Marie de' Medici

In October 1600, she married King Henry IV of France in Lyon shortly after the King divorced his first wife Marguerite de Valois. Marie de' Medici brought with her a huge dowry.

On September 27, 1601 her son and the future King of France Louis XIII was born. Her first daughter Elisabeth, who went on to become the Queen of Spain upon marriage with King Philip IV of Spain, was born on November 22, 1602.

Her second daughter Christine, the Duchess of Savoy, was born on February 10, 1606, followed by birth of her second son Nicholas Henri, the Duke of Orleans on April 16, 1607. Nicholas died young.

Marie de' Medici was born on April 26, 1575 at Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy, as a scion of wealthy and powerful ‘House of Medici’. She was born to Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I de' Medici and his wife Archduchess Joanna of Austria as their sixth daughter.

Though she had a challenging childhood due to her mother’s early death and negligence by her father, she received sound education in line with the tradition of the family and developed an excellent base in fine arts.

She married Henry IV of France in October 1600 in a grand wedding ceremony in Lyon, France, which was celebrated with 4,000 guests.

The marriage was a successful one in terms of producing children, but it was not a happy one as Marie and Henry fought over his mistresses.

On May 13, 1610, she was coronated as the Queen of France and the very next day Henry IV was assassinated. Following his assassination, she was made the regent for her son Louis XIII by the Parliament of Paris until the time he comes of age.

Her acumen in political issues was little both before and after the lifetime of King Henry IV. She was under high influence of her conspiring maid Leonora "Galigai" Dori and her iniquitous Italian husband Concino Concini. Though Concino never fought a battle the couple’s unscrupulous influence on the Queen made him a ‘Marshal of France’ and also ‘Marquis d'Ancre’.

Duke of Sully, a minister from the time of King Henry IV, was dismissed unscrupulously under the influence of the Concini couple. The Italian members of Catholic Church tried to suppress Protestantism by using their influence.