Marie of Luxembourg, Countess of Vendôme

Marie of Luxembourg
Born c. 1472
Died (1547-04-01)1 April 1547
La Fère
Noble family Luxembourg
Spouse(s) Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont
Francis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme
Father Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Soissons
Mother Margaret of Savoy

Marie of Luxembourg (died 1 April 1547) was a French princess, the elder daughter and principal heiress of Peter II of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Soissons, and Margaret of Savoy, a daughter of Louis I, Duke of Savoy.[1] She belonged to the French, cadet branch of a dynasty which had reigned as Dukes of Luxembourg, and whose senior line provided several Holy Roman Emperors, before becoming extinct in 1437.

Her paternal grandparents were Louis of Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol and Brienne and Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons. Her maternal grandparents were Louis I, Duke of Savoy and Princess Anne of Cyprus.

Life

She was first married as a child to her maternal uncle, Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont.[1] A commander in the army of Charles the Bold, he was deprived of his appanage, the Vaud, by Swiss armies sent by Berne and Fribourg shortly before Marie's prospects as heiress were greatly diminished, following the execution for treason of her grandfather, the French constable Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol in 1475, which entailed the sequestration of his property.

Her status and part of her inheritance in France were restored upon her remarriage to Francis de Bourbon, Count of Vendôme, a prince du sang, in 1487.[2] Although she had a younger sister, Francisca of Luxembourg, who wed Philip of Cleves, Lord of Ravenstein, and her father had several younger brothers, she brought vast estates and revenues to the House of Bourbon, including the counties of Saint-Pol and Soissons in Picardy, Ligny, and Marle, as well as the Château de Condé, which was later passed down as a residence to the Princes of Condé who were the descendants of her grandson, Louis de Bourbon, 1st Prince of Condé.

At Francis's death in 1495, she became guardian of their minor son and heir Charles, and managed the lands he inherited from his father as well as her own. She enlarged the Collégiale Saint Georges, rebuilt the Church of Saint Martin, and donated the Porte Saint Georges-aux-Bourgeois-de-Vendôme to become the Mairie.

Her daughter by her first marriage, Louise-Françoise of Savoy (d. 1511), died childless after her marriage to Count Henry III of Nassau-Breda.[3] With her second husband Francis, Marie had:

Mary, Queen of Scots, King Henry IV of France, and the Lorraine Dukes of Guise were Marie's direct descendants.

Legacy

She lived to see her sons and son-in-law, and her Bourbon and Guise grandchildren become mortal enemies, leading the Huguenot and Catholic factions, respectively, vying for power in France as the Valois dynasty approached extinction. She was still living when her great-granddaughter was crowned Mary, Queen of Scots in 1542.She died in the château de Fère-en-Tardenois in Picardy, but was buried with her second husband in Vendôme.

Ancestors

References

  1. 1 2 Busby et al. 1993, p. 145.
  2. ↑ Potter 1993, p. 48.
  3. ↑ Guenther 1995, p. 5.
  4. ↑ Potter 1993, p. 73.
  5. ↑ Potter 1993, p. 227.

Sources

  • Busby, Keith; Freeman, M.J.; Houppermans, Sjef; Pelckmans, Paul, eds. (1993). Les Manuscrits de Chrétien de Troyes. Vol. 2. Rodopi.
  • Guenther, Ilse (1995). "Henry III of Nassau". In Bietenholz, Peter G.; Deutscher, Thomas Brian. Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation. Vol. 2. University of Toronto Press.
  • Potter, David (1993). War and Government in the French Provinces, Picardy 1470-1560. Cambridge University Press.


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