Background
Catherine was the second daughter of François de Clèves, Duke of Nevers, and Marguerite de Bourbon, elder sister of Antoine de Bourbon.
Catherine was the second daughter of François de Clèves, Duke of Nevers, and Marguerite de Bourbon, elder sister of Antoine de Bourbon.
By marriage she was Duchess of Guise from 1570 to 1588, and Dowager Duchess of Guise thereafter. She was Countess of Eu in her own right from 1564. At the age of twelve, Catherine married Antoine de Croÿ, Prince de Porcien (or Porcean), who died seven years later.
They had fourteen children, including Charles, Duke of Guise and Louis III, Cardinal of Guise.
The event is dramatised in the Alexandre Dumas play Henri III et sa cour (1829). Henry of Guise was the leader of the fervently Catholic faction in the French Wars of Religion.
From 1584, the conflict among factions led by Henry of Guise, Henry of Navarre, and Henry III of France was known as the War of the Three Henrys. In 1588, Henry of Guise was assassinated on the orders of King Henry III. She took a keen interest in the intrigues of the Catholic League and encouraged Henry"s assassination in 1589.
The Guises continued to support the Queen throughout the regency, and Catherine followed Marie into exile in Blois after Louis XIII assumed the reins of government.
After returning to the Louvre, the Dowager Duchess - anxious to promote the interests of the House of Guise - resumed plotting against Cardinal Richelieu. She retired to her château d"Eu, where she died aged 85. She was buried at the château next to her husband"s ornate tomb.
Charles, Duke of Guise (1571–1640), who succeeded him
Henri (June 30, 1572, Paris – August 13, 1574)
Catherine (November 3, 1573) (died at birth)
Louis III, Cardinal of Guise (1575–1621), Archbishop of Reims
Charles (January 1, 1576, Paris) (died at birth)
Marie (June 1, 1577–1582)
Claude, Duke of Chevreuse (1578–1657) married Marie de Rohan, daughter of Hercule de Rohan, duc de Montbazon
Catherine (b May 29, 1579), daughter young
Christine (January 21, 1580) (died at birth)
François (May 14, 1581 – September 29, 1582)
Renée (1585 – June 13, 1626, Reims), Abbess of Saint Pierre
Jeanne (July 31, 1586 – October 8, 1638, Jouarre), Abbess of Jouarre
Louise Marguerite, (1588 – April 30, 1631, Château d"Eu), married at the Château de Meudon on July 24, 1605 François, Prince of Conti.