Catherine de Medici can be called the most “hated” woman in history. "Black Queen", poisoner, child killer, instigator St. Bartholomew's Night- contemporaries did not spare epithets for her, although some of them were unfair.
Child of death
The sinister image of Catherine de Medici was not the invention of Dumas. She was born under a terrible star. It’s no joke, immediately after birth in 1519 the child was dubbed “the child of death.” This nickname, like a train, will accompany her throughout later life. Her mother, 19-year-old Duchess Madeleine de la Tour, died six days after giving birth, and her father, Lorenzo de' Medici II, died two weeks later.
Catherine de' Medici is credited with poisoning her husband's elder brother, Francis, the Queen of Navarre, Jeanne Dalbret, and even her son, Charles IX. Her most terrible prank was St. Bartholomew's Night.
However, she did not become the “Black Queen” because of her reputation. Catherine wore black mourning for the first time. Before this, in France, white was considered a symbol of grief. In some ways, and in fashion, she was the first at court. Catherine mourned for her deceased husband Henry II for 30 years, she made broken spears as her emblem, and her motto was “This is the reason for my tears and my pain,” but more on that a little later.
Cult of Diana
According to the marriage lottery, Catherine was chosen as a wife for the second son of the French king. Henry Valois. But the marriage became virtually fictitious. The king already had the love of his life - his children's teacher Diane de Poitiers. He had been in love with her since he was 11 years old. She already had an illegitimate son from the king, and Catherine, on the contrary, could not get pregnant. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Medici loved her husband. Subsequently, in one of her letters to her daughter, she wrote: “I loved him and will be faithful to him all my life.”
The French court rejected her, as did Henry. They kept saying behind my back: “Merchant’s wife! Where does she care about the noble Valois! Poorly educated, ugly, barren. When, after the death of the first contender for the throne, Francis, she became the wife of the Dauphin, the situation did not improve.
There were rumors that Francis I, Henry's father, had practically agreed to annul his son's marriage to Catherine.
Meanwhile, the cult of Diana flourished at court. Henry II adored his favorite until his death, when she was already 60. He even performed at tournaments under her flowers. The queen next to her is just a shadow. In order to somehow gain her husband’s favor after the birth of such long-awaited children, she gave them to Diana to raise. At court, Catherine completely dissolved in the politics that the king and his Diana were engaged in. Perhaps, if this had happened in Russia, she would have ended her days in a monastery.
Trendsetter
But during the life of Henry II, Catherine remained with her own path, in which she had no equal: she was the main trendsetter in all of Europe. The entire aristocracy of France listened to her taste.
It was to her that the fair sex of Europe owed subsequent fainting spells - she set a limit for the waist - 33 cm, which was achieved with the help of a corset.
She also brought with her from Italy heels that concealed the shortcomings of her short stature.
Ice cream came with it to France. It first appeared at her wedding, which lasted 34 days. Italian chefs served a new dish every day, a new variety of these “ice pieces.” And after that, their French colleagues mastered this dish. Thus, the first thing that Catherine de Medici brought to France became the only thing that took hold there. The dowry was quickly squandered, all her political contributions led only to the fall of Valois, but the ice cream remained.
Nostradamus is a favorite
The position of shadow with the king's favorite did not suit Catherine. She did not give free rein to her emotions and patiently endured all the insults of the court, but universal contempt only fueled her vanity. She wanted her husband's love and power. To do this, Catherine needed to decide the most main problem- give birth to an heir for the king. And she resorted to an unconventional path.
Even as a child, when she studied at a monastery in Siena, Catherine became interested in astrology and magic.
One of the main confidants of the French queen was the predictor Nostradamus.
Contemporaries said that it was he who cured her of infertility. I must say, traditional traditional methods, which she used were very extravagant - she had to drink a tincture of mule urine, carry cow pus and debris on her stomach deer antlers. Some of it worked.
