Marie (Luxembourg) de Vendôme (1472 - 1547)

Born 1472 in Luxembourg

Ancestors

Wife of François (Bourbon) de Vendôme — married 8 Sep 1487 in Vendome,Loir Et Cher,,France

Descendants

Died 1 Apr 1547 at about age 75 in Chateau de la Fère, Picardie, France

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Biography

Marie of Luxembourg (died 1 April 1547) was a French princess, the elder daughter and principal heiress of Pierre II de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, by Margaret, a daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy.^[1][2] 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, of Brienne, and Conversano, Constable of France, and Jeanne de Bar, Countess of Marle and Soissons. Her maternal grandparents were Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne de Lusignan of Cyprus.

She was first married as a child to her maternal uncle, Jacques of Savoy, Count of Romont.^[2] 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.^[1]

Her status and part of her inheritance in France were restored upon her re-marriage to François, Count of Vendôme, a prince du sang, in 1487.^[1] Although she had a younger sister, Françoise d'Enghien, who wed Philip of Cleves-Ravenstein, and her father left several younger brothers, she brought vast estates and revenues to the Bourbons, including the counties of Saint-Pol and Soissons in Picardy, Ligny, Marles, and others.^[1]

At François's death in 1495, she became guardian of their minor son Charles de Bourbon, and managed the lands he inherited from his father as well as her own.^[1] 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, Princess Françoise of Savoy (d. 1511), died childless after her marriage to Count Henry III of Nassau-Breda. By her second husband, Marie had six children, including:

• Charles (1490–1527), Duke of Vendôme
• François (1491–1545), Count of Saint Pol and of Chaumont, Duke of Estouteville
• Louis (1493–1557), Cardinal de Bourbon, Archbishop of Sens
• Antoinette (1493–1583), married Claude, Duke of Guise
• Louise (1495–1575), Abbess of Fontevrault

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.^[2] She died in the château de Fère-en-Tardenois in Picardy, but was buried with her second husband in Vendôme.

1. ^ a b c d e Bonnabelle, Claude (in French). Étude sur les seigneurs de Ligny de la maison de Luxembourg, la ville et le comté de Ligny. Mémoires de la Société des lettres, sciences et arts de Bar-le-Duc. pp. 33–116.
2. ^ a b c Schwennicke, Detlev, ed. (1978). "Familien des Alten Lotharingien i" (in German). Europäische Stammtafeln. Band VI (neue Folge ed.). Marburg. pp. 28–30.

Sources

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de_Luxembourg : accessed 13 Feb 2013)