Charlotte of Bourbon
| Charlotte of Bourbon | |
|---|---|
Louis, Duke of Montpensier | |
| Mother | Jacqueline de Longwy |
Charlotte of Bourbon (1546/1547 – 5 May 1582) was a Princess consort of Orange as the third spouse of
Biography
Her paternal grandparents were
Her mother, Jacqueline, was a believer in the Reformed doctrines, and she secretly taught them to her children. By some accounts, Charlotte's father determined to thwart his wife's influence by sending three of his daughters to convents. Charlotte was then only thirteen years old and begged to be allowed to stay with her mother, who died during the time Charlotte was in the convent.[1] Her father, influential in the court of Catherine de' Medici, placed her in the royal convent of Jouarre, near Meaux, to be raised as a nun. When she was professed as a nun at the age of thirteen, she made a formal written protest.[2]
Other sources claim that Louis simply wanted to avoid paying dowries in order to conserve his only son's patrimony. Charlotte was first sent to Jouarre, where her aunt was abbess, as an infant. The plan for Charlotte was to renounce her inheritance and succeed her aunt. This plan was carried out upon the aunt's death, against Charlotte's wishes, and despite her being only 12. While abbess, Charlotte was secretly instructed in
The young Charlotte shocked both her family and the royal court by fleeing the convent in 1572, announcing her conversion to Calvinism and, on the advice of
On 24 June 1575 Charlotte married the Protestant William, Prince of Orange. They had six daughters, including
Charlotte allegedly died from exhaustion while trying to nurse her husband after an assassination attempt in 1582.[6] Though William was outwardly stoical, it was feared that his grief might cause a fatal relapse. Charlotte's death was widely mourned.[7] Following her death, William married on 24 April 1583, his fourth and last wife, Louise de Coligny, by whom he had a son Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.
William's brother
References
- ^ Famous Women of the Reformed Church|date=1901 page=103}
- ^ Anne R. Larsen; Diana Robin; Carole Levin, eds. (2007). "Bourbon-Montpensier, Charlotte de". Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. p. 56.
- Wedgwood, C.V.William the Silent, Jonathan Cape, 1944, p. 153
- ^ Charmarie Blaisdell, 'Religion, Gender, and Class: Nuns and Authority in Early Modern France', in Michael Wolfe (ed.), Changing Identities in Early Modern France (London, 1997), pp.147–168, p155
- ^ Wedgwood, C.V. William the Silent Phoenix Press 2001 p.152
- ^ Wedgwood p. 235
- ^ Wedgwood, p.235
- ^ Wedgwood, p.157
Bibliography
Media related to Charlotte of Bourbon at Wikimedia Commons
- Blaisdell, Charmarie, 'Religion, Gender, and Class: Nuns and Authority in Early Modern France', in Michael Wolfe (ed.), Changing Identities in Early Modern France (London, 1997), pp. 147–168.
- Dalberg-Acton, John Emerich Edward, et al. The Cambridge Modern History. Vol. III, New York: Macmillan Co, 1902. googlebooks.com Accessed July 30, 2007
- Robin, Diana Maury; Larsen, Anne R; Levin, Carole (2007). Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England. ABC-CLIO.
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