of marriage. A jealous and intriguing woman, Henriette became involved in several conspiracies to assassinate her royal lover, notably when she allied herself with Henry’s former friend the Duc de Biron, and Duke Carlo Emanuel of Savoy. This plot ended with Biron’ execution, whilst Henriette, who had been created marquise de Verneuil, was exiled from the court, and survived Henry for over two decades. She left two children by the king, Henri de Bourbon, Duc de Verneuil (1601 – 1682) and Gabrielle Angelique de Bourbon (1603 – 1627) who married the Duc d’Epernon. Madame de Verneuil died in Paris (Feb 6, 1633)." (Women of History - V)
" . . . Making immediate use of his new-found freedom, the king not only negotiated a marriage contract with Marie de Medici . . . but also promised his mistress Henriette d'Entragues that he would wed her if she produced a male child. Since Henriette's first child proved still-born, Henry married Marie (consummating the union on the night before the ceremony); but he lodged her in the palace close to Henriette's apartment and slipped from one bed to another. Both women gave birth to his sons in 1601 and to his daughters in 1602." (Europe in Crisis: 82)
"Equally troublesome was the existence of Gaston-Henri and Gabrielle de Verneuil, children of Henry IV's favorite mistress for most of the period Louis was dauphin, Henriette d'Entragues. Before Marie de' Medici's appearance on the scene, the Verneuils' mother had wrung from her browbeaten royal lover a written promise of marriage. The impetuous offer was, of course, no longer in question after Henry's second marriage; however, its existence continued to poison family relations. Four years later, when Henriette was compromised by rumors of her family's involvement in a plot supposedly aimed at deposing Louis as heir, Henry got the worthless written document back. But the ensuing family scene set the court abuzz, and had the dauphin all ears. What Louis heard was that even in defeat Henriette had wrung from his father a full pardon, plus the reduction of his brother's death sentence for treason to mere imprisonment. An embarrassed king held his wife's hand, while trying to explain to his glowering girlfriend that to exonerate her family further would be tantamount to declaring the queen a whore and the dauphin a bastard. Alas, Entragues continued to scold Henry for going back on his word, and she drove Marie to tears by branding her the king's 'fat banker,' the dauphin a bastard, and her own offspring the kingdom's legitimate heirs." (Louis XIII the Just: 28)
Jacqueline de Bueil (1588-1651)
Lover in 1604-1608.
Comtesse de Moret
Daughter of: Claude de Bueil, Seigneur de Courcillon, Seigneur de La Marchere & Catherine Montecler.
Wife of:
1. Philippe de Harlay de Champvallon, Comte de Cresy mar 604, div 1607.
2. Rene II Crespin du Bec, Marquis de Vardes. mar 1617.
Natural offspring:
a. Antoine de Bourbon, Comte de Moret (1607-1632)
" . . . As had happened after the death of Gabrielle d'Estrees, it was suggested that he should endeavour to forget his worry in a distraction. His attention was directed to Mlle. Jacqueline de Bueil, a portionless orphan who had been in a measure adopted by Charlotte de La Tremoille, Dowager Princess de Conde. Jacqueline came of that notorious Babou de la Bourdaisiere race to which La Belle Gabrielle belonged on her mother's side. She was the daughter of Georges Babou, Lord of Bueil, by his wife Madeleine de Bellay, and at this time (1604) she was between twenty and twenty-four years of age, a blonde beauty with a dazzling complexion, large luminous eyes and exquisite shoulders. Proposals being made to her on the King's behalf, she retorted that in the first instance she desired to be married, and that she must have a present of 50,000 crowns, an estage with a title, and an allowance of five hundred crowns a month. A husband was found in the person of a certain Philippe de Harlay, Count de Cesy, a nephew of Champvallon, the whilom lover of La Reine Margot. Harlay, who was poor, consented to become the husband in name only of Jacqueline de Bueil, on condition of receiving a modest pension of 1200 crowns for annum. (The Favourites of Henry of Navarre: 262)
" . . . [H]e became enamoured of Mademoiselle de Bueil, a young beauty who had recently appeared at court in the suite of the Princess de Conde. The extraordinary loveliness of the youthful orphan at once riveted the attention of the King, and her own inexperience made her, in so licentious a court as that of Henry IV, an easy victim; so easy, indeed, that the libertine monarch did not even affect towards her the same consideration which he had shown to his former favourites; although her extraordinary personal perfections sufficed to render her society at this period indispensable to him." (The Life of Marie de Medicis: 291)
Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d'Entragues (1588-1664)
Dame de Breux, Baronne de Chenault, Maid-of-honour to Queen Marie de' Medici 1600.
