Marie Catherine Gondi, née ''de Pierrevive'', dame du Perron and dame d'Armentières (circa 1500 – 1570), was a French court official, a trusted favorite and confidant of the queen regent of France, Catherine de Medici. She served as ''

Dame d'atour ''Dame d'atour'' was an office at the royal court of France. It existed in nearly all French courts from the 16th-century onward. The ''dame d'honneur'' was selected from the members of the highest French nobility. History At least from the Isab ...

'' to queen Catherine (1544-1552),

Governess to the Children of France The Governess of the Children of France (sometimes the Governess of the Royal Children) was office at the royal French court during pre-Revolutionary France and the Bourbon Restoration. She was charged with the education of the children and grandchi ...

(1550–1559) and ''Dame'' to Mary Stuart (1559–1560).Joanna Milstein,
The Gondi: Family Strategy and Survival in Early Modern France
'

Life

Marie Catherine Gondi was the daughter of a Nicolas de Pierrevive, a rich tax-farmer in Lyon, and Jeanne de Turin. Her family was of Italian origin and active within banking in Lyon. She was very close to her father's brothers and she grew up in the Belregard, a castle which was built over a demolished house which her father bought.

Life in Lyon

In 1516, she married the Florentine banker Antoine (Antonio or Guidobaldo) Gondi (1486–1560), who had emigrated to France in 1506. Antoine de Gondi was a member of the Italian

Gondi family The Florentine banking family of the Gondi were prominent financial partners of the Medici. Unlike the Medici, they were of the old Florentine nobility, tracing their line traditionally from the legendary Philippi, said to have been ennobled by Cha ...

, who was to make a great career in the offices of the royal households under the patronage of Catherine de Medici, and the marriage between Marie Catherine and Antoine de Gondi is estimated to have been the beginning of the Gondi party's rise at court. Marie Catherine Gondi was the mother of ten children, many of whom made careers within the royal court, most notably

Albert de Gondi Albert de Gondi, duc de Retz (4 November 1522 in Florence – 1602) seigneur du Perron, comte, then marquis de Belle-Isle (1573), duc de Retz (from 1581), was a marshal of France and a member of the Gondi family. Beginning his career during the ...

(who married

Claude Catherine de Clermont Claude Catherine de Clermont- Tonnerre de Vivonne (1543 – 18 February 1603), lady of Dampierre, countess and duchess of Retz, was a French courtier, writer and salon host. Life Family and private life Claude Catherine de Clermont was born ...

). Marie Catherine Gondi became a leading figure in Lyon. In 1521, her spouse acquired the noble estate or

seigneurie In English law, seignory or seigniory, spelled ''signiory'' in Early Modern English (; french: seigneur, lit=lord; la, senior, lit=elder), is the lordship (authority) remaining to a grantor after the grant of an estate in fee simple. ''Nulle terre ...

du Perron, and during the 1520s- and 1530s, Marie Catherine Gondi became the central figure in a circle of humanists and intellectuals such as

Étienne Dolet Étienne Dolet (; 3 August 15093 August 1546) was a French scholar, translator and printer. Dolet was a controversial figure throughout his lifetime. His early attacks upon the Inquisition, the city council and other authorities in Toulouse, tog ...

, Bonaventure Des Périers,

Papire Masson Jean Papire Masson la, Papirius (1544 in Saint-Germain-Laval, Loire – 1611) was a French humanist historian, known also as a geographer, biographer, literary critic and jurist. Life Masson was initially a Jesuit, but left the Society. He st ...

and

Maurice Scève Maurice Scève (c. 1501–c. 1564), was a French poet active in Lyon during the Renaissance period. He was the centre of the Lyonnese côterie that elaborated the theory of spiritual love, derived partly from Plato and partly from Petrarch. This ...

Court career

Marie Catherine Gondi made the acquaintance of Catherine de Medicis in 1533, when Catherine visited the city of Lyon shortly after her wedding to the future

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

. In 1544, she was called to the household of Catherine, where she became her trusted companion and personal friend. In 1550, she was appointed royal governess (''Gouvernante des Enfants de France'') to the royal children. Queen Catherine recommended her to the household of the royal children to have an ally there, as the royal nursery was controlled by Jean d'Humières and his wife

Françoise d'Humières Françoise d'Humières, Dame de Contay, née ''de Contay'' (circa 1489-1557), was a French court official; she served as Governess of the Children of France from 1546 to 1557. Françoise d'Humières was the daughter of Charles de Contay, sénéchal ...

, the governor and the governess to the royal children respectively, who were loyal to

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and family' ...

, but the king only appointed Marie-Catherine Gondi as sub-governess and under ranked d'Humières. In 1559, Catherine appointed her ''Dame'' (lady-in-waiting) to her daughter-in-law, Mary Stuart. Gondi was given the responsibility for Catherine's personal finances general administrator for her projects and building works and in effect became her treasurer.Frieda, Leonie, "Catherine de Medici", Orion Books, London, 2005, p. 88 She often acted as Catherine's business agent, buying and selling property on her behalf: notably when she lend Catherine money to finance the construction of the

Tuileries Palace The Tuileries Palace (french: Palais des Tuileries, ) was a royal and imperial palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine, directly in front of the Louvre. It was the usual Parisian residence of most French monarchs, from ...

, and given power to represent Catherine during its construction. Her favored position as a trusted confidante of Catherine, made her the subject of sensational rumors. One such rumor, recounted by

Tallemant des Reaux Tallemant may refer to: *François Tallemant l'Aîné *Gédéon Tallemant des Réaux Gédéon Tallemant, Sieur des Réaux (7 November 1619 – 6 November 1692) was a French writer known for his ''Historiettes'', a collection of short biograph ...

, was that Marie Catherine Gondi, by means of a recipe, cured the supposed infertility of Catherine and enabled her to start conceive in 1543, after ten years of marriage without children. This was supposedly the cause of the patronage of Catherine de Medici of the Gondi family, and the great success of that family in acquiring offices in the royal household. It is believed she died on August 4, 1570.

References

{{reflist 1570 deaths French salon-holders French ladies-in-waiting Governesses to the Children of France 16th-century French people French royal favourites 16th-century French women Catherine de' Medici Household of Catherine de' Medici