The future King Francis II was born to Henry II (1519–1559) and Catherine de Medici (1519–1589). This happened in the eleventh year of the marriage of the crowned couple, January 19, 1544. The child was named after his grandfather, Francis I. Due to the fact that Catherine could not give birth to an heir for a long time, she was removed from the king, who began to live with his favorite, Diane de Poitiers.
Infancy
Francis II grew up in the Saint-Germain Palace. It was a residence in the Parisian suburb on the banks of the Seine. The child was baptized on February 10, 1544 at Fontainebleau. The grandfather king then knighted him. Pope Paul III and aunt Margherita of Navarre became godparents.
In 1546, the baby became governor of Languedoc, and a year later he received the title of dauphin, after his grandfather died, and his father Henry II became king. The child had many mentors, including a Greek scholar from Naples. The growing heir learned to dance and swordsman (this was a sign of good taste in that era).
Marriage Arrangement
The issue of engagement and continuation of the dynasty was important. Henry II decided that his son would marry Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. She was born December 8, 1542of the year and from the very first days she received her title, because her father, James V, died at the same time. In fact, her closest relative James Hamilton (Count of Arran) ruled for her.
At that time, the religious issue was acute. France and Scotland were Catholic countries. England got its own Protestant church. Therefore, the authorities of the three countries were not too in a hurry to conclude alliances. When the “French” party finally won in Scotland, the nobles decided to marry the little queen to the Dauphin from Paris. The initiator of such an alliance was Cardinal David Beaton, who deposed Hamilton.
Then the British troops suddenly invaded the country. Catholic churches were destroyed, and peasant lands were ruined. The Protestants staged individual terror against the Scottish nobles, who did not want to make concessions to their southern neighbor. Finally Mary's regents turned to France for help. Troops came from there in exchange for the promised wedding. In August 1548, Mary, who had just turned five years old, boarded a ship and went to her future husband.
Wedding Mary Stuart
The girl, among other things, was also the granddaughter of Claude de Guise, a peer of France and one of the most influential aristocrats in the country. He took care of her and helped at court until his death, which overtook the respected nobleman in 1550. The bride was unusually tall for her age, while Francis II, on the contrary, was small in stature. Despite this, Henry II liked the future daughter-in-law, and he said with satisfaction that the children would get used to each other.friend over time.
The wedding took place on April 24, 1558. The new marriage alliance meant that in the future, the descendants of this couple could unite the thrones of Scotland and France under one scepter. In addition, Mary was the great-granddaughter of the English King Henry VII. This fact would give her children a legitimate reason to claim the throne in London. Until his death, Francis II remained King Consort of Scotland. This title did not give real power, but fixed the status of the spouse of the ruler. But the couple never had children in their short marriage. This was due to young age and possible dauphin diseases.
Succession to the Throne
Just a year after the wedding (July 10, 1559), Francis II of Valois became king due to the premature death of his father. Henry II was celebrating the wedding of one of his daughters and traditionally held a jousting tournament. The king fought with one of the guests - Gabriel de Montgomery. The count's spear broke on Heinrich's shell, and its fragment hit the ruler in the eye. The wound was fatal because it caused inflammation. The king died, despite the fact that he was assisted by the best doctors in Europe, including Andreas Vesalius (the founder of modern anatomy). It is believed that Heinrich's death was predicted by Nostradamus, who, by the way, was still alive at that time.
21 September 1559 Francis II of Valois was crowned in Reims. The ritual of laying the crown was entrusted to Cardinal Charles de Guise. The crown was so heavy that the courtiers had to support it. Charles became one of the regents along with the uncles of Mary from the Guise family. The mother, Catherine de Medici, also had a great influence on the child. The young monarch spent all his free time on entertainment: he hunted, arranged amusing tournaments and traveled around his palaces.
His unwillingness to delve into the affairs of state further fueled the enmity between the various court clans, who craved manifestations of real power. The Giza, who effectively took over the country, faced a sea of internal problems, each of which overlapped the other.
Treasury problems
First and foremost was the financial issue. Francis II and Mary Stuart received the throne after several costly wars with the Habsburgs started by the previous Valois. The state borrowed from banks, resulting in a debt of 48 million livres, while the royal treasury received only 12 million in a year.
Because of this, Giza began to pursue a policy of financial savings, which was one of the reasons for their unpopularity in society. In addition, the brothers deferred payments to the military. The army was generally reduced, and many soldiers were left without work, after which they served as robbers or participated in religious wars, cashing in on the confrontation of all against all. The courtyard, which had lost its usual luxury, was also dissatisfied.
Foreign policy
In foreign policy, Francis II and his advisers tried to continue their attempts to strengthen and maintain the peace that came after the end of the Italian wars. It wasa series of armed conflicts stretching between 1494 and 1559. Henry II, shortly before his death, concluded the Treaty of Cato-Cambresia. The agreement consisted of two papers.
