Jeanne d’Albret, is one of the 20 ladies of the Jardin du Luxembourg. You may pass right by her and not even know what a strong woman and ahead of her time she was. Jeanne d’Albret was born in 1528 to Henri II d’Albret, king of Navarre. At a very young age her father wanted her to marry the son of Charles V uniting them with Spain, but her uncle, King Francois I disagreed. Taking her away from her parents when she was 10, but would also suggest a marriage.
On June 9, 1541 at just 12 years old she was to marry Guillume, the Duke of Cleves. This time she refused up until the day of the wedding when she had to be literally pushed down the aisle. She didn’t give up the fight and refused to consummate the marriage. After four years she finally was granted an annulment by Pope Paul III in 1545.
In October 1548 after her uncle had died she was able to marry the man she wanted to, Antoine de Bourbon. After her father died in 1555 she and her husband took the throne of Navarre.
In 1553, she would have a son, Henri III, future king of Navarre and later known as Henri IV, king of France. After 5 children she would kick her husband out after she learned he had a son with another woman. She was really ahead of her time!
Growing up as Cathoic she later converted to Protestantism, by 1568 she became the head of the Protestant movement. As the reign of the Valois was coming to an end, she persuaded Catherine de Medici to unite her daughter Marguerite and Henri III. Jeanne had to promise that she wouldn’t convert her. Catherine said the wedding must occur on August 18, 1572, but Jeanne wouldn’t live to see it.
The legend is that Catherine asked her perfumer to make a pair of gloves for Jeanne. Catherine is known to dabble in the dark arts, and the story goes that the gloves were poisoned and killed Jeanne.
She died of tuberculosis on June 9, 1572
Catherine would take a vital role in the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, killing thousands of protestants just days after the wedding. Jeanne stands on the eastern side of the upper terrace of the Luxembourg, designed by Jean Louis Brian in 1843.
