Margot De Valois

Margot's life was overshadowed by the wars of religion in France. Her marriage to Henri de Bourbon was not happy; the couple were not compatible and Henri was repeatedly unfaithful. She lived apart from him for much of their married life, and occupied herself with holding court among intellectuals. She was also involved in gathering information and intriguing, in politics. She took lovers - but it's not clear how many there were. She seems to have been infertile, and it seems she definitely did not have any children by her husband, or her lovers. Eventually, Henri became king after the deaths of Catherine's sons, Charles IX and Henry III (Charles only had a daughter by his wife, and Henry who was homosexual, did not father any children). Henri IV became a Catholic. He sought an annulment of the marriage so that he could marry a fertile wife. Margot cooperated and they were set free of their difficult marriage. Margot got on well with Marie de Medici, his new queen. She often came to court and was friendly with Henri... and grew to love his children by his second marriage. She became more devout and helped the poor and died at the age of 61. She was famous for writing her autobiography......