Jeanne de Bourbon, Duchess of Bourbon


Jeanne de Bourbon was a daughter of John II, Count of Vendôme and Isabelle de Beauvau. Through her daughter Madeleine, she was the maternal grandmother of French queen consort Catherine de' Medici and the great-grandmother of French Kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III.

Family and lineage

She was a daughter of John II, Count of Vendôme and Isabelle de Beauvau. Her maternal grandparents were Louis de Beauvau, Seneschal of Anjou and Marguerite de Chambley.
Her paternal grandparents were Louis, Count of Vendôme and Jeanne of Laval. Louis had served as both Grand Chamberman of France and Grand Master of France. He was a prominent member of the Armagnac party.

First marriage

She married first John II, Duke of Bourbon in 1487. The groom was about sixty-one years old and the bride only twenty-two. John had survived two previous wives and his only son. He was in a need of an heir; however, they had only one son:
John II died the same year as his second and last known son.

Second marriage

Jeanne remained a widow for seven years. On 11 January 1495, Jeanne married her second husband John III, Count of Auvergne. They had two daughters:
  1. Anne, married John Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany.
  2. Madeleine, married Lorenzo II, Duke of Urbino. She was the mother of Catherine de' Medici.
John III died on 28 March 1501.

Third marriage

On March 27, 1503 she married her third and final husband, François de La Pause, baron de la Garde. They had no children.