Renée of Bourbon

Renée of Bourbon, Duchess of Lorraine also called, Renée, Lady of Mercœur, (1494 – 26 May 1539), was a daughter of Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier by Clara Gonzaga, and sister of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon.

On 26 June 1515 she married Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, her entry to Nancy was described in a chronicle. She arrived at Nancy from Bar-le-Duc at the start of May 1516. First she stopped short of the town at a village called Laixou. After enjoying a magnificent picnic for six hours, she came to the gates of Nancy and was met by a choir on a scaffold singing in her honour, accompanied by cannon fire from the ramparts.^[1] They had six children;

• Francis I, Duke of Lorraine (1517–1545), first the Marquis de Pont-à-Mousson.
• Nicolas, Duke of Mercœur (1524–1577), first Bishop of Verdun and Metz, then in 1548, Count of Vaudemont.
• Jean (1526–1532)
• Antoine (b. 1528), d. young
• Anna (1522–1568), married firstly René of Châlon, Prince of Orange and secondly Philip II, Duke of Aerschot (1496–1549), visited by Hans Holbein the Younger as a potential bride of Henry VIII of England
• Elisabeth (b. 1530), d. young

In August 1538, Renée was commanded to court at Compiègne to meet Mary of Austria, Queen of Hungary. In March 1539 she travelled to Neufchâteau to meet Antoine who had stomach trouble and they returned to Nancy. Renée died at Nancy of dysentery on 26 May 1539.^[2]

References