Renee of france biography

Countess/Duchess of Chartres

Renée of France (25 October 1510 – 12 June 1574), was Duchess of Ferrara from 31 October 1534 until 3 October 1559 by marriage to Ercole II d'Este, grandson of Pope Alexander VI.

She was the younger surviving child of Louis XII of France and the duchess regnant Anne of Brittany. In her later life, she became an important supporter of the Protestant Reformation and ally of John Calvin.

Background

Renée was born on 25 October 1510 at the Château de Blois, Blois, Touraine and was the second daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany.

Anne, who had always fought fiercely to keep Brittany independent of the French crown, tried to will the duchy to Renée, but Louis prevented this, passing the duchy to her elder sister, Claude.^{[citation needed]}

Renee's early education was undertaken by her governess, Michelle de Saubonne, Madame de Soubise.

Saubonne was a partisan of Anne of Brittany and opposed to A