From 1544 to 1556 she continuously gave birth to children. In 12 years she gave birth to ten children. Just a fantastic result.
Francis, Elizabeth, Claude, Louis, Charles Maximilian, Edward Alexander, who would later be Henry III, Margaret, Hercule, the last adored son, and in 1556 the twins Victoria and Jeanne, but the latter died right in the womb.
The name of Nostradamus is also associated with the most important prediction in Catherine’s life. Historian Natalya Basovskaya says that once the queen came to him with the question “How long will her sons rule?” He sat her down by the mirror and began to spin a wheel. According to young Francis, the wheel turned once, he really ruled less than a year, according to Charles the Ninth - the wheel spun 14 times, he reigned for 14 years, according to Henry the Third - 15, and he ruled for 15.
In the family
On July 10, 1559, Henry II died due to wounds received at the tournament. The enemy's spear slid across his helmet and pierced his eye, leaving a splinter in his brain. Catherine de Medici put on her famous black mourning, made herself a symbolic emblem of a broken spear and prepared to fight her way through her children to power. She succeeded - she achieved the status of “governess of France” under her sons. Her second heir, Charles IX, solemnly declared right at the coronation that he would rule together with his mother. By the way, last words They began to say to him too: “Oh, mom.”
The courtiers were not mistaken when they called Catherine “uneducated.” Her contemporary Jean Bodin subtly noted: “the most terrible danger is the intellectual unsuitability of the sovereign.”
Catherine de Medici could be anyone - a cunning intriguer, an insidious poisoner, but before understanding all the subtleties of internal and international relations she was far away.
For example, her famous confederation in Poissy, when she organized a meeting of Catholics and Calvinists in order to reconcile the two faiths. She sincerely believed that all the problems of the world could be resolved through emotional negotiations, so to speak, “within the family circle.” According to historians, she could not even understand true meaning speeches of Calvin's close associate, who stated that eating bread and wine during communion is only a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ. A terrible blow to Catholic worship. And Catherine, who had never been particularly fanatical, only watched in amazement as the conflict flared up. All that was clear to her was that for some reason her plan was not working out.
Her entire policy, despite Catherine’s terrible reputation, was painfully naive. As historians say, she was not a ruler, but a woman on the throne. Its main weapon was dynastic marriages, none of which were successful. She married Charles IX to the daughter of Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg, and sent her daughter Elizabeth to Philip II, a Catholic fanatic who broke last life, but did not bring any benefit to France and Valois. She wooed her youngest son to Elizabeth I of England, the main enemy of the same Philip. Catherine de Medici believed that dynastic marriages were the solution to all problems. She wrote to Philip: “Start arranging marriages for children, and this will make it easier to resolve the religious issue.” Catherine intended to reconcile the two conflicting faiths with one wedding of her Catholic daughter Margaret with the Huguenot Henry of Navarre. And then immediately after the wedding I arranged massacre Huguenots invited to the celebration, declaring them in a conspiracy against the king. It is not surprising that after such steps the Valois dynasty sank into oblivion along with its only surviving son, Henry III, and France fell into the nightmare of the Civil War.
Recently, historian Gulchuk Nelya published a book called “The Crown of Thorns of Catherine de Medici.” She, of course, had a crown, but can it be compared to a crown of thorns? An unhappy life does not justify her methods - “everything for the sake of power.” It was not fate, but her terrible but naive policy that destroyed in one generation the prosperous Valois dynasty, as it was under her father-in-law Francis I.
Medici) - an oligarchic family, whose representatives from the 13th to the 18th centuries repeatedly became the rulers of Florence. Best known as the Renaissance.Representatives of the Medici family include four popes (Leo X, Pius IV, Clement VII, Leo XI) and two queens of France (Catherine de' Medici and Marie de' Medici).
