Maria de Medici
Maria de' Medici (Florence, Italy, April 26, 1575-Cologne, July 3, 1642) was princess of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from her birth and queen consort of France, like the second wife of King Henry IV of France —from 1600 to 1610— and Queen Regent of France until the coming of age of her son, the future King Louis XIII of France —from 1610 to 1617. She had an outstanding performance as a collector and patron of the arts.
Birth
Maria de' Medici was born on April 26, 1575 in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany. She belonged to the rich and powerful House of Medici and was the sixth daughter of Francis I de' Medici (1541-1587), Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joan of Habsburg-Jagellon (1547-1578), Archduchess of Austria.
Close to the artists of her native Florence, she was educated by Jacobo Ligozzi. She was also a ballet dancer.
Queen of France
Marie de' Medici's marriage to King Henry IV of France was primarily due to the dynastic and financial concerns of the first French monarch of the House of Bourbon. For the King of France it was his second marriage because he had previously been married, since August 18, 1572, to Marguerite de Valois with whom he was never happy and from whom he separated before his ascension to the French throne, in 1589. without having had children. The marriage was annulled in 1599.
Maria de' Medici was married on December 17, 1600. The Medici, creditor bankers to the King of France, promised a dowry of 600,000 gold escudos, earning Maria the nickname "Great Banker."
His arrival in France from Marseilles, after his marriage by proxy in Florence before his confirmation in Lyon, had a great impact. Two thousand people formed her procession. Antoinette de Pons, Marquise de Guercheville, a member of the powerful Pons family, would be the lady-in-waiting to the future queen.
After disembarking, Marie de' Medici joined her husband in Lyon, where they spent their wedding night.
Maria de' Medici became pregnant immediately, and on September 27, 1601, the first child, the Dauphin Louis, was born, causing great joy both to the king and to the entire kingdom, since for forty years the birth of a son had been expected. Dolphin. Maria de' Medici continued in the role of her wife and bore her husband several children.
Marie de' Medici did not get along with Henry IV. Extremely jealous, she could not stand the feminine adventures of her husband, nor her slights; he forced her to associate with her lovers and also spared her the money she needed to cover all the needs that her royal condition demanded of her. Arguments between the two were frequent, followed by a relative calm.
María had to endure the king's love affairs with Catalina Enriqueta de Balzac de Entragues, Marchioness of Verneuil, with whom she had two children: Gastón Enrique, Duke of Verneuil, born in 1601 and legitimized in 1603, and Gabriela Angélica, known as Mademoiselle de Verneuil, who was born in 1603.
Later, Maria tolerated a new mistress of Henry IV. With Jacqueline de Bueil, Countess of Moret, with whom the King had a son: Antonio, Count of Moret, born in 1607 and legitimized in 1608.
To her husband's infidelities was added another affair with Charlotte des Essarts, Countess of Romorantin, with whom she had two daughters: Juana Bautista, born and legitimized in 1608, and María Enriqueta, who was born in 1609.
Marie de' Medici wanted to be officially crowned Queen of France, but Henry IV, for various political reasons, kept postponing the ceremony. It was necessary to wait until May 13, 1610, the date on which the king was expected to be absent for a long time—Henry left to lead an “armed visit” to settle a political problem between the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, and the case de Cleves and Juliers—so that the queen would be crowned at Saint-Denis and make her official entry into Paris. The next day the king was assassinated.
Regent of France
After the regicide of Henry IV of France on May 14, 1610, the queen consort Marie de' Medici assumed the regency on behalf of her son Louis XIII who was not yet 9 years old, too young to be able to reign.
The insecure position of her regency before the nobility of the kingdom and its neighbors in Europe forced her to break with the policy of Henry IV. She dismissed the king's advisers, but was unable to make herself obeyed by the Great Ones.
To recover the power of France, he found no better solution than to agree to peace with Spain. In 1615 this rapprochement materialized through a marriage that united the dynasties of France and Spain. His daughter Isabel de Borbón married the infante Felipe—son of King Philip III of Spain and future Philip IV of Spain. A second marriage linked the two royal dynasties again when his son, King Louis XIII of France, married the Infanta Ana of Habsburg—also the daughter of King Philip III of Spain.
The queen's policy caused great discontent, however. On the one hand, the Protestants viewed with concern the rapprochement of Mary with her Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain Felipe III; on the other, Maria de' Medici tried to reinforce the power of the monarchy with the support of people like Concino Concini, husband of her milk sister and the lady-in-waiting Leonora Dori, who was not appreciated by some French nobles. These, led by xenophobia, accused the Italian immigrants who surrounded Maria de' Medici of enriching themselves to the detriment of the French nobility. Taking advantage of the weakening caused by her regency, the nobles of the great families, led by Prince Louis II of Bourbon-Condé, rose up against Marie de' Medici in order to obtain financial compensation.
First exile
On the other hand, the queen mother, Marie de' Medici did not have good relations with her son, King Louis XIII of France. Feeling humiliated by the behavior of his mother, Louis XIII organized a coup in 1617 in which Concino Concini was assassinated. Upon seizing power, he exiled his mother to the Castle of Blois.
When Marie de' Medici was exiled by her son, her black legend began to take shape: she was accused of having procured wealth and power from her Italian favourites, of financial waste caused by the extravagance of the queen and her entourage, and of the stupidity and corruption of his policy that had increased during his government.
