caption father death_date religion mother title birth_date spouse issue image article_title name
marie of cleves francis i of cleves 1574 1553 roman catholicism '' prev . '' calvinism margaret of bourbon-vendôme princess of condé 1553 henri i de bourbon , prince de condé catherine , marquise d'isles file : marie-decleves . jpg marie of cleves , princess of condé
 marie de clèves
marie of cleves , princess of condé

marie of cleves or of nevers -lrb- `` marie de clèves '' , `` marie de nevers '' ; 1553 -- 1574 -rrb- , by marriage the princess of condé , was the wife of henry , prince of condé , and an early love interest of king henry iii of france .
she was the last child of francis i of cleves , duke of nevers , and margaret of bourbon-vendôme , elder sister of antoine of navarre .
her older sisters were henriette of cleves and catherine of cleves .
king henry iv of france was her maternal first cousin , and anne of cleves , the fourth wife of henry viii of england , was her second cousin once removed .
her brothers-in-law were henry i , duke of guise and louis gonzaga , duke of nevers .
she was brought up by her aunt queen joan iii of navarre , who raised her as a calvinist .
in 1572 she married in a calvinist ceremony her first cousin , henri i de bourbon , prince de condé , duc d'enghien .
a few months later , after the st. batholomew massacre , the couple had forcibly been converted to roman catholicism and remarried according to catholic rites .
when her husband fled the court and rejoined the protestant cause , she refused and stayed behind at court remaining a catholic the rest of her life .
known for her beauty , marie caught the eye of the young henry , duke of anjou , the future henry iii of france , sometime before 1574 .
upon ascending the throne later that year , henry intended to procure marie a divorce from her husband and marry her himself ; however , marie died before he could implement his plan .
sources vary on her cause of death but it is given as either a lung infection or complications from childbirth as marie had recently given birth to her and henry 's first child , catherine -lrb- 1574 -- 1595 -rrb- , marquise d'isles .
henry , prince of condé would go on to remarry charlotte catherine de la trémoille -lrb- 1568 − 1629 -rrb- , while the now king henry iii would mourn for several months and eventually marry louise de lorraine-vaudémont , who greatly resembled marie .
