Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (1498 – 28 April 1519) was a younger daughter of Jean III de La Tour (1467– 28 March 1501),

Count of Auvergne This is a list of the various rulers of Auvergne. History In the 7th century Auvergne was disputed between the Franks and Aquitanians. It was later conquered by the Carolingians, and was integrated for a time into the kingdom of Aquitaine. The cou ...

and Lauraguais, and Jeanne de Bourbon, Duchess of Bourbon (1465–1511). She was a penultimate representative of the senior branch of the House of

La Tour d'Auvergne The House of La Tour d'Auvergne () was an important French nobility, French noble dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of count of Auvergne, Auvergne and count of ...

. Madeleine is best known for being the mother of

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

, the future Queen of France.

Biography

Marriage negotiations

As part of his efforts to gain power in Italy,

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

turned to making certain strategic alliances. On 8 December 1515, he and

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

met and signed an agreement of friendship, in which Francis agreed to ensure the Vatican's authority over the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in France, and Leo promised to support Francis' claim to the throne of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. This agreement, like most others of the time, was cemented with a marriage alliance. Leo's nephew

Lorenzo II de' Medici Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

had just become the leader of the Florentine Republic in 1516. Francis wrote to congratulate him by stating, "I intend to help you with all my power. I also wish to marry you off to some beautiful and good lady of noble birth and of my kin, so that the love which I bear you may grow and be strengthened". The "good lady" Francis proposed: his wealthy and distant relative Madeleine. Lorenzo duly accepted, as it was a great honor to be tied to the French royal family, especially since he was of lesser nobility (the Medici being ennobled only recently), albeit an extremely wealthy one. For Madeleine and her family, they were delighted to be tied into the sphere of the Pope himself.

Wedding celebrations

She married Duke

Château d'Amboise The Château d'Amboise is a château in Amboise, located in the Indre-et-Loire ''Departments of France, département'' of the Loire Valley in France. Confiscated by the monarchy in the 15th century, it became a favoured royal residence and was ex ...

on 5 May 1518. Their wedding was a sumptuous festival that marked not only their union, but also the birth of a dauphin for Francis I. As with the other festivities Francis put on throughout his life, dancing figured very prominently. Dancing was done mostly in the Italian style. Seventy-two ladies were disguised in Italian, German, and other fashionable costumes, making for quite a rich display of silk and color. Francis gave Madeleine 10,000 gold coins, while Lorenzo offered rich gifts to France's nobility.

Death

She died in Italy shortly before her husband on 28 April of the following year, of what is believed to have been the plague (some speculate that she may have been infected by

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...

from her husband). She had just given birth to a daughter,

(1519–1589), the future Queen of France and consort of

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

. Both she and her husband were said to have been delighted at the birth of Catherine as if she were a boy.

Inheritance

As both of their parents were deceased, Madeleine and her elder sister

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

shared extensive properties in Auvergne, Clermont, Berry, Castres, and Louraguais. Anne inherited

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

and married John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany in 1505. She outlived Madeleine by five years but died childless, after which the Counties of

and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

as well as the barony of La Tour passed to Madeleine's daughter

and were then absorbed into the French Crown.

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Tour d'Auvergne, Madeleine de 1498 births 1519 deaths Madeleine French nobility House of Medici Duchesses of Urbino French suo jure nobility