From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francis II King of France and Scotland, Count of Provence (more...) Reign 10 July 1559 – 5 December 1560 Coronation 21 September 1559, Reims Titles Dauphin of Viennois: as Dauphin of France (31 March 1547 – 10 July 1559); as King of France (10 July 1559 – 5 December 1560) Jure uxoris King of Scotland (24 April 1558 – 5 December 1560 Born 19 January 1544(1544-01-19) Château de Fontainebleau, France Died 5 December 1560 (aged 16) Orléans, France Buried Saint Denis Basilica, France Predecessor Henry II Successor Charles IX Consort Mary I of Scotland Royal House Valois Father Henry II (1519 – 1559) Mother Catherine de' Medici (1519 – 1589)

French Monarchy- Capetian Dynasty, House of Valois (Valois-Angoulême branch) Francis I Children    Francis    Henry II    Madeleine of Valois    Charles of Valois    Margaret of Valois Henry II Children    Francis II    Elizabeth of Valois    Claude of Valois    Louis of Valois    Charles IX    Henry III    Marguerite of Valois    François, Duke of Anjou    Joan of Valois    Victoria of Valois Francis II Charles IX Henry III

Monarchical Styles of King Francis II Par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France Reference style His Most Christian Majesty Spoken style Your Most Christian Majesty Alternative style Monsieur Le Roi

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: 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 Fontainebleau, 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.

Coat of Arms of Francis II of France as Dauphin

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.

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).

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