Royal Women in Power C

Brief lives of women who reigned or ruled in their own right or by marriage by providing their a) proprietary titles, b) parents/pedigree, c) patrimony and properties, d) persona or personality, e) powers exercised, f) patronages and g) progeny or posterity.

CARTIMANDUA, Queen of the Brigantes
Notes: "...remains loyal to the Romans during the uprising of (Queen Boudica) and is rewarded nine years later with Roman assistance in holding her crown." (Olsen, p. 19)


CATALINA DE PORTUGAL-COLON
Proprietary Titles: 9th Duchess of Veragua (cr. 1537), 3rd Duchess of La Vega (cr. 1557), 9th Marchioness of Jamaica (cr. 1537), 11th Countess of Gelves (cr. 1529) and 10th Admiral of the Indies (cr. 1493), 3rd Marchioness of San Leonardo (cr.1649) and La Mota (cr.1575), 6th Countess of Ayala (cr.1602) and 9th Lady of Villoria.

CATERINA DI APPIANO (1398-1451)
[Bio1]
Proprietary Titles: Lady of Piombino, Scarlino, Populonia, Suvereto, Buriano, Abbadia al Fango and of the Isles of Elba, Montecristo and Pianosa, Palatine Countess of the Holy Roman Empire, 1445-1451

Parents/Pedigree: Jacopo I of Piombino (1375-1405) and Paola Colonna (1378/79-1445)

Progeny/Posterity: She married in 1440 Rinaldo Orsini(1402-1450, died of the plague), Count of Tagliacozzo and Alba with whom she had no children.

CATERINA CORNARO (1454-1510)
[Bio1: 99-100] [Bio2] [Bio3: 187-202]

Proprietary Title: Queen of Cyprus, 1474-1489; Sovereign Lady of Asolo, 1489-1509.

Notes: "In fact Asolo welcomed several artists, poets, musicians, painters and even Queen Caterina Cornaro, who was elected the lady of Asolo by the Serenissima in 1489 following the forced conveyance of CiproIsland which she had inherited after her husband’s death. The new sovereign (1489-1509) set up a small court composed of characters coming from all over the region and from Cipro too (among the most important ones we can remember Pietro Bembo, Tuzzio Costanzo, Lotto and perhaps Giorgione too) and she increased the renown of the town adding also a touch of nobility." (Asolo, Treviso in Venezia.net) 

Catherine von Cleves (1548-1633)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Eu, 1564

Notes: "Catherine was the second daughter of Francois de Cleves, Duc de Nevers, and of Marguerite Bourbon-Vendome, the aunt of Henri IV. Her dower consisted of the county of Eu, in Normandy. She was twice married; first to Antoice de Croi, Prince de Portien, by whom she had no issue; and secondly, to Henri de Lorraine, Duc de Guise. She died in 1633, at the age of eighty-five." (Pardoe, p. 44)

Notes: "...In 1570, Henri married Catherine de Cleves, comtesse d'Eu, thereby confirming his family as the most important non-royal landowners in Normandy. Eu was, after the royal duchy of Alencon, the most valuable and prestigious lordship in Normandy; its elevation to the pairie dates back to 1458. It was the most important territory in his possession, accounting for one-quarter of all landed income. The duke had an affection for Eu and after his visit in 1578 he decided to build a magnificent new residence." (Carroll, pp. 27-28)

CATHERINE DE FOIX (c1470-1517)

Proprietary Titles: Queen of Navarre, 1483; Duchess of Gandia, Montblanc & Peñafiel; Countess of Foix, Bigorre & Ribagorza, Viscountess of Bearn

Catherine of Heunburg (Vovbre) in Eastern Carinthia

Notes: "She was the last and therefore the heiress of her family. From her derived the title of 'Counts' (of Celje/Cilli)." She was the mother of Frederic I (d.1360), the first Count of Celje. "In the female line, the Counts of Celje descend from the Counts of Vovbre (Heunburg), whose first ancestor was Gero I (mentioned between 1050 and 1072). He was the consort of St. Emma's daughter, whose name has not been mentioned in the records. The succession in the female line, in this case the Countess Catherine of Vovbre and her son Count Frederic I of Celje, furnishes clear evidence of the Carantanian law called for in the charter institutio Sclavenica. In sense of this, the daughter too can be the heiress and can continue the line."

