Henri II
King of France · 1547-1559 · born on 31 March 1519, died on 10 July 1559
Second son of Francis I, who became heir after the death of his elder brother, Henry II came to the throne in 1547. He continued his father’s struggle against the Habsburgs: occupation of the Three Bishoprics (Metz, Toul, Verdun), confirmed by the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), and recapture of Calais from the English in 1558.
His reign, dominated by the Italian affairs and the rivalry with Charles V, then with his son Philip II after the abdication of 1556, saw the assertion of royal power. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), signed at the price of renouncing the Italian conquests, put an end to the Italian Wars.
Husband of Catherine de’ Medici, Henry II died on 10 July 1559, ten days after being wounded in the eye by a lance splinter during a tournament. His death, at forty, opened a fragile succession: the Valois, already threatened by the advance of Protestantism, were running out of heirs.
In the tree of power
- Era: Valois
- Predecessor: François Ier (1515-1547)
- Successor: François II (1559-1560)
- Queen: Catherine de Médicis (1547-1559)