Gabrielle d'Estrées, "the almost queen" (part 1)

On September 15, 1594, Henri IV made his solemn entry into Paris accompanied by a 21-year-old young woman whose advice contributed to his triumph.

In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of history", Jean des Cars tells you about the turbulent beginnings of an idyll which weighed heavily in the fate of France. 

For his solemn entry into Paris, Henri IV associates his favorite with his triumph

Henri IV took a long time to enter Paris.

During the wars of religion, in the latter part of the 16th century, Henri de Navarre was the leader of the Protestant party, and therefore the enemy of the Catholic clan.

For the sake of appeasement, Catherine de Medici arranges the marriage of her daughter Marguerite with him.

The sister of King Charles IX then becomes the famous Queen Margot.

Barely married, Henri narrowly escaped the Saint-Barthélemy massacres on August 25, 1572.

After the death of Charles IX, his brother, Henri III, who succeeded him, worried about the excesses of the League, the Catholic party led by the powerful family of Guise.

He had their leader, the Duke of Guise, assassinated on December 23, 1588, at the castle of Blois.

After this tragedy, Henri III and his brother-in-law laid siege to Paris, in the hands of the League, in the spring of 1589.

The assassination of King Henry III in August 1589 made Henry of Navarre the new King of France.

But facing him, the League has Cardinal de Bourbon as its candidate.

For his part, the King of Spain, Philippe II, demanded the Crown of France for his daughter Isabelle… For many, the Béarnais was then only the king of the Huguenots.

It was only after many adventures that Henri IV finally succeeded, on March 21, 1594, in entering Paris and hearing mass at Notre-Dame.

An entry, certainly, but an unrewarding entry because the Parisians do not show it a particular enthusiasm.

But his success against the League will allow him to program a new entry into Paris, solemn and sumptuous, on the evening of September 15, 1594. At seven o'clock in the evening, as night begins to fall, King Henry IV enters the city. capital by torchlight, accompanied by a magnificent suite.

This time, all Parisians come to cheer him on.

For the occasion, the king wears a gray hat adorned with his legendary white plume.

A few steps away, in front of him, a sumptuous litter rolls, framed by a company of archers.

In this litter, it is Gabrielle d'Estrées, the king's favorite, dazzling in a white satin dress described by the chronicler Pierre de l'Estoile: "The skirt all crested in white and loaded with so many pearls and precious stones so brilliant that they offended the torchlight. "

Mademoiselle de Guise, although not her friend at all, describes her thus: "Her face was smooth and transparent like a pearl of which it had delicacy and water. The white satin of her dress appeared black by comparison. of the snow of her beautiful bosom. Her lips were the color of ruby ​​and her eyes of a celestial blue, so shining that it was difficult to judge whether they borrowed their bright light from the Sun or whether this beautiful star was indebted to them for its clarity. "

We understand why Henri IV is madly in love with his mistress! 

If some Parisians, seeing her, say: "She's the whore of the King!", They are, in spite of everything, admiring this woman so beautiful and so honored. 

But why did Henri IV emphasize, to this point, his favorite in this particular moment that is his solemn entry into Paris?

He owes him a lot.

Gabrielle d'Estrées entered the life of the monarch four years ago.

His attitude was not always flawless, but it sometimes helped him make the right decisions ... 

Gabrielle d'Estrées becomes the mistress of Henri IV 

In 1591, the Duke of Bellegarde, grand squire of the king, imprudence to ask Henri IV for permission to go to Ceuvres, near Soissons, to see his mistress, the beautiful Mademoiselle Gabrielle d'Estrées.

He describes its charms so well that the king decides to accompany him to Picardy.

It is not for nothing that Henri IV is nicknamed "Le vert galant".

He is a big fan and consumer of pretty women.

Gabrielle is 18 years old.

Despite her young age, she has already had several lovers, the wealthy financier Zamet, the Cardinal de Guise, the Duke of Longueville and the Duke of Bellegarde.

The latter is obliged to present her to the king… Henri IV immediately falls under her spell, but she, no!

Used to elegant and refined young people, she is disgusted by this rather dirty king smelling of garlic.

Henri IV is annoyed but he does not give up… He goes to see her several times and finally, he appoints his father, Antoine d'Estrées, member of his Privy Council.

It is a first step.

The man moved to court with Gabrielle and her sister.

But the young woman still does not give in.

His aunt, Madame de Sourdis, indicates to the king that if he seizes Chartres and gives her husband back his post of governor of the city he occupied before the League seized it, Gabrielle will be his.

At this time, Henri IV is on the point of retaking Rouen, ready to fall, and Normandy.

But he's too much in love!

To everyone's surprise, he changes his mind and decides to tackle Chartres.

The siege lasts two months.

The city capitulated on April 10, 1591. That same evening, Gabrielle was in the king's bed. 

But he's 20 years older than her, and Gabrielle's dad starts playing offended!

He recalls that the king is still married to Queen Margot, although she was then exiled in Usson, in Auvergne.

Henri IV understands that the indignation of Antoine d'Estrées will fade, as soon as he will have found a more interesting position for him.

He therefore took the town of Noyon from the Ligueurs and appointed it governor.

Gabrielle is delighted! 

The king can now carry out his plan to retake Rouen, but it is too late: the Rouen people have had time to organize their defense.

The city was however much more important than Chartres, the monarch was wrong to give in to his mistress ...

"Everyone must live!" 

But there is worse !

