ST NECTAIRE (corrupted into Sennecterre and Senneterre), the name of an estate in Auvergne, France, which gave its name to a feudal house holding distinguished rank in the 13th century. The eldest branch of this family held the marquisate of La Ferté (q.v.), and produced a heroine of the religious wars of the 16th century, Madeleine de St Nectaire, who married Guy de St Exupéry, seigneur de Miremont, in 1548, and fought successfully at the head of the Protestants in her territory against the troops of the League. To the same house belonged the branches of the marquises of Châteauneuf, the seigneurs of Brinon-sur-Sauldre and St Victour, and the seigneurs of Clavelier and Fontenilles, all of which are now extinct. (M. P.*)