Date of Birth: 19 January 1544
House: Capet-Valois-Angoulême
Spouse(s): Mary I, queen of Scots, daughter of James V, king of Scots, and Mary of Guise
Predecessor: Henri II
Reign: 1559 – 1560
Brief: One of the child kings of the later Valois dynasty, François rules for only a scant year and a half before dying from an ear infection caused by one of numerous possible diseases. During his brief life, however, a lot happened in France. In 1548, he married six-year-old Mary I, queen of Scots, and became the king consort of Scotland. In 1558, the two were crowned rulers of Scotland formally and, had François lived, their children would have been destined to be rulers of both France and Scotland (and, presumably, England). François became king of France in July 1559 and, though only fifteen, was deemed fit to rule France as an adult. He worked with his uncles, and Mary's mother, from the House of Guise, and immediately began persecuting Protestants in France. A conspiracy rose against the king and his Guise advisors which sought to replace the Valois dynasty with that of the Bourbons, who supported Protestantism. Conciliation attempts tried to ease the tension, but things only became worse and François was finally forced to directly confront the Protestant uprising by arresting its leader, his cousin, the prince of Condé in late 1560. Scotland rose up in revolt that same year, since François and Mary had signed a secret charter turning the kingdom into a crown fief of France if Mary died without children. Scotland declared itself free of French influence and a Protestant state, and Mary sequestered herself from government. Unfortunately for them, François died soon after, leaving Mary grieved with little military support to reassert herself in Scotland.
Date of Death: 6 December 1560
Brief: One of the child kings of the later Valois dynasty, François rules for only a scant year and a half before dying from an ear infection caused by one of numerous possible diseases. During his brief life, however, a lot happened in France. In 1548, he married six-year-old Mary I, queen of Scots, and became the king consort of Scotland. In 1558, the two were crowned rulers of Scotland formally and, had François lived, their children would have been destined to be rulers of both France and Scotland (and, presumably, England). François became king of France in July 1559 and, though only fifteen, was deemed fit to rule France as an adult. He worked with his uncles, and Mary's mother, from the House of Guise, and immediately began persecuting Protestants in France. A conspiracy rose against the king and his Guise advisors which sought to replace the Valois dynasty with that of the Bourbons, who supported Protestantism. Conciliation attempts tried to ease the tension, but things only became worse and François was finally forced to directly confront the Protestant uprising by arresting its leader, his cousin, the prince of Condé in late 1560. Scotland rose up in revolt that same year, since François and Mary had signed a secret charter turning the kingdom into a crown fief of France if Mary died without children. Scotland declared itself free of French influence and a Protestant state, and Mary sequestered herself from government. Unfortunately for them, François died soon after, leaving Mary grieved with little military support to reassert herself in Scotland.
Date of Death: 6 December 1560
Successor: Charles IX
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
Other Monarchs Who Died Today:
- Ramon Berenguer II, count of Barcelona (1082)
- John III, duke of Brabant (1355)
- Pedro II, emperor of Brasil (1891)
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