Jacquette de Montberon
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Jacquette de Montberon [de Montbron] (1542 – June 28, 1598) was a 16th century humanist, architect, and lady-in-waiting to Queens Catherine de' Medici and Louise de Lorraine.[1] She is the only woman in France known to have held the title of Architect during the Renaissance.[2]
Jacquette de Montberon was born in 1542, into one of the most powerful families of the County of Angoulême.[3] She was the third daughter of François de Montbron (or Montberon), baron of Villefort and Beaulieu, captain of Blaye, and of Marie-Jeanne de Montpezat.[4] After the death of her older Brother René de Montbron, Baron d'Archiac, who was killed at the Battle of Gravelines, Jacquette became the sole heiress and the remaining representative of the elder branch of the House of Montbron.[5] At the age of 16 she married André de Bourdeille (1519), older brother of writer, columnist and soldier Pierre de Bourdeilles, viscount of Bourdeilles, lieutenant of King Henry III, and governor and seneschal of Périgord.[2] In marriage, Jacquette brought her husband properties in Matha, Archiac and Sertonville in Angoumois as dowry.[5][1] Together, Montberon and Bourdeille had six children, four daughters and two sons.[4] In 1582, after 24 years of marriage, Bourdeille died, leaving her a widow and the sole heir responsible for his properties.[6]
Between 1582 and 1587, Jacquette had a castle built in Matha, inspired by the Italian architectural standards that she had read about in books of Sebastiano Serilo.
In 1587, Jacquette de Montbron entered the service of the Queen-Mother Catherine de' Medici, where, impressed by the courage of the now widow, Catherine de'Medici made her a Lady-in-waiting.[1] She became one of the Queen's favourites and spent time at the Valois court up until 1588, when Jacquette regained her provincial fiefdoms and returned to her lands.[2]
The following year in 1589, Jacquette received a bequest of 4,000 crowns from the Queen which she used to construct a Renaissance castle next to the old Bourdeille Castle, in Périgord.[3] Her brother-in-law Brantôme specified that it was "all her own invention and design". She supervised the construction site, "taking up the L-square and the T-square and drawing her future home with her own hands".[4]