A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Sainte-Nectaire, Magdalene de
SAINTE-NECTAIRE, MAGDALENE DE,
Widow of Guy de St. Exuperi, was a Protestant heroine, who distinguished herself in the civil wars of France. After the death of her husband, she retired to her château at Miremont, in the Limousin, where, with sixty young men, well armed, she was accustomed to make excursions on the Catholic armies in her neighbourhood. In 1575, M. Mental, governor of the province, having had his detachments often defeated by Madame de Sainte-Nectaire, resolved to besiege her in her château, with fifteen hundred foot and fifty horse. Sallying out upon him, she defeated his troops; but finding, on her return, her château in possession of the enemy, she galloped to Turenne, a neighbouring town, to procure a reinforcement. Mental awaited her in a defile, but was vanquished and mortally wounded by her troops. The time of her death if not recorded.