During Antoine's absence his duchy was governed wisely and well by his mother, Philippa; but when he no longer needed her help, the good Queen retired from the world, and on the 8th of December, 1519, entered the Order of the Poor Clares at Pont-à-Mousson. Here she spent the remaining twenty-seven years of her life in works of devotion, and edified her family and subjects by the zeal with which she performed the humblest duties, going barefoot and wearing rough serge. But she still retained great influence over her sons, who were all deeply attached to her and often came to visit her in the convent. By a will which she made when she forsook the world, she left her furniture, jewels, and most of her property, to her second son, Claude, "pour aider ce jeune ménage,"[320] and the Duke and Duchess of Guise went to live at her dower-house of Joinville, the _beau châtel_ on the heights above the River Marne, which had once belonged to St. Louis's follower, le Sieur de Joinville. Here that remarkable woman, Duchess Antoinette, the mother of the Guises, reared her large family, the six sons who became famous as soldiers or prelates, and the four beautiful daughters who were courted by Kings and Princes. Antoine's wife, Renée, had not the ability and force of character which made her cousin a power at the French Court, as well as in her own family, but she was greatly beloved in Lorraine, and inherited the cultivated tastes of her Gonzaga mother--the sister of Elizabeth, Duchess of Urbino, and sister-in-law of the famous Isabella d'Este. Renée brought the graces and refinement of the Mantuan Court to her husband's home, and the blossoming of art which took place at Nancy during Antoine's reign was largely due to her influence. [Illustration: GRANDE PORTERIE. PALAIS DUCAL, NANCY] _To face p. 260_ [Sidenote: AUG., 1541] THE DUCAL PALACE]