There are two sets of arms that divide the script underneath the image. The description of each could be given in English as: at centre-left – Gondi arms – On a background of gold two combat maces, black in colour, set in the form of a St. Andrew’s Cross, and tied with red; and at centre-right – Pierrevive arms \u2013 On a background of gold, three stakes vertical, red in colour, at the head of each a silver diamond.<\/p>\n
Origins<\/h2>\n
Marie Catherine de Pierrevive was born to Nicolas de Pierrevive and Jeanne de Turin in Lyons, France, towards the end of the fifteenth century. Her date of birth is difficult to ascertain, and her date of death is given as August 4, 1570.<\/p>\n
The Pierrevive, or Pietra Viva, family, came from Chieri in Piedmont, and settled in Lyons, France, around 1470. Like many Italian merchants and bankers, they settled close to the Place du Change where much of the city\u2019s commercial activity was conducted. Between 1489 and 1492, four brothers from this rich family of grocers and apothecaries acquired a large property extending from the current Rue Gadagne as far as the Mont\u00e9e Saint-Barth\u00e9l\u00e9my, on which Boyssette House, an opulent mediaeval townhouse, stood. The Pierrevives demolished this house to undertake a huge building project across the whole of the property. The project included the building of commercial premises as well as their prestigious home known as \u201cBelregard\u201d situated at the highest point of their land.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n The four brothers who acquired the Boyssette House property were: Jean-Michel, chief physician to King Charles VIII, Am\u00e9d\u00e9e, an apothecary, a wealthy grocer merchant and tax collector for the King\u2019s estates, and their two brothers Nicolas and Andr\u00e9. The son of Am\u00e9d\u00e9e, Nicolas, who like his father was also a tax collector, became a city councillor in 1508, which led to his ennoblement. Nicolas\u2019s three children also had illustrious lives. Charles became treasurer general to Francis I and general of land and finance to Catherine de Medici. Antoine was lord and baron of Vaulx en Lyonnais and ordinary butler to the King. Marie-Catherine, called Marion, who was born at what is now 14 Rue Gadagne (known from 1530 \u2013 1640 as the Rue Pierrevive), was to marry into the Gondi Family.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n Marie Catherine de Pierrevive (Copy provided by National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT, for use in this article)<\/p><\/div>\n In 1516, Marie Catherine de Pierrevive married Guidobaldo Antonio de Gondi (1486-1560), who had come from Florence and settled in Lyons in 1506 as a member of the Florentine community of merchants and bankers who were established in the city. Guidobaldo, or Antonio,<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> as he became known, came to Lyons to look after already existing family business affairs. This was twenty years after the death of his father Antonio de Gondi (1443-1486) when all the members of the family who would inherit had attained their majority.<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n In 1521, the Seigniory of Le Perron was acquired \u2013 with Antonio (Guidobaldo) as Seigneur de Perron and Marie Catherine as Dame de Perron.<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The Seigniory, which was run down, was probably located south of Lyons, and would have included a \u201cfeudal\u201d house (Ch\u00e2teau du Grand Perron ?), some forested areas, lands, a list of those who paid dues, along with the right to apply and adjudicate middle and lower level justice in the small village of Perron. Antonio and Marie Catherine carried out some reconstruction of the Ch\u00e2teau. Included in the history of the Ch\u00e2teau du Grand Perron is also the history of the Ch\u00e2teau de Petit Perron. Both places were owned by the Gondi Family from 1621 to 1655. So began the Gondi ascendancy into the French nobility.<\/p>\n In the sixteenth century, Lyons was the major city on the route that linked Paris and Northern France to Italy. It was an international crossroads for commerce, printing, and the arts – these conditions encouraging the growth of what later became known as the salon society. And one of the most famous salons of Lyons was hosted by Marie Catherine de Pierrevive.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n Recognised as being among the dame savantes<\/em> of the time, Marie Catherine de Pierre-Vive made of her home in Lyons a \u201ctemple de la science et de l\u2019esprit<\/em>\u201d, entertaining such luminaries as Marot, Dolet, Sc\u00e8ve and Des P\u00e9riers during the 1530s.<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Regarded as famous, hospitable and generous, she was an ardent patroness of letters and the arts, and her munificence was celebrated by the poet musician Eustorg de Beaulieu.