In August 1592, Henri IV, who gave Gabrielle all her whims, learned that she continued to see her previous lover, the Duke of Bellegarde, in secret ...  

In October 1592, the king's court "without a capital" moved to Saint-Denis.

Big celebrations are given but a month later, Henri IV sets out again in campaign.

The next day, the Duke of Bellegarde makes his appearance.

In fact, Gabrielle never stopped loving him.

She shares her bed again.

One day, the king returns unexpectedly.

The duke is hiding in a closet!

A few days later, the same scene occurs again.

This time, the man is hiding under the bed!

That day, Henri IV was not fooled.

Faced with the humor of the situation, he passes the grand squire under the bed a plate of jam, throwing him: "Here, everyone must live!"

Then he goes away laughing out loud!

But despite his sense of humor, the king is considering a strategy to get rid of the Duke of Bellegarde.

He finds the solution: he is going to marry Gabrielle to a complaisant husband.

This one is quickly found: it is the Sieur de Liancourt.

He's poor, sick, ridiculous, and has two single daughters, so he'll be easy to handle.

The favorite is mad with rage but she has to comply.

She became Madame de Liancourt on June 10, 1593. The sovereign did not attend the wedding.

Gabrielle is desperate.

Fortunately, her new husband does not manage to consummate their union ... 

Henri IV was a good strategist!

To appease his mistress, very upset by the stratagem, he is generous.

Antoine d'Estrées is appointed governor of Ile-de-France and Gabrielle receives an important estate.

Satisfied, she agrees to join the royal layer. 

Bellegarde is going to leave the courtyard.

But some time later, the king intercepts a letter sent by Gabrielle to Bellegarde.

Henri IV is unhappy: for the first time in his life, he is jealous!

To Gabrielle, he writes a superb letter, confessing his feelings to her.

He declares his love for her and explains that this situation is unbearable for him.

The ambitious Gabrielle then immediately breaks with Bellegarde.

She is the king's titular mistress.

She must be faithful to him, especially if she wants to hope to be married one day ...

King becomes Catholic

Since the beginning of the year 1593, Henri IV realizes how much his enemies are divided.

The people are tired of this civil war.

The only solution for him to become king of France: to convert to the Catholic religion.

Even Sully, his main adviser, said to him: "To advise you to go to mass is something that you should not expect from me, being of the Protestant religion. But shall I tell you that it is. this is the quickest and easiest way to overthrow all monopolies and to make all the smartest projects go up in smoke ... "

The king is very shaken by this suggestion.

But he still has scruples about abandoning his faithful Huguenot companions, who followed him in all his battles.

This is where Gabrielle d'Estrées will intervene. 

For a long time, she hopes to be married by Henri IV.

He is still married to Margot, who lives in his castle in Usson, more or less under house arrest.

Gabrielle knows that only the Pope can annul this marriage.

But to make his request to Rome, the sovereign must become Catholic ...

The favorite will be very skillful.

She explains to the king that these interminable wars only lead to the misery of the people and that he cannot spend the rest of his days with arms on his back, in fatigue, worries, hazards, pitfalls, far from rest. and the sweets of life. 

On May 17, 1593, Henri IV informed his entourage that he wanted to convert to the Catholic religion.

On July 23, the monarch went to Saint-Denis.

In the afternoon he has an important conference with the theologians.

He asks many questions about dogma, the virgin and purgatory.

The debates will last five hours.

Very moved, the monarch declares that he is sufficiently educated to become a Catholic: "Today I place my soul in your hands, I beg you, take care, because where you make me enter, I will only leave by death. That I swear to you and protest. "

The abjuration ceremony takes place on Sunday July 25.

From dawn, the people, come from Paris where Henri IV cannot enter, encumber the streets of Saint-Denis, shouting "Long live the king!" 

On the threshold of the church, the Bishop of Bourges is waiting for him:

- Who are you? 

- I am the King.

- What are you asking?

- I ask to be received into the bosom of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church.

Yes, I want and desire it.

On February 25, 1594, the King was crowned in Chartres but Paris still resisted him.

Gabrielle d'Estrées will intervene again.

She said to the sovereign: "What if you get the Governor of Paris to betray the League?"

The king had only considered a siege and a capitulation.

Gabrielle offered him a victory without guns, without horsemen, without battle. 

Henri IV therefore sends secret agents, and bribes the governor of Paris M. de Belin.

He is replaced by M. de Brissac, he is also bribed!

On March 21, Brissac sent the best companies of the Paris garrison to Pontoise, under a futile pretext.

Immediately, Henri IV massed his troops in the Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

On March 22, at four o'clock in the morning, M. de Brissac himself opened the Porte Neuve and the royal army entered the capital. 

During this entire period, Gabrielle is pregnant.

She gave birth on June 7 to a fat boy, named Caesar.

Henri IV is in boundless joy.

It is so that Gabrielle is completely recovered from her diapers that the solemn entry, told at the beginning of this article, only took place on September 15, 1594. Gabrielle d'Estrée triumphs! 

What role will she play now, she who thinks only of being married to the king?

Bibliographical references: 

Jean des Cars,

(Perrin, 2013)

Guy Breton,

(François Beauval, 1965, France-Empire 2013 reissue)

Duke of Lévis-Mirepoix, of the French Academy,

(Perrin, 1971)

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"At the heart of history" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars 

Project manager: Timothée Magot

Production: Jean-François Bussière

Distribution and editing: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio