Charles de Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse, was a French cardinal and a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine,
Charles, Cardinal de Lorraine (1550) by François Clouet
Portrait of Charles of Guise by El Greco.
Catherine de' Medici
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Catherine de' Medici was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III, and a cousin to Pope Clement VII. The
Portrait, c. 1560
Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, Pope Clement VII, by Sebastiano del Piombo, c.1531. Clement called Catherine's betrothal to Henry of Orléans "the greatest match in the world".
Catherine and Henry's marriage, painted seventeen years after the event
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.