Everything about Fran Ois Duke Of Anjou totally explained
Hercule François, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon", (
March 18,
1555 –
June 19,
1584) was the youngest son of
Henry II of France and
Catherine de' Medici.
An attractive child, he was unfortunately scarred by smallpox at age eight, and his pitted face and slightly deformed spine didn't suit his august birth name of "Hercules". He changed his name to François in honour of his late brother
François II of France when he was
confirmed.
In
1574, following the death of his brother
Charles IX of France and the accession of his other brother
Henry III of France, he became heir to the throne. In
1576, he was made
Duke of Anjou,
Touraine, and
Berry.
In 1576, he negotiated the
Edict of Beaulieu during the
French Wars of Religion. In
1579, he was invited by
William the Silent to become hereditary sovereign to the
United Provinces. On
September 29,
1580, the Dutch
States-General (with the exception of Zeeland and Holland) signed the
Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours with the Duke, who would assume the title "Protector of the Liberty of the Netherlands" and become the sovereign.
Courting Elizabeth I
At the same time, in
1579, arrangements began to be made for his marriage to
Elizabeth I of England. Alençon, now duc d'Anjou, was in fact the only one of Elizabeth's many suitors to court her in person. He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46. Despite the age gap, the two soon became very close, Elizabeth dubbing him her "frog" on account of a frog-shaped earring he'd given her. Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned on marrying Anjou is a hotly debated topic. It is obvious that she was quite fond of him, knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor. She brought him beef tea every morning and gave him a jewel-encrusted toque to wear until she could give him a crown of his own. The English people, however, were very much against the match. They complained loudly and vigorously over Anjou's religion (Catholic), his nationality (French) and his mother (
Catherine de' Medici). English Protestants warned the Queen that the "hearts [ofthe English people] will be galled when they'll see you take to husband a Frenchman, and a Papist...the very common people well know this: that he's the son of the Jezebel of our age". Many Privy Councillors also opposed the marriage, despite support from notable courtiers such as
William Cecil,
Lord Burghley.
Indeed, at her age, Elizabeth feared the hazards of childbirth, and pragmatically speaking didn't think the union was a wise one. She continued, however, to play the engagement game for three months, if only to warn
Phillip II of Spain what she might do, if it became necessary. Finally, the game played itself out, and Elizabeth bade her "frog" farewell in 1581. On his departure she penned a poem, "
On Monsieur’s Departure," which, taken at face value, has lent credence to the notion that she may really have been prepared to go through with the match.
Anjou in the Netherlands
Anjou continued on to the Netherlands. He didn't arrive until
February 10,
1582, when he was officially welcomed by William in
Flushing. In spite of the
Joyous Entries he was accorded in
Bruges and
Ghent and his ceremonious installation as
duke of Brabant and
count of Flanders, Anjou wasn't popular with the Dutch and Flemish, who continued to see the Catholic French as enemies; the provinces of Zeeland and Holland refused to recognise him as their sovereign, and William, the central figure of the
"Politiques" who worked to defuse religious hostilities, was widely criticised for his "French politics". He is now thought to have been the patron behind the "
Valois tapestries" presented to Catherine, which presented major figures in Catherine's court against scenes of festivity. When Anjou's French troops arrived in late 1582, William's plan seemed to pay off, as even the
Duke of Parma feared that the Dutch would now gain the upper hand.
However, Anjou himself was dissatisfied with his limited power, and decided to take the Flemish cities of
Antwerp,
Bruges,
Dunkirk, and
Ostend by force.
The "French Fury"
He decided to head personally the attack on Antwerp on
January 18,
1583. In an attempt to fool the citizens of Antwerp, Anjou asked to be permitted to make a 'Joyous Entry" to the city in order to honor them with a parade. No one was fooled. As soon as the troops entered the city, the gates of Antwerp were slammed shut behind them. The French troops were trapped in the city and were bombarded from windows and rooftops with stones, rocks, logs and even heavy chains. Then, the city's garrison opened deadly, point-blank fire on the troops. Only a few Frenchmen, including Anjou, escaped. Over 1500 troops perished, eventually hacked to death by the enraged citizens of Antwerp.
Death
The debacle at Antwerp marked the end of his military career. His mother,
Catherine de' Medici is said to have written to him that "would you'd died young. You would then not have been the cause of the death of so many brave gentlemen". Another insult followed when
Elizabeth I formally ended her engagement to him after the massacre. The position of Anjou after this attack became impossible to hold, and he eventually left the country in June. His departure also discredited William, who nevertheless maintained his support for Anjou.
Soon Anjou fell seriously ill with "tertian ague", or
malaria.
Catherine de' Medici brought him back to Paris, where he was reconciled to his brother, King
Henri III of France in February 1584. Henri even embraced his brother, whom he'd famously called "le petit magot" (
"little monkey"). By June, Alençon was dead.
Anjou's premature death meant that the
Huguenot Henry of Navarre became heir-presumptive, thus leading to an escalation in the
French Wars of Religion.
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