Marguerite de Valois, la demoiselle de Belleville, also known as Marguerite bâtarde de France (1407 – January 1458) was the illegitimate daughter of King Charles the Mad

Charles VI of France

Charles VI , called the Beloved and the Mad , was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy...

 and his beloved mistress

Mistress (lover)

A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...

 Odette de Champdivers

Odette de Champdivers

Odette de Champdivers was the mistress of Charles VI of France...

. She was their only child.

Marguerite was legitimated in January 1428 by Charles VII of France

Charles VII of France

Charles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...

, her half-brother. He gave her a very ample dowry

Dowry

A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...

 and married her to the Seigneur of Belleville and Montaigu. The wedding was held on May 3 of that same year in Poitou

Poitou

Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....

. Her husband the Seigneur was Jean III de Harpedenne (or Harpedanne, Harpedane, Harpedène, etc.), son of Jean II de Harpedenne and his wife Jeanne de Mussidan. Some sources claim that she was married under the name of Marguerite de Falots.

Descendants

Claude de Belleville, the last of their descendants, was killed in the Battle of Coutras

Battle of Coutras

The Battle of Coutras, fought on 20 October 1587, was a major engagement in the eighth and final war of the French Religious Wars between an army under Henry of Navarre and a royal army led by Anne, Duke of Joyeuse...

 on October 20, 1587 under the reign of Henry III

Henry III of France

Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

. The poet Jacques Bereau wrote his epitaph

Epitaph

An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...

. His father was Charles Harpedenne, knight, lord of Belleville, Chantonnay, Sigournais, Puybelliard, Beaulieu, Saint-Flayve, La Roche-sur-Yon, etc., knight of the order of the King, and captain of 50 men in arms.