was succeeded by his seven-year-old son Francesco as Marquis of Montferrat and Duke of Mantua. Margherita Paleologo Gonzaga became regent, together with her brother-in-law Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga. On retiring from public life Anne d'Alençon entered the convent of Dominican Sisters of Catherine of Siena which adjoined her palazzo in Casale Monferrato. She died on 18 October 1562, shortly before her seventieth birthday. The Alençon inheritance In 1525, following the Battle of Pavia, Anne's brother Charles IV, Duke of Alençon died leaving his personal property to Anne and to her sister Françoise d'Alençondisputed unsuccessfully by Charles's widow, Marguerite, sister of Francis I, King of France. Anne in turn assigned these assets to Isabella Gonzaga, the eldest daughter of Federico and Margherita. Isabella having renounced the inheritance, Margherita succeeded in having them transferred to her third son Ludovico, later Duke of Nevers and founder of the Gonzaga Nevers branch of the House of Gonzaga. References Sources Further reading Marchionesses of Montferrat House of Valois-Alençon People from Casale Monferrato People from Alençon 1492 births 1562 deaths 16th-century women rulers