Marie d'Albret (Rethel)

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Marie d'Albret (born March 25, 1491 in Cuffy ; † October 27, 1549 ) was Countess of Rethel from 1500 to 1525 in her own right and by marriage since 1506 Countess of Nevers . She was the eldest daughter of Jean d'Albret-Orval († 1524) and his second wife Charlotte de Valois-Bourgogne († 1500), Countess of Rethel. Through her father, Marie came from the old and influential Albret noble family , through her mother from the House of Burgundy , which was a branch of the royal house of Valois .

Marie's successor in the County of Rethel was contested by her cousin Engelbert von Kleve (Engilbert de Clèves), Count of Nevers. This was a son of her aunt Elisabeth de Valois-Bourgogne, who had once inherited Nevers. The counties of Nevers and Rethel had previously been inherited in one hand for several generations, a tradition that Marie's maternal grandfather Count Johann II of Nevers-Rethel († 1491) had broken. The dispute was carried to the parliament in Paris, where the conflict was settled through a compromise. Marie kept the Rethelois and was to marry Engilbert's son, Charles de Clèves , in order to reunite the two counties.

But even after the marriage was concluded in 1504, Marie's legacy remained controversial. Because now the husband of her younger sister Charlotte, Marshal Odet de Foix , raised a claim to Rethel on behalf of his wife, referring to the example of the division of the estate of Count Johann II of Nevers-Rethel. Odet de Foix benefited from the fact that the Clèves family had temporarily fallen out of favor with King Francis I of France , and Charles de Clèves died on August 27, 1521 as a prisoner in the Louvre . On July 1, 1525, Marie was forced to sell her rights to Rethel, as well as to the lords of Donzy and Rosoy, to Odet de Foix. In return, however, he had to declare the Clèves family to be the heir in his will in the event that his family died out. Indeed, this case was to occur soon after Odet's son Henri died in 1540 and daughter Claude died without heirs in 1553. Marie's son François I de Clèves then inherited the Foix family and reunited Nevers and Rethel.

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personal data
SURNAME Albret, Marie d '
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Countess of Rethel, 1506 Countess of Nevers
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1491
PLACE OF BIRTH Cuffy
DATE OF DEATH October 27, 1549