Origin
The origin of the family name is unknown. According to one version, one of the founders of the dynasty was a physician (medico) at the court of Charlemagne. According to another version, the family was originally engaged in the pharmacy trade. The third version says that the Medici are direct descendants of the military leaders of the Franks. Family tradition traces the origins of the family to a knight of Charlemagne named Averardo, who settled in the Mugello Valley near Florence at the end of the 8th century.
Climb
Ferdinando's son and successor, Cosimo III (1670-1723), distinguished by his particular hypocrisy and pedantry, was unable to stop the decline of Florence. His sons had no offspring. Cosimo III forced his brother, Cardinal Francesco, to resign and marry. However, this marriage also remained fruitless. The heir, Cosimo, the son of Giovanni Gasto (1723-1737), sickly and prematurely old, took almost no part in management. With the death of his sister, Anna Maria, which followed in 1743, the line of Medici rulers ended. Of the minor branches of the Medici family, the Medici-Tornaquinci, the Marquises of Castellina, and in Naples the Princes of Ottaiano and the Dukes of Sarlo have survived to this day in Florence.
see also
Dynasty
"Portrait of Leo X"
Representatives of the dynasty
Popes
- Leo XI - (Alessandro)
- Pius IV - (Giovanni Angelo)
- Clement VII - (Giulio)
- Leo X - (Giovanni)
Gonfaloniers of Justice of Florence from the Medici family
- Ardingo (1296)
- Guccio (1299)
- Averardo (1314)
- Lorenzo I the Magnificent (1469 [ ])
- Alessandro (1531-1532)
Captain-Generals of the Florentine Republic
- Giuliano II (1513-1516)
- Lorenzo II (1516-1519)
- Giulio (1519-1523)
Dukes of Florence
- Alessandro (1532-1537)
- Cosimo I (1537-1569)
Grand Dukes of Tuscany
- Cosimo I (1569-1574)
- Francesco I (1574-1587)
- Ferdinand I (1587-1609)
- Cosimo II (1609-1621)
- Ferdinand II (1621-1670)
- Cosimo III (1670-1723)
- Giovanni Gastone (1723-1737). After his death, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, takes over the domain.
Medici family tree from 1360 to 1743
Art
The Medici family, who ruled in Florence, one of cultural centers Renaissance, could not help but influence the emergence large quantity works of art. They patronized artists, architects, and were both generous patrons of the arts and simply wasteful customers.
The Uffizi Gallery, filled with a huge number of masterpieces, was in the personal possession of the dynasty, until in the 18th century the last representative ruling family Anna Maria Louise de' Medici did not give it to the city.
Artists who worked for the Medici
- Verrocchio - sculptor and painter: the tombstone of Cosimo de' Medici (1465), the sculptural group "Assurance of Thomas" (1476-1483), the tomb of Piero and Giovanni de' Medici, sketches of standards and knightly armor for Lorenzo de' Medici's tournaments, the sculpture "Boy with a Dolphin" for a fountain
I will touch lightly on people who did not directly belong to this family, but who are not at all alien to it. The people who surrounded the first representative of this family to ascend the French royal throne - Catherine de Medici.
I remind you that my notes are just a wandering through the pages of Wikipedia - not claiming anything other than the sole purpose - to collect accessible portraits of the Medici, those in whom their blood flowed as closely as possible, and those who were in lifetime communication with them through was in different circumstances.
The history of this family, in the person of him individual representatives so rich in events and interesting that even a superficial acquaintance already ignites the blood and awakens the imagination... You don’t need to read any novels - check out real stories lives... A lot of passion and a lot of actions, dictated not only by political and economic benefits, but also by the vivid feelings of people who are accustomed to achieving what they want at any cost...
In general - rich in characters Italian history, the maximum human individuality was revealed in them - as in good deeds, and in the evil ones. And one cannot divide her heroes into black and white colors, because their abilities in any matter reached the maximum possible peak, and one and the same person was capable of the most tender and devoted love, and of dirty betrayal...
