Charlotte de Bourbon, Character Sketch, Part 1

Hey Y'all!
I decided to share with y'all the most recent character sketch that I have done, and this time, the lady is Charlotte de Bourbon, Jeanne d'Albret's cousin.
Enjoy!

                                 Charlotte de Bourbon

                                        

Charlotte de Bourbon was born in the year 1547, the fourth daughter to Prince Louis, Duke of Bourbon and Duke of Montpensier, and Jacqueline de Longwy, Countess of Bar-sur-Seine. Through her father, her cousin was Jeanne d’ Albret.

No one knows anything about her childhood, except that her mother, Jacqueline, was a believer in the Reformed doctrines, and she secretly taught them to her children. But the duke had met with such loss of fortune, that the best way to avoid their marriages, and to keep them as Catholics, was to send three of his five daughters to convents. Besides, at the time it was considered honorable for ladies of high ranks to enter convents, and they lost nothing in social rank by it. Louis was greatly commended by his Catholic friends for his self-denying act in giving so many of his children to the Church.

 Charlotte was then only thirteen years old and begged to be allowed to stay with her mother, but her father, influential in the court of Catherine de' Medici, placed her in the royal convent of Jouarre, near Meaux, to be raised as a nun. Her mother was heartbroken over this act of her husband, and she wept and prayed much, especially over Charlotte.  When Charlotte was professed as a nun at the age of thirteen, she and her mother wrote and signed a formal written protest.  Even when she was in the convent, she did not forget the teachings of her mother. When her mother died, they did not let her go for her funeral. The years passed and she slowly became used to her surroundings. When she was eighteen, she was put in charge of the convent in Jouarre. She now had the distinguished title of Lady Abbess.

Around the same time, someone managed to smuggle some protestant tracts,

and Charlotte read them. As she read them, the messages brought back memories of her mother’s teachings, her treasured bible, her prayers, and tears. These memories, along with the words of the tracts, helped lead her to Jesus Christ. After she was converted, she felt it was her duty to teach other nuns about the truth, that they must not try to win heaven by doing good works, but that salvation was by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus alone. She eventually came under suspicion, and was charged with perverting the nuns under her. The Catholics were about to lay charges against her, when war broke out in 1572, the year of the massacre on St. Bartholomew’s Day. One day, the noise of battle was heard near the convent where Charlotte was. The shouts kept getting closer and closer, then suddenly, the doors of the abbey were broken down. The nuns fled into the woods to escape. This was the opportunity that Charlotte was waiting for. She somehow found different clothing, because it was dangerous to be found in nun’s clothing outside of a convent.  She fled at once to her oldest sister, Frances, the Duchess of bouillon, who was also a Christian. From there, at the advice of Jeanne d’ Albret, her sister arranged for transportation for Charlotte to Heidelberg, Germany, where she was welcomed by Elector Frederick III, of the Palatinate, who treated her like a daughter.

When her father found out that she had left the convent, he was, as one of my sources said, “Beside himself with rage. “  Since no one (other than her sister) knew where she was, the French court took up her case, and ordered a search for her, and if she would be found, she would be severely punished. Then Elector Frederick, wrote to her father, telling him that Charlotte had found an asylum with him, and that he had received her, because she had followed the dictates of her own conscience. Her father was even angrier than ever. If she had remained Catholic, he might have forgiven her, but she became Protestant, the very thing he had tried for so many years to prevent. He sent a letter back, asking, and I’m Paraphrasing, Can it be honorable to receive children who have run away…? Isn’t it better for you to advise them to return? 

Frederick replied that he would willingly return Charlotte, providing that she would be able to exercise her faith. He sent a letter to the king of France with the same message, and the king declared that he was willing to let her worship according to her reformed faith, and sent messengers to Heidelberg to take her back to France, but her father said he would “rather her stay in Germany, than return to scandalize everyone…” Charlotte declined to go to France, as her father would not consent to her religion. She used scripture to uphold her decision, 

Matthew 10:37-39 KJV
 " ³⁷ He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

³⁸ And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

³⁹ He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."

So she remained at Heidelberg for three happy years, encouraging, and being encouraged, by other Christians.