Geneviève Petau de Maulette facts for kids
Geneviève Pétau de Maulette, Lady Glenluce (around 1563–1643) was a French noblewoman and a talented author. She was also a tutor to Elizabeth of Bohemia, who was the daughter of King James I of England. Geneviève was the second wife of John Gordon, an important Scottish religious leader who was the Dean of Salisbury.
Early Life and Marriage
Geneviève Pétau was born in Brittany, a region in France. We don't know much about her parents, but it's thought her father was François Pétau, a local lord.
She grew up as a Protestant, which was a branch of Christianity. In 1594, she married Dr. John Gordon. He was a well-known Scottish reverend and also an important advisor to the French king.
Royal Tutor and Family Life
Geneviève became the French teacher for Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of King James I and Queen Anne of Denmark. This was a very important role!
Her son-in-law, Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun, later wrote about this. He mentioned that Geneviève's own daughter, Louisa, grew up alongside Princess Elizabeth in the household of Lord Harrington. Louisa later married Sir Robert Gordon.
Geneviève Pétau died on December 6, 1643, at Gordonstoun in Scotland. She was buried nearby in the old churchyard of Oggston.
She owned a special small portrait of King James I that was decorated with diamonds. She also created beautiful needlework for furniture at Gordonstoun, including a bed, a cupboard cloth, stools, a chair, and a couch, all stitched in green.
Her Written Work
Lady Geneviève is remembered for a book she wrote in French. Its full title was Devoreux, Vertues Teares for the Losse of King Henry III of Fraunce, by a learned gentlewoman, Madame Geneviève Petau.
This book was a poem that praised Henry III of France, who was a French king, and an English nobleman named Walter Devereux. She wrote this work sometime after 1591, and it was later translated into English in 1597 by Gervase Markham.
Family Connections
Geneviève and her husband, John Gordon, had one child together:
- Lucie or Louise Gordon (1597–1680) married Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun. He was the fourth son of the 12th Earl of Sutherland.
Lucie and Robert's daughter, Katherine Gordon, became the mother of Robert Barclay, a famous Quaker writer.
Geneviève's other daughter, Elizabeth Gordon, was born in Salisbury in January 1617. At her christening, important people like the Earl of Hertford, Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, and Jean Drummond, Countess of Roxburghe were her godparents.
