Who dated Henry III of France?

Henry III (French: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; Polish: Henryk Walezy; Lithuanian: Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589 and, as Henry of Valois, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.

As the fourth son of King Henry II of France and Queen Catherine de' Medici, he was not expected to inherit the French throne and thus was a good candidate for the vacant throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was elected monarch in 1573. During his brief rule, he refused to sign the Henrician Articles into law, which would recognise the szlachta's right to freely elect their monarch. The Henrician Articles became, nonetheless, deeply rooted in Poland's politics as all his successors accepted them. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX, died without issue.

France was at the time plagued by the Wars of Religion, and Henry's authority was undermined by violent political factions funded by foreign powers: the Catholic League (supported by Spain and the Pope), the Protestant Huguenots (supported by England and the Dutch) and the Malcontents (led by Henry's own brother Francis, Duke of Anjou and Alençon, a party of Catholic and Protestant aristocrats who jointly opposed the absolutist ambitions of the king). Henry III was himself a politique, arguing that only a strong and centralised yet religiously tolerant monarchy would save France from collapse.

After the death of Henry's younger brother Francis, Duke of Anjou, and when it became apparent that Henry would not father an heir, the Wars of Religion developed into a dynastic war known as the War of the Three Henrys. Under Salic Law, Henry III's heir apparent was his distant cousin, King Henry III of Navarre, a Protestant. The Catholic League, led by Henry I, Duke of Guise, demanded the exclusion of all Protestant heirs from the line of succession. They instead championed the Catholic Charles, Cardinal of Bourbon, as Henry III's heir presumptive.

Henry had the Duke of Guise murdered in 1588 and was in turn assassinated by Jacques Clément, a Catholic League fanatic, in 1589. He was succeeded by the King of Navarre who, as Henry IV, assumed the throne of France as the first king of the House of Bourbon.

Jeanne de Laval (also Madame de Sennecterre) (1549–1586), was a French noblewoman. She was the mistress of Henry III of France. She was a lady-in-waiting to the queen, Louise of Lorraine.

Veronica Franco (c. 1546–1591) was an Italian poet and courtesan in 16th-century Venice. She is known for her notable clientele, feminist advocacy, literary contributions, and philanthropy. Her humanist education and cultural contributions influenced the roles of courtesans in the late Venetian Renaissance.

In her notable works, Capitoli in Terze rime and Lettere familiari a diversi ("Familiar Letters to Various People"), Franco uses perceived virtue, reason, and fairness to advise male patricians and other associates. She exercised greater autonomy in her authorship than any other traditional Venetian woman due to her established reputation and influence.

"La Belle Châteauneuf" (fl. 16th C.) was the name popularly given to Renée de Rieux, daughter of Jean de Rieux, seigneur de Châteauneuf, who was descended from one of the greatest families of Brittany. The dates of her birth and death are unknown.

She was maid of honour to France's queen mother, Catherine de' Medici, and a member of her notorious "Flying Squadron" (L'escadron volant). She inspired an ardent passion in the duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. This intrigue deterred the duke from agreeing to an arranged marriage with Elizabeth I of England; but he soon abandoned la Châteauneuf for Marie of Cleves (1571). The court then wished to find a husband for her, whose singular beauty gave her an influence which the queen-mother feared, and matches were in turn suggested with the Voivode of Transylvania, the Earl of Leicester; with Antoine Duprat, provost of Paris; and with the Count of Brienne, all of which came to nothing.

Ultimately, Renée was banished from the court on the ground that she had been lacking in respect toward the queen, Louise of Lorraine. She married a Florentine named Antinotti, whom she stabbed in a fit of jealousy (1577). She remarried, her husband being Philip Altoviti, who in 1586 was killed in a duel by the Grand Prior Henri d'Angoulême, who was himself mortally wounded.

Françoise Babou de La Bourdaisière, Marquise of Coeuvres, vicomtess of Soissons and of Bercy (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swaz babu də la buʁdezjɛʁ]; 1542 – 9 June 1592) was the mistress of a favourite of the king, Du Guast. She married Antoine d'Estrées in 1558, and they were the parents of Gabrielle d'Estrées—mistress of King Henry IV of France.