Louis of France (3 February 154924 October 1550), also known as Louis, Duke of Orléans was the second son and fourth child of Henry II (31 March 151910 July 1559),

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

and his wife,

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...

, daughter of

Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 12 September 1492 – 4 May 1519) was the ruler of Florence from 1516 until his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino during the same period. His daughter Catherine de' Medici became Queen Consort of Fran ...

and his wife

Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (1498 – 28 April 1519) was a younger daughter of Jean III de La Tour (1467– 28 March 1501), Count of Auvergne and Lauraguais, and Jeanne de Bourbon, Duchess of Bourbon (1465–1511). She was a pe ...

. He died aged 1 year and 8 months.

Life

After Henry II and

were married, several years passed without the birth of any children. Though various remedies were tried, none proved to be effective. According to court sources, the royal couple then turned to the court physician Fernel for help in conceiving. Louis was born on 3 February 1549 at the

Palace of Fontainebleau Palace of Fontainebleau (; ) or Château de Fontainebleau, located southeast of the center of Paris, in the commune of Fontainebleau, is one of the largest French royal châteaux. The medieval castle and subsequent palace served as a residence ...

, the couple's second son and fourth child. From birth he was second in line to the throne and endowed with the duchy of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Jean d'Humières and

Françoise d'Humières Françoise d'Humières, Dame de Contay, née ''de Contay'' (circa 1489-1557), was a French court official; she served as Governess of the Children of France from 1546 to 1557. Françoise d'Humières was the daughter of Charles de Contay, sénécha ...

, under the orders of

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and prominent courtier. She wielded much power and influence as King Henry II's royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position increased her wealth and famil ...

,Frieda, Leonie, "Catherine de Medici", Orion Books, London, 2005 and reportedly shared the same nursery with his brother and sister

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

and Elisabeth, and later with his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

. Louis was present when five-year-old

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

arrived at Henry II's court to be raised as the intended bride and queen of

, the future

king of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...

and king consort of Scots. There are reports that Henry II and Catherine planned for Louis to one day become the

Duke of Urbino The Duchy of Urbino was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1625. It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the east ...

, a title which belonged exclusively to the

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

family.

Death

Freer's account

Martha Walker Freer gives the year of Louis's death as 1549. According to Freer, the infant Duke of Orléans was given a christening of "extraordinary splendour" in

St. Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

in 1549. However, a few days after the ceremony, Louis died from the effects of a chill caught while being handed from one state functionary to another.Freer, p. 4

Other accounts

Other accounts dismiss Freer's, stating that Louis died in 1550, one even giving a date for his baptism, 19 May 1549 and listing his godparents as

John III of Portugal John III ( pt, João III ; 7 June 1502 – 11 June 1557), nicknamed The Pious (Portuguese: ''o Piedoso''), was the King of Portugal and the Algarves from 1521 until his death in 1557. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the thi ...

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (french: Marie de Guise; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was a French noblewoman of the House of Guise, a cadet branch of the House of Lorraine and one of the most powerful families in France. She ...

and

Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara Ercole II d'Este (5 April 1508 – 3 October 1559) was Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1534 to 1559. He was the eldest son of Alfonso I d'Este and Lucrezia Borgia. Biography Through his mother, Ercole was a grandson of Pope Alexande ...

In fiction

He is briefly mentioned in the novel ''Madame Serpent'' and ''The Captive Queen'', both by

Jean Plaidy Eleanor Alice Hibbert (née Burford; 1 September 1906 – 18 January 1993) was an English writer of historical romances. She was a prolific writer who published several books a year in different literary genres, each genre under a different pen ...

Ancestors

Sources

*Livre d’Heures de Catherine de Medicis 1556. Reproduced by kind permission of Bibliothèque Nationale Paris, Département de Manuscrits, B.N. n.a.l. 82) (nouvelles acquisitions latines). * * * *

References

, - {{Catherine de' Medici People from Fontainebleau 1549 births 1550 deaths French princes Dukes of Orléans Royalty and nobility who died as children Sons of kings