6. Gabrielle d’Estrées (1573-April 10, 1599)
Gabrielle d’Estrées, a French noblewoman and mistress to King Henry IV, wielded much influence during the French Wars of Religion. Henry was next in line to the French throne, but the Catholic French were reluctant to accept a Protestant king. Gabrielle was a Catholic, and she used her position to convince him to convert to Catholicism to prevent more religious tension. She became one of his most valuable advisors and considerably contributed to smoothing over the religious tensions that characterized his reign.
Even though Henry IV was married to Margaret of Valois, he openly acknowledged Gabrielle as his mistress and the mother of three of his children. They were fiercely loyal to each other, and Gabrielle followed him on his campaigns, even when she was pregnant. She was extremely intelligent, and Henry sought her out for much political advice during his reign. He frequently wrote her letters, even when they were separated.
Gabrielle’s role as Henry’s mistress helped him significantly. She used her social rank to help smooth over the disquiet among Catholic nobles when Henry granted Protestants rights in the Edict of Nantes in 1598. She had many friends among the Catholic nobles, and she helped convince them to see the wisdom of the edict and how it could bring about peace in the kingdom. In gratitude for saving his country over more tension, he proclaimed of his mistress, “My mistress has become an orator of unequaled brilliance, so fiercely does she argue the cause of the new edict.”
Henry wanted to marry Gabrielle, so he annulled her marriage and legitimized their children together. He tried to obtain an annulment from his first wife Margaret of Valois through the pope, but unfortunately, Gabrielle died before he could get the annulment. She died from eclampsia after giving birth to a stillborn baby. Henry grieved tremendously over her death, and he buried her with all honors due for a queen.