Francis II of France

NAME Francis II (François II in French)

WHAT FAMOUS FOR Francis II was King of France for a very brief period, from 1559 to 1560. He is primarily famous for his short, ineffectual reign, which was largely dominated by his powerful Guise uncles due to his youth and ill health. His marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, also makes him a notable figure in her story. His death plunged France into further political instability and contributed to the outbreak of the French Wars of Religion.

BIRTH Francis II was born on January 19, 1544, at the Château de Fontainebleau, France. He was born eleven years after his parents' wedding, with the long delay in producing an heir possibly attributed to his father's initial preference for his mistress Diane de Poitiers over his mother Catherine de' Medici. He was baptized on February 10, 1544, at the Chapelle des Trinitaires in Fontainebleau. His godparents were Francis I (who knighted him during the ceremony), Pope Paul III, and his great-aunt Marguerite de Navarre.

FAMILY BACKGROUND Francis II was the eldest son of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. His father, Henry II, ruled France from 1547 until his death in 1559, while his mother Catherine de' Medici was a member of the powerful Italian Medici family. Francis belonged to the House of Valois-Angoulême. He had several siblings, including future kings Charles IX and Henry III, as well as sisters Elisabeth, Claude, Marguerite, and brothers Louis (who died young) and François, Duke of Alençon. His grandfather was the renowned King Francis I of France.

CHILDHOOD  Francis was initially raised at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. He became governor of Languedoc in 1546 and inherited the title of Dauphin of France in 1547 when his grandfather Francis I died. 

A remarkable betrothal was arranged for Francis when he was only four years old to the five-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots, in the Châtillon agreement of January 27, 1548. Following this agreement, Mary was sent to France to be raised at court until their marriage, meaning Francis and Mary grew up together. Contemporary accounts describe their childhood as carefree, with both children enjoying warm and sunny days together, going riding, hunting in the fields, flying hawks, and participating in archery and other sports.

EDUCATION Francis's educational upbringing was overseen by capable tutors and instructors. His governor and governess were Jean d'Humières and Françoise d'Humières. His primary tutor was Pierre Danès, a distinguished Greek scholar originally from Naples. For physical education and courtly skills, Francis learned dancing from Virgilio Bracesco and fencing from Hector of Mantua. Despite these quality instructors, Francis reportedly did not much enjoy academic pursuits, preferring outdoor activities.

CAREER RECORD 1544-1559: Dauphin of France.

April 24, 1558: Married Mary, Queen of Scots, in Notre Dame de Paris,  which made him King consort of Scotland. .

July 10, 1559: Ascended to the throne as King of France upon the accidental death of his father, Henry II. Due to his youth (he was 15 at his accession) and perceived weakness, real power was wielded by his maternal uncles, Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. 

December 5, 1560: Died, having reigned for less than 17 months.

APPEARANCE Francis was generally described as small for his age, with a delicate and somewhat sickly appearance. Portraits show him with light hair and a pale complexion.  Mary, Queen of Scots was described as tall for her age, creating a notable contrast between the young couple. 

Portrait of Francis II  by François Clouet, c. 1558

FASHION During Francis II's reign, court fashion was elaborate and distinctive. Mary Stuart, as queen, wore magnificent gowns including one of dark blue velvet on her wedding day. Court fashion featured gowns of silk or velvet in light or dark tints, with crimson Genoa velvet gowns opened in front over pale-colored underskirts. At formal occasions, the queen wore trains nearly twelve yards in length, carried by a gentleman. Ruffs were fashionable, often open in front and standing high behind. Sleeves were moderate in size, becoming narrower toward the wrist and drawn in at equal distances to form puffs. Francis took the sun as his emblem and adopted the mottoes "Spectanda fides" (This is how faith should be respected) and "Lumen rectis" (Light for the righteous). (1)

CHARACTER Francis II was characterized by contemporary observers and historians as timid, quiet, and lacking in strong will. He was overshadowed by his more forceful mother, Catherine de' Medici, and especially by his Guise uncles. He was reportedly devoted to his wife, Mary, Queen of Scots. His nature was not suited to the immense political and religious challenges France faced during his short reign.

SPEAKING VOICE Francis II suffered from a speech impediment, specifically stuttering.

SENSE OF HUMOUR  His serious and sickly nature, combined with the immense pressures of his short reign, suggests he may not have been known for a particularly jovial disposition.

RELATIONSHIPS Francis II's most significant relationship was with his wife Mary, Queen of Scots, whom he married on April 24, 1558. Henry II noted that from their first meeting, Francis and Mary "got on as well together as if they had known each other for a long time". He was characterized as having a sisterly-type relationship with Mary, who bore him "strong sisterly affection" while he "adored" her.

The marriage produced no children and may never have been consummated, possibly due to Francis's illnesses or physical limitations.

Mary and Francis in Catherine de' Medici's book of hours, c. 1574.

Francis maintained a close relationship with his mother, Catherine de' Medici, who agreed to delegate governmental power to the Guise family during his reign. His relationship with the House of Guise was crucial to his reign, as Mary's uncles Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine, effectively controlled the government.

