Marie de Médicis

Queen of France

The marriage of Henri IV with Marie de Médicis met above all for the king of France dynastic and financial needs. Indeed, Médicis, banking creditors of king de France, promise a dowry of an entire amount of 600.000 ecus gold, which gave to the queen the nickname " the gross banquière".

Its arrival in France with Marseilles, after its Florentin marriage by procuration and before the ceremony of Lyon, is resounding. Two thousand people constitute her Suite. It is Antoinette de Pons, marchioness of Guercheville and lady-in-waiting of the future queen who is charged to accommodate it with Marseilles. The marchioness had known so well to resist the gallant projects of the king that this one had said to him: " Since you are really lady-in-waiting, you will be it of the queen my femme". It holds word and the responsibility of go to receive it with Marseilles. After her unloading, Marie de Médicis joined her husband with Lyon where they spend their first wedding night.

Marie de Médicis is quickly pregnant and puts at the world the dolphin Louis the September 27th 1601 with the great satisfaction at the king and the kingdom who have awaited the birth of a dolphin for more than forty years. Marie continued her role of wife and gives to her husband a many offspring.

Marie de Médicis always does not mean with Henri IV. Of a very jealous temperament, it does not support the female adventures of her husband, and many indelicacies of this last in its connection. Indeed it obliges it with côtoyer its mistresses, and often refuses to him the money necessary to regulate all the expenditure which she intends to carry out to express with all her royal row. Domestic fights take place between the two husbands, followed periods of relative peace. Marie de Médicis makes a point much of being made crown queen of France officially, but Henri IV, for various reasons, policies in particular, pushes back the ceremony. It is necessary to await the May 13rd 1610, and the forecast of a long absence of the king - Henri IV to therefore lead " a walk armée" to regulate a political problem between princes of the Holy roman Empire, the business of Clèves and Juliers - so that the queen is crowned in the Basilique Saint-Denis of Saint-Denis and makes her official entry in Paris. The following day, the king is assassinated.

The regent

When Henri IV dies on May 14th 1610, Marie de Médicis ensures the Régence in the name of her son, Louis XIII, old of only 9 years, too much young to reign by itself. Marie implies herself in the political matters of France. She starts by keeping the advisers of her husband. Thereafter, it separates some. Regent, in position of weakness with regard to the nobility of the kingdom and the European neighbors, it has of another choice only to break with the policy of Henri IV, of reconquest of the French power, by making peace with the Spain. In 1615, this bringing together is concretized by a double Franco-Spanish marriage. His/her daughter, Elisabeth, marry infant it Philippe IV of Spain and her son, the king Louis XIII, wife Anne, infante of Spain.

The policy of the queen causes nevertheless dissatisfactions. On the one hand, the Protestants worry about the bringing together of Marie with Her Very Catholic Majesty , the king d' Espagne, Philippe III. In addition, Marie de Médicis, tries to reinforce the monarchical capacity, using ladies of atours like Leonora Galigaï, her foster sister, and men like Concino Concini, the husband of this one, which displeases deeply with a certain part of the French nobility. This one, tried by xenophobia, designates as persons in charge the Italian immigrants supposed to surround Marie de Médicis and to harm the kingdom of France, while growing rich with the damage by the French nobility. Benefitting from the weakness caused by regency, of noble big families with the prince of Cop at their head, against Marie de Médicis to obtain they revolt also financial equalizations.

Pursuant to the treaty of Holy-Menehould (May 15th, 1614) the queen convenes the General states in Paris. The prince of Condé does not manage to structure his opposition to the royal capacity. However, Marie de Médicis commits herself to concretize alliance with Spain and making respect the theses of the council of Thirty. The reforms of Paulette and the size remain with dead letter. The clergy plays the part of referee between the State Third and the nobility which did not manage to get along. Civil lieutenant Henri de Mesmes declared thus that the orders were brothers and children of a common mother, France. One of the representatives of the nobility answered him that he refused to be the brother of a child of shoe-maker or cobbler. This antagonism benefitted the Court which pronounced soon their fence. One period of relative calm follows the ceremonies of the marriage of Louis XIII with Anne of Austria on November 21st, 1615 to Bordeaux. One year after the end of the General states, a new rebellion of Cop allows his entry to the Council of the king by the treaty of Loudun of May 3rd, 1616 which also grants the sum of a million and half to him of books and the government of Guyenne. In parallel, the Protestants obtain a six years deferment to the handing-over of their places of safety to the royal capacity. In 1616 the requirements of Cop become so important that it is finally stopped on order of the Regent on September 1st and conduit with the Bastille. The duke of Nevers takes the head of the nobility in revolt. November 25th, 1616, Richelieu is named Secretary of State for the war and the Foreign affairs.

It is many years after, when Marie de Médicis is exiled by her son, that is born slowly the black legend from Marie de Médicis: one speaks then about rise to power of his Italian favorites, the financial wasting caused by the financial appetite of the queen and his entourage, of the awkwardness and the corruption of his policy who would have dominated under the government of Marie de Médicis. In addition, the queen and the king her son get along badly. Feeling humiliated by the control of his/her mother, on April 24th 1617, Louis XIII organizes a coup d'etat while making assassinate Concino Concini. Seizing the power, it exiles the queen-mother with the Château of Blois.

The political and cultural return

In 1619, the queen escapes from her prison and causes a rising against the king his son (" war of the mother and the fils"). A first treaty, the treaty of Angouleme, negotiated by Richelieu, alleviates the conflict. But the queen-mother not being satisfied, revival the war by rejoining with its cause Large kingdom (" second war of the mother and the fils"). The coalition peerage-book was quickly demolished with the Bataille of the Bridge-of-C by the king who forgives with his mother and the princes.

Conscious that it cannot avoid the formation of plots as long as Marie de Médicis remains in exile, the king accepts his return to the court. It returned then to Paris, where it sticks to the construction of sound Palais of Luxembourg. With died of Charles of Albert, duke of Luynes in 1622, it carries out little by little his political return. Richelieu played a big role in its reconciliation with the king. He even managed to make return the queen-mother to the Conseil of the king.

At that time, Marie de Médicis plays a part of very important patron in Parisian life by ordering many paintings, in particular with Guido Reni and especially with Rubens which it makes come from Antwerp for the execution of a picture gallery devoted to her life. Nowadays, there remains 22 tables which are preserved at the Louvre.

The fall and the exile

Continuous Marie de Médicis to attend the the Council of the king while taking the advice of Richelieu which it introduced near the king as minister. With the passing of years, she does not realize rising power of protected sound and customer. When it becomes aware of it, it breaks with the cardinal and seeks by all the means with the évincer. Still not including/understanding the personality of the king his son and still believing that it will be easy for him to require to him the disgrace of Richelieu, she tries to obtain the reference of the minister. After famous the Day of Dupes, the November 12th 1630, Richelieu remains the principal minister and Marie de Médicis is forced to reconcile itself with him.

She finally decides to withdraw court. The king too judging it intrigante, managed to make it leave to the Château Compiegne. From there, it succeeds in fleeing with Brussels in 1631, where it intends to plead its cause. Taken refuge near the enemies of France, Marie is private of her statute of queen of France and thus, of her pensions.

During several years, she travels near the courses European, in England then in Germany, without never being able to return to France. Taken refuge in the native house of Pierre-Paul Rubens, she dies in 1642, a few months before Richelieu.

Appendices

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