1. Henry II(March 31, 1519, Saint-Germain Palace - July 10, 1559, Paris) - King of France from March 31, 1547, second son of Francis 1 from his marriage to Claude of France, daughter of Louis 12, from the Angoulême line Valois dynasty. Husband of Catherine de Medici. 25th King of France.
2. Gabriel I de Montgomery, senor de Ducy d'Exmes and de Lorges, count (1530, Ducie - 1574) - Norman aristocrat, involuntary killer of King Henry II. The duel between Montgomery and the king was the last in the history of European knightly tournaments. The absurd death of Henry was the formal reason for their ban. Catherine hated him and in the end managed to send him to the chopping block.
3. Diane de Poitiers(1499 - 1566) - beloved and official favorite of King Henry II.
4. Diana of France(July 25, 1538 - January 11, 1619) - illegitimate (legitimized) daughter of the French king Henry II. She bore three ducal titles - duchess of Chatellerault, Etampes and Angoulême. She was the illegitimate daughter of the Dauphin Henry (the future King Henry II) and Philippa Duci from Piedmont. Diana was raised by King Henry’s favorite, Diana de Poitiers, and this gave reason to believe that the girl was the king’s daughter from her. This is what Brant thought, for example. Diana received a proper upbringing: she knew several languages (Spanish, Italian and Latin), played several musical instruments and danced well.
5. Michel de Nostredame, also known as Nostradamus (December 14, 1503 – July 2, 1566) was a French astrologer, physician, pharmacist and alchemist, famous for his prophecies.
6. Andreas Vesalius(December 31, 1514, Brussels, Seventeen Provinces - October 15, 1564, Zakynthos, Venetian Republic) - doctor and anatomist, personal physician to Charles V, then Philip II. A younger contemporary of Paracelsus, the founder of scientific anatomy. Tried to save the wounded man at the tournament of Henry II.
7. Francis II(January 19, 1544, Fontainebleau Palace, France - December 5, 1560, Orleans, France) - King of France from July 10, 1559, King Consort of Scotland from April 24, 1558. From the Valois dynasty. Son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici.
8. Maria I(née Mary Stuart, 8 December 1542 - 8 February 1587) - Queen of Scotland from infancy, effectively reigning from 1561 until her deposition in 1567, as well as Queen of France in 1559-1560 (as the wife of King Francis II) and pretender to the English throne. The eldest son of Henry II, named after his grandfather, Francis I. On April 24, 1558, he married the young Queen of Scotland, Mary Stuart (he was the first of her three husbands). The agreement on this marriage was concluded on January 27, 1548 (when the bride and groom were 4 and 6 years old, respectively), and for the next 10 years Maria was raised under French court. Francis I loved his wife to the point of adoration.
9. Pierre de Ronsard(between September 1 and September 11, 1524, La Possoniere castle, Vendomois - December 27, 1585, Saint-Côme Abbey, near Tours) - famous French poet XVI century. He headed the Pleiades association, which preached the enrichment of national poetry by the study of Greek and Roman literature.
He served as a page to Francis I, then at the Scottish court.
10. Pierre de Bourdeil, lord of Brantôme(c. 1540 - July 15, 1614) - chronicler of court life during the times of Catherine de Medici, one of the most widely read French authors of the Renaissance. Brantome's memoirs are written vividly and are full of anecdotes. His frankness regarding privacy court celebrities later, in Victorian era, seemed scandalous. The author's reluctance to evaluate even the most dissolute, by the standards of later times, behavior of his heroes allowed him to be accused not only of frivolity, but also of cynicism.
11. Elizabeth of Valois(April 2, 1545, Fontainebleau - October 3, 1568, Aranjuez) - French princess and queen of Spain, third wife of King Philip II of Spain.
