Antoinette of Bourbon was born on 25 December 1494 at the
Chateau de Ham, in the
Somme department,
Picardy, France. She was the child of
Francis, Count of Vendôme and
Marie I, Countess of Saint-Pol. Her paternal grandparents were
John VIII, Count of Vendôme and
Isabelle de Beauvau, and her maternal grandparents were
Peter II, Count of Saint-Pol, and
Margaret of Savoy. Antoinette was described as having been a remarkable woman, combining a strong sense of family pride with a wry sense of humour. She exhibited considerable administrative talent at domestic economy as well as in the running of the vast Guise dominions surrounding their chateau of
Joinville. Antoinette exerted a powerful influence on the childhood of her granddaughter
Mary, Queen of Scots, during the latter's thirteen-year sojourn in France, and was one of her principal advisors. Antoinette acted as proxy for her daughter, Mary of Guise, during the
betrothal ceremony of the Queen of Scots and the
Dauphin Francis on 19 April 1558. Antoinette and her family have been described as "ultra-Catholic"; in 1533 Antoinette oversaw the burning of a Protestant man caught preaching in the town of
Wassy. Her son
Francis, Duke of Guise was held to be responsible for the anti-Protestant
Massacre of Wassy on 1 March 1562 which was one of the early atrocities in the
French Wars of Religion. Antoinette of Bourbon died on 22 January 1583 at the Chateau de Joinville. She was eighty-eight years of age, having outlived all of her children except her daughter Renée, Abbess of the
Abbey of Saint-Pierre-les-Dames, Rheims. == Issue ==