Louise Borgia, born princess Louise de Candia-Borgia d'Albret (17 May 1500–1553), was a French noblewoman and the suo jure Duchess of Valentinois, having succeeded to the title upon the death of her father Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia

Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...

 in 1507 when she was almost seven years old. She was also the suo jure Dame de Chalus. a title she inherited from her mother Charlotte of Albret

Charlotte of Albret

Charlotte of Albret, suo jure Dame de Châlus, Duchess of Valentinois , also known as Charlotte d'Albret, was a wealthy French noblewoman of the Albret family. She was the sister of King John III of Navarre, and the wife of the notorious Cesare Borgia whom she married in 1499...

. Louise was Cesare's only legitimate child of his marriage to Charlotte. Louise married twice.

Family

Louise was born on 17 May 1500, the only child of Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois and Charlotte of Albret. Her paternal grandparents were Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI

Pope Alexander VI , born Roderic Llançol i Borja was Pope from 1492 until his death on 18 August 1503. He is one of the most controversial of the Renaissance popes, and his Italianized surname—Borgia—became a byword for the debased standards of the Papacy of that era, most notoriously the Banquet...

 of the House of Borgia and Vannozza dei Cattanei

Vannozza dei Cattanei

Vannozza dei Cattanei was an Italian noblewoman from the House of Candia, who was one of the many mistresses of Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, future Pope Alexander VI. Among them, she was the one whose relationship with him lasted the longest...

 of the House of Candia

House of Candia

The House of Candia is a European dynastic house, created by a junior branch of the House of Anjou originally from "Castrum Candiaco" in the Dauphiné of the nobility of Savoy and Piemont...

, and her maternal grandparents were Alain I of Albret

Alain I of Albret

Alain I of Albret , called "The Great", was a powerful French aristocrat. He was 16th Lord of Albret, Viscount of Tartas, the 2nd Count of Graves, and the Count of Castres. He was the son of Catherine de Rohan and Jean I of Albret...

, Lord of Albret, and Françoise of Châtillon-Limoges. She had at least eleven illegitimate half-siblings from her father's relationships with other women. On 12 March 1507, her father was killed at the siege of Viana

Viana, Spain

Viana is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. Cesare Borgia is buried there. Francisco Gonzalez de Ibarra, a missionary active in Southern California between 1820 and 1840 was a native of Viana, born there in 1782.**...

 in the service of her maternal uncle, King John III of Navarre

John III of Navarre

John III , also known as Jean d'Albret, was jure uxoris, King consort of the Queen regnant Catherine of Navarre.He was a son of Alain I of Albret, Lord of Albret, and his wife, Frances of Châtillon-Limoges.-King of Navarre:...

. Louise being his only child succeeded suo jure to the Duchy of Valentinois. Her mother acted as Louise's regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 until her death on 11 March 1514 when Louise was not quite fourteen years old. Louise then succeeded her mother as the suo jure Dame de Chalus.

Marriages and issue

Louise married her first husband on 7 April 1517. He was Louis II de La Tremouille, Governor of Burgundy. He was killed at the Battle of Pavia

Battle of Pavia

The Battle of Pavia, fought on the morning of 24 February 1525, was the decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521–26.A Spanish-Imperial army under the nominal command of Charles de Lannoy attacked the French army under the personal command of Francis I of France in the great hunting preserve...

 on 24 February 1525, leaving her a widow at the age of twenty-four. She married her second husband, Philippe de Bourbon, Seigneur de Bourbon-Busset

Bourbon-Busset

The Bourbon-Busset family is an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, being thus agnatic descendants of the Capetian dynasty. Historically they have been regarded as non-dynastic since decisions rendered by Louis XI of France....

 on 3 February 1530. They made their home at the Chateau de Busset

Busset

Busset is a commune in the Allier department in central France.-Population:...

, where she made many renovations including a covered arcade on the ground floor and a gallery in the east wing. Together Philippe and Louise had six children:

• Claude de Bourbon, Count of Busset, of Puyagut, and of Chalus (18 October 1531- c.1588), married Marguerite de La Rochefoucauld, by whom he had issue.
• Marguerite de Bourbon (10 October 1532- 8 September 1591), married Jean de Pierre-Buffiere, Baron of Pontarion. The marriage was childless.
• Henri de Bourbon (1533–1534)
• Catherine de Bourbon (born 14 October 1534)
• Jean de Bourbon, Seigneur of La Motte-Feuilly and de Montet (born 2 September 1537), married Euchariste de La Brosse-Morlet, by whom he had issue.
• Jerome de Bourbon, Seigneur de Montet (19 October 1543- before 1619), married Jeanne de Rollat. The marriage was childless.

Louise died on an unknown date in 1553. One of her many descendants is Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma.