Francis II (French: François II; 19 January 1544 – 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. He was also King of Scotland as the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560.
He ascended the throne of France at age 15 after the accidental death of his father, Henry II, in 1559. His short reign was dominated by the first stirrings of the French Wars of Religion.
Although the royal age of majority was 14, his mother, Catherine de' Medici, entrusted the reins of government to his wife Mary's uncles from the House of Guise, staunch supporters of the Catholic cause. They were unable to help Catholics in Scotland against the progressing Scottish Reformation, however, and the Auld Alliance was dissolved.
After dying of an ear infection, Francis was succeeded by two of his brothers in turn, both of whom were also unable to reduce tensions between Protestants and Catholics.
Contents
Childhood and education (1544–1559)
Francis was born 11 years after his parents' wedding. The long delay in producing an heir may have been due to his father's repudiation of his mother in favour of his mistress Diane de Poitiers, but this repudiation was mitigated by Diane's insistence that Henry spend his nights with Catherine. Francis was at first raised at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He was baptised on 10 February 1544 at the Chapelle des Trinitaires in Fontainebleau. His godparents were Francis I (who knighted him during the ceremony), Pope Paul III, and his great-aunt Marguerite de Navarre. He became governor of Languedoc in 1546 and Dauphin of France in 1547, when his grandfather Francis I died.
Francis's governor and governess were Jean d'Humières and Françoise d'Humières, and his tutor was Pierre Danès, a Greek scholar originally from Naples. He learned dancing from Virgilio Bracesco and fencing from Hector of Mantua.
King Henry II, his father, arranged a remarkable betrothal for his son to the five year old Mary, Queen of Scots, in the Châtillon agreement of 27 January 1548, when Francis was only four years old. Mary had been crowned Queen of Scotland in Stirling Castle on 9 September 1543 at the age of nine months, following the death of her father James V. Mary was a granddaughter of Claude, Duke of Guise, a very influential figure at the court of France. Once the marriage agreement was formally ratified, the five-year-old Mary was sent to France to be raised at court until the marriage. She was tall for her age and eloquent, and Francis was unusually short and stuttered. Henry II said, "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".
On 24 April 1558, Francis and Mary married in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was a union that could have given the future kings of France the throne of Scotland and also a claim to the throne of England through Mary's great-grandfather, King Henry VII of England. As a result of the marriage, Francis became king of Scotland. The marriage produced no children, and may never even have been consummated, possibly due to Francis's illnesses or undescended testicles.
Becoming king
A little over a year after his marriage, on 10 July 1559, Francis became king at age 15 upon the death of Henry II, who had been killed in a jousting accident. On 21 September 1559, Francis II was crowned king in Reims by his wife's uncle Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him. The court then moved to the Loire Valley, where the Château de Blois and the surrounding forests were the new king's home. Francis II took the sun for his emblem and for his mottoes Spectanda fides (This is how faith should be respected) and Lumen rectis (Light for the righteous).
According to French law, Francis was an adult who did not need a regent; but since he was young, inexperienced, and in fragile health, he delegated his power to his wife's uncles from the noble House of Guise: Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. His mother, Catherine de' Medici, agreed to this delegation. On the first day of his reign, Francis II instructed his four ministers to take orders from his mother, but since she was still in mourning for her husband, she directed them to the House of Guise.
The two eldest brothers of the House of Guise had already had major roles in the reign of Henry II. Francis, Duke of Guise, was one of the most famous military commanders in the royal army, and the Cardinal of Lorraine had participated in the most important negotiations and matters of the kingdom. After Francis II ascended the throne, the two brothers split the custody of the kingdom: Duke Francis became head of the army and Charles the head of finance, justice, and diplomacy.
The rise of the House of Guise worked to the detriment of its old rival, Anne de Montmorency, Constable of France. At the new king's suggestion, he left the court for his estates to get some rest. Diane de Poitiers, the mistress of the previous king, was asked not to appear at court. Her protégé Jean Bertrand had to surrender his title Keeper of the Seals of France to chancellor François Olivier, whom Diane had removed from this position a few years earlier. It was a palace revolution.
The transition has been described as brutal, but while it no doubt caused the Constable considerable frustration, there were no confrontations or reprisals. Montmorency remained tied to power. As soon as the day after the death of the king, he was present at the council meeting and was also at the coronation. Later he supported the repression of the Amboise conspiracy of 1560, notably by going to the Parlement to communicate to its members the measures taken by the king. In July 1560 he came back to court and to the council, although in a much less flamboyant manner than before. The Guises were now the new masters of the court. The king granted them numerous favours and privileges, one of the most significant being the title of Grand Master of France, a title until then held by the son of the Constable, François de Montmorency.
Reign (1559–1560)
Domestic policy
With the
peace of Cateau Cambresis in 1559, the crown had been left on the cusp of bankruptcy. The public deficit stood at 40 million livres, of which 19 million was owed immediately. The interest rates on these loans were notable, as lenders had grown wary of the crown's inability to pay over the years and this lack of confidence would only be furthered with Henry II's death. Henri's religious policy had also proved ineffective, his persecutory edicts failing to stop the growth of Calvinism in France. Religious violence was increasing, with attacks in Paris, first in response to the loss at the Battle of Saint-Quentin (1557) and then around the trial of the heretic parlementaire Anne du Bourg.
