Gabrielle d'Estrées, "the almost queen" (part 2)

While the wars of religion are raging, the influence of Gabrielle d'Estrées intensifies to the point that King Henry IV plans to marry his young mistress… In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of the history ", Jean des Cars tells you about the shattered fate of the favorite who was on the way to becoming queen of France. 

A divorce and an attack

Henri IV finally moved to the Louvre.

He gives Gabrielle d'Estrées the Hôtel du Bouchage, not far from there.

For a while, the king leads a quiet life in Paris, delighted to take advantage of little Caesar.

He is happy but also upset: legally, César is the child of M. de Liancourt, Gabrielle's complacent and very discreet husband.

If he wants to legitimize his son, the king must divorce his favorite. 

The trial will last three months.

All of Paris only rustles with the impotence of M. de Liancourt, who resists a little.

Finally, on December 24, 1594, Gabrielle's marriage was declared void by the official of the city of Amiens. 

Four days later, the king, returning from Amiens, returned to Paris around five in the evening, surrounded by a group of horsemen holding torches.

It is very cold.

Henri IV is bundled up in a cape.

A man dressed in black asks one of his neighbors which is the king.

It is shown to him, he mingles with the procession and follows Henri IV to the Hôtel du Bouchage where Gabrielle awaits him.

The stranger enters and succeeds in slipping past the sovereign.

He abruptly takes a knife out of his pocket and hits her in the jaw.

We're arresting this young man.

He says he wanted to kill the king: "I hit too high, I aimed at the neck!"

The king has a pierced lip and lost a tooth in the bombing.

His attacker confesses that having abnormal tastes, forbidden by the church, he wanted to kill him to have the assistance of a priest who would be forced to absolve him of his sins.

The boy, undoubtedly a little mentally disturbed, is called Jean Chastel.

It is granted.

A priest receives his confession.

It is then quartered. 

Obviously, the official version is not revealed.

The king and his advisers let believe in a political attack.

Chastel having been brought up by the Jesuits, these bitter leaguers are accused of being at the origin of the plot.

All are banished from the kingdom by the Parliament of Paris. 

After this unfortunate interlude, Henri IV can finally take care of little Caesar and Gabrielle is free.

The king legitimized his son: by letters patent in January 1595, César was titled Duke of Vendôme.

Gabrielle d'Estrées is delighted at this recognition, but she still dreams of becoming Queen of France.

For some time now, Henri IV has been considering repudiating Margot.

He sends a Master of Requests named Erard to Usson to negotiate with his wife.

He offers him a sum of 250,000 ecus to pay his debts and a life annuity.

The queen is not hostile to divorce, she has no desire to live again with Henry IV, but she wants to make the most of the situation.

It is, at bottom, attached neither to the crown nor to wealth.

She even sends an extremely kind letter to Gabrielle d'Estrées, telling her that she considers her as her sister and that after the king, she is the person she esteems the most… That's a bit much!

The king asserts his legitimacy 

On January 17, 1595, Henri IV, pushed by Gabrielle, declared war on Spain.

Philippe II, who enlisted the help of leaguers, retaliated by sending troops to Picardy, Brittany and Burgundy.

Alas, the war is not as favorable as it was believed since on April 21, 1596, Calais fell into the hands of the cardinal of Austria, that is to say of Spain. 

Despite this uncomfortable situation, the king continues to cover his mistress with gifts.

She was made Duchess of Beaufort.

He gives her the castle of Monceaux, near Meaux and uses the state money to spoil his favorite.

However, the money is lacking for the war against the Spaniards.

Gabrielle d'Estrées is becoming more and more unpopular.

Henry IV asks Elizabeth of England to lend him 200,000 ecus and to Holland to grant him an advance of 50,000 florins. 

Despite all his money worries, the monarch is very happy because Gabrielle gives him a second child, a daughter, Catherine Henriette.

For the occasion, the king organizes sumptuous parties and it is at this moment that disastrous news arrives: Amiens has been taken by the Spaniards!

The king and his army set out to besiege the city.

Gabrielle accompanies him.

Henri IV's camp looks like a huge fair.

The favorite kindly gives visitors a tour of all the facilities.

But on September 18, 1597, Amiens surrendered.

For the King of France, the tide has turned favorably.

After a rapid campaign in 1598, the last leaguer, the Duke of Mercœur, who held Brittany, recognized him in turn.

From now on, no one disputes the legitimacy of Henri IV.

It is time to ensure the religious pacification of France.

Gabrielle d'Estrées is attacked from all sides.

In order not to lose the king's confidence, she tries to help him when he decides to fix the status of Protestants in France. 

The Edict of Nantes was a unique example in Europe at the time of tolerance for all.

If Catholicism remains the state religion, considerable privileges are granted to Protestants.

They obtain freedom of worship in places where the Reformation had been established before 1597, except in Paris.

Civic equality with Catholics is recognized.

A full and complete amnesty is granted to all those who had participated in the wars of religion. 

The Edict of Nantes was registered by the Parliament of Paris on April 13, 1598. Gabrielle d'Estrées spared no effort to win the king's advisers to the necessary concessions and obtain the adhesion of the magistracy.

It is the most honorable end that we can give to the wars of religion.

Two days after the recording of the Edit, Gabrielle gives birth to a boy, named Alexandre.

What reminds the king that it is time to marry her ...

The thorny question of Henry IV's divorce

The future of the dynasty preoccupied Henri IV.

