Editing Catherine de' Medici (section)

===Dauphine===
[[File:Henry II, king of France.. F Clouet.jpg|thumb|170px|right|[[Henry II of France|Henry, Duke of Orléans]], by [[Corneille de Lyon]]. During his childhood, Henry spent almost four and a half years as a hostage in Spain, an ordeal that marked him for life, leaving him introverted and gloomy.]] In 1536, Henry's older brother, [[Francis, Dauphin of France (1518-1536)|Francis]], caught a chill after a game of tennis, contracted a fever and died shortly after, leaving Henry the heir. Suspicions of poison abounded, from Catherine to Emperor Charles V.<ref name = "kxxiv" /> [[Sebastiano de Montecuccoli]] confessed under torture to poisoning the Dauphin.<ref name = "kxxiv" />

As [[Dauphine of France|dauphine]], Catherine was expected to provide a future heir to the throne.<ref name = "kxxiv">Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 29.</ref> According to the court chronicler [[Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme|Brantôme]], "many people advised the king and the [[Dauphin of France|Dauphin]] to repudiate her, since it was necessary to continue the line of France".<ref>Knecht, 29.</ref> Divorce was discussed. In desperation, Catherine tried every known trick for getting pregnant, such as placing cow dung and ground stags' antlers on her "source of life", and drinking mule's urine. On 19 January 1544 she at last gave birth to a [[Francis II of France|son]], named after King Francis.

After becoming pregnant once, Catherine had no trouble doing so again. She may have owed her change of fortune to the physician [[Jean Fernel]], who may have noticed slight abnormalities in the couple's sexual organs and advised them how to solve the problem. However, he denied ever providing such advice.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Costa |first1=Caroline |date=Spring 2010 |title=The long barren years of Catherine de Medicis: A gynaecologist's view of history |url=https://www.ogmagazine.org.au/12/3-12/long-barren-years-catherine-de-medicis-gynaecologists-view-history/ |journal=O&G Magazine |volume=12 |issue=3 |access-date=24 November 2021}}</ref> Catherine quickly conceived again and on 2 April 1545 she bore a daughter, [[Elisabeth of Valois|Elisabeth]]. She went on to bear Henry a further eight children, seven of whom survived infancy, including the future [[Charles IX of France|Charles IX]] (born 27 June 1550); the future [[Henry III of France|Henry&nbsp;III]] (born 19 September 1551); and [[Francis, Duke of Anjou]] (born 18 March 1555), [[Claude of France (1547-1575)|Claude]] (born 12 November 1547) and [[Margaret of Valois|Margaret]] (born 14 May 1553). The long-term future of the [[House of Valois|Valois dynasty]], which had ruled France since the 14th century, seemed assured.

However, Catherine's ability to bear children failed to improve her marriage. About 1538, at the age of 19, Henry had taken as his mistress the 38-year-old [[Diane de Poitiers]],<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', p. 30. Another source (Héritier 1963, p. 36) dates the beginning of their sexual relationship to late 1536 or early 1537.</ref> whom he adored for the rest of his life. Even so, he respected Catherine's status as his consort. When King Francis{{nbsp}}I died on 31 March 1547, Catherine became queen consort of France. She was crowned in the [[Basilique Saint-Denis|Basilica of Saint-Denis]] on 10 June 1549.