Henry II (French: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis in 1536.
As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the Habsburgs and tried to suppress the Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign.
Under the April 1559 Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis which ended the Italian Wars, France renounced its claims in Italy, but gained certain other territories, including the Pale of Calais and the Three Bishoprics. These acquisitions strengthened French borders while the abdication of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in January 1556 and division of his empire between Spain and Austria provided France with greater flexibility in foreign policy. Nostradamus also served King Henry as physician and astrologer.
In June 1559, Henry was injured in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the treaty, and died ten days later after his surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard. Though he died early, the succession appeared secure, for he left four young sons – as well as a widow (Catherine de' Medici) to lead a capable regency during their minority. Three of those sons lived long enough to become king; but their youth and sometimes infirmity, and the unpopularity of Catherine's regency, led to challenges to the throne by powerful nobles, and helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Protestants, and an eventual end to the House of Valois as France's ruling dynasty.
Henry was born on 31 March 1519 at the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris. He was the second son of King Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany, the daughter of Louis XII and Anne, Duchess of Brittany. Francis and Claude were second cousins, both descended in the male line from Louis I, Duke of Orléans, and their marriage helped secure Brittany's connection to the French crown.
After Francis I was captured by the forces of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, Henry and his elder brother Francis were sent to Spain as hostages to secure their father’s release. They remained in captivity for over four years.
On 28 October 1533, Henry married Catherine de' Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence. Both bride and groom were fourteen, and the marriage was arranged while Henry’s elder brother was still heir to the throne. The wedding ceremony was officiated by Pope Clement VII, himself a member of the Medici family.
Henry also developed a close attachment to Diane de Poitiers, a noblewoman more than twenty years his senior. She had been associated with him since childhood, and by the 1530s had become an important personal influence. At a tournament held in 1531 to honour Eleanor of Austria, Henry wore Diane’s colours.
Henry became heir apparent in August 1536 after his elder brother Francis died several days after falling ill following a game of tennis. Contemporary accounts, including Brantôme's, attributed the illness to cold water Francis drank after exercise and reported immediate rumours of poisoning. Baumgartner notes, however, that the autopsy report gave no indication of poison and suggests that Francis's death was probably caused by a respiratory illness, possibly pleurisy.
Diane de Poitiers became an influential figure in Henry's personal life, while Catherine initially had limited influence over her husband. According to Wellman, Diane encouraged Henry to maintain marital relations with Catherine in order to secure the succession. The marriage produced no children during its first decade, but Catherine gave birth to their first son, the future Francis II, in 1544.
Henry's attachment to Diane caused a breach with his father in 1544. Francis I's mistress Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, persuaded the king that Henry and Diane were conspiring on behalf of the Constable Montmorency, who had been banished from court in 1540. Francis banished Diane from court, and Henry withdrew to the Château d'Anet. Father and son were reconciled in 1545.
Francis I died on 31 March 1547, Henry's 28th birthday, and Henry succeeded him as king. He was crowned at Reims Cathedral on 25 July 1547.
Henry's reign intensified the repression of Protestants, who gradually emerged as a distinct Huguenot movement. Sutherland argues that this persecution reached its climax under Henry, partly because of the influence of Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, brother of Francis, Duke of Guise. At Henry's coronation, Lorraine urged the king to defend the Roman Church, and Henry promised to act against those whom the Church identified as heretical.
From the beginning of his reign, he sought to strengthen the prosecution and prevention of heresy. An edict of 5 April 1547 reaffirmed punishments for blasphemy, including judicial torture, public whipping and cutting off the tongue. In October 1547, Henry created a new chamber in the Parlement of Paris devoted to hearing heresy cases; it became known as the chambre ardente because of its zealous pursuit of heresy.
Baumgartner argues that Henry's severity toward Protestants was rooted less in outside influence than in his own commitment to Catholic orthodoxy, his coronation oath to drive heresy from the realm, and his belief that religious unity was necessary for political order.
The Edict of Châteaubriant, issued on 27 June 1551, formed part of this wider policy of repression. During Henry's reign, these religious tensions shaped French activity overseas, as Huguenots attempted to establish a colony in Brazil, resulting in the short-lived settlement of France Antarctique.
Foreign policy and dynastic marriages
Henry II was made a Knight of the Garter by Edward VI, King of England, in April 1551. By 19 July, after some lengthy haggling concerning the dowry, a betrothal was made between his daughter, Elisabeth and Edward.