Marie Madeleine de Vignerot, Duchess of Aiguillon

Marie Madeleine de Vignerot, suo jure Duchess of Aiguillon (160417 April 1675) was a French aristocrat, also remembered for her charitable work and her patronage of artists and mathematicians. Biography Vignerot was the daughter of Cardinal Richelieu's sister, Françoise du Plessis, and her husband René de Vignerot. In 1620 Vignerot married a nephew of the constable de Luynes, Antoine de Beauvoir du Roure, sieur de Combalet, who died in 1622. In 1625, through her uncle's influence, she was made a lady-in-waiting (dame d'atour) to the queen-mother Marie de Medici, and in 1638 was created duchess of Aiguillon. The Duchess did not marry a second time, although Richelieu wished to marry her to a prince, either to the comte de Soissons or to the Only brother of the King. After the death of the cardinal in 1642, the Duchess retained her honours and titles, but withdrew from the court and devoted herself entirely to works of charity. She became a patron of work involving science and the arts, providing funding for many notable initiatives. She died on 17 April 1675. from 1638 she was the duchess of Aiguillon in her own right.