MONEY AND FAME As King of France, Francis II would have had access to substantial royal wealth and enjoyed the highest level of fame and recognition possible in sixteenth-century Europe. His marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots potentially gave future French kings claims to both the Scottish throne and, through Mary's lineage, the English throne. However, his brief reign limited his ability to accumulate personal wealth or lasting fame beyond his royal status.

FOOD AND DRINK As a member of the French royal family, Francis enjoyed the finest cuisine available at the time, characterized by rich meats, game, elaborate pastries, and fine wines.

MUSIC AND ARTS The French court during the Renaissance was a vibrant center for music and the arts. Francis II was exposed to and participated in the cultural life of the court, which included music, dance, theater, and visual arts. His mother, Catherine de' Medici, was a significant patron of the arts.

LITERATURE The French Renaissance was a period of significant literary output, and Francis had access to the works of prominent writers of his time.

NATURE Francis II preferred outdoor activities to academic pursuits. The court moved to the Loire Valley after his coronation, where the Château de Blois and surrounding forests became the young king's home, giving an environment that supported his love of outdoor activities.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Francis II actively participated in several sporting activities despite his physical frailty. He enjoyed archery, hawking (falconry), and horse riding. These activities were pursued during his childhood with Mary, Queen of Scots, and they would hunt in the fields and participate in various outdoor sports together. 

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY Francis II was raised as a Catholic and his reign occurred during the early stages of the French Wars of Religion. His government, controlled by the staunchly Catholic House of Guise, attempted to suppress Protestant influence in France. The Guise family were "staunch supporters of the Catholic cause" and "tried to silence the Protestants" whose numbers were growing in France. 

Francis's reign saw the failed Conspiracy of Amboise in March 1560, where Huguenot (Protestant) conspirators attempted to seize the king and arrest his Guise mentors. The conspiracy was "savagely put down," demonstrating the religious tensions of his reign.

The execution of the conspirators at Amboise. Engraving by Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, 1569–1570

REIGN Francis II of France had the sort of reign you could easily sleep through. He became king on July 10, 1559, and died on December 5, 1560—just seventeen months later. That’s barely enough time to learn where the royal bathroom is. Still, his short stint on the throne managed to pack in a surprising amount of historical drama, thanks largely to overambitious relatives, religious paranoia, and the usual assortment of political headaches.

Francis wasn’t exactly bursting with kingly vigor. He was fifteen when his father, Henry II, suffered a tragically idiotic death in a jousting tournament—proof, if it were ever needed, that sticking sharp objects in your face is not a long-term survival strategy. The crown, when it came, was so heavy that someone had to hold it on his head during the coronation, a fairly apt metaphor for the entirety of his reign.

Technically, Francis was considered an adult by French law—fourteen was apparently the magic number, which says something alarming about 16th-century standards. In reality, the young king was a sickly lad who appeared to wilt in the presence of strong opinions. As a result, the real power went to his in-laws: the formidable House of Guise. His wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, came with some particularly energetic uncles—Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine—who promptly took over the business of running France while Francis was presumably off somewhere trying not to faint.

The Guises were ardent Catholics with an enthusiasm for suppressing Protestantism that bordered on obsessive. Their hardline tactics, combined with their refusal to share power with any other noble families, led directly to the Conspiracy of Amboise in 1560, a spectacularly ill-conceived Huguenot plot to kidnap the king. It failed, of course, in the way these things usually do—with a lot of heads on pikes and some very dramatic woodcuts to commemorate the moment. Catherine de' Medici, the king’s mother, watched all this with increasing alarm and quietly began steering things toward a more moderate course—though “moderate” in 16th-century France still involved quite a lot of executions.

Francis's foreign policy wasn’t so much a policy as a concession to bad luck. His father had already signed the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, which essentially gave away France’s hard-won possessions in Italy and elsewhere. Francis's job was to look like he meant it. France slunk out of Scotland, abandoned its brief flirtation with colonizing Brazil, and generally tried not to get into any more expensive trouble abroad.

Francis, to his credit, showed an admirable lack of interest in the actual mechanics of governance. He preferred hunting, music, and not dying of stress—though he would ultimately fail at that last one. His court was lively, his decisions were made for him, and both he and Mary dutifully let the Guises get on with it.

As the royal treasury began to resemble an empty purse, the government tried summoning the States General in a desperate bid to sort things out. Unfortunately, before anyone could agree on anything, Francis developed a grotesquely severe ear infection that turned into an abscess and killed him. He died in Orléans, not yet seventeen, in what must surely rank as one of history’s most anticlimactic royal demises.

With Francis gone, the Guises lost their stranglehold, the Huguenot leader Condé avoided the chopping block, and France moved on to its next child king: ten-year-old Charles IX. His mother, the quietly calculating Catherine de' Medici, finally stepped fully into the role of regent, now without having to elbow the Guises out of the way quite so much.

