Madame Geneviève Pétau de Maulette, Lady Glenluce (c. 1563–1643) was a French noblewoman, tutor to

Elizabeth of Bohemia Elizabeth Stuart (19 August 159613 February 1662) was Electress of the Palatinate and briefly Queen of Bohemia as the wife of Frederick V of the Palatinate. Since her husband's reign in Bohemia lasted for just one winter, she is called the Win ...

, author and the second wife of John Gordon, D.D., Dean of Salisbury and Lord Glenluce and Longormes.

Biography

Pétau was born in

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 ...

, France. Her parentage is not known for sure, but she was probably the daughter of François Pétau, seigneur de Maulette. Pétau was raised a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, and in 1594 she married Dr. John Gordon, a prominent Scottish reverend who was

Gentleman of the Bedchamber Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being fir ...

to the French king. Their son-in-law,

Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun (14 May 1580 – 1656) was a Scottish politician and courtier, known as the historian of the noble house of Sutherland. Early life Born at Dunrobin Castle, Golspie, Sutherland, on 14 May 1580, he was the fourth ...

, wrote that she was the French teacher to the eldest daughter of King

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...

and Queen

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

, Princess Elizabeth, and that her daughter Louisa, who he later married, was brought up with the princess in Lord Harrington's household. Geneviève died on 6 December 1643 at

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

, Moray, and was buried at the Michael Kirk in the old churchyard of Oggston in the parish of Drainie, Moray. She owned a portrait miniature of

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

in a case decorated with diamonds. She worked a suite of furniture at Gordonston in green tent stitch including bed, cupboard cloth, stools, chair and couch.

Works

Lady Geneviève is remembered for her work in French entitled, ''Devoreux, Vertues Teares for the Losse of King Henry III of Fraunce, by a learned gentlewoman, Madame Geneviève Petau''. The poem praises

Henry III of France Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of ...

and an English nobleman, Walter Devereux. The work was written some time after the end of the siege of Rouen in late 1591 and before it was translated into English in 1597 by

Gervase Markham Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work '' The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman'', first publishe ...

Family

Lady Geneviève and her husband had one child, Lucie or Louise (1597–1680), who married Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun, fourth son of 12th Earl of Sutherland. Their daughter Katherine Gordon was mother of the Quaker

Robert Barclay Robert Barclay (23 December 16483 October 1690) was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was a son of Col. David Barclay, Laird of Urie, and his ...

. His daughter Elizabeth Gordon was born at Salisbury in January 1617. At her christening, the

Earl of Hertford Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

was a godfather,

Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford ( Harington; 1580–1627) was a major aristocratic patron of the arts and literature in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, the primary non-royal performer in contemporary court masques, a letter-writer, and a ...

, and Jean Drummond, Countess of Roxburghe were godmothers.Robert Gordon, ''Genealogical history of the Earldom of Sutherland'' (Edinburgh, 1813), p. 343.

References

Bibliography

* * * 1560s births 1640s deaths French nobility French women writers 17th-century Scottish women {{france-writer-stub