Françoise Babou de La Bourdaisière
Françoise Babou de la Bourdaisière (1542–1592), was a French noble and courtier.
She was the daughter of Jean Babou de La Bourdaisière and Françoise Robertet, and married Antoine d'Estrées in 1558. She became the mother of Gabrielle d'Estrées and François Annibal d'Estrées.
She was raised at court as a fille d'honneur (maid of honour) to Mary Stuart until her marriage in 1558, and then served as dame d'honneur (lady-in-waiting) to Mary Stuart from 1559 until Mary left for Scotland in 1561; she served in the same position to queen Louise in 1575-1583.
Françoise Babou lived with separate rooms from her husband during her years in service at court, and lived openly in a relationship with her lover Louis de Béranger. Her lover was infamously murdered in 1575.
In 1583, she left the court and her husband permanently to live with her lover Yves d'Alègre on his estates in the Auvergne. Her spouse approved, as he himself had a different lover. In 1589, her new lover Yves d'Alègre was appointed governor of Issoire in Auvergne by Henry III. She accompanied him there, and they ruled the city together. With his approval, she introduced sumptuary laws with death penalty. Their rule was highly unpopular, and in 1592, they were both assassinated for political reasons by citizens who broke in to their home.
She is a subject of the writings by Brantome.
References
- Jacques-Xavier Carré de Busserolle, Dictionnaire géographique, historique et biographique d'Indre-et-Loire et de l'ancienne province de Touraine, vol. 1, Tours, Éditions de la Société archéologique de Touraine, 1878, 488 p. (lire en ligne [archive]), « Babou », p. 109 à 110