Anna d'Este (16 November 1531 – 17 May 1607) was an important princess with considerable influence at the court of France and a central figure in the
French Wars of Religion
The French Wars of Religion is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estim ...
. In her first marriage she was Duchess of
Aumale
Aumale (), formerly known as Albemarle," is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. It lies on the River Bresle.
History
The town's Latin name was ''Alba Marla''. It was raised by William th ...
, then of
Guise
Guise (; nl, Wieze) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The city was the birthplace of the noble family of Guise, Dukes of Guise, who later became Princes of Joinville.
Population
Sights
The remains ...
, in her second marriage Duchess of
Nemours
Nemours () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the ÃŽle-de-France region in north-central France.
Geography
Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c. south of Melun, on the Moret–Lyon railway. Nemours – Saint-Pierre s ...
and
Genevois.
Life
Anna d'Este was born on 16 November 1531, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Ferrara
Ercole II
Ercole II d'Este (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559) was Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1534 to 1559. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia.
Biography
Through his mother, Ercole was a grandson of Pope Alexander ...
(son of
Lucrezia Borgia
Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Govern ...
and grandson of
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...
) and his wife,
Renée of France
Renée of France (25 October 1510 – 12 June 1574), was List of Ferrarese consorts, Duchess of Ferrara from 31 October 1534 until 3 October 1559 by marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI. She was the younger surviving ch ...
(daughter of King
Louis XII of France
Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...
). She grew up in Ferrara, where she received an excellent education. The future writer and scholar
Olympia Fulvia Morata
Olimpia Fulvia Morata (1526 – 26 October 1555) was an Italian classical scholar.
Biography
She was born in Ferrara to Fulvio Pellegrino Morato and a certain Lucrezia (possibly Gozi).
Her father, who had been tutor to the young princes of the ...
was chosen as one of her companions at court.
In 1548, after long and difficult negotiations, her marriage was arranged with the French prince
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
* Rural M ...
, Duke of Aumale, son of the
Duke of Guise
Count of Guise and Duke of Guise (pronounced ¡É¥iz were titles in the French nobility.
Originally a seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou.
While disputed by the House of Luxembourg (1 ...
. The contract was signed in
Ferrara
Ferrara (, ; egl, Frà ra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...
on 28 September and the marriage was held in
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the ÃŽle-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris.
Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...
near Paris on 16 December. The princess was never to return to Italy. Anna was the granddaughter of the French king
Louis XII
Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the tim ...
and therefore related to
Henry II and his sons.
By her marriage she had become a member of the powerful
Guise family, and because of her Italian roots she had especially close ties to the queen and later queen-mother,
Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
. For these reasons, her position at court was outstanding. Duchess of Guise after the death of her father-in-law in 1550, she governed the family estates and the enormous fortunes of the Guise with the help of her mother-in-law,
Antoinette de Bourbon
Antoinette of Bourbon (25 December 1494 – 22 January 1583), was a French noblewoman of the House of Bourbon. She was the wife of Claude of Lorraine, Duke of Guise.
Life
Antoinette de Bourbon was born on 25 December 1494 at the Chateau de Ha ...
. She was active on behalf of her father and acted as mediator between the courts of France and of Ferrara. She gave birth to seven children, four of whom reached adulthood.
In February 1563
Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis de Lorraine II, the first Prince of Joinville, also Duke of Guise and Duke of Aumale (french: François de Lorraine; 17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of ...
, was assassinated. While the murderer was seized and immediately put to death, Anna took all possible steps to sue the leader of the French Huguenots,
Gaspard de Coligny, whom she held responsible. During the next three years, the widow put pressure on the king and his courts of justice with her petitions, but in January 1566 the king's council declared the admiral of Coligny innocent and imposed eternal silence in the matter. Consequently, most of her contemporaries held the widow of the Duke of Guise responsible for the shot which was fired on Coligny on 22 August 1572 and which became the starting signal for the
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French War ...
.
On 29 April 1566, Anna married
Jacques of Savoy, Duke of Nemours and Genevois. Henceforth, the princess spent most of her time in
Annecy
Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...
or on the road between her duchy of
Genevois and the court of France. In politically difficult situations she acted as mediator between her husband and the Duke of
Savoy
Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps.
Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south.
Savo ...
, and in the meantime she held her position at the court of France. Anna promoted her sons' careers, she helped her clients to make their living, and she claimed a prominent place in official ceremonies at court. After the death of her second husband in 1585, Anna lived in Paris, in her
Hôtel de Nemours, on the left bank of the Seine, in what is today Rue Séguier. With the formation of the
Catholic League, in which her sons played a prominent part, her importance increased considerably.