Elizabeth of Valois was the eldest daughter of King Henry II of France from the Valois dynasty and his wife Catherine de Medici. Although she was engaged to the Spanish Infante Don Carlos, fate decreed otherwise, and at the end of the many years of war between France and Spain, which ended in 1559 with the signing of the peace treaty at Cateau Cambresis, she married Spanish king Philip II, which was one of the conditions of this agreement. Elisabeth Valois for a short time transformed from a French princess into a Spanish queen, whose intelligence, gentleness and beauty were highly valued throughout Europe. Elizabeth carried out the duties associated with her royal office in an exemplary manner.
Elizabeth inherited black hair, dark eyes and high intelligence from his Italian mother. But unlike her mother, Elizabeth had softer character and more tact in behavior, she was also distinguished by great piety. Catherine was surprised to discover in her daughter those qualities that she lacked, and over time they established a close, trusting relationship, which, after Elizabeth married Philip II, continued in the form of lively correspondence
Elizabeth died in 1568 due to another unsuccessful birth.
12. Philip II May 21, 1527 - September 13, 1598) - King of Spain from the Habsburg dynasty. The son and heir of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (aka Charles (Carlos) I, King of Castile and Aragon), Philip was King of Naples and Sicily from 1554, and from 1556, after his father’s abdication of the throne, became King of Spain and the Netherlands and the owner of all overseas possessions of Spain. In 1580 he also annexed Portugal and became its king. Husband of Elizabeth Valois.
When his mother died, Philip was not even twelve. In the serene environment of his childhood, he developed a deep love for nature. Subsequently, throughout his life, trips to nature, fishing and hunting became a desirable and best release for him after heavy workloads. From childhood, Philip was distinguished by deep religiosity. He also loved music and attached great importance so that you can include your children in it. Philip's letters, now over fifty, from Lisbon, where he had to spend two years without his young children, show him loving father: He worries about the health of the kids, is interested in his son’s first tooth and is worried about him getting a picture book to color. Perhaps this was due to the warmth that he received in abundance in his childhood years.
13. Isabella Clara Eugenia, Isabel Clara Eugenia (August 12, 1566, Segovia - December 1, 1633, Brussels) - Spanish infanta, ruler of the Spanish Netherlands. The parents of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia were King Philip II of Spain and Elizabeth of Valois.
14. Catalina Michaela of Austria(and October 10, 1567, Madrid - November 6, 1597, Turin) - Spanish infanta and Duchess of Savoy, wife of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. Catalina Micaela was youngest daughter King Philip II of Spain and his third wife Elizabeth of Valois. She was named after her maternal grandmother Catherine de Medici and St. Michaela. Catalina Michaela married Duke Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy on March 18, 1585 in Zaragoza and left the Spanish court. Despite the separation, she maintained a lively correspondence with her father and other family members until his death. Catalina gave birth to 10 children and was most family life on demolitions. She died at the age of 29 on October 6, 1597 in Turin from complications caused by premature birth a year after the birth of her last child, Thomas Franz of Savoy. Thomas Franz was the grandfather of Eugene Franz of Savoy, better known as Prince Eugene of Savoy. Although Catalina suffered the same fate as her mother, she nonetheless fulfilled her dynastic duty and gave birth to an heir to the throne for the House of Savoy.
15. Claude Valois, or Claude of France(November 12, 1547, Fontainebleau - February 21, 1575, Nancy) - the second daughter of Henry II and Catherine de Medici. This modest, lame, hunchbacked princess was the beloved daughter of Catherine de Medici. Having married at the age of 11, at the age of 27 Claude died in childbirth. She had nine children.
16. Charles III
(February 18, 1543, Nancy - May 14, 1608, ibid.) - Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death. As a descendant of Gerhard I, he should have been Charles II, but Lorraine historians, wanting to attribute kinship to the Carolingians to the Dukes of Lorraine, included in the numbering Charles I of the Carolingian dynasty. Eldest son of Duke of Lorraine François I and Christina of Denmark. Spouse Claude Valois.
