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France was a country torn apart by years of religious and civil wars when Marie de Medici married King Henri IV in 1600. It was one of the unhappiest royal marriages of all time. Desperate for power, she watched from behind the scenes for years while her husband tried to control a country that was intent on destroying itself from within - she watched, and waited for her moment to strike. After 10 years of marriage, she was finally crowned Queen of France in her own right.
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When Marie de' Medici married King Henry IV in 1600
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France was a country torn apart by years of religious and civil wars
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Desperate for power, Marie watched while her husband struggled to control a country
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intent on destroying itself, and she waited for her moment to strike
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Today, we're going to take a look at the rise and catastrophic downfall of Marie de' Medici
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Henry IV's first marriage was to Marguerite de Valois, who was a Medici through her mother
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That marriage, however, was annulled in 1599, after which Henry married Marie de Medici in an
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elaborate ceremony held in Florence. As king, Henry couldn't leave his kingdom, and Marie
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couldn't leave Florence without becoming a married woman. So he didn't actually attend the ceremony
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and marriage was carried out by a proxy. It certainly wasn't the most romantic arrangement
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but in his line of work, marriage is a business. Speaking of not the most romantic
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it turns out the marriage was a last-minute alternative for Henry. He had originally intended to marry his mistress of many years
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Gabrielle d'Estrée. The two were set to take the plunge on Easter Day in 1599
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However, Henry's hopes were tragically dashed. When d'Estrée, five months pregnant at the time
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suddenly took ill and died giving birth to a stillborn baby boy
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Henry had no heir from his first wife, so he needed a woman who could give him sons
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And Marie's family had a reputation on both sides of her family for being exceptionally fertile
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The huge dowry of 600,000 crowns she brought with her was also fairly attractive
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Marie was the daughter of Francesco de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Joanna of Austria. Born in 1575, she was one of seven children
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although only two survived into adulthood. Marie's family descended from Lorenzo de Medici
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the elder, and was part of the so-called cadet branch of the family. This branch produced two
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centuries worth of Tuscan dukes and participated in Medici affairs, though they had limited
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political influence. Marie's mother, Joanna of Austria, was a member of the powerful Habsburg
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family and the daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I. It was this royal blood, along with
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her huge dowry and family reputation for fertility, that guaranteed her marriage to the French king
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And when it came to fertility, Marie did not disappoint. And in 1601, she gave birth to the
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long-awaited heir to the throne, the future Louis XIII. Louis was a sickly child with a number of
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ailments, both mental and physical, which worried the doctors. Many even feared he would not live
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to sit upon the throne. Marie, however, made certain to provide the king with a spare heir
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Over the course of nearly a decade, she produced six children, five of whom survived to adulthood
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an impressive feat for the time regardless of social rank and wealth. Her eldest daughter became queen of Spain
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Her second the Duchess of Savoy and the youngest Henrietta Maria married Charles I and became queen of England Meanwhile her other son Gaston spent the rest of his life lurking around the French court enjoying his royal privileges He didn spend this time idly however
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More than once, he fomented rebellion against his brother with ill-advised attempts at seizing the throne
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Despite producing several children together, Henry and Marie had a tumultuous marriage
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Henry was known for keeping a bawdy court and having a wife didn't change that. In fact, he continued to take mistresses and sleeping with
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other women. Marie mistrusted and resented any and all women in her husband's proximity
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but it was hard for her to escape their existence. Many of his mistresses produced children who were
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raised at the royal court alongside Henry and Marie's legitimate children. That makes for a
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weird dinner table. On the flip side, Henry took issue with Marie's Italian entourage
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notably Conchino Conchini, an adventurer with a knack for annoying the French
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and his wife, Leonora Galligay, one of Marie's childhood friends. Marie, for her part, was extremely generous with money and favors with her Italian friends
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breeding mistrust and jealousy at the royal court. The fact that Galligay was accused of witchcraft probably didn't help matters
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During his life, Henry tried to find a balance between the warring religious factions
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which in turn made him all the more hated by fanatics. He survived over 20 assassination attempts, which is pretty impressive considering we made a video
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about Queen Victoria, and she only survived eight. But unless you're the Washington generals
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every lucky streak comes to an end, and Henry was finally struck down by a zealous Catholic
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on May 14, 1610. Stabbed twice, he died immediately, with his young son, Louis, becoming king
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Since Louis was too young to rule, Marie became regent and ruled on his behalf
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This transfer of royal authority didn't happen smoothly. Marie's rise to power was actually extremely suspicious
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The day before Henry's assassination, she was finally crowned Queen of France after nearly 10 years of marriage
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The ceremony cemented Marie as queen before God and kingdom, and it would have been nearly impossible for her to attempt to rule without this important event taking place
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In other words, she was confirmed in her role only 24 hours before her husband's death paved
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the way for her to seize power. A real coincidence by any reckoning
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Marie was supposed to serve as Queen Regent only until Louis came of age at 13. But she held on to
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power for longer than she was supposed to by continually demeaning her son in public and
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refusing to allow him any part in politics. During her rule, Marie continued to show favor
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to her Italian associates, Conchino Conchini and Leonore Galligai. Conchini was even elevated to
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the position of Marquis d'Ancre and became her closest advisor. Marie also took on Armand Jean
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du Plessis de Richelieu as an advisor, and he worked with both the Queen Regent and Conchini