Daughter of: Francois de Balzac d'Entragues (1541-1613), Seigneur d'Entragues, & Marie de Touchet, Dame de Belleville
[Chemault et son chateau] [Seigneurie de Boissy]
"While this affair was hastening towards a conclusion, Henry returned to Fontainebleau; and giving great part of his time to diversions, and the pleasures of the table, heard mademoiselle d'Entragues often mentioned. The courtiers, eager to flatter his inclination for the fair, spoke so advantageously of the beauty, wit and sprightliness of this young lady, that the kind had a desire to see her, and became immediately passionately enamoured of her. Who could have foreseen the uneasiness this new passion was to give him! but it was Henry's fate, that the same weakness which obscured his glory, should likewise destroy the tranquility of his life. The lady was no novice: although sensible of the pleasure of being beloved by a great king, yet ambition was her predominant passion; and she flattered herself she might make so good a use of her charms, as to oblige her lover to become her husband. She did not therefore seem in haste to yield to his desires; pride, chastity, and interests, were employed in their turns; she demanded no less than one hundred thousand crowns for the price of her favours; and perceiving that she had only increased Henry's passion, by an obstacle, in my opinion, much more likely to cool it, since his majesty was obliged to tear this sum from me by violence, she no longer despaired of any thing, and had recourse to other artifices; she alleged the restraint her relations kept her in, and the fear of their resentment. The prince endeavoured to remove all these scruples, but could not satisfy the lady, who taking a favourable opportunity, at length declared that she would never grant him any thing, unless he would give her a promise, under his hand, to marry her in a year's time. It was not upon her own account, she said (accompanying with a strange request with an air of modesty, with which she well knew how to inflame the king), that she asked for this promise; to her a verbal one had been sufficient, or, indeed, she would have required none of any kind, being sensible that her birth did not allow her to pretend to that honour, but that she would have occasion for such a writing, to serve as an excuse for her fault to her relations; and observing that the kin still hesitated, she had the address to hint, that in reality she should look upon this promise as of very little consequence, knowing well th eking was not to be summoned to a court of justice like one of his subjects." (The Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, Vol 2: 334)
Mlle. d'Entragues's other lovers were:
1. Francois II de Bassompierre (1579-1646), Seigneur & 2nd Baron de Bassompierre, 1st Marquis d'Haroue, Marshal of France
[Aristocratic Gallery]
Natural offspring:
Louis de Bassompierre (1610-1676) Bishop of Saintes, Abbot, Almoner of the Duc d'Orleans.
2. Louis de Phelypaux (1599-1681), Seigneur de La Vrilliere
Lover in 1621.
[Favorites Royales]
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Charlotte des Essarts Comtesse de Romorantin |
Charlotte des Essarts (1580-1651)
Lover in 1607-1609.
Comtesse de Romorantin
Dame de Sautour
Mademoiselle de La Haye.
Daughter of: Francois des Essarts, Seigneur de Sautour, Seigneur de Sornery, Equerry of the King's Stable & Charlotte de Harlay de Chanvallon, Dame de Bonnard.
Wife of: 1. Louis III de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise (1575-1621), mar 1611
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Francois de L'Hospital Duc de Rosnay |
2. Francois de L'Hospital, Duc de Rosnay (1583-1660) mar 1630.
"Louis de Lorraine, Cardinal de Guise, son of Henri, Duc de Guise, who was killed at the States of Blois. He obtained a dispensation from the Pope to effect his marriage with Mademoiselle des Essarts. He was a warlike prelate; and his death, which took place at Saintes in 1621, was caused by the extreme fatigue that he underwent during the campaign of Guienne, and at the siege of Saint-Jean-d'Angel, whither he accompanied Louis XIII." (The Life of Marie de Medicis: Queen of France, Volume 1: 382)
Natural offspring:
1. Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon (1608-1670), Abbesse de Fontevrault
2. Marie-Henriette de Bourbon (1609-1629), Abbesse de Chelles.
"The estrangement of the monarch from Madame de Moret, coupled with his increasing coldness towards the Marquise de Verneuil, once more at this period restored the unhappy Queen to a comparative peace of mind, which she was not, however, long fated to enjoy; as at the close of the year a new candidate for the royal favour presented herself in the person of Mademoiselle des Essarts. This lady, who was a member of the household of the Comtesse de Beaumont-Harlay, had accompanied her mistress to England, whither M. de Beaumont-Harlay had been accredited as ambassador; and on the return of her patroness to France she appeared in her suite at Court, where she instantly attracted the attention of the dissolute King. Her reign was happily a short one, and at the close of two years she retired with the title of Comtesse de Romorantin, having previously been privately married to the Archbishop of Rheims.
