| Notes |
- Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of King Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany (daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany, and a second cousin of her husband).
His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by the forces of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain. To obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his older brother be sent to Spain in his place. They remained in captivity for over four years.
Henry married Catherine de' Medici, a member of the ruling family of Florence, on 28 October 1533, when they were both fourteen years old. At this time, his elder brother was alive and there was little prospect of Henry coming to the throne. The following year, he became romantically involved with a thirty-five-year-old widow, Diane de Poitiers. Henry and Diane had always been very close: the young lady had fondly embraced Henry on the day he, as a 7-year-old child, set off to captivity in Spain, and the bond had been renewed after his return to France. In a tournament to honor his father's new bride, Eleanor, Henry and his older brother were dressed as chevaliers, in which Henry wore Diane's colors.
Extremely confident, mature and intelligent, Diane left Catherine powerless to intervene. She did, however, insist that Henry sleep with Catherine in order to produce heirs to the throne.
When his elder brother Francis, the Dauphin and Duke of Brittany, died in 1536 after a game of tennis, Henry became heir apparent to the throne. He succeeded his father on his 28th birthday and was crowned King of France on 25 July 1547 at Reims Cathedral
Henry II also had three illegitimate children:
By Filippa Duci: Diane, duchesse d'Angoulême (1538?1619).
By Lady Janet Stewart (1508?1563), the illegitimate daughter of James IV of Scotland: Henri d'Angoulême (1551 ? June 1586). He was legitimized and became governor of Provence.
By Nicole de Savigny: Henri de Saint-Rémy (1557?1621).He was given the title of Count of Saint-Rémy. One of his last descendants was Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy, Countess de la Motte, famous for her role in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace at the court of Louis XVI.
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1519 - 1559 (40 years)