Louise of Savoy (28 December 1461 – 24 July 1503) was a member of the French royal family, who gave up a life of privilege and comfort to become a

Poor Clare The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. She was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

by the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

in 1839.

Life

Louise was born on 28 December 1461, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, to the

Amadeus IX, Duke of Savoy Amadeus IX (1 February 1435 – 30 March 1472), nicknamed the Happy, was the Duke of Savoy from 1465 to 1472. The Catholic Church venerates him with a liturgical feast on March 30. Life He was born at Thonon-les-Bains, the son of Louis, Duke ...

, and his wife,

Yolande of Valois Yolande of Valois (23 September 1434 – 23 August 1478), also called Yolande of France, was List of Savoyard consorts, Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy, and regent of Savoy during the minority of her son Philibert I of ...

, the sister of

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Louis XI of France."Bl. Louise of Savoy", Franciscan Saints and Blesseds, Irish Franciscans OFM
Through her mother, Louise was a

collateral descendant A lineal descendant, in legal usage, is a blood relative in the direct line of descent – the children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. of a person. In a legal procedure sense, lineal descent refers to the acquisition of estate by i ...

of the Franciscan saint,

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (german: Heilige Elisabeth von Thüringen, hu, Árpád-házi Szent Erzsébet, sk, Svätá Alžbeta Uhorská; 7 July 1207 – 17 November 1231), also known as Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, or Saint Elisabeth of Thuringia, ...

. She was born the fifth of their ten children. Her father was a very pious ruler who gave much attention to works of charity in his duchy. He suffered from

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

, which, added to his retiring nature, led him to leave the mechanisms of government in the hands of his wife. He himself was beatified in 1677. Louise showed an inclination to spiritual life at a very young age. While still a child, she was found to be

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

on only bread and water on the

Vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...

of any major feast day of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

. Despite the active court life around her, she was drawn to prayer and solitude. Yet she was marked by a spirit of obedience, and when her mother insisted that she dress well in keeping with her station, she would obey. She would wear a

hairshirt A cilice , also known as a sackcloth, was originally a garment or undergarment made of coarse cloth or animal hair (a hairshirt) worn close to the skin. It is used by members of various Christian traditions (including the Catholic, Lutheran, A ...

under her lovely garments, though. When she was older, Louise naturally was drawn to enter a monastery. Her uncle, the King, however, arranged that she marry on 24 August 1479 to Hugues de Chalon, (d.3 Jul 1490) of the

House of Châlon-Arlay This page is a list of the lords of Chalon- Arlay (in the county of Burgundy) and the principality of Orange. The lords of Chalons and Arlay were a cadet branch of the ruling house of the county of Burgundy, the Anscarids or House of Ivrea. For m ...

, to which she was agreeable. In her typical attitude of obedience, she saw the hand of God in this arrangement. The Prince proved to be a pious young man who supported his wife's efforts at living a life of faith and self-denial in the midst of their luxuries. Louise set a high tone of morality for her court, starting with her attendants. She would demand that any man found to be using foul language be required to make a donation to the poor as a penance. They held the usual court events, such as dances, but did not participate in the revels. This life of happiness soon ended, though, as her husband, the Prince, died when she was 27 years of age. As she had no children, the young widow then determined to follow her calling as a nun, refusing many offers of marriage. She used her vast wealth to meet many needs of the poor and entered the monastery of the Poor Clare nuns in

Orbe Orbe (; la, Urba; older german: Orbach, ; frp, Orba) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 2 ...

, now part of modern Switzerland. In the cloister, she showed herself to be a model of humility and obedience, preserving nothing of her royal origins. Louise died at the age of forty-two. She was beatified by

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He ...

Life

Ancestry

References

External sources

See also