CATHERINE D'AMBOISE (1481-1549)

Notes: "Posthumous daughter of Charles I d'Amboise and Catherine de Chauvigny, Catherine d'Amboise was born into one of the foremost families of Touraine, which produced many patrons of the arts in the reign of Louis XII. Catherine was married extremely young to Christophe de Tournon, sieur de Beauchastel, Charles VIII's chamberlain. She bore him a child who died shortly after birth, and was widowed by the age of seventeen. In 1501, she married Philibert de Beaujeu, seigneur de Lignières, who died in 1541. She was over sixty when she married her third husband, Louis de Clèves, comte d'Auxerre, who left her a widow again in 1545. The deaths of her brother Charles Chaumont d'Amboise in 1511 and her nephew Georges II d'Amboise in Pavia in 1525 meant that she inherited the domain of ChaumontLa penthaire de l'Esclave fortuné to her (1530)." and part of the library of the great humanist prelate Georges d'Amboise. She took under her protection the illegitimate son of Chaumont d'Amboise, the poet Michel d'Amboise, who later dedicated his Catherine Henriette de Balzac d'Entragues, Marquise of Verneuil

CATHERINE DE PARTHENAY (1554-1631)

Proprietary Title: Lady of Soubise

Parents/Pedigree: Jean of Parthenay (1512-1566) and Antoinette Bourchard of Aubeterre (c1530).  "...Catherine de Parthenay boasted descent from the royal house of Lusignan which had ruled briefly in the crusader kingdoms of Jerusalem, Armenia, and Cyprus. Catherine was the only child of the Huguenot general, Jean de l'Archeveque-Parthenay, seigneur de Soubise, from whom she inherited vast estates in Poitou and Saintonge...." (Clark, 1967, p. 1)

Progeny/Posterity: Married (1) in 1568 Charles du Quelenned (1548-1572), Baron of Pont, no issue; and (2) in 1575 Rene II of Rohan (c1550-1586), Prince of Leon, with whom she had 3 sons and 3 daughters.

CATHERINE DE THOUARS (1201-1254)
a.k.a. Catherine de Rais

Proprietary Title: Lady of Aubigne

Parents/Pedigree: "Two years after the death of his father, Gilles married Catherine de Thouars, sole heiress of the powerful house of Craon. The death of Catherine's grandfather, Jean de Craon, in 1432, filled up the deficit which the reckless prodigality of Gilles had already caused in is finances. Macheccoul, Pornie, Chantoce, Mauleon, Saint Etienne de Malemort, and many other castles and estates, fell at once into his hands. (Dallas, pp. 18-19)

Properties: "There existed in the land at that time a certain noble, Miles de Thouars, who lived in a vast estate not far from the Craon-Laval properties. This knight, besides being enormously wealthy, was possessed of ill-health and of a daughter who was heir to his lands... They consisted, firstly, of the vast and rambling castle of Tiffauges... But besides Tiffauges, old Miles de Thouars possessed the important and valuable lands of Pouzages, Chabanais, Confolens, Chateau-Morant, Savenay, Lombert and Grez-sur-Marne, an inheritance for Catherine that overshadowed the fortunes of Jeanne Peynel and Beatrix de Rohan, Gilles' former fiancees, so greatly that even had these fortunes been added together, Jean de Craon could well curse his stupidity for ever having considered them." (Dix, p. 42)

Persona: "Liberated from the control of her husband, Catherine de Rais, who had been Catherine de Thouars, suddenly asserted herself. Under her direction, the protest of the heirs was once more revived and was submitted to the King. It was claimed now that Gilles de Rais was mad, and that whatever contracts he had made were void. At first it failed, but later it received support, and the estates were partly restored.

Progeny/Posterity: "...Blue Beard had only one wife, Catherine de Thouars, whom he respected as a knight of the days of the Fair Dunois respected his lady love...." (Dallas, p. 15) "Upon the strength of her petition, Catherine married herself at once to Jean de Vendome, and to their son descended the fortress of Tiffauges... For her daughter, Catherine also found a husband. Married de Rais married Pregent de Coetivy, one of the great ones of the duchy; and on his death, to save her property from the encroachments of her relatives, she became the wife of that proud noble, Andre de Laval, who had fought with her father in the wars and was now admiral of France." (Dix, p. 339)

CATHERINE DE VENDOME (c1345-1412)

