Henry II (31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) of the House of Valois and son and successor of Francis I was King of France from 31 March 1547, until his death in 1559.
Henry was born in the Royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude de France (daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany).
He and his older brother spent three years in Spain as hostages to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, as surety...
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Henry II (31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) of the House of Valois and son and successor of Francis I was King of France from 31 March 1547, until his death in 1559.
Henry was born in the Royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude de France (daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany).
He and his older brother spent three years in Spain as hostages to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, as surety for their father, who was captured at the Battle of Pavia.
Henry married Catherine de' Medici (13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old. The following year, he became romantically involved with a 35 year-old widow, Diane de Poitiers. They had always been very close: she had publicly embraced him on the day he set off to Spain, and during a jousting tournament, he insisted his lance carry her ribbon instead of his wife's. Diane became Henry's most trusted confidante and, for the next twenty...
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