Gabrielle D'Estrees History

Although her grandfather, Jean d'Estrees, had been distinguished in royal service, her father, Antoine d'Estrees, was much less admired. Antoine was absent-minded and prone to making mistakes, the greatest of which was to marry Francoise Babou. Almost as disastrous was his decision, when Francoise had run off, to allow his greedy sister-in-law, Isabelle de Sourdis, to bring up his children. Gabrielle was about ten years old when her mother abandoned her children. However, according to Agrippa d'Aubign‚: "Gabrielle is amiracle of sweet beauty and feminine charms. How one who is so gentle, so simple and so modest can bear to tolerate the embraces of a turncoat (Henri IV) who has loved many women surpasses all understanding".

The praise of this stern Huguenot undoes all the malicious rumours which were spread later on about Gabrielle.The sister of Henri IV, Catherine of Navarre, a devout Protestant,became Gabrielle's intimate friend and was godmother to Gabrielle'sonly daughter. When it was rumoured that Henri IV was going to take a royal bride, it was his sister who suggested he marry Gabrielled'Estrees as so did Queen Louise, the widow of King Henri III. Louisede Coligny, the dowager princess of Orange, publicly befriended Gabrielle and on at least two occassions visited Henri IV to urge him to marry her. However, shortly before Henri IV had met her, approaches had been made to arrange his marriage to Louise de Guise; but this came to nothing because of Gabrielle. Once Louise de Guise met Gabrielle d'Estrees, they became the best of friends. In 1591 Henri IV's mistress was Corisande d'Andouins, Comtesse de Guiche, but he was already tiring of her. Then Madame de Sourdis appeared with her lovely nieces, Diane and Gabrielle d'Estrees. However, Gabrielle not only rejected Henri IV's advances but, in June 1592, married Nicolas d'Amerval, a middle-aged widower whose late wife had been a cousin of Gabrielle's father. When Gabrielle discovered that this marriage had been arranged by her father, she was stricken dumb and spoke to no-one for four days. The reason her father had arranged this marriage was to protect her from the king, so that when Gabrielle became the king's mistress he was so angry he broke with her. Henri IV, previously unaware of the marriage, hastened to Gabrielle when he found out. Nicolas d'Amerval claimed he had never slept with Gabrielle who, when they divorced in 1594, in turn claimed that she regarded him impotent. On 4 September 1592 Gabrielle left her husband and the next day joined the king at Chartres, and from then on she travelled the country with him. Although in the beginning she was unfaithful with the Duc de Bellegarde, in less than a year later, by June 1593, she was transformed from an immature, lazy girl to an adulti n love with the king. Previously she had shown no interest in politics but now began to take notice. She encouraged Henri IV to become a Catholic as this would not only unite the country but also, so long as Henri IV was regarded aheretic, the pope would not allow the king a divorce from his estranged wife. Henri IV's sister Catherine first opposed the king's conversion but Gabrielle was able to change her mind. Nevertheless, political turmoil still ensued in France with several Catholic candidates for the crown: Henri IV's uncle, Infanta Isabella of Spain, the Duke de Guise and the Duke of Lorraine. Gabrielle continued herefforts to break down Henri IV's opposition to his conversion till at last he did become Catholic and the Parisians rejoiced. On separate occassions both Henri IV and Gabrielle met withthe disgruntled Huguenot leaders, promising to protect their rights. Early in 1594 Henri IV laid siege and conquered Paris. On 7 June 1594 Gabrielle gave birth to a son, Cesar. In December 1594, in Gabrielle's presence, an attempt was made on Henri IV's life. Jean Chastel, a student at a Jesuit college, and another student, Guignard, were found guilty. On 7 January 1595 Jean Chastel was publicly hanged and Guignard suffered the same fate two days later. Also on 7 January 1598 Gabrielle's marriage to Nicolasd'Amerval was dissolved on the grounds of Gabrielle's close relationship to Nicholas's first wife. A few weeks later Nicolas d'Amerval married a third time. With formal letters patent, Henri IVl egitimised their son, Cesar, but made it clear that at that time his son was ineligible to become king. Henri IV then left it to Gabrielle to deal with the pope. She also succeeded in making peace with the Duke of Mayenne. On 14 November 1596 Gabrielle gave birth to a daughter, Catherine Henriette. For the baptism, Queen Elizabeth I of England sent a special ambassador who also proposed a new treaty between England and France. Then, surprising everyone, Spain attacked Amiens. One of the