*The Polish population soon realized that the leave of absence was permanent, and the Polish throne was declared vacant.
The day after his coronation as the king of France, Henri participated in an arranged marriage to Louise of Lorraine, and it was expected that they would conceive a child. Never happened. Though Louise fell deeply in love with Henri, the sexual feelings were not reciprocated. Henri treated his wife as a doll, dressing her up, applying makeup to her face, teaching her how to flirt. Her mild and gentle virtues contrasted her husband’s vice, vulgarity and coarseness. Louise soon learned that her husband was a flamboyant omni-sexual given to wild sadomasochistic orgies while dressed in drag. Among the passions he was unable to restrain was an obsession for outrageous jewelry. He surrounded himself with legions of twenty-something boyfriends, favorites known as “mignons de cœur” (darlings of the heart), and they scandalized the public with their effeminate mannerisms. They also copied their king’s fashion innovations, protecting their hands by carrying small muffs, wearing outsized earrings and keeping pet parrots and monkeys. Even the king’s fondness for lapdogs – especially small spaniels – was copied by his mignons. When Henri changed the style of his beard or moustache, his mignons followed suit. I kid you not.
A real fashionista, Henri changed his garments, jewelry and perfumes several times a day. He showed little interest in typically masculine pursuits such as hunting, preferring masked balls, parlor games and the intrigues of court life and etiquette (he introduced the use of a fork to the tables of France, an item of cutlery that had been in use while he was king of Poland).
In fact, the contemporary reports of Henri’s untempered homosexual activity and effeminate mannerisms were so numerous and blatant that some historians dismiss many of them as politically motivated exaggerations. However, seldom in history had the homosexual activity of a monarch been so public and undisguised. His harem of young male mignons was not confined to the royal palaces; when the king attended public fairs and carnivals, his fawning favorites accompanied him in full force. Not only did Henri dress in women’s clothes, he did so in public.
Henri III (seated) amongst his mignons:
Throughout his life Henri had been controlled by his power-mad mother, Catherine of Medici, whose pet name for her son was “chers yeux” (precious eyes). She was responsible for setting him up on the throne of Poland. She had been the one to embroil her children in the hideous crimes of the St. Bartholomew Massacre of Protestants. Catherine was content to watch her son Henri occupy himself with frivolous fashion and childish games, allowing herself to control many affairs of state, marked by religious animosity between Catholics and Protestants. However, Henri’s inability to produce an heir resulted in a succession crisis.
For King Henri III, it all came to an early and ignominious end. Just shy of his thirty-eighth birthday he was assassinated by a young fanatical Dominican friar, Jacques Clément, who was carrying false papers. Clément was granted access to deliver important documents to the King. The monk gave Henri a bundle of papers and stated that he had a secret message to deliver. The King signaled for his attendants to step back for privacy, and Clément whispered in his ear while plunging a knife into his abdomen. Clément was killed on the spot by the guards, but Henri did not die until the following day. Thus Henry of Navarre, the legitimate heir to the French throne because Henri III remained childless, became his successor as Henri IV, one of the great kings of France.
The marriage between Henri and Louise was in no way arranged. In fact he stood up to his mother, being in love with Louise. Although Henri was mainly gay he still had affairs with one woman at a time. And the stories about his sexuality are grossly exagerated. During the Religious Wars in France every royal prince and princess was alleged to engage in some less usual sexual activity. And one has to realise that Henri was always in ill health, being born with syphilis, inherited from his mother.....
ReplyDeleteDo u wish to be his mignon? Do u wish to be fucked by him? ( as for me - i wish )
DeleteThe brother of Henri III mentioned here was Charles IX.
ReplyDeleteCharles X was king of France in the 19th century.
I think its a. Verry. Interesting. Story of are past. And how it has become a major part in history
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add Louise was pregnant but lost the child. (The syphilis again?) She became very thin afterwards.Louise ended up in a nunnery. That is why her grave was not desacrated during the French Revolution but King Louis XVIII had her reburied at Saint Denys.(PS. A pretender to the throne , the Cardinal de Bourbon, during the Religious Wars was also called Charles X but never crowned.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your input as I read all of the history of the family on here I get conflicting stories of birth and age of coming to the throne and things happening in court.
ReplyDeleteI'm fascinated by anything 16th and 17th French related,to say it sounds scandalous would be accurate. What else is there to browse?
ReplyDeleteDi u want to be his mignon? :)
DeleteHenri III was an unusual figure. He was a brave warrior in his earlier years to the fury of his brother the king, who was not permitted to endanger himself. But he was also a frivolous spendthrift. His brother the King went into debt trying to make Henri King of Poland (which was then decided by elections), mostly to get rid of him. While Henri was happy to have a crown of his own, he was fairly miserable when he actually had to go be King of Poland and miss out on the fun of the French court. He sat in his room in Krakow and sulked, which only made the nobles there like him more, as he seemed more remote and regal when he did come out and put on the charm. When his brother died the Polish nobles wanted him to stay, and he assured them he would, but instead he filled his pockets with the Crown Jewels of Poland and made a daring escape. As an earlier poster said, his marriage was not arranged. He had been obsessed with wife of his enemy, Marie de Cleves. There is debate on whether this was platonic or not (I believe he was bisexual) but he made plans to marry her, even though she was married and pregant. To the relief of his mother, the powerful Catherine de Medici, who ruled for or strongly influenced all three of her sons who were kings, Marie died. Louise, a poor relation of the Lorraine family, strongly resembled her, and though Catherine wanted someone with royal connections or a large dowry (the country was in financial turmoil, in part due to Henri's profligate spending) she was relieved he would be married and let him have his way. Henri almost lost his kingdom several times due to coup attempts by the Guise family, his archrivals. In spite of their enormous popularity he arranged to have the head of the family and his brother murdered. Guise was warned a total of 9 times, but refused to believe he would be harmed. The King was strongly tainted by the murder of a national hero, and it led to his own assassination. The story of the Catherine de Medici and her children is truly a fascinating one filled with vice, scandal, and plots, and it is truly depressing how much her sons hated one another.
ReplyDeleteHenri was also a sado-masochist who enjoyed watching fights to the death among various animals. But, craziest of all, his "mignons" would be pitted in bizarre wrestling matches against young kitchen and stable boys from parts of Italy then under French rule. The mignons, though effeminate acting, were still physically tall and strong, and proceeded to brutalize (including sexually) the hapless Italian servant boys in the ring. The mignons always won easily, and if the King particularly liked how they performed in the ring, he allowed them to take their defeated victims into special bedrooms for the purpose of raping them. His was easily the most debauched court in Europe.
ReplyDeleteCite your source please
DeleteI am searching for information that King Henry iii had an ivory hunting horn with him at the time of his death. Would anyone have more information?
ReplyDelete