Courted in 1609-1610.
Princesse de Conde
Duchesse de Montmorency 1632
Dame d'Arvilliers.
Daughter of: Henri de Montmorency, Duc de Montmorency & Louise de Budos.
Wife of Henri II de Bourbon, Prince de Conde (1588-1646), Duc d'Enghien, Duc de Chateauroux, Duc de Bellegarde, Duc d'Albret, Comte de Sancerre (married in 1609)
Princesse de Conde's physical appearance.
"Charlotte, who had made her first appearance at the Court in the spring of 1608, while only in her sixteenth year, had inherited her mother's beauty. 'From the time she was four years old,' writes Tallemant de Reaux, 'it was clearly seen that she would be an accomplished beauty.' She had 'blonde hair, a full figure, a perfect face.'. . . And the Cardinal di Bentivoglio declares that she was 'marvellously fair and possessed in her eyes and her countenance incomparable charms." (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 202)
Traded? to another man as wife.
"That night Henri IV sent for Bassompierre, and. . . informed him that he intended to marry him to Mlle. d'Aumale and revive the duchy of that name which her father, Claude de Lorraine, had forfeited during the Wars of Religion, in his favour. . . And then, to Bassompierre's consternation, he went on to confess that he was 'not only enamoured, but madly and furiously so, of Mlle. de Montmorency.' If she became Bassompierre's wife and loved him, he, the King, would hate the happy husband; if she loved the King, her husband would hate the King. In either case there would be enmity between them. He had therefore decided to marry her to the Prince de Conde, who was poor and who cared more for hunting than for women. He would give him a hundred thousand livres a year wherewith to amuse himself, and he hoped to find him tractable. The fair Charlotte he would keep near the Queen's person. 'She will be,' he added, 'the consolation and support of the old age upon which I am about to enter, and I do not wish any other favour from her than her affection, without pretending to anything further.'" (The Last Loves of Henri of Navarre: 204)
Daughter of the state secretary
". . . (T)he beautiful Angelique Paulet . . .at seventeen had turned the head of Henri IV, and escaped the fatal influence of that imperious sovereign's infatuation by his timely, or untimely, death. Fair and brilliant, the best singer of her time, skilled also in playing the lute, and gifted with a special dramatic talent, she was always a favorite, much loved by her friends and much sung by the poets. Her proud and impetuous character, her frank and original manners, together with her luxuriance of blonde hair, gained her the sobriquet of La Belle Lionne. . . . " (The Women of the French Salons)
" . . . Angelique Paulet (1591-1650), one-time mistress of Henri IV and star of the salons where she was known as variously as 'the lioness' and 'Parthenie.'" (Dumas: 799)
"On the morning of the 14th of May, Henry had visited the beautiful Angelique Paulet. She was the daughter of the state secretary who originated the tax, named after him, 'La Paulette.' The king . . . had with him his eldest son, the young duc, Cesar de Vendome, to introduce him to this fascinating young lady. She has been described as receiving her royal visitors 'seated on a sofa of scarlet brocatelle, and wearing a morning-dress on blue silk. . . This fair damsel, who was but seventeen, had won the admiration of the king by her graceful dancing and exquisite singing, in a 'ballet de la reine' danced by the court at the Louvre. Mademoiselle Angelique Paulet some years after was one of the celebrities of the Hotel de Rambouillet." (Jackson: 12)
" . . . Paulet [Angelique's father] pursued his career as a partisan, however, and was reputed to be a very wealthy man. Assisted by his wife, a noted coquette, he received the leading courtiers, attracted by the beauty of his daughter Angelique, one of Henri IV's mistresses. Some way that the king was on his way to visit Angelique at the hotel of the financier Zamet in the rue Saint-Antoine who was assassinated on 14 May 1610. . . . " (Mousnier: 41)
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