Françoise of Lorraine
Duchess of Vendôme
Engraving of Françoise while a widow
Born	(1592-11-01)1 November 1592 France
Died	8 September 1669(1669-09-08) (aged 76) Paris, France
Burial	Capucins, Paris, France
Spouse	César, Duke of Vendôme ​ ​ (m. 1608; died 1665)​
Issue Detail	Louis, Duke of Vendôme François, Duke of Beaufort Élisabeth, Duchess of Nemours
Names Françoise de Lorraine
Father	Philippe Emmanuel, Duke of Mercœur
Mother	Marie de Luxembourg

Françoise of Lorraine (1 November 1592 – 8 September 1669) was a princess of Lorraine and daughter-in-law ofHenry IV of France. Sometimes known asFrançoise de Mercœur, she belonged to the Mercœurcadet branch of the sovereignDukes of Lorraine and was a niece ofLouise of Lorraine, wife of the previousKing Henry III. Françoise was the heiress of her father and, as such, was the Duchess ofMercœur andPenthièvresuo jure.

Françoise was the younger of two children. She was born in November 1592 with the exact date unknown; her only sibling, Philippe Louis, died in 1590 aged one making her the heiress to a large private fortune. During the reign of Henry III, her father had put himself at the head of theCatholic League in Brittany, and had himself proclaimed protector of the RomanCatholic Church in the province in 1588. Invoking the hereditary rights of his wife, who was a descendant of theDukes of Brittany, he endeavoured to make himself independent in that province, and organised a government at Nantes, calling his son "prince and duke of Brittany".

With the aid of the Spaniards he defeatedHenri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier, whom Henry IV of France had sent against him, atCraon in 1592. The king marched against Meroeur in person. As part of their peace they drew up a marriage contract in 1596 whereby his daughter, would marry Henry'slegitimised son.^[1]

The French and Spanish then signed thePeace of Vervins on 2 May 1598 when Françoise was 6; part of the treaty again stipulated that the young Françoise would be engaged to the illegitimate child of Henry IV,César de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme. Vendôme was the eldest child of the King and his mistressGabrielle d'Estrées.^{[citation needed]}

The wedding took place at thepalace of Fontainebleau on 16 July 1609. The bride was 16, the groom 15. The couple had three children and were the paternal grandparents ofle Grand Vendôme. Due to the marriage contract, César acquired the right to manage her lands. Her husband died disgraced in 1665, having been involved in theFronde and having been accused of trying to poisonCardinal Richelieu. In the same year she went toSavoy with her granddaughterMarie Jeanne of Savoy, who wedCharles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy on 20 May 1665. The duchies of Mercœur and Penthièvre were inherited by her eldest son. Françoise died in Paris in 1669 aged 77 and was buried there. Otherfiefs that Françoise owned were the princedom of Martigues, theduchy of Étampes and theseigneurie of Ancenis.^{[citation needed]}

1. Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1612–1669) marriedLaura Mancini and had issue.
2. Élisabeth de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Vendôme (1614–1664) marriedCharles Amadeus of Savoy, Duke of Nemours and had issue.
3. François de Bourbon, Duke of Beaufort (1616–1669) died unmarried.

Media related toFrançoise of Lorraine at Wikimedia Commons

• 1592 births
• 1669 deaths
• House of Bourbon
• 17th-century French nobility
• 17th-century French women
• Duchesses of Étampes
• Duchesses of Vendôme
• French suo jure nobility
• Princesses of Lorraine
• Dukes of Mercœur
• Dukes of Penthièvre

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