Catherine de Sainte-Maure (1587–11 May 1648) was a French courtier. She served as ''

Première dame d'honneur ''Première dame d'honneur'' ('first lady of honour'), or simply ''dame d'honneur'' ('lady of honour'), was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. Though the tasks of the post ...

'' to the queen of France, Anne of Austria, from 1638 until 1643.

Biography

She was the daughter of François de Sainte-Maure, baron of Montausier, and Louise Gillier, and married to Jean de Galard de Bearn, comte de Brassac (d. 1645), in 1602. In 1638, the king and

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

reorganised the household of the queen and replaced everyone considered disloyal to the king and the Cardinal with their own loyalists. Consequently, Françoise de Lansac was appointed royal governess, and count of Brassac, and his spouse Catherine was appointed superintendent of the household of the queen and ''Première dame d'honneur'' respectively in order to keep the queen and her household under control.Kleinman, Ruth: Anne of Austria. Queen of France. . Ohio State University Press (1985) When Queen Anne became regent in 1643, Catherine was replaced with

Marie-Claire de Fleix Marie-Claire de Fleix née ''de Bauffremont'' (1618–1680) was a French courtier. She served as ''Première dame d'honneur'' to the queen dowager of France, Anne of Austria, from 1643 until 1666. She was the daughter of Henri de Bauffremont, mar ...

References

* Kleinman, Ruth: Anne of Austria. Queen of France. . Ohio State University Press (1985) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brassac, Catherine de Sainte-Maure 1648 deaths 17th-century French women French ladies-in-waiting 1587 births Court of Louis XIII Household of Anne of Austria French countesses by marriage