Charlotte de Laval

Charlotte de Laval, Dame de Châtillon (1530 – 3 March 1568), was a French noblewoman from one of the most powerful families in Brittany. She was the first wife of Gaspard de Coligny, Seigneur de Châtillon, Admiral of France and a prominent Huguenot leader during the French Wars of Religion. She was the mother of Louise de Coligny, the fourth wife of William the Silent, Prince of Orange. The present British Royal Family directly descends from her.

Charlotte was born in Brittany, France in 1530, the daughter of Guy XVI de Laval, Count of Laval, head of one of Brittany's most powerful noble families, and Antoinette d'Aillon. Her paternal grandparents were Jean de Laval and Jeanne du Perrier, and her maternal grandparents were Jacques d'Aillon and Jeanne Madeleine de Vendôme, Dame d'Illiers. She was a descendant of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria through their daughter Jeanne, Duchess of Brittany. Charlotte's great-aunt was Jeanne de Laval, the second wife of René I of Anjou and stepmother of English Queen consort Margaret of Anjou.

She had a half-sister, Anne de Laval, from her father's first marriage to Charlotte of Naples. She had a half-brother Guy XVII de Laval, Count of Laval, from her father's second marriage to Anne de Montmorency. Charlotte's father died on 20 May 1531 when she was about a year old. In addition to his many noble titles, he also held the positions of Lieutenant-General and Governor of Brittany, and Admiral of Brittany. Her mother died on 19 April 1538, leaving Charlotte an orphan at the age of eight.