Françoise of Lorraine, Duchess of Vendôme

Françoise of Lorraine (1 November 1592 – 8 September 1669) was a princess of Lorraine and daughter-in-law of Henry IV of France. Sometimes known as Françoise de Mercœur, she belonged to the Mercœur 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 Mercœur and Penthièvresuo jure.

Biography

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.

أُقيم حفل الزفاف في قصر فونتينبلو في السادس عشر من يوليو عام ١٦٠٩. كانت العروس في السادسة عشرة من عمرها، والعريس في الخامسة عشرة. أنجب الزوجان ثلاثة أطفال، وكانا الجدّين لأب لو غران فاندوم . وبموجب عقد الزواج، اكتسبت سيزار حق إدارة أراضيها. توفي زوجها في عام ١٦٦٥ بعد أن سقط في العار، إثر تورطه في ثورة فروند واتهامه بمحاولة تسميم الكاردينال ريشيليو . في العام نفسه، ذهبت إلى سافوي برفقة حفيدتها ماري جان من سافوي ، التي تزوجت من شارل إيمانويل الثاني، دوق سافوي، في العشرين من مايو عام ١٦٦٥. ورث ابنها الأكبر دوقيتي ميركور وبنتيفر. توفيت فرانسواز في باريس عام ١٦٦٩ عن عمر يناهز السابعة والسبعين، ودُفنت هناك. ومن بين الإقطاعيات الأخرى التي امتلكتها فرانسواز إمارة مارتيغ، ودوقية إيتامب، وسيادة أنسينيس .