Francis II

In 1548, when François was 4 years old, his father, Henry II, arranged his marriage to his childhood sweetheart and cousin Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots.

Mary Stuart became Queen of Scots when she was only nine months old (September 9, 1543). Her mother, in order to save her life, also agreed to the forced marriage of Henry VIII to his son Edward VI. Although the two children were uncles and nephews, after Henry VIII's death, her mother, Marygis, did not hesitate to break the appointment.

The new wedding was officially approved, and Mary Stuart's mother, Marie Guise, the regent of Scotland, sent her 6-year-old daughter to France, where she would live with the French royal family until Francois and Mary Stuart grew up to fulfill their engagement.

On April 24, 1558, the 14-year-old Crown Prince of France married the 15-year-old Queen of Scotland. The marriage was strongly political: the future king of France would also receive the crown of Scotland and pose a threat to the throne of England (although at the time, such marriages were commonplace and no big deal).

One year after marriage, in July 1559, Henry II died and the 15-year-old Crown Prince was crowned King François II of France. Catherine de Medici, the Queen Mother, served as regent. François was frail and sickly, and was held by two relatives (Mary Stuart's uncle): François, Duke of Guise and commander of the royal army, and his brother Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, who was in charge of internal affairs. The Gith clique, supported by aristocrats in the northeast and central regions, emerged as defenders of the Catholic faith.

Opposing the Gis clique were King Navoal, François I's brother-in-law, Antoine of the Bourbon family, and his brother Louis, Prince of the Gonde (also translated as "Condé"), and Admiral Gaspard Corini of the Chatilon family. They carried the banner of Calvinism and called them the "Huguenot" group, and their main force was in the south. The struggle between the aristocratic groups of the New and Old Churches for the highest power of the country intensified, and Antoine publicly stated that he would save the king from the violence of the Gis clique.

In 1560, François II, who had always been frail and sickly, died in Orleans at the age of 16. The cause of death was brain disease caused by an ear infection. He was buried in the Abbey of Saint-Denis. François II did not have any children with Mary Stuart. His brother, Charles IX, who was only 10 years old at the time, succeeded to the throne, and the ambitious queen mother Catherine de Medici was regent.

A year after François's marriage, his father Henry II died. The 15-year-old Crown Prince was crowned King François II of France. Catherine de Medici, the Queen Mother, served as regent, but the figures believed to have the most powerful power were François, Duke of Guise, captain of the King's Guard, and Charles, Cardinal of Guise (who were the uncle of Mary Stuart),

As the uncles of Queen Mary, they often used the prestige of their elders to force the queen to slander her husband. However, François II loved his wife very much and always agreed to all her requests easily, which meant that the royal government fell into the hands of the queen's uncles.

The Empress Dowager Catherine de 'Medici was so angry that she wondered how she could allow her government to be taken over by political enemies. So she sent someone to poison her eldest son, drive her daughter-in-law back to Scotland, and put her second son, Charles IX, on the throne, hoping that he would obey.

In 1560, François II died in Orleans at the age of 16. His mother, Catherine de Medici, fabricated a lie about her frail health to cover up the truth. He was buried in the monastery of Saint-Denis.

François II and Mary Stuart had no children, and his brother Charles IX, who was also unwilling to be at the mercy of his mother and actively promoted the development of events, succeeded the throne. He also died at the hands of his mother, Catherine de Medici, soon after.

His younger brother, Henry III, who loved to wear women's clothes, inherited the throne.