Anna d'Este (16 November 1531 – 17 May 1607) was an important princess with considerable influence at the court of France and a central figure in the French Wars of Religion.

[citation needed] By her marriage she had become a member of the powerful Guise family, and because of her Italian roots she had especially close ties to the queen and later queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici.

While the murderer was seized and immediately put to death, Anna took all possible steps to sue the leader of the French Huguenots, Gaspard de Coligny, whom she held responsible.

Consequently, most of her contemporaries held the widow of the Duke of Guise responsible for the shot which was fired on Coligny on 22 August 1572 and which became the starting signal for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.

Anna promoted her sons' careers, she helped her clients to make their living, and she claimed a prominent place in official ceremonies at court.

After the death of her second husband in 1585, Anna lived in Paris, in her Hôtel de Nemours, on the left bank of the Seine, in what is today Rue Séguier.

During the siege of Paris by Henry IV, Anna was declared "queen-mother" by the League, but after the Bourbon's conversion back to Catholicism she recognized him as king and tried to convince her rebellious sons to take the same step.