Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne
Catherine’s mother was Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne. François had arranged her marriage to Lorenzo II de Medici and hosted the wedding at the Chateau of Amboise.
Madeleine’s family had been nobles serving the French King for literally centuries. During the era of the crusades, the French King Philippe Auguste (contemporary of Richard the Lionheart) visited the Baron de la Tour on his return from the Third Crusade. The King gave him permission to add the fleur-de-lys to the family’s coat of arms.
In 1389 the Baron Bertrand IV married Marie d’Auvergne and Boulogne. From then on the
Baron de la Tour, was also Count of Auvergne and Count of Boulogne. Bertrand VI was the
next son and he became grandfather to Madeleine.
Madeleine’s mother was a princess of royal blood. She was Jeanne de Bourbon-Vendôme,
Duchess of Bourbon. Madeleine’s elder sister Anne inherited the County of Auvergne. She
had no surviving children and bequeathed it to Catherine de Medici. In 1524 Catherine became Baroness de la Tour, Countess d’Auvergne and Countess de Clermont in her own right.
Catherine de Medici inherited the chateau built in the 13 th century by the Barons of La Tour in
their new seat of government in the town of Saint-Saturnin (near Clermont.Ferrand). She
extended it in the Renaissance style.
On the subject of BEDS, it is possible to actually sleep in a bed in the Chateau which is now privately owned.