Henry II of France

Henry II of France ruled from 1547 until his accidental death in 1559. He continued the Italian Wars against the Habsburgs, recovered Calais from England and strengthened royal administration, while persecuting the growing Protestant movement. His long relationship with Diane de Poitiers gave her exceptional influence and marginalised Queen Catherine de’ Medici. Henry died after a lance fragment entered his eye during a tournament held to celebrate a dynastic peace.

Henry appears in Alexandre Dumas’s The Two Dianas and in Jeanne Kalogridis’s The Devil’s Queen. Historical novels often frame his court through the rivalry between Diane and Catherine and use the fatal tournament as a dramatic turning point. His reign also provides the prelude to the French Wars of Religion, which erupted more openly under his sons.

In Jean Plaidy’s Madame Serpent, Sullen-eyed and broken-hearted, fourteen-year-old Catherine de'Medici arrives in Marseilles to marry Henry of Orleans, second son of the King of France. Dorothy Dunnett’s Queens’ Play is set in 1548, Lymond enters the French court under disguise after Mary of Guise asks him to protect the young Mary, Queen of Scots. Other novels featuring Henry II of France include Dorothy Dunnett’s Checkmate.