Career
She was a penultimate representative of the senior branch of the house de La Tour d'Auvergne. Madeleine is perhaps best known for being the mother of Catherine de' Medici, the future Queen of France. Marriage negotiations
As part of his efforts to gain power in Italy, Francis I of France turned to making certain strategic alliances.
This agreement, like most others of the time, was cemented with a marriage alliance. Francis wrote to congratulate him by stating, "I intend to help you with all my power. I also wish to marry you off to some beautiful and good lady of noble birth and of my kin, so that the love which I bear you may grow and be strengthened".
The "good lady" Francis proposed: his wealthy and distant relative Madeleine. Lorenzo duly accepted, as it was a great honor to be tied to the French royal family, especially since he was merely a commoner, albeit an extremely wealthy one. For Madeleine and her family, they were delighted to be tied into the sphere of the Pope himself.
Wedding celebrations
Their wedding was a sumptuous festival that marked not only their union, but also the birth of a dauphin for Francis I. As with the other festivities Francis put on throughout his life, dancing figured very prominently. Dancing was done mostly in the Italian style. Seventy-two ladies were disguised in Italian, German, and other fashionable costumes, making for quite a rich display of silk and color.
Francis gave Madeleine 10,000 gold coins, while Lorenzo offered rich gifts to France's nobility. Death
She had just given birth to a daughter, Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589), the future Queen Consort of France. Inheritance
She outlived Madeleine by five years but died childless, after which the Counties of Auvergne and Boulogne as well as the barony of La Tour passed to Madeleine's daughter Catherine de' Medici and then to the French Crown.