FRANCIS II OF FRANCE

'Francis II of France' (French: ''François II de France'') (January 19, 1544 – December 5, 1560, King-consort of Scotland (1558–1560), and King of France (1559 – 1560), was born at the Royal Chateau at Fontainbleau, Seine-et-Marne, the son of Henry II, King of France (March 31 1519 – July 10 1559) and Catherine de' Medici (April 13 1519 – January 5 1589). He was the grandson of Francis I, King of France, and of Claude of France, and the brother of Charles IX, King of France, and of Henry III, King of France.

Contents

King Consort of Scotland

King of France

Ancestors

References

King Consort of Scotland

His marriage to Mary Stuart was arranged by his father in 1548 when Francis was four years old. Mary had been crowned Queen of Scots in Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543, at the age of nine months. Once the marriage agreement had been formally ratified, in 1548 the six-year-old Mary was sent to France, to be raised in the royal court until the marriage. Despite the fact that Mary was tall for her age and fluent in speech while Francis was abnormally short and stuttered, Henry II said that "from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together as if they had known each other for a long time".^[1]
On April 24, 1558, the fourteen-year-old Dauphin was married to Mary in a union that would give the future King of France the throne of Scotland and a claim to the throne of England. They had no children.

King of France

A year after his marriage, Francis's father, Henry II, died, and Francis, still only fifteen years old, was crowned king at Reims. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him.^[2] His mother, Catherine de Medici, was appointed regent, but it is considered that Mary's uncles François de Guise and Charles de Guise may have held the real power in that period.
Francis II, who had always been a sickly child, died on 5 December 1560 in Orléans, Loiret, at the age of sixteen, when an ear infection worsened and caused an abscess in his brain. He is buried in Saint Denis Basilica.
He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX (June 27 1550 - May 30 1574).

Ancestors

'Francis II's ancestors in three generations'

'Francis II of France'	'Father:' Henry II of France	'Paternal Grandfather:' Francis I of France	'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Charles, Count of Angoulême
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Louise of Savoy
		'Paternal Grandmother:' Claude of France	'Paternal Great-grandfather:' Louis XII of France
			'Paternal Great-grandmother:' Anne of Brittany
	'Mother:' Catherine de' Medici	'Maternal Grandfather:' Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Alfonsina Orsini
		'Maternal Grandmother:' Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne	'Maternal Great-grandfather:' John III, Count of Auvergne
			'Maternal Great-grandmother:' Jeanne de Bourbon-Vendome

References

1. Guy, John, ''My Heart is my Own'', London, Fourth Estate, 2004, ISBN 0–00–71930–8:47
2. Guy:102

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