Alençon's history has been marked by powerful and influential women. Marguerite de Lorraine, widow of René d'Alençon, put finances and justice back on their feet while building hospitals, monasteries, and churches in the 15th century. Marguerite de Navarre surrounded herself with men of letters and poets like Clément Marot. Marthe la Perrière invented the point d'Alençon that made the fortune and the fame of the city thanks to her renowned lace. Thérèse of Lisieux, born in Alençon, and her parents, also canonized, made the city a spiritual center. Finally, a 5th-century woman could be the Queen of Austrasia whose tragic story would have inspired the legend of a White Lady who haunts the crowned tower of the Dukes' Castle.