Now she needs to get her marriage annulled and permission to marry Gabrielle as soon as possible.

He therefore writes to the Pope. 

A few months later, Henri IV has a long interview with his minister Sully.

He pretends to question her to find out, in his opinion, which bride would suit him best when his marriage is called off.

The Infanta of Spain is ugly and old… Maybe the Princess Arabella of England, provided she is declared heiress presumptive… Especially not a German princess!

He says why and it is hardly pleasant: if he married one, he "would always think he had a barrel in his bed"!

It is said that the Duke of Florence has a niece, Marie de Medici, pink and blonde, who is found to be quite beautiful.

Alas, said the king "of the same race as Queen Catherine who caused so much harm to France and to myself".

There is also a niece of the Guises, beautiful and tall!

But she is too close to her brothers in Lorraine ...

Sully replied to Henry IV that it was very difficult: "We cannot rejuvenate the Queen of England, nor resuscitate Anne of Brittany and Marie Stuart. May the king take a wife he can love and who will give him sons. … "

Henri IV immediately thinks of Gabrielle d'Estrées.

He ends up telling her, but Sully's response is terrible: "Making you obedient, Sire, I will tell you that in addition to the general blame you might incur and the shame that repentance will bring you when love boils will be softened, I can imagine no expedient better suited to develop the intrigues, embarrassments and pretensions which will arise because of your children, born in so various ways and with such irregular forms. For the first, it cannot be denied that it be born of a double adultery. The second son whom you now have will think himself more advantaged because it will only be under a simple adultery. And those who come to you after, when you are married, will not fail to claim that they alone should be considered legitimate. "

Henri IV leaves his minister in a very bad mood.

Despite Sully's very careful analysis of the situation, the king has not given up on his plan to marry Gabrielle.

She is more powerful than ever;

The monarch makes no decision without asking for his advice and he awaits, impatiently, the pope's response to his request for annulment. 

Through his legate in Paris, Alexandre de Medici, the Holy Father knows perfectly well that the king intends to marry his mistress.

This project does not appeal to her because Gabrielle's reputation is appalling.

After a small venereal disease, which forced him to take several days of rest, the king realized that if something bad happened to him, the Dukes of Montpensier, Joyeuse and Epernon would form a council of regency, determined to remove from the throne. Gabrielle's son.

From then on, without changing his attitude towards the favorite who still believed in marriage, the king entered into negotiations with the family of Marie de Medici. 

Harassed by Gabrielle, Henri IV officially announced his intention to marry her on March 2, 1599, even though he had just asked the Grand Duke of Tuscany for a portrait of Marie de Medici ... 

A terrible death 

In April, the court is in Fontainebleau.

The king and his favorite spin the perfect love, but Henri IV's confessor tells him that, as Easter approaches, it would be unseemly for Gabrielle to stay with him.

He suggests that she get him back to Paris.

She will make a retreat there to publicly manifest her religious feelings.

The king considers this advice very wise.

His mistress therefore returned to Paris. 

She dines with the financier Zamet.

But a fruit for dessert, a lemon, sets his throat on fire!

She sleeps with her host.

After a bad night, she confesses at the church of Petit Saint-Antoine.

In the evening, she attends the office of Darkness.

On returning to Zamet's house, she is seized with convulsions.

Transported to Mme de Sourdis, her aunt, she is more and more ill during the night from Thursday to Good Friday.

Alerted, Henri IV gallops towards Paris.

In Essonne, he sees three riders coming.

One of them, Bassompierre, tells him the news of Gabrielle's death.

He dissuades him from going to see the deceased because she is horribly disfigured by the sufferings she suffered.

The king returns to Fontainebleau.

In truth, Gabrielle is not yet dead.

It is a trusted man of Henri IV, Fouquet La Varenne, who has not left Gabrielle's bedside who had instructed Bassompierre to announce to the king the death of his favorite.

Why ?

Was he worried that Gabrielle would reveal something to her lover?

In fact, it was at the dawn of Holy Saturday, April 10, 1599, 24 hours later, that Gabrielle succumbed, aged 26.

The details of the autopsy are appalling: she was pregnant but her interiors are very degraded ...

Has she been poisoned?

It is obvious that the diplomats and advisers of the Duke of Tuscany had an interest in eliminating him, knowing that he wished to marry his niece to the King of France.

But perhaps she was also in very poor health without knowing it… Even today, we cannot say it.

In any case, her disappearance suits everyone: the king, who had promised her marriage while asking for the hand of Marie de Medici, Sully who had clearly expressed that he did not want her to become queen and the pope, very embarrassed to drag out the annulment of the first marriage of the King of France.

Gabrielle d'Estrée's funeral takes place on Easter Monday, in Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, with great pomp.

She is buried in the Cistercian abbey of Maubuisson, near Pontoise.

After the funeral, Henri IV, in deep mourning, returns to Fontainebleau, apparently in despair.

To tear him away from his affliction, his friends, those whom Sully called "the door chickens and counselors of debauchery", decide to introduce him to the lovely Henriette d'Entragues.

Very quickly, she becomes the king's new mistress.

Meanwhile, negotiations continue with the Duke of Tuscany.

At the beginning of March 1600, the engagement of Henri IV and Marie de Médicis was announced.

Despite her influence, Gabrielle d'Estrées was quickly forgotten.

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 

Production: Timothée Magot

Director: Jean-François Bussière

Distribution and editing: Clémence Olivier

Graphics: Europe 1 Studio