CATHERINE HENRIETTE DE BALZAC D' ENTRAGUES (1579-1633)

CATHERINE HENRIETTE DE BALZAC D' ENTRAGUES (1579-1633), marquise de Verneuil, mistress of Henry IV., king of France, was the daughter of Charles Balzac d'Entragues and of Marie Touchet, mistress of Charles IX. Ambitious and intriguing, she succeeded in inducing Henry IV. to promise to marry her after the death of Gabrielle d'Estrees, a promise which led to bitter scenes at court when shortly afterwards Henry married Marie de' Medici. She carried her spite so far as to be deeply compromised in the conspiracy of Marshal Biron against the king in 1606, but escaped with a slight punishment, and in 1608 Henry actually took her back into favour again. She seems then to have been involved in the Spanish intrigues which preceded the death of the king in 1610.

See H. de la Ferriere, Henri IV. le roi, l'amoureux (Paris, 1890).