The first treaty was signed with Queen Elizabeth I of England. According to it, the captured seaside Calais was assigned to France, but in exchange for this, Paris had to pay 500 thousand ecu. However, Giza, faced with a mass of debts within the country, decided not to provide money for the fortress. Time has shown that 500 thousand ecu remained only on paper, while Calais turned out to be the property of France. No one opposed this, including Francis II. The biography of the young monarch speaks eloquently of the fact that he generally did not like to take the initiative into his own hands.
Territorial concessions
The second treaty, concluded in Cato-Cambresi, reconciled France and Spain. He was much more painful. France lost large territories. She gave the Habsburgs Thionville, Marienburg, Luxembourg, as well as some areas in Charolais and Artois. The Duke of Savoy (an ally of Spain) received from Paris Savoy, Piedmont. The Republic of Genoa got Corsica.
Francis had no choice but to fulfill the clauses of the agreement drawn up by his father, because of which Spain finally took a leading position in the Old World, while France, occupied with internal strife, could not oppose anything.
Another interesting clause in the treaty stated that Emmanuel Philibert (Duke of Savoy) married Francis's aunt, Marguerite. This marriagetook place already during the reign of the young monarch. Another wedding took place between Philip of Spain and Francis' sister, Elizabeth.
Also during the reign of Francis, lengthy negotiations continued with the Spanish crown on the return of hostages from both sides of the border to their homeland. Some of them have been in prison for decades.
At the same time, an uprising of Protestant lords against the French regents began in Scotland. The official religion was changed, after which all the Parisian managers hastily left the country.
Religious War
The Giza brothers were fanatical Catholics. It was they who initiated a new wave of repressions against Protestants living in France. This measure was allowed by King Francis II, who gave the go-ahead to the freedom of action of his wife's uncles. Huguenots were persecuted up to mass executions. The places of their gatherings and meetings were destroyed, as if they were plague barracks.
The actions of the Catholics were opposed by the Protestant party, which also had its leaders at the royal court. They were distant relatives of the ruler Antoine de Bourbon (king of the small mountainous Navarre) and Louis Conde. They were also called "princes of the blood" (that is, they were representatives of the Capetian dynasty, to which the reigning Valois belonged).
Ambauz conspiracy
In March 1560, the Huguenots, in response to the actions of the Catholics, staged the Ambauz conspiracy. This was an attempt to capture Francis and force him to alienate the Guise brothers from himself. However, the plans became known in advance, and the royal court took refuge in Ambauz- a city standing on the Loire and is the heart of all France. Nevertheless, the conspirators decided to take the risk. Their attempt failed, the invaders were killed by the guards.
This caused a wave of persecution of Protestants. They were executed almost without trial. Antoine de Bourbon and Ludovic Condé were also arrested and charged with plotting. They were saved only by the fact that the mother of the king, Catherine de Medici, stood up for them. She, like many aristocrats behind her, was religiously moderate and tried to reach a compromise between Catholics and Huguenots. It was December 1560.
Reconciliation policy
After such a heat of passion, religious policy became softer, which was ratified by Francis 2. His reign was marked by the release of all prisoners by religion. Since the time of Henry II, this was the first indulgence. In May 1560, an edict was issued, which was signed by Francis II. The Duke of Brittany (this is one of his many titles) spoke for the first time about freedom of conscience.
In April, the Queen Mother announced Michel de l'Hospital as Chancellor of France. He was a famous civil servant, poet and humanist of the era. The writer published poems in Latin, in which he imitated the ancient Horace. His father had previously served Charles de Bourbon. Tolerant Michel began to pursue a policy of tolerance. For dialogue between the warring confessions, the States General were convened (for the first time in 67 years). Soon a decree was adopted, which was drawn up by de l'Opital. He abolished the death pen alty on criminal chargesagainst religion. The rest of the politician's activity was left out of the board, the face of which was Francis II. The children on the throne began to replace each other, like a charming coquette changing gloves.
The death of Francis and the fate of Mary
Francis II - the king of France - could no longer follow these events. A fistula suddenly formed in his ear, which caused fatal gangrene. On December 5, 1560, the 16-year-old monarch died in Orleans. The next son of Henry II, Charles X, ascended the throne.
Francis's wife Mary Stuart returned to her homeland, where by that time the Protestants had triumphed. Their faction demanded that the young queen break with the Roman Church. The girl managed to maneuver between the two sides of the conflict until she was deprived of the throne in 1567, after which she fled to England. There she was imprisoned by Elizabeth Tudor. The Scottish woman was seen in careless correspondence with a Catholic agent, with whom she coordinated the assassination attempt on the Queen of England. As a result, Mary was executed in 1587 at the age of 44.
