Marguerite de Lorraine

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_de_Lorraine-Vaud%C3%A9mont

Margaret of Lorraine

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Margaret of Lorraine (born 1463 at the castle of Vaudémont, Lorraine; died at Argentan, Brittany, 2 November 1521) was Duchess of Alençon, and a nun of the order of Poor Clares. She was beatified in 1921[1].

[edit]Marriage and children

Margaret was the youngest daughter of Ferri de Vaudimont and Yolande d'Anjou. She lost her father at the age of seven, and was brought up at Aix-en-Provence, by her grandfather René of Anjou. The latter died in 1480 and she was sent back to Lorraine to her brother, René II. He arranged her marriage to René, Duke d'Alençon, whom she wed in Toul on 14 May 1488.

Alençon and Margaret had three children:

Charles IV of Alençon (1489- 1525), married Marguerite of Angouleme as her first husband.

Françoise of Alençon, Duchess of Beaumont (1490- 14 September 1550), married firstly in 1505, Francois, Duke of Longueville; married secondly in 1513, Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, by whom she had 13 children.

Anne, Lady of La Guerche (30 October 1492- 18 October 1562), married in 1508, William IX, Marquis of Montferrat by whom she had three children.

[edit]Widowhood

Left a widow in 1492 she busied herself in the administration of her duchy and the education of her children. When she was relieved of the duties imposed upon her by her position she decided to renounce the world and retired to Mortagne, to a monastery of religious women who followed the rule of Saint Elizabeth. Later having brought with her to Argentan some of these nuns she founded there another monastery which she placed, with the authorization of the pope, under the rule of Saint Clare, modified by the Minor Observants.

She herself took the religious habit in this house and made her vows on 11 October, 1520. On 2 November, 1521, after having lived an austere life for a year, she died in her modest cell, at the age of sixty-two. Her body, preserved in the monastery of the Poor Clares, was transferred when that monastery was suppressed to the church of St. Germain d'Argentan. In 1793 it was profaned and thrown into the common burying place.

The memory of Margaret of Lorraine is preserved in the "Martyrologium Franciscanum" and in the "Martyrologium gallicanum". After an invitation made by the bishop of Séez, Jacques Camus de Pontcarri, Louis XIII asked Pope Urban VIII to order a canonical inquiry into the virtues and the miracles of the Duchess.

[edit]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_of_Lorraine

Margaret of Lorraine

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   Not to be confused with Marguerite of Lorraine.

Margaret of Lorraine

Duchess of Alençon

Spouse René of Alençon, Duke of Alençon

Issue

Charles IV of Alençon

Françoise of Alençon, Duchess of Beaumont

Anne of Alençon, Lady of La Guerche

Noble family House of Lorraine

House of Anjou

Father Ferri de Vaudimont

Mother Yolande d'Anjou

Born 1463

Died 2 November 1521 (aged 58)

Margaret of Lorraine (1463, castle of Vaudémont, Lorraine- 2 November 1521, Argentan, Normandy) was Duchess of Alençon, and a nun of the order of Poor Clares (Ordre des Clarisses). She was beatified in 1921[1].

[edit] Marriage and children

Margaret was the youngest daughter of Ferri de Vaudimont and Yolande d'Anjou. She lost her father at the age of seven, and was brought up at Aix-en-Provence by her grandfather René of Anjou. The latter died in 1480 and she was sent back to Lorraine to her brother, René II. He arranged her marriage to René, Duke of Alençon, whom she wed in Toul on 14 May 1488.

Alençon and Margaret had three children:

   * Charles IV of Alençon (1489- 1525), married Marguerite of Angoulême as her first husband.

* Françoise of Alençon, Duchess of Beaumont (1490- 14 September 1550), married firstly in 1505, François, Duke of Longueville; married secondly in 1513, Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, by whom she had thirteen children.
* Anne, Lady of La Guerche (30 October 1492- 18 October 1562), married in 1508, William IX, Marquis of Montferrat by whom she had three children.
[edit] Widowhood

Left a widow in 1492, she busied herself in the administration of her duchy and the education of her children. When she was relieved of the duties imposed upon her by her position, she decided to renounce the world and retired to Mortagne, to a monastery of religious women who followed the rule of Saint Elizabeth. Later, having brought with her to Argentan some of these nuns, she founded there another monastery which she placed, with the authorization of the pope, under the rule of Saint Clare, modified by the Minor Observants.

She herself took the religious habit in this house and made her vows on 11 October 1520. On 2 November 1521, after having lived an austere life for a year, she died in her modest cell, at the age of sixty-two. Her body, preserved in the monastery of the Poor Clares, and when that monastery was suppressed, was transferred to the church of Saint Germain d'Argentan. In 1793, during the French Revolution, it was profaned and thrown into the common burial place.

The memory of Margaret of Lorraine is preserved in the "Martyrologium Franciscanum" and in the "Martyrologium gallicanum". After an invitation made by the bishop of Séez, Jacques Camus de Pontcarré, Louis XIII asked Pope Urban VIII to order a canonical inquiry into the virtues and the miracles of the Duchess.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Patron Saints Index: Time Line: 1921

This article incorporates text from the entry Blessed Margaret of Lorraine in Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, a publication now in the public domain.

This page was last modified on 16 March 2010 at 19:07.