Françoise de Maridor

Françoise de Maridor (c. 1558 - 29 September 1620) was a French courtier and a lady in waiting to Catherine de Medici.

She was born at the Château de la Freslonnière around 1558, the daughter of Olivier de Maridor, lord of Vaux-en-Belin, Saint-Ouen, La Freslonnière, and Château-Sénéchal and Anne daughter of Jacques I er Goyon de Matignon. During her first marriage in 1574, she married Jean de Coësmes, lord of Lucé, one of the richest lords of Sarthe. He died facing the Huguenots, during the siege of Lusignan in December 1574 or January 1575.

Widowed, she was courted by Charles de La Rochefoucauld - Randan (nephew of François III de La Rochefoucauld ) and Jean III or II de Beaumanoir - Lavardin, who end up fighting for her (in May 1575, Beaumanoir kills Randan in a duel and took refuge with Henri de Navarre in Gascony). She finally remarried on January 10, 1576, with Charles de Chambes, Count de Montsoreau, Chambellan and Grand-hunter of the Duke of Alençon and of Anjou.

She had four daughters and two sons:


 * René de Chambes (around 1587–1649)
 * Charles de Chambes (1594-1640)
 * Marguerite de Chambes (circa 1590–1634)
 * Françoise de Chambes
 * Françoise de Chambes
 * Suzanne de Chambes (1600-1625)

La Dame de Monsoreau
In the novel La Dame de Monsoreau by Alexandre Dumas, she was renamed "Diane de Méridor".