17. Christina of Lorraine(16 August 1565 - 19 December 1637) - Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Favorite granddaughter of Catherine de' Medici. Her parents were Duke Charles III and his wife Claude Valois, daughter of Catherine de' Medici. She received her name in honor of her paternal grandmother, Christina of Denmark. After her mother's death in 1575, Christina lived at the court of her grandmother Catherine de' Medici in Paris. In 1587, Francesco I (Grand Duke of Tuscany) died without a male heir, and his brother Ferdinand immediately proclaimed himself the new Duke. Looking for a marriage option that would help him save political independence, Ferdinand settled on a distant relative - Christina. Catherine de' Medici facilitated this marriage. Ferdinand and Christina had nine children.
18. Louis III of Orleans(February 3, 1549, Fontainebleau, France - October 24, 1550, Mantes-la-Jolie, France) - Duke of Orleans, second son and fourth child in the family of Henry II, King of France and Catherine de' Medici. Brother three kings France - Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. Like his older brother, he was given to be raised by Diane de Poitiers. According to some reports, they wanted to make him the heir of the Duke of Urbino, but the plans were not implemented. After baptism, he died in the city of Mantes-la-Jolie on October 24, 1550.
In the background of the painting are the last children of Catherine de Medici - twins Victoria(lived for 1 month and Zhanna(born dead). The birth was very difficult and doctors forbade Catherine to have children. This was in 1556.
19. Charles IX, Charles Maximilien(June 27, 1550 - May 30, 1574) - before the last king France from the Valois dynasty, from December 5, 1560. Third son of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici. His mother was his regent until August 17, 1563. Charles's reign was marked by numerous Wars of Religion and St. Bartholomew's night- the notorious mass extermination of the Huguenots. At the age of 20 (November 26, 1570) he married Elizabeth of Austria. The king was interested in literature. Poems from his pen are known, as well as “Treatise on the Royal Hunt,” first published in 1625.
20. Elizabeth of Austria(July 5, 1554, Vienna - January 22, 1592, Vienna) - Queen of France, wife of King Charles IX of France. Elizabeth was the fifth child and second daughter of Emperor Maximilian II and his cousin, the Spanish Infanta Maria, daughter of Charles V and sister of King Philip II of Spain . On November 26, 1570, she married King Charles IX of France, who died in 1574. They had one daughter who lived only 5 years. She was considered one of the most beautiful princesses in Europe, with red-golden hair, a lovely face and a charming smile. But she was not just beautiful: the chronicler and poet Brantôme described Elizabeth this way: she was “one of the best, meekest, smartest and most virtuous queens who ever reigned from time immemorial.” Contemporaries agree on her intelligence, shyness, virtue, sympathetic heart and, above all, sincere piety. Widowed at the age of twenty, Elizabeth returned to Austria. In 1576, she retired to the monastery of the Clarissas, which she herself founded.
21. Maria Touchet(1549, Orleans - March 28, 1638, Paris) - official favorite of King Charles IX, mother of Catherine Henriette d'Entragues (favourite of the French king Henry IV after the death of Gabrielle d'Estrées in 1599, and mother of his two illegitimate children), and Charles de Valois (April 28, 1573 - September 24, 1650) - Count of Auvergne (1589-1650), Duke of Angoulême (1619-1650), Count de Ponthieu (1619-1650), Peer of France - illegitimate son Charles IX. Daughter of Lieutenant Jean Touchet, who served as assistant to the governor at the Orleans Court and his wife Marie Mathy. In the fall of 1566, at a ball (according to other sources, at a hunt) in Orleans, she met the future king of France, Charles IX, and fell in love with him at first sight. Maria was distinguished by her beauty, education, and meekness; According to her memoirs, a contemporary was “ round face, beautiful cut, lively eyes, well-proportioned nose, small mouth, delightfully contoured Bottom part faces." Karl was fascinated by the young Flemish woman and took her to Paris. Here, Maria first worked as a chambermaid for the king’s younger sister, Princess Margaret, then worked at the Louvre, and after St. Bartholomew’s Night, as a result of which she was almost killed, she lived in Fayet Castle. Despite her status as the official favorite, Marie Touchet cheated on Karl.
