• It's nice to know about King Charles II who cared enough for his wife, Queen Catherine and yet had so many mistresses and illegitimate children. Charles also did a number of good deeds during his reign. Yes, his account is interesting to read. Thank you for sharing. Mitara N from South Africa on March 15, 2020: Very interesting article.
• However, Mary and Francis were to have no children during their short lived marriage, possibly due to Francis' illnesses or his undescended testicles.2 edit King of France Coin of Francis II and Mary Stuart, 1558.

Sebastian de Poitiers was the illegitimate son of King Henry II of France and his mistress Diane de Poitiers, and he was raised at the French court with his younger half-brother Francis and Francis' fiancee Mary, Queen of Scots. He became known as a flirtatious womanizer at court, as well as becoming known as a great warrior and France's fastest horseman.

While researching for my book ‘The Challenge to the Crown‘, I came across this story concerning Janet Stewart, Mary Queen of Scots’ aunt, who also served as her Governess, when she went to France after becoming betrothed to the Dauphin Francis, later Francis II.

Janet Stewart, Lady Fleming

Janet Stewart, the Lady Fleming, was the illegitimate daughter of James IV of Scotland and the widow of Malcolm, 3^rd Lord Fleming, who, in September 1547, was killed at the Battle of Pinkie Cleuch. Less than a year later she was appointed Governess in charge of the Royal party taking Mary Queen of Scots to France for her education. She was accompanying her daughters Mary Fleming, one of Mary’s Maries (Maids of Honour) and Agnes, who was a few years older. The Lady Fleming was a great personality. She had no difficulty in communicating her considerable charms to those on board the French galley transporting the Royal entourage, despite bouts of seasickness. After their journey, De Brézé reported that:

She had pleased all this company as much as the six most virtuous women in this kingdom could have done. For my part I would not for all the world have had her absent, having regard not only to the service of the Queen but to the reputation of the Kingdom of Scotland.

Her success continued on arrival at the French court. Knox believed that Mary had been ‘sold to the devil’, and he may have had a point. The court was certainly no haven of morality and HenryII lived openly with his long term mistress, Dianede Poitiers. The ladies solicited the men as much as the men solicited them. Mary must have become only too aware of the court’s lascivious goings on. In 1550, the Guise brothers, who kept a proprietary eye on the royal nursery, heard that Constable Montmorency had been paying the Lady Fleming undue attention. As he was Diane de Poitiers’ principal rival for the King’s ear, they were quick to warn her. Diane who had responsibility for the upbringing of the French Royal children provided a key to the Lady Fleming’s apartment to enable Montmorency to be caught in flagrante delictu. To their horror they found that he was acting as a blind for the sensual governess to be courted by the King.

The affair developed and Henry even wrote somewhat disingenuously to Mary of Guise, the Queen Dowager, in Scotland, saying:

I believe that you appreciate the care trouble and great attention that my kinswoman [she was Mary’s aunt and he considered Mary to be his daughter] the Lady Fleming shows from day to day about the person of our little daughter the Queen of Scots, I must continually remember her children and her family.

King Francis Ii Illegitimate Child Law

Henry II of France

Diane concluded that Montmorency had promoted the affair in an effort to topple her from her pre-eminent position next to the King. Montmorency certainly publicised rumours of a rift between her and the King. Despite having a broken leg after a fall from her horse, she returned to St-Germain from her home at Anet to position herself outside the Lady Fleming’s door. When the King appeared with Montmorency, she upbraided him for bringing the Queen of Scots into disrepute by sleeping with her governess, particularly as Fleming was known to have Huguenot sympathies. Henry made Diane promise not to advise the Guises (who had told her of the affair in the first place), while the French Queen, Catherine de Medici, enjoyed Diane’s discomfiture and played the outraged wife. Despite their efforts to cool down the affair, Henry ignored them both, and the Lady Fleming unwisely, but certainly not ashamedly, became pregnant. Although Henry would have preferred her to show discretion about this, she flaunted her success and, in excruciating French with a strong Scottish accent, loudly pronounced, ‘I have done all that I can, and God be thanked, I am pregnant by the King, for which I count myself both honoured and happy.’ Catherine saw to it that ‘Madam de Flamin’ was shipped back to Scotland, travelling with her daughter Agnes (who was to marry Mary Livingston’s brother, William, 6th Lord Livingston in 1553), while her daughter Mary remained behind in France as one of the Maries. Back in Scotland, she gave birth to a son, named Henry after his father. Diane resumed her politically important position as royal mistress, but she was now aged fifty-one, and was beginning to find the 32-year-old King’s sexually athletic overtures somewhat irksome. This allowed Catherine to develop her political authority by spending increasing time in the royal bed.

