Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly

Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly
Duchess of Étampes
Portrait of Anne attributed to Corneille de Lyon (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Spouse(s)	Jean IV de Brosse
Noble family	Pisseleu d'Heilly (by birth) Brosse (by marriage)
Father	Adrien de Pisseleu, seigneur d'Heilly
Mother	Charlotte d'Ailly
Born	1508
Died	1580 (aged 71–72)

Anna Jeanne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Duchess of Étampes (1508 – 1580), was the mistress of Francis I of France.

She was a daughter of Adrien de Pisseleu, seigneur d'Heilly, a nobleman of Picardy, who, with the rise of his daughter at court, was made seigneur of Meudon, Master of waters and forests of Île de France, of Champagne and of Brie.

She came to court before 1522 and was one of the maids-of-honour of Louise of Savoy, Duchess of Angoulême, the mother of Francis I. Francis made Anne his mistress, probably upon his return from his captivity at Madrid (1526), and soon gave up his long-term mistress, Françoise de Foix, for her.

Anne was described as being sprightly, pretty, witty and cultured, "the most beautiful among the learned and the most learned among the beautiful"; she succeeded in keeping the favour of the king until his death in 1547. The liaison received some official recognition; when the new Queen of France, Eleanor of Austria, entered Paris in 1530, the King and Anne occupied the same window. In 1534, Francis gave her in marriage to Jean IV de Brosse, whom he created Duke of Étampes.

The influence of the Duchess of Étampes, especially in the last years of the reign, was considerable. She upheld Admiral Philippe de Chabot against the Constable de Montmorency, who was supported by her rival Diane de Poitiers, the dauphin's mistress. She was a friend to new ideas, tolerant of Protestants, whose beliefs she openly embraced after the King's death. She cooperated with the King's sister, Marguerite de Navarre.