page_title: Marie de' Medici
section_title: Posthumous appraisal
hierarchical_section_title: Marie de' Medici / Posthumous appraisal
caption_attribution_description: Henri IV, the royal family and Fouquet of Varenne
context_page_description: Marie de' Medici was Queen of France as the second wife of King Henry IV of France, of the House of Bourbon. She was a member of the wealthy and powerful House of Medici. Following the assassination of her husband in 1610, which occurred the day after her coronation, she acted as regent for her son, King Louis XIII of France, until 1617, when he came of age. She was noted for her ceaseless political intrigues at the French court and extensive artistic patronage.
context_section_description: Honoré de Balzac, in his essay Catherine de Medicis, encapsulated the Romantic generation's negative view.  She was born and raised in Italy and the French never really accepted her; hence, the negative reviews.  However, Henry IV of Navarre was not a rich man and needed Marie's money.  The French were still not pleased with his choosing an Italian wife. 
  Marie de' Medici, all of whose actions were prejudicial to France, has escaped the shame which ought to cover her name. Marie de' Medici wasted the wealth amassed by Henry IV; she never purged herself of the charge of having known of the king's assassination; her intimate was d'Épernon, who did not ward off Ravaillac's blow, and who was proved to have known the murderer personally for a long time. Marie's conduct was such that she forced her son to banish her from France, where she was encouraging her other son, Gaston.
caption: Marie de' Medici and her family (1607; by Frans Pourbus the younger).
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