Duchess of Vendome Francoise DE LORRAINE

Notes:

Name:
Françoise of Lorraine (November 1592 - 8 September 1669) was a princess of Lorraine and daughter-in-law of Henry IV of France. Sometimes known as Françoise de Merc?ur, she belonged to the Merc?ur cadet branch of the sovereign Dukes of Lorraine and was a niece of Louise of Lorraine, wife of the previous King Henry III. Françoise was the heiress of her father and, as such, was the Duchess of Merc?ur and Penthièvre suo jure.



Françoise was the younger of two children. She was born in November 1592 with the exact date unknown; her only sibling, Philippe Louis, died in 1590 aged one making her the heiress to a large private fortune. During the reign of Henry III, her father had put himself at the head of the Catholic League in Brittany, and had himself proclaimed protector of the Roman Catholic Church in the province in 1588. Invoking the hereditary rights of his wife, who was a descendant of the Dukes of Brittany, he endeavoured to make himself independent in that province, and organised a government at Nantes, calling his son "prince and duke of Brittany".


With the aid of the Spaniards he defeated Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, whom Henry IV of France had sent against him, at Craon in 1592. The king marched against Meroeur in person. As part of their peace they drew up a marriage contract in 1596 whereby his daughter, would marry Henry's legitimised son.[1]

The French and Spanish then signed the Peace of Vervins on 2 May 1598 when Françoise was 6; part of the treaty again stipulated that the young Françoise would be engaged to the illegitimate child of Henry IV, César de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. Vendôme was the eldest child of the King and his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées.[citation needed]

The wedding took place at the palace of Fontainebleau on 16 July 1609. The bride was 16, the groom 15. The couple had three children and were the paternal grandparents of le Grand Vendôme. Due to the marriage contract, César acquired the right to manage her lands. Her husband died disgraced in 1665, having been involved in the Fronde and having been accused of trying to poison Cardinal Richelieu. In the same year she went to Savoy with her granddaughter Marie Jeanne of Savoy, who wed Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy on 20 May 1665. The duchies of Merc?ur and Penthièvre were inherited by her eldest son. Françoise died in Paris in 1669 aged 77 and was buried there. Other fiefs that Françoise owned were the princedom of Martigues, the duchy of Étampes and the seigneurie of Ancenis.[citation needed]

Issue
Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1612?1669) married Laura Mancini and had issue.
Élisabeth de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Vendôme (1614?1664) married Charles Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Nemours and had issue.
François de Bourbon, Duke of Beaufort (1616?1669) died unmarried.

Family/Spouse: Cesar de Bourbon Duke of VENDOME. Cesar was born on 3 Jun 1594 in Chateau de Coucy, Picardy, France; died on 22 Oct 1665 in Paris, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Elisabeth DE BOURBON was born in Aug 1614 in Paris, France; died on 19 May 1664 in Paris, France.

Notes:

Name:
Philippe Emmanuel de Lorraine, Duke of Merc?ur (9 September 1558, Nomeny, Meurthe-et-Moselle ? 19 February 1602, Nürnberg), the eldest surviving son of Nicholas, Duke of Merc?ur and Jeanne de Savoie-Nemours, was a French soldier and prominent member of the Catholic League.

He was made a knight of the Order of Saint Esprit in 1578. His wife was Marie de Luxemburg, the Duchess of Penthièvre.


Rebellion in Brittany
In 1582 he was made governor of Brittany by Henry III of France, who had married his half-sister. In 1588 Merc?ur put himself at the head of the League in Brittany, and had himself proclaimed protector of the Roman Catholic Church in the province.

His wife's family, the House of Penthièvre, were descendants of the House of Dreux as Dukes of Brittany. The House of Penthièvre had lost the dukedom of Brittany to the House of Montfort in the Breton War of Succession in the 14th century. They had subsequently attempted to overthrow the Montfortist Dukes, with no success. Invoking the alleged hereditary rights of his wife, Merc?ur endeavoured to make himself independent in that province, and organized a government at Nantes, calling his son "prince and duke of Brittany".

He formed an alliance with Spain and continued to press for his independence from France when Henry IV became King of France. Henry IV of France sent a force against him led by the duc de Montpensier. With the aid of the Spaniards he defeated the French at the Battle of Craon in 1592. However, the royal troops were reinforced by English contingents and soon recovered the advantage. The king marched against Merc?ur in person, and received his submission at Angers on 20 March 1598.

Henry IV assured his control of Brittany through the marriage of his illegitimate son to Merc?ur's daughter Francoise.

Later years
Merc?ur subsequently went to Hungary, where he entered the service of the emperor Rudolph II. He fought against the Turks, taking Székesfehérvár in 1601.

