Maria of Cleves

"Mary of Cleves" redirects here. For the princess of Condé, see Marie de Clèves (1553–1575).

Maria of Cleves
Duchess of Orléans
Spouse	Charles, Duke of Orléans
House	House of Cleves
Father	Adolph I, Duke of Cleves
Mother	Marie of Burgundy
Born	19 September 1426
Died	23 August 1487 (aged 60) Chaunay

Maria of Cleves (19 September 1426 – 23 August 1487) was the third wife of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and the mother of his only son, King Louis XII of France. She was born a German princess, the last child of Adolph I, Duke of Cleves and his second wife, Marie of Burgundy.

Marriage

At age fourteen, Maria married Charles of Valois, Duke of Orléans, a man 35 years her senior,^[1] on 27 November 1440 in Saint-Omer.^[2] They had three children:

• Marie of Orléans (19 December 1457 – 1493)
  • married John of Foix, Count of Étampes in 1476
• Louis XII of France (1462–1515)
• Anne of Orléans (1464–1491)
  • Abbess of Fontevrault and Poitiers

Maria was a patron of letters and commissioned many works; she was also an active poet herself, producing ballads and other verses.^[1] After the Duke's death she was secretly remarried in 1480 to one of her gentlemen of the chamber, the Artesian "Sieur de Rabodanges", who was some years her junior.^[1][3]

She died in Chaunay.

Ancestry

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c} Wilson p. 258
2. ^ Arn p. 41
3. ^ Holt, p. 231

References

• Arn, Mary-Jo. Charles d'Orléans in England, 1415-1440. Cambridge; Rochester, NY, USA : D.S. Brewer, 2000. googlebooks Retrieved August 17, 2009
• Wilson, Katharina M. An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers. Vol. 2 New York: Garland Pub, 1991. googlebooks
• Holt, Emily Sarah. Memoirs of Royal Ladies. London : Hurst and Blackett, 1861. googlebooks

Persondata
Name	Cleves, Marie De
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	19 September 1426
Place of birth
Date of death	23 August 1487
Place of death	Chaunay