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During all of this, Marie emptied the royal treasury with her lavish lifestyle
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readily gave up royal power to the nobles when she was even slightly intimidated and fomented general instability both at the court and in France at large Surprising no one Marie popularity plummeted day by day
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Even Marie's son, Louis, didn't like his mother's behavior. He knew his rightful place was on the throne, leading the kingdom
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He watched from the sidelines, biding his time for the right moment to strike, just like any good son
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Finally, in the early hours of April 24, 1617, Charles de Luyne initiated a palace coup
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Cochini was assassinated, his wife beheaded for witchcraft and her remains burned, and Marie was placed under house arrest
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before being exiled to the Chateau de Blois. At the Chateau de Blois, Marie plotted her return to power
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with the help of a few nobles who remained loyal to her. After two years of waiting, she finally made her escape
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on the night of February 21st or 22nd, 1619. The escape, however, turned out to be a comedy of errors
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The queen was lowered down onto a ladder by rope from a high tower, then proceeded to climb down until she got stuck
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Paralyzed with fear, Marie couldn't move, and some soldiers were forced to carry her down from the ladder
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When they finally got her to the ground, she was mistaken by a group of passing guards for a prostitute
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Marie had the good humor to find it amusing when they inquired how much an evening with her would cost
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As if all that wasn't bad enough, when they finally got a few miles away from the chateau
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Marie realized she had left behind a casket of jewels she had intended to sell to finance the necessary armies
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to wage war against her son. Oopsies. Without them, her fight would be over before it had begun
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She ordered the carriage to turn around, and miraculously, the jewel case was still sitting in the grass
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where she had forgotten it. After Marie escaped confinement and threatened to bring war against her son in 1619
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Richelieu was called in to broker a peace between mother and son
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which he accomplished with the Treaty of Angoulême. According to this agreement
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Marie would remain free, have her own court, and be allowed to participate on the royal council
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Richelieu made an impression on the young king and soon became one of his closest advisors
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With Marie and Louis' support, Richelieu was elevated to the position of cardinal in 1622
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During the early 1620s, Richelieu was a fundamental force behind Louis XIII's policies and actions
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against Huguenots, or French Protestants. He conspired against the king's chief minister
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Charles de la Vuville, and brought him down with charges of corruption in 1624
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Richelieu then took his place as the effective prime minister of France
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By the way, if Richelieu's name seems familiar to you, it's probably because French author
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Alexandre Dumas made him the big bad of his 1844 novel, The Three Musketeers
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Thanks to Dumas, the cardinal has been portrayed on screen by the likes of Vincent Price
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Charlton Heston, Tim Curry, Christophe Waltz, and many, many others. Once Marie was at peace with her son she set her sights on building an elaborate palace in Paris to glorify her position The design of what became known as the Luxembourg Palace was inspired by the Palazzo
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Pitti in Florence, and construction began in 1615. But building came to a halt when Marie fell out
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of favor. However, she was free to return to the project during the relatively peaceful period of
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the 1620s. Architect Salomon Dubros built the palace and its famous gardens along the left bank
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of the Seine, and it has served as the seat of the French Senate since 1958. In one wing of the
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Luxembourg Palace, Marie established a special gallery to display a series of paintings by Baroque
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master Peter Paul Rubens. The two dozen masterpieces were commissioned during the early 1620s and were
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intended to create a visual biography of her life. Known as the Marie de' Medici cycle, the paintings
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allegorically represent significant events in her life, including her marriage by proxy, the death of
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her husband and proclamation of her regency and her negotiations at Angoulême
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The paintings were more of an early exercise in public relations than a true telling of events
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Marie was made out to be the savior of France over and over again
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when in reality she nearly drove the country into the ground on more than one occasion
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Despite making peace with her son, Marie's position in France declined again during the late 1620s
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Louis and Richelieu systematically undid everything she had done as Queen Regent
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which infuriated Marie. Marie did whatever she could to discredit and get rid of Richelieu
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On November 10, 1630, in a moment of unbridled anger, Marie let loose a torrent of abuse against the cardinal
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laying down every charge she could think of before her son. Louis left the room without saying a word, which Marie took as a good sign
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She believed her son would dismiss his chief minister, and she made a point of letting everyone at court know
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she was the true power behind the throne, not Richelieu. The court flocked to Marie's apartments
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to pay their fawning respect to the woman everyone believed would control the future of France
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But they were mistaken. When Louis visited his mother the next day
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she expected him to announce Richelieu's demise. Instead, on what has forever been remembered
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as the Day of the Dupes, the king chose Richelieu over his mother
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Louis made his second formal break with Marie, who was arrested and later exiled from France. In 1631, Marie was banished, winding up in the
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Spanish Netherlands before making her way to Cologne. During the last 11 years of her life
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Marie was destitute, having fallen from royalty to a life in exile. In 1642, Marie died in Cologne
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where she was living at the expense of Peter Paul Rubens, the same man who had once glorified her
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life so majestically. She was followed to the grave only a few months later by Richelieu
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and then by her son in 1643. The only time Marie ever returned to France was after she died
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Her body was interred in the Royal Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris
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Right until the end of her life, she never stopped railing against Richelieu
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producing pamphlets against him and his tyranny, until she drew her final breath as a beggar in a far-off country