Philippa of Guelders (; 9 November 1464 – 28 February 1547), was a Duchess consort of Lorraine. She served as regent of Lorraine in 1509 during the absence of her son. She was the Great-Grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots.

Life

Philippa was born in Brabant in 1462, the daughter of Adolf of Egmond and

Catharine of Bourbon Catharine of Bourbon (1440 in Liège – 21 May 1469 in Nijmegen) was Duchess of Guelders from 1465-1469 by her marriage to Adolf, Duke of Guelders. She was a daughter of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and his wife Agnes of Burgundy. Marriage an ...

. She was the twin of

Charles, Duke of Guelders Charles II (9 November 1467 – 30 June 1538) was a member of the House of Egmond who ruled as Duke of Guelders and Count of Zutphen from 1492 until his death. He was the son of Adolf of Egmond and Catharine of Bourbon. He had a principal role ...

; they were born at

Grave, Netherlands Grave (; formerly ''De Graaf'') is a city and former municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant. The former municipality had a population of in . Grave is a member of the Dutch Association of Fortified Cities. The former municipality ...

, and were their parents' only children. To strengthen the ties between the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Lorraine, she was chosen as the bride of

René II, Duke of Lorraine René II (2 May 1451 – 10 December 1508) was Count of Vaudémont from 1470, Duke of Lorraine from 1473, and Duke of Bar from 1483 to 1508. He claimed the crown of the Kingdom of Naples and the County of Provence as the Duke of Calabria 1480& ...

(1451–1508). The marriage took place in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

from Margaret of Vaudémont, Duchess of Alençon. She retired to the Convent of

Poor Clares 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 ...

at Pont-à-Mousson on 15 December 1519 where she remained until her death. She was still a dominant figure in her family and often visited by her relatives, who treated her with great respect, and she maintained a reputation of piety and popularity with the public. While at the convent Philippa commanded that a magnificent altarpiece be built for the congregation, it remained there until her death. She died at the Convent of Poor Clares of

Pont-à-Mousson Pont-à-Mousson () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are known as ''Mussipontains'' in French. It is an industrial town (mainly steel industry), situated on the river Moselle. Pont-à-Mouss ...

on 28 February 1547, aged seventy-nine.

Burial

In 1528, Philippa's son Louis died of plague in 1528. His heart was placed in a casket beneath the sepulchre and covered with a black velvet shroud with the arms of Lorraine, at the Convent of Pont-à-Mousson. When Philippa died in 1547, she was buried at the convent. In 1576, her Protestant cousin Louis, Prince of Condé, sheltered the convent from his troops when he visited her grave.

Children

Philippa and René had the following children: * Charles (b. 17 August 1486, Nancy), d. young * Francis (5 July 1487,

) (died shortly after birth) *

Antoine, Duke of Lorraine Antoine (4 June 148914 June 1544), known as the Good, was Duke of Lorraine from 1508 until his death in 1544. Raised at the French court, Antoine would campaign in Italy twice: once under Louis XII and the other with Francis I. During the Germ ...

(1489–1544) * Anne (19 December 1490,

Bar-le-Duc Bar-le-Duc (), formerly known as Bar, is a commune in the Meuse département, of which it is the capital. The department is in Grand Est in northeastern France. The lower, more modern and busier part of the town extends along a narrow valley, sh ...

– 1491) * Nicholas (9 April 1493, Nancy), d. young * Isabelle (2 November 1494,

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lun ...

– bef. 1508) *

Claude, Duke of Guise Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (20 October 1496 – 12 April 1550) was a French aristocrat and general. He became the first Duke of Guise in 1528. He was a highly effective general for the French crown. His children and grandchildren were to ...

(1496–1550), first

Duke of Guise Count of Guise and Duke of Guise (pronounced �ɥiz were titles in the French nobility. Originally a seigneurie, in 1417 Guise was erected into a county for René, a younger son of Louis II of Anjou. While disputed by the House of Luxembourg (1 ...

* John, Cardinal of Lorraine and

Bishop of Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Es ...

(1498–1550) *

Louis, Count of Vaudémont Louis de Lorraine (27 April 1500 – 23 August 1528) was a nobleman of Lorraine who attempted to claim the Kingdom of Naples. He was styled as the Count of Vaudémont. A younger son of René II, Duke of Lorraine, he was born in Bar-le-Duc in 1500. ...

(1500–1528) * Claude and Catherine (twins) (24 November 1502,

), d. young *

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

, Count of Lambesc (1506–1525); killed in the

Battle of Pavia The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–1526 between the Kingdom of France and the Habsburg empire of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor as well as ruler of Spain, Au ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Philippa of Guelders 1467 births 1547 deaths 16th-century Dutch people 16th-century Dutch women 15th-century French people 16th-century French people 15th-century French women 16th-century French women 16th-century women rulers Duchesses of Lorraine Dutch nobility House of Egmond People from Grave, North Brabant 15th-century women of the Holy Roman Empire Medieval Dutch women