22. Henry III of Valois(September 19, 1551, Fontainebleau - August 2, 1589, Saint-Cloud) - fourth son of Henry II, King of France and Catherine de' Medici, Duke of Angouleme (1551-1574), Duke of Orleans (1560-1574), Duke of Anjou (1566-1574) , Duke of Bourbon (1566-1574), Duke of Auvergne (1569-1574), King of Poland and Grand Duke Lithuanian from February 21, 1573 to June 18, 1574 (formally until May 12, 1575), from May 30, 1574 the last king of France from the Valois dynasty.
Alexander-Eduard-Henry was a cheerful, friendly and smart child. The education of the young prince was carried out famous people of his time - François Carnavalet and Bishop Jacques Amiot, famous for his translations of Aristotle. In his youth, he read a lot, willingly held conversations about literature, took rhetoric lessons, danced and fenced well, and knew how to charm with his charm and elegance. Fluent in Italian (which he often spoke with his mother), he read the works of Machiavelli. Like all nobles, he early began to engage in various physical exercise and later, during military campaigns, he showed good skill in military affairs. Henry’s personality and behavior sharply distinguished him in the French court. And later, upon arrival in Poland, they caused culture shock among local population. In 1573, the Venetian ambassador to Paris, Morisoni, wrote about the prince’s luxurious clothes, his almost “ladylike delicacy,” and his earrings in each ear. Catherine herself, who loved Henry more than her other children, dreamed of leaving him the royal crown. She called him “my everything” and “my little eagle”, signed her letters to him “yours tenderly” loving mother” and saw in him character traits that reminded her of her ancestors, the Medici. Heinrich was her favorite as a child, and later became her confidant.
23. Maria of Cleves, Countess de Beaufort (1553 - October 30, 1574, Paris) - the first wife of the second Prince of Condé. Someone else's bride, with whom Henry III fell in love and with whom he dreamed of marrying. A 21-year-old “child from the province with with a pure heart, fresh cheeks, slender figure, healthy body and a heartfelt smile." Catherine was horrified by her son's desire; Maria did not belong to the the highest nobility. Through her efforts, her son’s plans were upset - Maria married someone else. Having ascended the throne, Henry III hoped to dissolve Mary's marriage and marry her. However, Maria soon died from postpartum complications. Since the king’s affection for Mary was no secret to anyone, no one wanted to take the liberty of informing him of the princess’s death. A note with a message was placed in a bundle of the king's daily correspondence. After reading it, Heinrich fainted, and it took a quarter of an hour to revive him. After a week of hysterics, the king fell into melancholy, dressed in mourning, retired to the chapel several times a day and often made pilgrimages.
24. Louise of Lorraine-Vaudemont(April 30, 1553 - January 29, 1601) - representative of the House of Lorraine, wife of Henry III of Valois and French queen from 1575 to 1589. Catherine de Medici was very surprised when Henry announced that he intended to marry Louise de Vaudemont. Henry III, unwilling to lose independence and fearing to become the husband of an overly domineering woman, he wanted to marry a tender and meek girl who would be his devoted assistant. He was too tired of the power of his own mother and did not want to find her in a wife. A confidant, Philippe Cheverny, writes in his “Memoirs”: From the words of the king, I understood that he wanted to choose a woman of his nationality, beautiful and pleasant. He needs her to love her and have children. He is not going to go to others, as his predecessors did. His heart was almost already inclined to Louise de Vaudemont. Having revealed his feelings, the king honored me and asked me to speak with the queen and achieve her positive answer.
