Henry II of France
| Henry II | |
|---|---|
 |
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| King of France | |
| Reign | 31 March 1547 – 10 July 1559 |
| Coronation | 25 July 1547 |
| Predecessor | Francis I |
| Successor | Francis II |
| Born |
31 March 1519 Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye |
| Died | 10 July 1559 (aged 40) Place des Vosges |
| Burial | Saint Denis Basilica |
| Spouse | Catherine de' Medici |
| Issue among others... |
Francis II of France Elisabeth, Queen of Spain Louis of Valois Claude, Duchess of Lorraine Charles IX of France Henry III of France Margaret, Queen of Navarre and France Francis, Duke of Anjou Victoria of Valois Joan of Valois |
| House | Valois-Angoulême |
| Father | Francis I of France |
| Mother | Claude, Duchess of Brittany |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
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Royal styles of King Henry II |
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|---|---|
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| Reference style | His Most Christian Majesty |
| Spoken style | Your Most Christian Majesty |
| Alternative style | Monsieur le Roi |
Henry II (French: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536.
As a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matter of arts, wars and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg and tried to suppress the Protestant Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign.
The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), which put an end to the Italian Wars, had mixed results: France renounced its claims to territories in Italy, but gained certain other territories, including the Pale of Calais and the Three Bishoprics. France failed to change the balance of power in Europe, as Spain remained the sole dominant power, but it did benefit from the division of the holdings of its ruler, Charles V, and from the weakening of the Holy Roman Empire, which Charles also ruled.
Henry suffered an untimely death in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis at the conclusion of the Eighth Italian War. The king's surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the infected wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard. He was succeeded in turn by three of his sons, whose ineffective reigns helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics.
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