Proprietary Titles: Countess of Vendome and Castres

Progeny/Posterity: "...John married Catherine of Vend&me, on the death of whose brother, in the year 1374, the county of Vendome (originally an offshoot from Anjou), with Castres and other fiefs, came into the Bourbon family ; and he was succeeded in La Marche by James II., his firstborn, June 1393, Vendome being reserved for the second son... The rich inheritance of the house of Venddme, when the countess Catherine died (April 1412), had fallen to the younger son Lewis ; whom the envious James of Marche forthwith seized, and kept in prison for eight months. Suddenly released, however, by his brother, Lewis had again the ill luck to be a captive: for he was taken at Agincourt, Oct. 1415, and was detained a long while in England by the difficulty of raising money for his ransom. He was succeeded, Dec. 1446, by his loyal and valiant son John ; who was cast in a lawsuit which he had with the Armagnac duke of Nemours for the county of Marche, Jan. 1466. ByIsabel of Beauveau, heiress of La Rochesur-Yon, John was the father of Francis, his successor in the county of Vendome, Jan. 1478, and of Lewis, lord ofLa Roche-sur- Yon; whose children were Lewis, duke of Montpensier, and Charles, duke of Beaupreau (a title extinct in another generation). Francis, count of Vendome, who died in Italy (Oct. 1495), married Mary of Luxemburg, —countess of St. Pol, ---she was the widow of James of Savoy, count of Romont,her own uncle,—in whose right he also acquired the counties of Soissons and Marie, with Meaux, Conde, Enghien, and other lordships. A younger son of his, also named Francis, whose male line ended." (Chepmell, p. 293)

CECILE DE RODEZ (1272-1313)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Rodez

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter if Henri II of Rodez and Mascarose de Comminges

Progeny/Posterity: Married in 1298 Bernard VI of Armagnac (1270-1319), Count of Armagnac.

CECILE DE LE BOURQ

Proprietary Title: Lady of Tarsus

Notes: "...Roger of Salerno's own widow, Cecilia of Le Bourq, may not have been remarried in this period, but by 1126 she was in possession of Latin-held Cilicia and held the title of 'Lady of Tarsus'. It must therefore be possible that she was given Tarsus by Baldwin as part of this redistribution, although she may have received this as dower land...." (Asbridge, pp. 145-146)

Cecilia de Comminges (d.1384)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Comminges, 1339

Parents/Pedigree: "...Daughter of Count Bernat VIII of Comenge. In 1335, she married the count, James I of Urgell, son of Alphonse III of Catalonia-Aragon, becoming heiress to the county of Comenge through the death of her brother John I (1339). Her claims were usurped however, by her uncle, Ramon 1 of Comenge, in the face of a completely passive attitude on behalf of her brother-on-law, Peter of Aragon, who did not wish to engage in a war. She was also unable to assert her claims over the county of Pallars (1343). Widowed in 1347, she effieciently ruled the county of Urgell while her son, Peter II, was still a minor, and managed to pay off the debts incurred by her husband while financing the Unionist movement." (Enciclopedia Catalana - Cecilia de Comenge).

Cecilia de Rumilly

Proprietary Title:  Lady of Skipton

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Robert de Rumelli

Progeny/Posterity: She married William le Meschin, Lord of Copeland, with whom she had a son and 3 daugthers.

CHARLOTTE ELIZABETH BOYLE (1731-1754)

Proprietary Title: 6th Baroness Clifford, 1753 Other Titles: By marriage, Marchioness of Hartington, 1748

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter and heiress of Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, and of Lady Dorothy Savile.

Properties/Patrimony: She inherited her father's estates consisting of Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, Chiswick House, Londesborough Hall, Boldton Abbey, Lismore Castle.

Progeny/Posterity: Married 1748 4th Duke of Devonshire, with whom she had four children.

Notes: "...His son William, the fourth duke, who was also Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, married Charlotte, Baroness Clifford, of Lanesborough, only daughter and heiress of Richard, Earl of Burlington and Cork, by which union the Barony of Clifford, created by Charles I in 1628, came into the Cavendish family. His third son, George Augustus, was created, in 1831, Earl of Burlington and Baron Cavendish, of Keighley..." (Walford, p. 115)

CHARLOTTE D'ALBRET

Proprietary Title: Countess of Rethel

CHARLOTTE D'ALBRET (c1480-1514)

Proprietary Title: Lady of Chalus

CHARLOTTE DE BEAUNE (1551-1617)

Proprietary Title: Viscountess of Tours

CHARLOTTE DE BURGUNDY (1476-1500)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Rethel, 1491

CHARLOTTE DE LA TRÉMOILLE

Proprietary Title: Baroness of Bournezeau

CHARLOTTE DE MONTMORENCY (d.1636)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Alais

Charlotte Marguerite de Montmorency (1594-1650)

Proprietary Title: Lady of Saint-Liebault & Arvilliers; Duchess of Montmorency and Peer of France.

