Marie Touchet (; 1549 – 28 March 1638), Dame de Belleville, was the only mistress of

Charles IX of France Charles IX (Charles Maximilien; 27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574) was List of French monarchs, King of France from 1560 until his death in 1574. He ascended the French throne upon the death of his brother Francis II of France, Francis II in 1560, an ...

Life

Although born to a

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

family at

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

lieutenant Jean Touchet, she "held her row at court as well as any of the first class ladies" (Le Laboureur, historian). Her

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

med name was even ''Je Charme Tout'' meaning "I charm all." Henry III, King of Navarre was responsible for this clever wordplay. By her late teens, she was mistress to Charles IX. In 1573 she bore the king a son, Charles de Valois. It would be his only son, for just one year later the king died, at which time his and Marie's son was entrusted to the care of his younger brother and successor,

Henry III of France Henry III (; ; ; 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 Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he ...

. The new king was faithful to his dead brother's wishes and raised little Charles dutifully. Marie Touchet received a pension for her services to Charles IX, and continued as a part of the royal circle. Marie went on to marry the marquis d'Entragues, Charles Balzac d'Entragues, and had two daughters, Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues and Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d’Entragues. Both daughters would follow in their mother's footsteps, later becoming the mistresses of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

. Marie died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Children

With Charles IX, King of France, she had: * Charles de Valois With her husband Charles Balzac d'Entragues, she had: * Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues * Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d’Entragues

References

Sources

* 1549 births 1638 deaths People from Orléans Mistresses of French royalty Marie Charles IX of France {{KingdomofFrance-stub