Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues

Royal mistress

Catherine Henriette de Balzac was raised at a time when women often sought to become a royal mistress to royalty, and her mother Marie had previously been a mistress to Charles IX before her birth.

Ambitious, pretty and intriguing, by her late teens she had succeeded in becoming a mistress to Henry IV. While Henry was still deeply grieving over the death of Gabrielle d'Estrées, she induced him into a written promise to marry her. This led to bitter scenes of jealousy and arguing at the court when shortly afterwards Henry married Marie de' Medici instead.

Terribly infuriated and feeling betrayed, she carried her spite so far as to be deeply compromised in a conspiracy against the king in 1608, but escaped with only a slight punishment after the plot was foiled, and in 1608 Henry took her back into favour again as one of his mistresses.

She was later involved in the Spanish intrigues which preceded the death of the King in 1610. Upon the King's death, his wife, Marie de' Medici, was named Regent by Parliament, and immediately exiled Catherine from the royal court. She lived 23 years after Henri's death, dying in 1633 at the age of 54.

Children

She had two children with the king:

References

References

1. Singleton, Esther (1904) "Famous women as described by famous writers" p. 208
2. Singleton, Esther. (1904). "Famous women as described by famous writer (An e-book link to read)". Dodd, Mead.
3. Roberts, William j (2004) "France: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present (European Nations)" p. 272
4. Singleton, Esther. (1904). "Famous women as described by famous writer (An e-book link to read)". Dodd, Mead.
5. Herman, Eleanor. (2005). "Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge". William Morrow Paperbacks.
6. Roberts, William J. (2004). "France: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present (European Nations), An e-book link to read". Facts on File.