Brigitte Rousselot was a French noblewoman and the official mistress of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Rousselot fought at the Siege of Boulogne during the Italian War of 1542-46, and she was captured by the Duke of Suffolk while fighting in man's clothing. The two of them later fell in love, and she agreed to return to England with the Duke, becoming a second mother to his children, and a nurse to him as he lived out his final months.
Biography[]
Rousselot as a prisoner
Brigitte Rousselot was a French noblewoman from the city of Boulogne in northern France. In 1544, she decided to disguise herself as a man and fight alongside her elderly father when the army of King Henry VIII laid siege to her city, and she was captured during a failed ambush of the Duke of Suffolk and the Earl of Surrey's English troops outside the city walls. Her father was wounded, and both of them were taken prisoner. The Duke of Suffolk later visited Rousselot and brought her food, and he informed her that her father would live. He also spoke to Rousselot about the war; Rousselot criticized the English king's insistence that he was reclaiming lands that once belonged to England, as humans could not reconquer Eden after being forced from it. She also told Suffolk that the people of Boulogne were starving and were eating animals, but that they would never surrender. Later, Suffolk covertly released Rousselot's father, but kept Brigitte captive; her father, seeing Suffolk as a chivalrous man, ordered him to treat her with dignity. Later on, Brigitte came to Charles as he slept, and they had sex. After the siege, she was convinced to return to England with Suffolk as his official mistress, and she tended to him as his health declined. She stayed with him until his death, closing his eyes. Suffolk left her financial assets to live on.