Marie de Médicis
Queen · 1600-1610 · born on 26 April 1575, died on 4 July 1642
A princess of the great Florentine Medici family, Marie married King Henry IV in 1600, widower of Margaret of Valois. Queen of France, she gave birth to the future Louis XIII and his brothers and sisters, including Gaston of Orléans and Henrietta Maria, future Queen of England.
After Henry IV’s assassination in 1610, she acted as regent during her son’s minority. Governing with her favourite Concini, she had to face the revolts of the great nobles and leaned on the aristocracy, before being ousted from power by Louis XIII in 1617.
Rallied to Cardinal Richelieu, she supported his rise to the post of principal minister, before turning against him and trying to have him disgraced (the Day of the Dupes, 1630). Exiled, she died in Cologne in 1642, after a life marked by court intrigue.
In the tree of power
- Spouse: Henri IV (1589-1610)