Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Encyclopedia
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
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She was a daughter of Adrien de Pisseleu, seigneur d'Heilly, a nobleman of Picardy,Genealogy who, with the rise of his daughter at court, was made seigneur of Meudon, master of waters and forests of Île de France, of Champagne
Champagne (province)
The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne administrative province in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that bears the region's name...
and of Brie.
King's mistress
She came to court before 1522 and was one of the maids-of-honour of Louise of SavoyLouise of Savoy
Louise of Savoy was a French noble, Duchess regnant of Auvergne and Bourbon, Duchess of Nemours, the mother of King Francis I of France...
, Duchess of Angoulême, the mother of Francis I. Francis made Anne his mistress, probably upon his return from his captivity at Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(1526), and soon gave up his long-term mistress, Françoise de Foix
Françoise de Foix
Françoise de Foix, Comtesse de Châteaubriant was a mistress of Francis I of France.-Background:Françoise was the daughter of Jean de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, and Jeanne d'Aydie. Her father was the son of Pierre de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec; Pierre had been a younger brother of Gaston IV of Foix,...
, for her.
Anne was described as being sprightly, pretty, witty and cultured, "the most beautiful among the learned and the most learned among the beautiful"; she succeeded in keeping the favour of the king until his death in 1547. The liaison received some official recognition; when the new Queen of France, Eleanor of Austria, entered Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1530, the King and Anne occupied the same window. In 1533, Francis gave her in marriage to Jean IV de Brosse
Jean IV de Brosse
Jean IV de Brosse was the son of René de Brosse and Jeanne de Commines .After the death of his father at the Battle of Pavia, he succeeded him as Count of Penthièvre....
, whom he created Duke of Étampes.
Philippe de Chabot
Philippe de Chabot, Seigneur De Brion, Count of Charny and Buzançois , also known as Admiral De Brion, was an admiral of France.- Biography :...
against the Constable de Montmorency, who was supported by her rival courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France. She became notorious as the latter's favourite mistress...
, the dauphin's mistress. She was a friend to new ideas, tolerant of Protestants, whose beliefs she openly embraced after the King's death. She co-operated with the King's sister, Marguerite de Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre , also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the queen consort of Henry II of Navarre...
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She used her influence to elevate and enrich her family, her uncle, Antoine Sanguin (d. 1559), being made bishop of Orléans in 1533 and a cardinal in 1539; her three brothers were made bishops and two sisters were abbesses, the other sisters making great marriages. The accusations made against her of having allowed herself to be won over by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
, and of playing the traitor in 1544 and in the lead-up to the Treaty of Crépy (September 1545) rest on no serious proof.
Following Francis's death, Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
, had the Duchess dismissed from the court. Though her creatures at court were humiliated in every way upon her dismissal, she was permitted to die in obscurity much later, probably in the reign of Henry III
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
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External links
- Portrait of the duchesse d'Étampes, attributed to Corneille de LyonCorneille de LyonCorneille de Lyon was a Dutch painter of portraits who was active from 1533 until his death in Lyon, France...
(Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
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