Francis II’s reign may have been short, but it was the warm-up act to a very long and bloody drama: the French Wars of Religion. His weakness, the overreach of his in-laws, and the climate of sectarian fear all helped light the match. History, as ever, has an unkind sense of humor. Francis is remembered not for what he did, but for what he allowed others to do in his name. One might say he was less a king than a footnote with a crown.

POLITICS Francis II's political reign was entirely dominated by the House of Guise rather than the young king himself. Despite French law stating that Francis was an adult who did not need a regent, his youth, inexperience, and fragile health led to him delegating power to his wife's uncles: Francis, Duke of Guise, and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. His mother Catherine de' Medici agreed to this arrangement. On his first day as king, Francis instructed his four ministers to take orders from his mother, but since she was in mourning, she directed them to the Guises. The Guise dominance created enmity among the smaller nobility and led to the failed Conspiracy of Amboise. Francis's death ended Guise control and saved Louis de Bourbon, prince de Condé, who had been sentenced to death for treason.

SCANDAL The primary "scandal" or controversy surrounding Francis II's reign was the overwhelming influence of his Guise uncles, which alienated many of the traditional French nobility, particularly the Bourbon princes (Antoine of Navarre and Louis, Prince of Condé), who felt marginalized. This power struggle fueled the religious and political unrest that would erupt into civil war shortly after his death.

MILITARY RECORD  His brief reign and young age, combined with his physical frailty, meant Francis never participated in military campaigns or battles. The military actions during his reign were conducted by others, particularly the Guise family who controlled governmental and military decisions.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Francis II suffered from poor health throughout his short life. He was consistently described as sickly and physically weak. 

In 1560, Jean Nicot, then the French ambassador to Portugal, sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves to Catherine de’ Medici, the mother of King Francis II. Nicot recommended that the queen prepare a headache remedy by crushing the leaves into a powder to be inhaled through the nose (snuff), which was said to relieve persistent headaches. This remedy reportedly became popular at the French court, with claims that it “marvelously cured” the king’s recurring headaches, although Francis II died young regardless. The plant subsequently became known as “l’herbe de Nicot” or “nicotiane,” and when the psychoactive compound was isolated, it was named “nicotine” in his honor

His health deteriorated significantly in November 1560 when he fainted on November 16. He died on December 5, 1560, from complications of an ear infection. Multiple medical conditions have been suggested by historians, including mastoiditis, meningitis, or otitis that developed into an abscess. The royal surgeon Ambroise Paré considered performing a trepanation (skull surgery), but this was ultimately refused. The infection caused "nauseating discharge" and "permanent and throbbing pain in the temporo-parietal region". Some historians have suggested the possibility of tuberculous otitis, though this remains speculative.

HOMES Francis II resided in various royal palaces throughout his short life. He was initially raised at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After his coronation, the court moved to the Loire Valley, where the Château de Blois and the surrounding forests became his primary residence. He also spent time at other royal residences including Fontainebleau, where he was born. The court moved to Amboise for security during the conspiracy against the Guises. Francis died at the Hôtel Groslot in Orléans.

Château de Blois, lithograph by C. Molle from a drawing by Charles-Caïus Renoux

TRAVEL Francis II would have traveled between the various royal residences and possibly to other parts of France for official duties, but his ill health likely limited extensive travel.

DEATH Francis II died on December 5, 1560, at the age of sixteen in Orléans. His death resulted from complications of an ear infection that had worsened into an abscess, possibly affecting his brain. The infection caused significant discharge and severe pain. 

After only seventeen months on the throne, his death was sudden enough that some suspected poisoning, though medical evidence suggests natural causes. He was buried on December 23, 1560, in the Basilica of St Denis. 

His death ended the Guise family's control of France and saved Louis, Prince of Condé, from execution. Francis was succeeded by his ten-year-old brother Charles IX, with their mother Catherine de' Medici becoming regent.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Francis II of France, despite his brief reign, has been portrayed in various film and television productions, often with creative liberties. Here are some notable portrayals:

Toby Regbo in Reign (2013–2017) In The CW's historical drama Reign, Toby Regbo portrays Francis II as a romantic and noble figure. The series focuses on his relationship with Mary, Queen of Scots, and their political struggles. While the show takes significant historical liberties, it offers a dramatized glimpse into their lives. 

Richard Denning in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) This film presents a more traditional depiction of Francis II, focusing on his marriage to Mary and the political implications of their union.

Sebastian Stragiotti-Axanciuc in Mary, Queen of Scots (2013) In this adaptation, Francis II's character is explored within the context of Mary's life, highlighting the challenges of their young marriage amidst political turmoil.

George Jaques in The Serpent Queen (2022) This Starz series offers a darker, more satirical take on Catherine de' Medici's rise to power. Francis II appears as a supporting character, emphasizing the manipulative dynamics of the French court.

ACHIEVEMENTS Given his very short and politically dominated reign, Francis II's personal achievements are limited. His "achievements" are more accurately described as events that occurred during his reign and had significant consequences:

Marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots: This union was a major diplomatic coup for France, uniting the crowns of Scotland and France, albeit briefly.

Consolidation of Guise Power: For a brief period, the Guise family reached the zenith of their influence under his rule.

Source (1) World 4