Francis II of France

Francis II (François II in French) was born on (January 19, 1544 at the Royal Chateau at Fontainbleau, Seine-et-Marne, the son of Henri II and Catherine de Medici. He was crowned King of France in 1559, in the cathedral at Reims, and reigned until his death on December 5, 1560.

His marriage to Mary Stuart was arranged by his father in 1548 when Francois was 4 years old after Mary had been crowned Queen of Scotland in Stirling Castle on September 9, 1543, at the age of nine months old. Once the marriage agreement had been formally ratified, in 1548, Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland, sent her six-year-old daughter, Queen Mary, to France to be raised in the Royal Court until the marriage.

On April 24, 1558, the 14-year-old dauphin was married to Mary Stuart (later Mary, Queen of Scots) in a union that would give the future king of France the throne of Scotland and a strengthened claim to the throne of England. A year after his marriage, his father Henri II died, and Francois, still only 15 years old, was crowned king. His mother Catherine de Medici was appointed Regent, but it is considered that Mary's uncles Francis[?] and Charles de Guise[?] may actually have been the ones to hold the power in that period.

Francois II, who had always been a sickly child, died December 5, 1560 in Orléans, Loiret, at the age of 16 when an ear infection[?] worsened and caused an abscess in his brain. King Francois is buried in Saint Denis Basilica.

He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX.

Preceded by: Henry II

List of French monarchs

Succeeded by: (Catherine de Medici, regent for Charles IX)