Louise did not even imagine the possibility of such a marriage. The King of France left a deep imprint on her heart when she saw him as the Duke of Anjou. But she understood that she could not count on such a brilliant match. And when her stepmother entered her bedroom in the morning, she was very surprised, but, as Antoine Malet reports: ... her surprise increased even more when her stepmother curtsied three times in front of her before turning and greeting her as the Queen of France; the girl thought it was a joke and apologized for being in bed so late, but then the father entered the room and, sitting down by his daughter’s bed, said that the king of France wanted to take her as his wife... After the tragedy that happened on 1 August 1589, when Henry III was assassinated, Queen Louise would never go out of mourning again, becoming the "White Queen". According to royal etiquette, only white clothes are to be worn during mourning...
25. Hercule Francois (Francis) de Valois(March 18, 1555 - June 10, 1584), Duke of Alençon, then Duke of Anjou - French prince, younger son King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici, the only one of the four brothers who never became king.
A charming child, he unfortunately suffered from smallpox at the age of 8, which left scars on his face. His pockmarked face and slightly crooked spine did not really correspond to the name given at birth - Hercule, that is, “Hercules”. At his confirmation, he changed his name to François in honor of his brother Francis II, King of France.
Before the accession to the throne of his brother, the Duke of Anjou (Henry III), he bore the title of Duke of Alençon, and then was called the Duke of Anjou. He stood at the head of political groups hostile French kings. Thus, he participated in a conspiracy against Charles IX, but was forgiven because he betrayed his comrades Count J.B. de La Mole and Count Annibal de Coconas, who were executed in 1574. He helped the Protestants, then took part in the war against them, opposed Philip II at the head of the rebellious Flemings, was proclaimed Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders, but was soon expelled by the Flemings themselves. He died on June 10, 1584 from tuberculosis.
26. Marguerite de Valois(May 14, 1553, Saint-Germain Palace, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France - March 27, 1615, Paris, France), also known as "Queen Margot" was a French princess, daughter of King Henry II and Catherine de' Medici. In 1572-1599, she was the wife of Henry de Bourbon, King of Navarre, who, under the name of Henry IV, took the French throne. From an early age, the girl was distinguished by her charm, independent disposition and sharp mind, and in the spirit of the Renaissance received a good education: knew Latin, ancient Greek, Italian, spanish languages, studied philosophy and literature, and she herself was quite good at writing. Nobody except her brother, King Charles, called her Margot.
27. Henry (Henri) I of Lorraine, nicknamed Marked or Chopped (December 31, 1550 - December 23, 1588, Castle of Blois), 3rd Duke of Guise (1563 - 1588), Prince de Joinville, Peer of France (1563 - 1588), Knight of the Order of the Holy Spirit (1579) . French military and statesman times Religious wars in France. Head of the Catholic League. The eldest son of François of Lorraine, Duke of Guise. Guise was one of the instigators of St. Bartholomew's Night and, in order to avenge the death of his father, took upon himself the murder of Admiral Coligny. In the skirmish of Dormans in 1575 he received a wound, as a result of which he was given the nickname Chopped. He had a stormy affair with Margarita, but for political reasons their marriage was impossible. Apparently, Guise and Margarita retained feelings for each other until the end of their lives, which is confirmed by the queen’s secret correspondence.
28. Henry (Henri) IV the Great(Henry of Navarre, Henry of Bourbon, December 13, 1553, Pau, Bearn - killed May 14, 1610, Paris) - leader of the Huguenots at the end of the Wars of Religion in France, king of Navarre from 1572 (as Henry III), king of France from 1589 (formally - from 1594), founder of the French royal dynasty Bourbons. First marriage - Margarita de Valois (no children), second marriage - Maria Medici (5 children).
29. Maria de Medici(April 26, 1575, Florence - July 3, 1642, Cologne) - Queen of France, second wife of Henry IV of Bourbon, mother of Louis XIII.
So - the circle is closed.
From the first French queen of the Medici family, whose children were the last kings of France from the Valois dynasty, we come to the second French queen from the same family of Medici, whose children belonged to the next, brilliant dynasty of kings of France - the Bourbon dynasty.