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n The presence of women participating in the intellectual life of France during the sixteenth century coincides with the renewal of the Querelle des femmes<\/em> in a literary quarrel called the Querelle des Amye<\/em>. This skirmish had its beginnings in Lyons during the years that a number of women, including Madame de Pierrevive, as Marie Catherine was known, were active in Lyonnaise literary society.<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n As the wife of Antonio de Gondi, and later as confidante of the Italian Catherine de Medici, Marie Catherine, by her influence and Italian background, no doubt potently encouraged in the women of Lyons that charm of wit, freedom and intellectual interest which gave them a resemblance to the Italian women of their time.<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n Catherine de Medici<\/p><\/div>\n It was Catherine de Medici who determined the direction of much of Marie Catherine\u2019s life after 1533. In that year, Catherine de Medici married Henry of Valois, Duke of Orleans, and second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Both Catherine and Henry were aged 14 at the time of their marriage which was intended to cement a Papal-French alliance. Three years later, when his brother Francis died, Henry became the Dauphin of France, and in 1547, King Henry II of France – with Catheriine his Queen Consort. Catherine de Medici came from Florence, where the lives of the Medici and Gondi were already interwoven. Catherine had had a turbulent upbringing, for a period being in fear of her life. Her marriage took place in Marseilles, and after the festivities, she and the French Royal Family made their way to Paris, stopping at Lyons on the way. It was not surprising, that, given the previous involvement of the Gondi family in Florence with the Medicis, and the Pierrevive\u2019s involvement with royalty as described above, along with the position of Antonio and Marie Catherne de Gondi in the society of Lyons at the time, that Catherine de Medici came in contact with Marie Catherine de Gondi. Apparently in Lyons, Marie Catherine was extremely practical and advised Catherine de Medici on everything from pregnancy and child care to money matters.<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n It was not till 1544 that Catherine de Medici gave birth to her first son Francis. Probably in the same year, Marie Catherine and Antonio de Gondi were called to Paris and were taken into service at the court of Catherine de Medici and her husband Henry. Marie Catherine became a lady-in-waiting to Marie de Medici and was appointed \u201cGouvernante des Enfants de France\u201d (Governess of the Royal Children),<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span> a position which was later to include responsibility for the education of the future Charles IX and Henry III. Leonie Frieda, historian and biographer, tells us:<\/p>\n \u201cLater, the Queen rewarded this remarkable woman and her family by giving her responsibility for her personal finances and she was made general administrator for her projects and building works, among other matters. In effect, Catherine chose Madame Gondi to be her treasurer, a highly unusual position for a woman in the sixteenth century. Most important of all, theirs was probably one of the few truly intimate friendships that Catherine (de Medici) ever enjoyed\u201d.<\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n Antonio de Gondi was appointed the ma\u00eetre d\u2019hotel for the Dauphin, and retained that position when Henry became King.<\/p>\n In more than forty years of marriage, Marie Catherine and Antonio de Gondi had ten children: M\u00e9raude, Anna, Albert (first Duke of Retz), Jean (Abb\u00e9 of St Hilaire), Pierre (Bishop of Paris, Cardinal de Gondi), Charles, Fran\u00e7ois, Maria, Anna (Religious) and Jeanne.<\/p>\n Throughout the fourteenth and most of the fifteen century, the Gondi Family exercised much power in State and Church in France. With her own family background and wealth, personality and skills, Marie Catherine de Pierrevive, probably the First Madame de Gondi, played a significant role in what was to become an increasingly influential family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Marie](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vincentians.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/Marie_catherine_de_pierrevive.jpg?resize=212%2C300\")
<\/a>Marie Catherine as Salonni\u00e8re<\/h2>\n
Catherine de Medici<\/h2>\n
![\"Catherine](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vincentians.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/01\/catherine_d_medici.jpg?resize=167%2C302\")
<\/a>The Gondi family in France<\/h2>\n