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

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

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

Life

Although born to a bourgeois family at

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

lieutenant Jean Touchet, she "held her row at court as well as any of the first class ladies" (Le Laboureur, historian). Her anagrammed 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. 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 Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise de Verneuil (1579–1633) was the favourite mistress of Henry IV of France after Gabrielle d'Estrées died: her sister Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d’Entragues was also a mistress of the king. ...

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 (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...

. Marie died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Children

With Charles IX, King of France, she had: * Charles de Valois With her husband Charles Balzac d'Entragues, she had: *

* Marie-Charlotte de Balzac d’Entragues

References

Sources

* 1549 births 1638 deaths People from Orléans Mistresses of French royalty

Marie Marie may refer to: People Name * Marie (given name) * Marie (Japanese given name) * Marie (murder victim), girl who was killed in Florida after being pushed in front of a moving vehicle in 1973 * Marie (died 1759), an enslaved Cree person in Tr ...

Charles IX of France {{KingdomofFrance-stub