On this day 453 years ago, on August 18, 1572 (July 11, 1572), Marguerite, sister of King Charles IX of France, married King Henry of Navarre. Marguerite de Valois (May 14, 1553 - May 27, 1615) Queen of France and Navarre, also known as Queen Margot (La Reine Margot). Marguerite of Valois was born in the royal castle of Saint-Germain-en-Rey. Her brothers called her Margot. She was the daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. She had three brothers who were kings of France: François II, Charles IX, and Henry III. Her sister, Elizabeth of Valois, was the third wife of King Philip II of Spain. Although Margaret loved Henry I de Lorraine, the third Duke of Guise, her ambitious mother would never allow the Guise family any chance of controlling France. Instead, she asked Margaret to marry Philip II's son, Don Carlos, to no avail. Catherine de Medici also considered marrying Margo to Don Sebastian, Crown Prince of Portugal, but was unsuccessful. Eventually Margaret was forced to marry Henry, Crown Prince of Navarre of the Bourbons (later King Henry IV of France). Henry was the leader of the Protestant Huguenots. The marriage was planned to use family ties to reconcile and integrate the relationship between Catholics and Huguenots. Although Henry's mother, Queen Jeanne Dabrett of Navarre, objected, many Navarre nobles supported the marriage. Jeanne Dabrett died before the wedding took place. Margaret married Henry on August 18, 1572. Henry's mother had died by then, and he succeeded him as King of Navarre. It is recorded that throughout the ceremony, the bride and groom looked straight ahead and never looked at each other. When the cardinal asked Margaret if she would like to marry Henry, she did not answer. So Charles IX held her head and forced her to nod in agreement. Only six days after the marriage, on the night of Saint Bartholomew, Catherine de Medici led French Catholics to massacre thousands of Huguenots, known as the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. After the marriage and riots, Henry left his wife, fled Paris, and returned to Navarre. Margaret was controlled by her brother, Henry III, and became a de facto prisoner at home. There was also a small detail at the time. One of Margaret's lovers, Joseph Boniface de Lamor, who also escaped the massacre at St. Bartholomew, tried to rescue Margaret from her brother's control, but the plan failed, and he was executed by Henry III. Later, Margaret was able to see her lover's body by paying the executioner privately, and secretly took his head. This story is also mentioned in Stendhal's book "Red and Black", where one of the heroines, Matt, followed Margaret's example and stole his lover's head after Julien was tortured. In the end, Margaret was allowed to defect to her husband, and for the next three and a half years, Margaret and her husband lived a life of opprobrium in Pau. They both had open lovers and quarreled frequently. After an illness in 1582, Margaret returned to the French royal family. But Henry III became disgusted with her reputation and forced her to leave the royal family. After a long negotiation, she was allowed to return to her husband's country. But she received a cold reception. To tide her over, she staged a coup d'état at her fief, Agen, and seized power. After months of defense, the citizens of Agen rose up and imprisoned her at Castle Carlat. In 1586, she was imprisoned by Henry III at the Château de Usson in Auvergne, where she spent 18 years. In 1592, seven years of negotiations began to annul her engagement with Henry, which ended in 1599 with the retention of her title Queen. And in the near future her ex-husband will become one of the most beloved kings of France. Comment: A woman corrupted by court power, with a good heart, but marries King Henry because of her mother's selfish desires, thus becoming involved in a bloody court conspiracy.