The Lady Fleming was determined to return with her son to France, but this was forbidden by the Queen Dowager, Marie of Guise. It was only after her death in 1560 that Elizabeth in England permitted her to travel over land with Lord ‘Harry de Valois’ and an escort of twenty-four horsemen. Both Mary, now Queen of France, and her husband Francis II, were fond of her and appear to have received her graciously. Henry, Chevalier d’Angoulême, was thereafter brought up with the other royal children and his leaping agility on the dance floors at Court was testimony to his Scottish ancestry. He later became Abbé de la Chaise-Dieu and Grand Prior General of the Galleys. Although he was noted for his writing of lyrical verse, he grew to be a man of great cruelty, being associated with the St Bartholemew’s Day Massacre. He was finally killed in a duel in 1586. The Lady Fleming died in February 1562 at Richmond in London, perhaps as she was returning to Scotland.

• Born 19 January 1544
• Deceased 5 December 1560,aged 16 years old

Parents

• King Henry II Of France1519-1559
• Katharina De' Medici1519-1589

Spouses

• With Queen Mary I Of Scotland1542-1587 (Parents :King James V Of Scotland1512-1542 & Marie Of Guise1515-1560)

Siblings

• Princess Elisabeth Of France1545-1568
• Princess Claude Of France1547-1575
• Prince Louis Duke Of Orleans1549-1550
• King Charles IX Of France1550-1574
• King Henry III Of France1551-1589
• Princess Marguerite Of France1553-1615
• Prince Francois Duke Of Alencon1555-1584
• Princess Victoire Of France1556-1556
• Princess Jeanne Of France1556-1556

Half-siblings

Notes

King Francis Ii Of France Illegitimate Child

Individual Note

Francis II of France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Francis II
King of France; King consort of Scots, Count of Provence
Reign
Consort 10 July 1559 5 December 1560
24 April 1558 5 December 1560
Coronation 21 September 1559
Predecessor Henry II
Successor Charles IX
Spouse Mary I of Scotland
Detail
Titles and styles
HM The King of France
HG The King of Scots
The Dauphin of Viennois
House House of Valois
Father Henry II
Mother Catherine de' Medici
Born 19 January 1544(1544-01-19)
Château de Fontainebleau, France
Died 5 December 1560 (aged 16)
Orléans, France
Burial Saint Denis Basilica, France
Francis II (19 January 1544 5 December 1560, King-consort of Scotland (15581560), and King of France (1559 1560), was born at the Royal Chateau at Fontainebleau, the son of Henry II, King of France (31 March 1519 10 July 1559) and Catherine de' Medici (13 April 1519 5 January 1589). He was the grandson of Francis I, King of France, and of Claude of France, and the brother of Charles IX, King of France, and of Henry III, King of France.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 King consort of Scots
  
• 2 King of France
  
• 3 References
  
• 4 Ancestors
  [edit] King consort of Scots
  Francis (age 15) with his wife Mary (age 17) shortly after Francis became king in 1559.
  Coat of arms of Francis as Dauphin and King consort of Scots
  Following the death of her father, James V, King of Scots, Mary Stuart had been crowned Queen of Scots, in Stirling Castle, on 9 September 1543, at the age of nine months. The marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots, and Francis, Dauphin of France, was arranged by Henry II of France in 1548, when Francis was just four years old. Once the marriage agreement had been formally ratified, the now six-year-old Mary was sent to France, to be raised in the royal court until the marriage.
  Despite the fact that Mary Stuart was tall for her age and fluent in speech, while Francis was abnormally short and stuttered, Henry II commented that 'from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together as if they had known each other for a long time'.[1]
  On 24 April 1558, the fourteen-year-old Dauphin was married to the Queen of Scots in a union that would have given the future kings of France the throne of Scotland and also a claim to the throne of England through Mary's Great-Grandfather, King Henry VII of England. However, Mary and Francis were to have no children during their short lived marriage, possibly due to Francis' illnesses or his undescended testicles.[2]
  [edit] King of France
  Coin of Francis II and Mary Stuart, 1558.
  A year after his marriage, Francis's father, Henry II, died, and Francis, still only fifteen years old, was crowned king at Reims. The crown was so heavy that nobles had to hold it in place for him.[3] His mother, Catherine de' Medici, was appointed regent, but it is considered that Mary's uncles François de Guise and Charles de Guise may have held the real power in that period.
  Francis II, who had always been a sickly child, died on 5 December 1560 in Orléans, Loiret, at the age of sixteen, when an ear infection worsened and caused an abscess in his brain. He is buried in Saint Denis Basilica.
  He was succeeded by his brother, Charles IX (27 June 1550 30 May 1574).
  [edit] References
  1. ^ Guy, John, My Heart is my Own, London, Fourth Estate, 2004, ISBN 000719308:47
  2. ^ Farquhar, Michael (2001). A Treasure of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors, p.81. Penguin Books, New York. ISBN 0739420259.
  3. ^ Guy:102.

Photos and archival records

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