Françoise de Cezelly (1558 – 16 October 1615) was a French war hero during the French Wars of Religion. She distinguished herself when the village of

Leucate Leucate (; oc, Leucata) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the lagoon Étang de Leucate. Geography Leucate is on the Mediterranean coast of France. It is part of the eastern C ...

was besieged by Spanish forces allied with the Catholic League in 1590, after her husband, the governor, was captured and executed by the enemy.

Life

She was born in 1558 in Montpellier. She was the daughter of the director of the Bureau of Accounts of Montpellier and niece of the governor of

. On 6 April 1577 she married Jean de Boursiez, seigneur de Pantnaut de Barri, with whom she had five children: Hercule, Anne-Françoise, Antoine, Paul and Frances. After the battle of 1590, King Henry IV made Françoise the governor of Leucate until her son Hercule came of age. She died in Montpellier in 1614, aged 56, and was buried next to her husband in the chapel of St. Anne Church of St. Paul of

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

. In 1899 a bronze statue of her by the sculptor

Paul Ducuing Paul Ducuing (30 April 1867 – 9 March 1949) was a French sculptor. Early life Paul Ducuing was born on 30 April 1867 in Lannemezan. His father was a farmer. He graduated from the École des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse and the École nationale su ...

was erected in the Place de la République in Leucate, holding up the keys to the village. In May 1942 the Vichy government ordered the statue to be taken down, and the bronze sent to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. When the statue was lifted onto a truck, the hand holding the keys broke off. It is still kept in the Town Hall. A new statue was set up on 17 August 1975.

References

* Mme. Dufrénoy, Biographie des jeunes demoiselles, S.346f (franz.) * Jean Baptiste Beau, Otia regia Ludovici XIV sive Polyaenus Gallicus de veterum et recentium Gallorum strategematibus, S.745 (lat.) * A Companion to Women's Military History, S.68-69, Teilansicht (engl.) 1558 births 1615 deaths French military personnel French people of the French Wars of Religion People from Montpellier Women in 16th-century warfare Women in war in France {{France-mil-bio-stub