Catherine de Mayenne was born in 1585, as the daughter of Charles, Duke of Mayenne (1554–1611), younger brother of Henry of Guise, and his wife, Henriette of Savoy-Villars (1541–1611), whom he had married in 1576.

On 1 February 1599, at the age of 14, She married Charles de Gonzague, future Duke of Mantua and Montferrat, in Soissons, and actively assisted her husband in his administration.

[1] Catherine created many convents, monasteries, abbeys, churches, schools and hospitals.

In Charleville she founded a college of the Society of Jesus, where youth were educated in piety and letters.

[2] After catching a chill, she died at her Hôtel de Nevers in Paris in 1618 at the age of 33.