Notes: "...This Henri II de Montmorency rebelled against his king, and was beheaded in 1632. His property was of course confiscated, but King Louis XIII restored it to the rebel's own sister, Charlotte de Montmorency, who had married Henri de Bourbon, Prince of Conde, and who became the moter of the Grand Conde, of the Prince de Conti, and of the Duchesse de Longueville...." (Harper's Magazine, Vol. 75, p. 838)

CLAIRE CHARLOTTE EUGENIE D'AILLY (d.1681)
[Ref1] [Ref2]

Proprietary Title: Comtesse de Chaulnes, Dame de Picquigny, Vidamesse d'Amiens.

Parents/Pedigree: Daughterof Philibert Emmanuel d'Aillu (d.1619), Vidame d'Amiens and Seigneur de Picquigny, and of Louise d'Ongnioes, Comtesse de Chaulnes.

Progeny/Posterity: Married in 1620 Honore d'Albret (1581-1649), Marshal of France, Duke of Chaulnes in 1621. 

Claire Clemence de Maille-Breze (1628-1694)

Properties/Patrimony: "...The lordship of Breze passed eventually to Claire Clemence de Maille, princess of Conde, by whom it was sold to Thomas Dreux, who took the name of Dreux Breze, when it was erected into a marquisate...."

CLAUDE DE FOIX (d.1553)

Proprietary Titles: Countess of Rethel, Comminges, Beaufort en Champagne, Viscountess of Lautrec

Notes: "...Claude de Foix was the young heiress of the house of Foix-Lautrec... She did not have a dowry but instead brought with her a large patrimony, which, when added to that of the Lavals, made the young Guy XVII, in the words of an English correspondent 'oon of greatest inheritors in all France.' Her lands did not form a coherent whole in the way of many of those of the Lavals but were instead situated in different parts of the kingdom. Nevertheless, they were valuable assets and included large lordships such as the counties of Beaufort-en-Champagne and Rethelois, the viscountcies of Fronsac and Lautrec, or indeed the barony of Pont-Saint-Pierre...." (The Counts of Laval: 91)

CLAUDE I DE FRANCE (1499-1524)

Proprietary Titles: Duchess of Brittany, 1514-1524, Countess of Blois, Baroness of Coucy & Countess of Soissons, 1506-1515

Claude Catherine de Clermont (1543?-1604)

Proprietary Titles: Duchess of Retz and Peer of France, Lady of Dampierre &amp Baroness of Retz

CLEMENCE DE BOURGOGNE (1078-1133)

Proprietary Titles: Countess-Regent of Flanders, 1096-1097, when her husband, Robert II was on the First Crusade, and, 1111-1119, during their son Baldwin VII's rule. She possessed significant territories, which she received as dower, which consisted of one third of Flanders, including 12 towns. "...She served Flanders well. Politically active in the reigns of five counts, she provided smooth transitions between them and continuity in policy. She supported religious reform, charitable services, and economic growth. She favored canal-building and land-clearance, especially in her dower lands, and was one of the first post-Carolingian countesses to issue coins in her own name. The Flemish remembered her as a dominant personality of her age, later referring to her rule as 'the time of countess Clemence'." Comita Muzhaka-Comnena (d.1396). "After the death of Balsha II, the region was taken over by his brother's widow, Comita Muzhaka-Comnena, daughter of the Despot of Berat and Vlora. She twice offered the Venetians the region of Vlora and the fortress of Kanina for a pension of 9,000 ducats, but in vain. Comita endeavoured to maintain her rule not only against foreign foes, but also against the claims of her brother-in-law and his relatives who had forced her to settle in Berat and let them deal with the defence of Vlora."

Constance de Brittany (c1161-1201) 
a.k.a. Constance de Penthievre

Proprietary Title: Duchess of Brittany, 1156-1171; Countess of Richmond, 1183/84; Countess of Nantes, 1185/86

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Conan IV of Brittany (1138-1171) and Margaret of Scotland (1145-1201)

Partners/Progeny:

Notes: "Although acknowledged as heiress of Brittany from 1166, Constance did not begin to exercise ducal authority until 1181, when she was married to Geoffrey... While married to Geoffrey, Constance entered her inheritance of the honour of Richmond in 1183/84 and the county of Nantes in 1185/86. Upon Geoffrey's death in 1186, she was able to govern in her own right for the first time...." (Everard & Jones, p. 38)

CONSTANZA DE MONTCADA (d.1310)

Proprietary Title: Viscountess of Marsan; Titular Countess of Bigorre

CONSTANCE DE VIENNE (920-966)

Proprietary Title: Countess of Vienne, 962-966

CONSTANZA D'ANGLESOLA

Proprietary Title: Lady of Miralcamp

Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Hug II d'Anglesoa, Lord of Miralcamp, and Sibilla, heiress of AnglesolaProgeny/Posterity: Married Guillem Ramon III of Moncada

CONSTANZA D'ANTILLON

Proprietary Title: Duchess of Brittany, 1156-1171Lady of Antillon

CONSTANZA DE ARAGON

Proprietary Title: Duchess of Brittany, 1156-1171, Lady of Segorbe Parents/Pedigree: Illegitimate daughter of Pedro III of Aragon Progeny/Posterity: Married in 1299, as his 1st wife, Artal de Luna (d.1323), Lord of Luna, and Procurator-General of Aragon, 1305-1312.

