Marie de' Medici (April 26, 1573 - July 3, 1642), born in Italy as Maria de' Medici, was queen consort of France under the French name Marie de Médicis. She was the wife of King Henry IV of France, of the Bourbon branch of the kings of France. Later she was the regent for her son King Louis XIII of France. April 26 is the 116th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (117th in leap years). ... Events January - articles of Warsaw Confederation signed, sanctioning religious freedom in Poland. ... July 3 - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ... King George V of the United Kingdom and his consort, Queen Mary A queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... By Frans Pourbus the younger. ... This article or section should include material from France: Wars of Religion - Bourbon Dynasty The House of Bourbon dates from at least the beginning of the 13th century, when the estate of Bourbon was ruled by a Lord, vassal of France. ... For the insecticide Regent, see Regent (insecticide) A regent is an acting governor. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ...

Born in Florence, Italy, she was the daughter of Francis, Grand Duke of Tuscany. In October 1600 she married Henri IV of France, as his second wife. She brought as part of her dowry, 600,000 crowns. Her eldest son, the future king Louis XIII, was born at Fontainebleau the following year. Florence - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins/monobook/IE50Fixes. ... The Italian Republic or Italy (Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. ... Events January January 1 - Scotland adopts January 1st as being New Years Day February February 17 - Giordano Bruno burned in a stake for heresy July July 2 - Battle of Nieuwpoort: Dutch forces under Maurice of Nassau defeat Spanish forces under Archduke Albert in a battle on the coastal dunes. ... By Frans Pourbus the younger. ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... Fontainebleau is a city and commune about 50 km south of Paris, France. ...

Portrait of Marie de' Medici. c.1622. Oil on canvas.
by Peter Paul Rubens, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

The marriage was not a successful one. The queen feuded with Henri's mistresses, in language that shocked French courtiers. During her husband's lifetime Marie showed little sign of political taste or ability. Hours after Henri's assassination in 1610 she was confirmed as Regent by the Parlement of Paris. Not very bright, stubborn and growing obese, she was soon entirely under the influence of her unscrupulous Italian favourite, Concino Concini, who was created Marquis d'Ancre and Marshal of France. They dismissed Henri IV's able minister the duc de Sully. Through Concini and the Regent, Italian representatives of the Roman Catholic Church hoped to force the suppression of Protestantism in France. Half Hapsburg herself, she abandoned the traditional anti-Hapsburg French policy. Throwing her support with Spain, she arranged the marriage of both the future king Louis and his sister Elizabeth to members of the Spanish Hapsburg royal family. Download high resolution version (587x738, 22 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (587x738, 22 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Pieter Pauwel (Peter Paul) Rubens (June 28, 1577 - May 30, 1640) was a Flemish baroque painter. ... See: Museo del Prado, an art gallery in Madrid Prado, Spain, a village in Castile-Leon the prado dam This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Events January 7 - Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. ... Concino Concini, conte della Penna, maréchal dAncre (died April 24, 1617), was an Italian adventurer and minister of Louis XIII of France. ... The title of marshal of France (maréchal de France) was derived from the office of marescallus Franciae created by Philippe Auguste for Albéric Clément (circa 1190). ... Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully (December 13, 1560 - December 22, 1641) was the doughty soldier, French minister, staunch Protestant and faithful right-hand man who enabled Henry IV of France to accomplish so much. ... The Roman Catholic Church is the largest religious denomination of Christianity with over one billion members. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ... This is a list of Spanish monarchs - that is, rulers of united Spain. ...

Under the regent's lax and capricious rule, the princes of the blood and the great nobles of the kingdom revolted, and the queen, too weak to assert her authority, consented (May 15, 1614) to buy off the discontented princes. The opposition was led by Henri de Bourbon~Condé, Duc D'Enghien, who pressured Marie into convoking the Estates General (1614-15), the last time they would meet in France until the opening events of the French Revolution. The word States-General, or Estates-General, refers in English to : the Etats-G raux of France before the French Revolution the Staten-Generaal of the Netherlands. ... The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ...

In 1616 her policy was strengthened by the accession to her councils of Richelieu, who had come to the fore at the meeting of the Estates General. However, in 1617 her son Louis XIII, already several years into his legal majority, asserted his authority, ordering the assassination of Concini, and exiling the Queen to the Chateau Blois and Richelieu to his bishopric. After two years of virtual imprisonment "in the wilderness" as she put it, she escaped from Blois in the night of 21/22 February 1619 and became the figurehead of a new aristocratic revolt headed by Gaston d'Orleans, which Louis' forces easily dispersed. Through the mediation of Richelieu the king was reconciled with his mother, who was allowed to hold a small court at Angers, and resumed her place in the royal council in 1621. For other uses of Richelieu, see Richelieu (disambiguation). ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Ahmed I (1603-1617) to Mustafa I (1617-1623). ... Louis XIII (September 27, 1601 - May 14, 1643), called the Just (French: le Juste), was King of France from 1610 to 1643. ... The Royal Ch teau de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher d partement in the Loire Valley, in France. ... Gaston Jean-Baptiste, duc dOrléans (April 25, 1608 - February 2, 1660), third son of the French king Henry IV, and his wife Marie de Medici, was born at Fontainebleau. ...

The portrait by Rubens (above right) was painted at this time. Marie rebuilt the Luxembourg Palace (Palais du Luxembourg) in Paris, with an extravagantly flattering cycle of paintings (see link) by Rubens as part of the luxurious decor.

After the death of his favorite, the duke of Luynes, Louis turned increasingly for guidance to Richelieu. Marie de Medici's attempts to displace Richelieu ultimately led to her attempted coup; for a single day, the journée des dupes, November 12, 1630, she seemed to have succeeded; but the triumph of Richelieu was followed by her exile to Compiègne in 1630, from where she escaped to Brussels in 1631, and later to Cologne, where she died in 1642, scheming against Richelieu to the end. Compiègne is a commune in the Oise département of France, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... Events February 22 - Native American Quadequine introduces Popcorn to English colonists. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels ( Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the de facto capital of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters... Events February 5 - Roger Williams emigrates to Boston. ... Map of Germany showing Cologne Cologne skyline at night. ... Events January 4 - Charles I attempts to arrest five leading members of the Long Parliament, but they escape. ...

Honoré de Balzac encapsulated the Romantic generation's negative view: Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac (pronounced ball-sack) ( May 20, 1799 – August 18, 1850), was a French novelist. ...

"Marie de' Medici, all of whose actions were prejudicial to France, has escaped the shame which ought to cover her name. Marie de' Medici wasted the wealth amassed by Henri IV.; she never purged herself of the charge of having known of the king's assassination; her /intimate/ was d'Epernon, who did not ward off Ravaillac's blow, and who was proved to have known the murderer personally for a long time. Marie's conduct was such that she forced her son to banish her from France, where she was encouraging her other son, Gaston, to rebel; and the victory Richelieu at last won over her (on the Day of the Dupes) was due solely to the discovery the cardinal made, and imparted to Louis XIII., of secret documents relating to the death of Henri IV." (—Essay "Catherine de Medicis")

External link

• Rubens cycle of paintings apotheosizing Marie de Medici (http://www.students.sbc.edu/vandergriff04/mariedemedici.html) Definitive statements of Baroque art.

See also: Medici family Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens: dynamic figures spiral down around a void: draperies blow: a whirl of movement lit in a shaft of light, rendered in a free bravura handling of paint The Baroque was a style in art that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family during the Renaissance, whose wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Becoming first bankers, and later politicians, clergy and nobles, the Medici attained their greatest prominence during the 15th through 17th centuries...