In December 1588
Henry III ordered the murder of her two oldest sons and the imprisonment of Anna d'Este. Although the sources tell us nothing about the deeds of the Duchess after her liberation, some contemporaries held her responsible for the assassination of the king. During the siege of Paris by
Henry IV, Anna was declared "queen-mother" by the League, but after the Bourbon's conversion back to Catholicism she recognized him as king and tried to convince her rebellious sons to take the same step. In 1594 Anna traveled to Paris to pay homage to Henry IV. Anna spent her last years in the highly respectable position of "superintendante de la maison" of the queen,
Marie de' Medici
Marie de' Medici (french: link=no, Marie de Médicis, it, link=no, Maria de' Medici; 26 April 1575 – 3 July 1642) was Queen of France and Navarre as the second wife of King Henry IV of France of the House of Bourbon, and Regent of the Kingdom ...
, but also in growing indebtedness and in constant worry about the financial situation of her children and grandchildren.
Death
When she died on 17 May 1607, the value of her movable goods came to little more than 4000
livre
LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014.
Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol ...
s. The entrails and the heart of the Duchess were interred in Paris and in Joinville while her body was brought to Annecy, where it was buried next to her second husband. None of the tombs remain.
Significance
With regard to the confessional disputes, Anna's life does not differ much from those of other princesses of her time. Her mother was a
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
, her father, husbands, and sons were more or less radical
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
s. She helped to increase the acceptance of Henry IV following his conversion to Catholicism.
In other regards, she held a special position at the court of France, which can be seen from the numerous lawsuits she was involved in. Although the entanglement in legal proceedings even for minor causes was quite common for the French aristocracy of the early modern period, it was Anna and her mother who contested the king's right to
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, and in doing so they referred to their positions as daughter and granddaughter of a French king.
Family
Children from the marriage with
Francis, Duke of Guise
Francis de Lorraine II, the first Prince of Joinville, also Duke of Guise and Duke of Aumale (french: François de Lorraine; 17 February 1519 – 24 February 1563), was a French general and statesman. A prominent leader during the Italian War of ...
(1519–1563):
*
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
*Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, prince of Joinville, then Duke of Guise (1550–1588)
*
Catherine, Duchess of Montpensier (1551–1596), married
Louis, Duke of Montpensier
Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier (10 June 1513 – 23 September 1582) was the second Duke of Montpensier, a French Prince of the Blood, military commander and governor. He began his military career during the Italian Wars, and in 1557 was ...
*
Charles
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
, Marquis, then Duke of Mayenne (1554–1611)
*
Louis Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis (d ...
, archbishop of Reims, then Cardinal of Guise (1555–1588)
* Antoine (1557–1560)
* François (1559–1573)
* Maximilien (1562–1567/68)
Children of the marriage with
Jacques de Savoie (1531–1585):
*
Charles Emmanuel, prince of Genevois, then Duke of Nemours (1567–1595)
* Marguerite (1569–1572)
*
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...
, Marquis of Saint-Sorlin, then Duke of Nemours (1572–1632)
* Emmanuel Philibert (died young)
Ancestry
Notes
Sources
*
*
Further reading
*
* Christiane Coester: ''Schön wie Venus, mutig wie Mars. Anna d'Este, Herzogin von Guise und von Nemours (1531–1607)''. Oldenbourg, Munich (2007); .
* Huguette Leloup: ''Anne d'Este (1531–1607). Fille aînée de Renée de France, Duchesse de Guise puis duchesse de Nemours, Dame de Montargis''. Special issue of the Bulletin de la
Société d'Émulation de l'Arrondissement de Montargis. 3rd ser., pp. 119, 2002.
* Jessica Munns, Penny Richards: ''Exploiting and destabilizing Gender Roles: Anne d'Este''. In: ''French History''. Vol. 6 (1992), pp. 206–215.
* Matteo Sanfilippo: ''article: Este, Anna d. In: ''Dizionario biografico degli Italiani''. Vol. 43, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome (1993), pp. 315–320.
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Anna
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
1531 births
1607 deaths
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
16th-century French women
17th-century Italian women
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221)
...
People of the French Wars of Religion
Italian ladies-in-waiting
French ladies-in-waiting
Household of Catherine de' Medici
Daughters of monarchs