CONSTANZA DE CASTILLA (1354-1394)

Parents/Pedigree: Pedro I of Castile and Maria de Padilla

Patrimony/Properties: She was given Guadalajara, Olmedo and Medina del Campo which were governed through her daughter Catherine of Lancaster's chamber by the Treaty of Bayonne between her father, John of Gaunt, and Juan I of Castile to solve the dynastic problem of Castile; "...Both women controlled the revenues of some of the richest towns in Castile and a great part of the wool commerce of the realm...." (Earenfight: 2005, p. 94)

CONSTANZA DE LUNA (1310-1353)

Proprietary Titles: Lady of Segorbe, Paterna, La Puebla, and El Alton Mijares;
Parents/Pedigree: Daughter of Artal of Luna (d.1323), Lord of Luna, and Constanza of Aragon, Lady of Segorbe

Power Exercised: Regent of Viscounty of Castelbon, 1350-1353

Progeny/Posterity: Married Roger Bernard III of Foix (1310-1350), Viscount of Castelbon. with whom she had a son and 2 daughters.

CHRISTINA DE LINDSAY

Parents/Pedigree: William de Lindsay and Ada Balliol
"...The representation of the family of Baliol, and claims to the throne of Scotland, then devolved on the descendants of Ada de Baliol, eldest surviving daughter of the above mentioned Devorguilla and John de Baliol, and consequently sister of the unfortunate King John, as well as ultimate eldest co-heir to her nephew, Edward Baliol; Ada married Sir William de Lindsay, Lord of Lamberton, who was killed Nov. 6, 1283, in battle against Llewellyn Prince of Wales...when the whole of his vast estates, both in England and Scotland,---the former comprising above seventeen manors, besides numberless towns and hamlets... the latter extending over twenty-five Scottish sheriffdoms...---devolved on his only daughter and heir, the Lady Christina de Lindsay. This lady was given in marriage by her cousin King Alexander III, in the end of his reign, cir. 1284, to Ingelram, or Enguerrand de Guigues, second son of Arnold III, Count of Guigues and Naumr, and afterwards Sire de Coucy in 1320, in right of his mother Alix, the heiress of that ancient house, so famed in history and romance; and it was in right of Christina that he figured as a Scottish magnate in 1284-90, as also afterwards, on numerous occasions, both in Scotland and England...but after succeeding the lordship of Coucy, dying there in 1321. After his death his widow appears to have returned to England; and in 1332 she gave an asylum, at her residence of Morholm-manor, in Lancashire, to her cousin-german, Edward Baliol, then a fugitive from Scotland. Her death took place in 1335, at an advanced age...." (The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 205, p. 299)

Progeny/Posterity: Enguerrand de Guisnes, Lord of Couci

CHRISTINA OF SWEDEN

Proprietary Titles: Queen of the Swedes, Goths, and Vandals; Great Princess of Finland; Duchess of Estonia and Corelia; and Lady of Ingria.

Christine von Marck (1135-1177)
a.k.a. Christianna

Proprietary Titles: Lady of Ardres, died of childbirth in 1177 while her husband, Baudouin II of Guisnes, was in England. (Vaughan & Allon, p. 29)

"...When Baldwin died on the second Crusade, leaving no legitimate offspring, the lordship of Ardres passed through Baldwin's sister, Adeline, to her husband, Arnold, viscount of Merck, also known as Arnold of Colvida (Arnold IV of Ardres [c. 1127-c. 1176], making their daughter, Christine, the heiress of Ardres. Arnold I of Guines seized the opportunity to swallow Ardres and married his son Baldwin (Baldwin II of Guines 1169-1206]) to Christine. The first son of this marriage, Arnold, became Arnold II of Guines (1206-1220) and Arnold V of Ardres (c. 1178-1220)." (Lambert of Ardres & Shopkow, p. 29)

CORNELIA BARBERINE

Proprietary Titles: Heiress of the Barberini
She was a great-granddaughter of Taddeo Barberini. She was only 11 years old in 1728 when she married Giulio Cesare Colonna, Duke of Bassanello and Prince of Carbognana. (Williams, p. 222)