Saint-Yves was born in 1667 at Maubert-Fontaine (Ardennes, Northern France), out of a family affiliated to Marie de Guise, who called him and his elder brother (1660–1730) to Paris for becoming her pages.
Immediately on his return to France, Charpentier probably began working as house composer to Marie de Lorraine, duchesse de Guise, who was known familiarly as "Mlle de Guise."
Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge | Sarah, Duchess of York | Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall | Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma | Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll | Duchess of Cambridge | Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox | Mary of Guise | Henry I, Duke of Guise | Duchess of York | Duchess of Kent | Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg | Duchess of Cornwall | Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Catherine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Duchess of Saxe-Lauenburg | Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland | Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester | Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster | Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia | Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire | Guise | Duchess Theatre | Duchess of Gloucester | Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester | Princess Olga, Duchess of Apulia | Marie de Lorraine, Duchess of Guise | Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth | Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia | Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia | Francis, Duke of Guise |
At the insistence of his wife, François bought of the Hôtel de Guise from the trustees of the late Duchess of Guise.