From the beginning of their assumption of government, the Guises faced opposition from several factions. Their rise to dominance had come at the expense of Anne de Montmorency and the House of Bourbon who resented their total ascendency to varying degrees.
The political decisions of the government were also contested. To try and set about fixing the realm's finances, they embarked upon an aggressive campaign of cost cutting, scaling down the size of the army from its height in the wars, and deferring payments to the troops, who angrily protested against the Guises. This would not however be enough, so they were moved to raise forced loans from the provinces, such as 800,000 livres from Normandy, to cover shortfalls. They further suppressed Venal office.
Forced loans would continue into 1560, with 100,000 crowns being demanded of the Parlement and merchants of Paris in October 1560, shortly after the convoking of the estates had taken place.
In religion, the Guises initially continued the repression of Protestantism started by King Henry II. From July 1559 to February 1560 they would pass four more persecutory edicts, including such provisions as the razing of any house which a Protestant meeting occurred in, and the prosecution of landlords who knowingly harboured heretics as tenants.
Opposition to the Guise administration which had been bubbling under the surface during Francis II's reign, coalesced around two primary axes. Firstly, there was religious opposition from Protestants, such as La Roche Chandieu; secondly, there was opposition from military men of the minor gentry, such as Castlenau; these groups came together under the leadership of the seigneur de la Renaudie to form a conspiracy to seize the king and arrest or kill the Cardinal de Lorraine and the Duke de Guise. The group planned to push for Antoine of Navarre to lead them, and become a 'regent' for Francis II. When he proved uninterested in their plot, they moved to the more dubious claim of his brother Condé. He was more receptive to the plan.
Foreign policy
In foreign policy, Francis II continued peace efforts Henry II had begun with the signing of the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in April 1559, which ended 40 years of war between France and the Habsburg empire. At the expense of its influence in Europe, France continued to restore lands conquered over the previous 40 years. In this sense, Francis II's reign began the decline of French influence throughout Europe, to the benefit of Spain.
When Henry II died, the restitution of these territories was well under way. Francis II, aware of the kingdom's weaknesses, reassured Spain of its intention to fulfill the treaty just signed. The Maréchal de Brissac, who displayed some unwillingness to evacuate Piedmont, was asked to change his behaviour and accelerate the withdrawal. By the autumn of 1559, France had completely left Savoy, and Piedmont, except for the five locations agreed upon in the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. If these were returned to the Duke of Savoy Emmanuel Philibert, Montferrat would be returned to Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Both were allies of Spain. Finally, Valenza, which Brissac was grumbling about releasing, was to be returned to the Spanish Duchy of Milan. On the Spanish side, King Philip II showed some unwillingness to return four locations in the northeast of the kingdom as required by the treaty. Border disputes renewed tensions between the two nations, but after months of protests Francis II finally obtained these territories.
Along with restitution of territories, the government of Francis II had to negotiate, pay, or claim compensations for people whose properties were taken or destroyed during the war. It also had to reach an agreement with Spain about the prisoners of war held by both sides. Many noblemen were still prisoners and unable to pay their ransom. Common soldiers were consigned to use as rowers on the royal galleys. Even after a reciprocal release compromise was signed, Spain was not eager to lose its prisoners.
When Francis II died, France withdrew from Scotland, Brazil, Corsica, Tuscany, Savoy and most of Piedmont.
With the marriage of Francis II and Mary Stuart, the future of Scotland was linked to that of France. A secret clause signed by the queen provided that Scotland would become part of France if the royal couple did not have children. The queen's mother, Marie of Guise, was already regent for Scotland.
Death
The king's health deteriorated in November 1560. On 16 November he fainted. After only 17 months on the throne, Francis II died on 5 December 1560 in Orléans, Loiret, from an ear condition. Multiple diseases have been suggested, such as mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis exacerbated into an abscess. Ambroise Paré, the royal surgeon, considered performing a trepanation. Some suspected Protestants of having poisoned the king, a view held by Catholics as the tensions between them and Protestants were on the rise, but this has not been proven.
Francis II died childless, so his younger brother Charles, then ten years old, succeeded him. On 21 December, the council named Catherine de' Medici, Regent of France. The Guises left the court, while Mary Stuart, Francis II's widow, returned to Scotland. Louis, Prince of Condé, who was jailed and awaiting execution, was freed after some negotiations with Catherine de Médici.
On 23 December 1560, Francis II's body was interred in the Basilica of St Denis by the Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon.
Posterity
Francis II had a brief reign. He became king as an inexperienced teenager, at a time when the kingdom was struggling with religious troubles. Historians agree that Francis II was fragile, both physically and psychologically, and his frail health led to his early death. The question of whether his marriage was consummated or not remains unanswered.
Portrayals
Francis is portrayed by Toby Regbo in the CW show Reign, by Richard Denning in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), by Sebastian Stragiotti-Axanciuc in Mary, Queen of Scots (2013), and by George Jaques in the TV drama The Serpent Queen.