François III d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville
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François III de Longueville (1535–1551) was the eldest son of Louis II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville and Marie de Guise.[1] He succeeded his father, who died on 9 June 1537, to the duchy of Longueville.
Life
François was born on 30 October 1535. His mother, Marie de Guise, was from the powerful French Catholic House of Guise. His father, Louis, was the son of Louis I d'Orleans, Duke of Longueville.[1] He is the half brother of Mary, Queen of Scots.
His father Louis died on 9 June 1537. His mother Marie gave birth to Louis' posthumous child, also named Louis, on 4 August. The second Louis died very young.
On 18 May 1538, Marie de Guise married James V of Scotland, who had recently lost his wife Madeleine of Valois and wanted a second French bride to further the Franco-Scottish alliance. Marie entrusted care of François to her mother, Antoinette de Bourbon, and left for Scotland. She would give birth to Mary, Queen of Scots on 8 December 1542, becoming widowed again six days after, on 14 December.
In 1550, Marie was able to return to France. (Her daughter Mary had been sent to France at the age of five, as part of her betrothal to Francis II of France.) Marie stayed for a year and was able to nurse François during his final illness. François died shortly before Marie returned to Scotland.
References
- ^ a b Potter 1995, p. 373.
Sources
- Potter, David (1995). A History of France, 1460-1560: The Emergence of a Nation State. St. Martin's Press.
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