The two wars of mother and son and their return to court
In 1619, the Queen Mother, Marie de' Medici, escaped from her prison and led an uprising against her son, King Louis XIII of France. This uprising was known as the “mother and son war”. The Angoulême treaty, negotiated by Cardinal Richelieu, settled the conflict. But the queen mother was not satisfied and she returned to take up arms against her son with the help of the Great Ones of the kingdom. This second uprising was called the "second war of the mother and the son." The noble coalition was quickly defeated at the Battle of Points-de-Cé by the king, who pardoned his mother and the princes. Aware that he could not prevent the formation of plots while Marie de' Medici was in exile, the king agreed to his return to court.
Maria de' Medici returned to Paris where she dedicated herself to the construction of her Luxembourg Palace. After the death of Carlos de Albert, Duke of Luynes, in 1622, she surreptitiously entered politics. Richelieu played, at that time, an important role in the reconciliation between mother and son, suggesting that she could join the King's Council.
Patrons
Marie de' Medici, a renowned patron of Parisian life, employed Nicolas Poussin and Philippe de Champaigne in decorating the Luxembourg Palace, and commissioned numerous paintings from Guido Reni and especially Rubens, whom she sent to Antwerp to the execution of a gallery of paintings dedicated to his life. There are currently 22 paintings preserved in the Louvre Museum.
Fall and final exile
Marie de' Medici continued to attend the Councils of King Louis XIII of France, according to the advice of Cardinal Richelieu, whom she introduced as the king's minister. For a few years, she did not realize the power and importance that her client and her ward was acquiring. When she found out about it, she tried to overthrow him by all means. Not yet understanding the king's character, he thought it would be easy for him to get Richelieu removed, but after the famous Day of the Deceived on November 12, 1630, Richelieu became Prime Minister and Marie de' Medici was forced to reconcile with him.
Eventually, Maria decided to retire from court. The king, knowing how intriguing she could be to her, sent her to the castle of Compiègne, from where she fled to Brussels on July 19, 1631, where she thought to find help for her cause. Taking refuge with the enemies of France, she Maria was deprived of her status as queen of France and, consequently, of her pensions.
The end of Marie de' Medici was pathetic. For years she lived under the protection of the European courts in Germany, then in England, trying to create enemies against the cardinal and never being able to return to France. She took refuge in the house of Rubens, she died on July 3, 1642, at the age of 67, in Cologne, in the Holy Roman Empire, a few months before Richelieu and a year before the king.
His body is buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Dynastic Legacy
Through Maria de Médici the descendants of the Catholic Kings came to the throne of France, as well as in Spain, Austria, the Holy Roman Empire, England, Scotland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Portugal, Croatia and the thrones Italians.
Offspring
Marie de' Medici married King Henry IV of France on December 16, 1600 in Lyon and they had 6 children:
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louis XIII, King of France and Navarre | 27 September 1601 | 14 May 1643 | Married with Anna of Austria (1601-1666) in 1615. They had children. |
| Isabel, daughter of France | 22 November 1603 | 6 October 1644 | Married with Philip IV, king of Spain (1605-1665) in 1615. He had kids. |
| Cristina Maria, daughter of France | 12 February 1606 | 27 December 1663 | Married with Victor Amadeo I, Duke of Saboya (1587-1637) in 1619. He had kids. |
| Nicolas Enrique, Duke of Orleans | 16 April 1607 | 17 November 1611 | He died young. He had no children. |
| Gaston, Duke of Orleans | 25 April 1608 | 2 February 1660 | Married first with Mary of Bourbon, duchess of Montpensier (1605-1627) in 1626. She had a daughter. Married later with Margarita de Lorena (1615-1672) in 1632. He had kids. |
| Enriqueta María, daughter of France | 25 November 1609 | 10 September 1669 | Married with Charles I, king of England (1600-1649) in 1625. He had kids. |
Ancestry
| María de Médici | Father: Francisco I de Médici | Paternal grandfather: Cosme I de Médici | Good-bye. Juan de Médici |
| Paternal bisabuela: Maria Salviati | |||
| Grandma paternal: Leonor Alvarez of Toledo and Osorio | Good-bye. Pedro Alvarez de Toledo y Zúñiga | ||
| Paternal bisabuela: Maria Osorio Pimentel | |||
| Mother: Juana de Habsburg-Jagellón | Mother's grandfather: Fernando I of Habsburg | Maternal great-grandfather: Felipe I of Castile | |
| Maternal bisabuela: Juana I de Castilla | |||
| Maternal grandmother: Ana Jagellón de Hungary y Bohemia | Maternal great-grandfather: Vladislao II of Hungary | ||
| Maternal bisabuela: Ana de Foix-Candale |
In fiction
The role of Maria de Médici has been interpreted by:
TV series
| Year | Television Series | Actress |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | The Musketeers | Tara Fitzgerald |
Titles
| Real Titles | ||
| Predecessor: Margarita de Valois | Reina consorte de Navarra 1600-1610 | Successed by: Anna of Austria |
 Queen Consort of France 1600-1610 | ||
| Predecessor: Catalina de Médici (in 1574) | Regent de France y Navarra 1610-1614 on behalf of his son Louis XIII | Successed by: Anna of Austria (in 1643) |
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