Marie Courcelles (fl. 1562 – fl. 1583) was a Scottish court official. She served as a

chamberer A chamberer was a female attendant of an English queen regnant, queen consort, or princess. There were similar positions in aristocratic households. Chamberers at court At court, the position was similar to a male groom of the privy chamber. The n ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

Life

She arrived to Scotland from France in 1562 to join the household of Queen Mary. She was not the only Frenchwoman at court: nine accompanied the queen from France in 1561 under the supervision of her French chamberlain,

Servais de Condé Servais de Condé or Condez (employed 1561–1574) was a French servant at the court of Mary Queen of Scots, in charge of her wardrobe and the costume for masques performed at the Scottish royal court. Varlet of the Wardrobe He was usually ref ...

: Guyonne de Péguillon; Marie Pyerres (Madame de Briante), Joanne de la Reyneville ( Lady Creich), Isabelle Camp (Demoiselle de Cobron) and Suzanne Constant (Demoiselle de Fonterpuys), as well as seven maids-of-honour under a governess, Madamoiselle de la Souche. In May 1562 the queen bought Courcelles, described as one of her " chamber women", shoes, linen, black taffeta for a skirt, and a

farthingale A farthingale is one of several structures used under Western European women's clothing - especially in the 16th and 17th centuries - to support the skirts in the desired shape and to enlarge the lower half of the body. The fashion originated ...

. In January 1563 she was described as a "maiden in the Queen's chamber" and given a black velvet gown with another farthingale. In June 1566 she was "maiden and ''femme''" in the Queen's chamber and was given silk chamlet and velvet for her clothes. When Mary gave linen to her household for Easter in 1567, Courcelle was named in the account among the "femmes de chambre", the chamber women, rather than one of the ladies or maidens. Toussaint Courcelles, a valet in the Queen's chamber, was probably her brother. Claude de Courcelles, a diplomat and secretary of the French ambassador in London

Michel de Castelnau Michel de Castelnau, Sieur de la Mauvissière ( 1520–1592) was a French soldier and diplomat, ambassador to Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth I. He wrote a memoir covering the period between 1559 and 1570. Life He was born in La Mauvissière (now pa ...

, was probably a relation. When the queen was imprisoned at Lochleven, Marie Courceles accompanied her there with

Mary Seton Mary Seton (1542–1615) was a Scottish courtier and later a nun. She was one of the four attendants of Mary, Queen of Scots, known as the Four Marys. She was a sister at the Convent of Saint Pierre les Dames in Reims at the time of her death. S ...

and Jane Kennedy. In the first weeks at Lochleven, it was said that Mary was attended by five or six ladies, four gentlewomen and two

s, one French and one Scottish. Courcelles was the French chamberer. One of Mary's attendants was questioned about a gold jewel or ring sent to Mary at Lochleven Castle, by

William Maitland of Lethington William Maitland of Lethington (1525 – 9 June 1573) was a Scottish politician and reformer, and the eldest son of poet Richard Maitland. Life He was educated at the University of St Andrews. William was the renowned "Secretary Lethington ...

and

Mary Fleming Mary Fleming (; also spelled ''Marie Flemyng''; 1542–fl. 1584) was a Scottish noblewoman and childhood companion and cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots. She and three other ladies-in-waiting ( Mary Livingston, Mary Beaton and Mary Seton) were ...

, and said that Courcelles had described it. The jewel depicted the lion and mouse of

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

's fable, and was a token alluding to the possibility of escape, and their continuing support for her, the mouse could free the lion by nibbling away the knots of the net. Marie Courcelles played a role in the queen's escape. She reportedly took part in planning the escape along with George Douglas and Willie Douglas. On Sunday 2 May 1568, it was she who received the keys from Willie Douglas and brought the queen to the postern gate where a boat was waiting for them with an escort. When the queen escaped from Lochleven Marie Courcelles stayed behind with Mary Seton. An Italian account of the escape says that Mary exchanged her clothes with older of her two maids or

s, while the youngest brought her to the gate. She joined Queen Mary in exile at

Sheffield Castle Sheffield Castle was a castle in Sheffield, England, constructed at the confluence of the River Sheaf and the River Don, possibly on the site of a former Anglo-Saxon long house, and dominating the early town. A motte and bailey castle had been ...

. A list of Queen Mary's household made when she was at Coventry in November 1569 notes that Courcelles and Mary Bruce, a daughter of the Laird of

Airth Airth () is a Royal Burgh, village, former trading port and civil parish in Falkirk, Scotland. It is north of Falkirk town and sits on the banks of the River Forth. Airth lies on the A905 road between Grangemouth and Stirling and is overlooked ...

, slept in the queen's bedchamber. The queen requested that she might retire and return to France in December 1581. She renewed the request in April 1583.William Boyd, ''Calendar of State Papers Scotland: 1581-1583'', vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), pp. 101, 403. It has been suggested that she accompanied Mary Seton to Reims on her retirement in 1583.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courcelles, Marie 16th-century births Scottish ladies-in-waiting Court of Mary, Queen of Scots

Life

See also

References