first things Gabrielle did was to ask the people of France to contribute financially to the war efforts while she herself pawned her jewellery; in doing so she raised a substantial fortune. Then she rushed to the fortress at Beauvais near Amiens to be with Henri IV. While at Beauvais, Henri IV fell ill and was nursed by Gabrielle. He then had to return to Paris to obtain reinforcements but there he collapsed. It took a long time before he recovered his health. When again well, he ordered all nobles to pay tax on the land they owned and requested cardinals and bishops to contribute to the war fund. It was effective as all complied and Henri IV and Gabrielle were able to return to Amiens. Although the situation was dangerous, Gabrielle refused to leave as she wanted to visit the sick and wounded.Then the Duke of Mayenne arrived, which proved Gabrielle's saving. Secretly and suddenly, Austrian soldiers appeared to assist the Spaniards. This unexpected event confused the French so that two companies of recruits fled in disorder. Gabrielle remained calm, ignoring the artillery fire around her and urging on the French soldiers to resist. Mayenne, rallying several regiments, placed himself at their head and by midnight the Austrian offensive was blunted. Henri IV then launched a counter-attack, forcing the Austrians to retreat. The defeat of the Austrians also brought the surrender of the Spaniards in Amiens. When the Spanish soldiers were allowed to return home, the French knew that Philip II of Spain had been beaten and would be forced to keep the peace. To show his gratitude to Gabrielle, Henri IV created her Duchess of Beaufort with the stipulation that the title would go on to their son, Ceasar. She was also given a chest with fifty thousand ecus, the sum she had given him, as well as her jewelry which he had redeemed from her money-lender. All that prevented peace in France was the last of the rebels, the wealthy Philippe Emanuel and Marie, Duke and Duchess of Mercoeur and Penthievre. When they refused to submit to the king, Henri IV and Gabrielle at the head of a large army went to Brittany where Philippe Emanuel and Marie still tried to procrastinate. Only when they realised that the king had lost all patience did Marie approach Gabrielle. The result was that Cesar was betrothed to Francoise, theonly child of the Duke and Duchess of Mercoeur. This brought their extensive wealth to the king who, now, did not confiscate their lands. However, the government of the duchy was taken over by Henri IV. From then on, Gabrielle, pregnant once more, involved herself with there conciliation of Catholics and Protestants. On 13 April 1598, the Edict of Nantes, giving rights to the Protestants, was signed and four days later Gabrielle gave birth to another son, Alexandre. Also in 1598, Henri IV decided that he wished to marry Gabrielle and to achieve this had to divorce his wife, Margot, who willingly agreed. Not only had she been pressing for divorce since 1593 but she had given birth to at least one illegitimate child and as well had enormous debts. Indeed, since back in February 1597 she had even started correspondence with Gabrielle about the matter. A group ofFrench nobles were sent to the Vatican to obtain the divorce and, in November 1598, Gabrielle moved into the official bedchamber reserved for the queen. From then on she was treated by all as though she was indeed queen already. By Christmas France was at peace both abroad and at home for the first time in living memory and Gabrielle received a pension of ten thousand francs per year from the Huguenots. However, when she was asked to obtain permission for the Jesuits to return to France, she failed.Henri IV, certain that his divorce would be granted, announced that his wedding would take place on Easter Sunday. Paris celebrated and so did the nobility. But then, although it became obvious that Gabrielle was again pregnant, the pope procrastinated. What later became known was that Pope Clement would have approved of the divorce but only if Henri IV would have married Marie de' Medici. Although Gabrielle's previous pregnancies had been easy, this time was different. She had feelings of pending disaster, wept frequently and suffered from nightmares. On 5 April 1599 she was carried in a litter from Fontainebleau to Savigny, continuing the next day by boat to Paris where she went to the house of her aunt. She was able to go to church but, on returning to ther aunt's house, she fainted. Even though the baby was not due for another three months, laboUr pains setin. From then on she was in agonizing pains and by six o'clock in the evening of the next day had lost the powers of speech, hearing andsight. After giving birth to a stillborn child, she died at five in the morning on 10 April 1599.
Source: Leo van de Pas