Fulvie de Randan, née ''Pic de Mirandole'' (1533–1607) was a French court official. 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,

Louise of Lorraine Louise of Lorraine (french: Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont; 30 April 1553 – 29 January 1601) was Queen of France as the wife of King Henry III from their marriage on 15 February 1575 until his death on 2 August 1589. During the first three mon ...

, from 1583 until 1601.

Life

Fulvie de Randan was the daughter of Galeotto II Pico della Mirandola (d.1551) and Hippolita di Gonzaga-Sabionetta. She married Charles de La Rochefoucauld, Comte de Randan (1520–1583) in 1555. Her husband was killed at Rouen in 1562. The couple had five children, among them

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

. Her sister Sylvie married her husband's brother François III de La Rochefoucauld, prince of Marcillac, count of Roucy and baron of Verteuil, in a double marriage of siblings. She was a fille d'honneur,

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen ...

, to Catherine de' Medici. In 1583, she was appointed to the office of Première dame d'honneur to the new queen of France, Louise of Lorraine. She was given the position at the request of the queen, who was attracted to her piety, but the king found her to be too austere for the royal court, and although he granted the queen's wish, she split the office in two and appointed the more fashionable Louise de Cipierre to share the office with her: when de Cipierre died just two years later, however, de Randan did not have to share the office anymore.Jacqueline Boucher,
Deux épouses et reines à la fin du XVIe siècle: Louise de Lorraine et ...
' As ''Première dame d'honneur'', she was responsible for the female courtiers, controlling the budget, purchases, annual account and staff list, daily routine and presentations to the queen. Fulvie de Randan was described as a beauty and a Catholic fanatic, determined to live out her life in an eternal mourning period after she was widowed, and known for her support for the Catholic League during 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 Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mi ...

. In 1570, she was known to have supported a marriage between

Margaret of Valois Margaret of Valois (french: Marguerite, 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as La Reine Margot, was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became Queen of Navarre by marriage to Henry III of Navarre and then also Queen of France ...

and Henry I, Duke of Guise. She was outspoken about her support of the Catholic League, and demonstrated them both during the Catholic uprising in 1585 as well as during the conflict between the king and the Ligue in 1588. Brantôme described her: :"She wore a veil habitually, never showing her hair; yet spite of careless head-dress and her neglect of appearances, her great beauty was none the less manifest. The late M. de Guise, late deceased, was used always to call her naught but the nun; for she was attired and put on like a religious. This he would say by way of jest and merriment with her; for he did admire and honour her greatly, seeing how well affectioned and attached she was to his service and all his house."Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille,
Lives of fair and gallant ladies
'

References

* Jacqueline Boucher,
Deux épouses et reines à la fin du XVIe siècle: Louise de Lorraine et ...
' * Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille,
The book of the ladies (illustrious dames)
' *
Dictionnaire de la noblesse ... de France
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Randan, Fulvie de 1533 births 1607 deaths 16th-century French nobility 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century French women 16th-century Italian women French ladies-in-waiting French people of the French Wars of Religion Court of Henry III of France