Bronwen McShea, M.T.S., Ph.D., is an historian, writer, speaker, and artist based in New York City. In the inaugural Vincentian Heritage Lecture at St. John’s University, she unveils the interesting relationship between St. Vincent de Paul and the powerful Duchess of Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal Richelieu, amidst the religious and political turbulence of 17th-century France, the subject of her book, “La Duchesse.”
The Duchess was one of the Ladies of Charity in the parish of St. Sulpice (Paris) for a number of years, and she was for many years the President of the Ladies of Charity at the Hotel-Dieu in Paris. After Louise de Marillac, she was probably one of the closest lay collaborators of Vincent de Paul, assisting him in a variety of ways with his works of charity and mission. More at the Vincentian Encyclopedia
See also: Review: At court and in the convent (America Magazine)