Maria of Cleves

"Mary of Cleves" redirects here. For the princess of Condé, see Marie de Clèves (1553–1575).
Maria of Cleves
Duchess of Orléans
Born (1426-09-19)19 September 1426
Died 23 August 1487(1487-08-23) (aged 60)
Chaunay
Spouse Charles, Duke of Orléans
Issue Marie, Count of Étampes
Louis XII of France
Anne of Orléans, Abbess of Fontevraud
House La Marck
Father Adolph I, Duke of Cleves
Mother Marie of Burgundy

Maria of Cleves (19 September 1426 – 23 August 1487) was the third wife of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and the mother of his only son, King Louis XII of France. She was born a German princess, the last child of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and his second wife, Marie of Burgundy.

Marriage and issue

At age fourteen, Maria married Charles of Valois, Duke of Orléans, a man 32 years her senior,[1] on 27 November 1440 in Saint-Omer.[2] They had three children:

Maria was a patron of letters and commissioned many works; she was also an active poet herself, producing ballads and other verses.[1] After the Duke's death she was secretly remarried in 1480 to one of her gentlemen of the chamber, the Artesian "Sieur de Rabodanges", who was some years her junior.[1][3] She died in Chaunay.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Wilson p. 258
  2. ↑ Arn p. 41
  3. ↑ Holt, p. 231

References

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