Family
Philippe married Marie de Luxembourg (1562?1623), Duchesse de Penthièvre and daughter of Sébastien, Duke of Penthièvre, on 12 July 1579 in Paris.

He had two children with Marie:

Philippe Louis de Lorraine (21 May 1589 ? 21 December 1590)
Françoise de Lorraine, Duchesse de Merc?ur et de Penthièvre (November 1592 ? 8 September 1669, Paris)
Françoise married César de Bourbon, duc de Vendôme, an illegitimate son of Henry IV of France at Fontainebleau on 16 July 1608.

Philippe married Duchess of Penthievre Marie DE LUXEMBOURG on 12 Jul 1579 in Paris, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Daughter of Sebastien de Luxembourg, Duke of Penthievre and Marie de Beaucaire

Notes:

Name:
Nicolas of Lorraine, Duke of Merc?ur (16 October 1524 - 23 January 1577) was the second son of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine and Renée de Bourbon.

Biography
He was originally destined for an ecclesiastical career, being made bishop of Metz in 1543 and of Verdun in 1544. In June 1545, he became joint "tutor and administrator" for his nephew, Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, with his sister-in-law Christina of Denmark. However, the Estates of Lorraine, in November 1545, removed him in favor of Christina as sole regent. He opposed her pro-Imperial policies. Resigning his dioceses in 1548 in favor of his uncle Jean, Cardinal of Lorraine, he took the title Count of Vaudémont.

After seizure of the Three Bishoprics in 1552 by Henry II of France, he was re-appointed as sole regent for his nephew, a position he retained until 1559.

In 1551, Nomeny was detached from the Bishopric of Metz and given to him as a margraviate by Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1567, in right of which he was recognized as an independent, hereditary Prince of the Empire (the House of Lorraine would obtain a full vote in the Imperial Diet in 1736 for Nomeny in compensation for cession of the Duchy of Lorraine to France?in addition to acquisition of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany).[1]

In France, his mother's barony of Merc?ur was likewise elevated to the status of a princedom (though not independent of the French crown) in 1563, and raised to a ducal peerage in 1569.[2] He was also created a knight of the Order of Saint Esprit.

He married thrice. His first marriage, on 1 May 1549 in Brussels, was to Marguerite d'Egmont (1517 ? 10 March 1554, Bar-le-Duc),[3] daughter of Count Jean IV of Egmont. By her he had one son and three daughters:

Marguerite of Lorraine (b. 9 February 1550), d. young.
Catherine of Lorraine (b. 26 February 1551, Nomeny), d. young.
Henri of Lorraine (b. 9 April 1552, Nomeny) Count of Chaligny, d. young.
Louise of Lorraine (30 April 1553, Nomeny ? 29 January 1601, Château de Moulins), married on 13 February 1575, at Reims, Henry III of France.[4]
His second marriage was on 24 February 1555 at Fontainebleau, to Joanna of Savoy (1532?1568), daughter of Philippe, Duke of Nemours. By this marriage he had four sons and two daughters:

Philippe Emmanuel of Lorraine, Duke of Merc?ur (1558?1602).
Charles de Lorraine (20 April 1561, Nomeny ? 29 October 1587, Paris), known as the Cardinal de Vaudémont, Bishop of Toul and of Verdun.
Jean of Lorraine (b. 14 September 1563, Château de Deneuvre), d. young.
Marguerite of Lorraine (14 May 1564, Nomeny ? 20 September 1625), married on 24 September 1581 in Paris Anne, Duke of Joyeuse (1561?1587), married on 31 May 1599 François de Luxemburg, Duke of Piney (d. 1613).
Claude of Lorraine (b. 12 April 1566, Nomeny), d. young.
François of Lorraine (15 September 1567 ? 1596, Châtel-sur-Moselle), Marquis of Chaussin.
His third marriage was on 11 May 1569 at Reims, to Catherine of Lorraine (1550?1606), daughter of Claude, Duke of Aumale. By her he had three sons and two daughters:

Henri of Lorraine (31 July 1570, Nancy ? 26 October 1600, Vienna), Marquis of Mouy and Count of Chaligny, married on 19 September 1585 Claude de Mouy.
Christine of Lorraine (b. 24 September 1571, Château de Koeurs), d. young.
Antoine of Lorraine (27 August 1572 ? 1587, Mainz), Abbot of Beaulieu and Bishop of Toul.
Louise of Lorraine (b. 27 March 1575, Nancy), d. young.
Eric of Lorraine (14 March 1576 ? 27 April 1623), Bishop of Verdun.

Nicholas married Joanna of SAVOY on 24 Feb 1555 in Fontainebleau. Joanna (daughter of Philip of Savoy Duke Of NEMOURS and Charlotte of ORLEANS) was born in 1532; died in 1568. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]