Francis , Duke of Anjou Francis , Duke of Anjou and Alençon ( " Hercule François " ; 18 March 1554 or 1555 – 10 June 1584 ) , was the youngest son of Henry II of France and Catherine de ' Medici . Early years . An attractive child , he was unfortunately scarred by smallpox at age eight , and his pitted face and slightly deformed spine did not suit his august birth name of " Hercule " ( " Hercules " in English and Latin ) . He changed his name to Francis in honour of his late brother Francis II of France when he was confirmed . In 1574 , following the death of his brother Charles IX of France and the accession of his other brother Henry III of France , he became heir to the throne . In 1576 , he was made Duke of Anjou , Touraine , and Berry . In 1576 , he negotiated the Edict of Beaulieu during the French Wars of Religion . In 1579 , he was invited by William the Silent to become hereditary sovereign to the United Provinces . On 29 September 1580 , the Dutch States - General ( with the exception of Zeeland and Holland ) signed the Treaty of Plessis - les - Tours with the Duke , who would assume the title " Protector of the Liberty of the Netherlands " and become the sovereign . The Duke of Alençon and the Huguenots . During the night of 15 September 1575 , Alençon ran from the French court after being alienated by his brother King Henry III . Both Henry III and Catherine de ' Medici feared he would join the Protestant rebels . These fears proved well founded , Francis joined the prince of Conde and his forces in the south . When they were also joined by the King of Navarre ’ s forces , following his escape from court in February 1576 , this combined army was enough to force Henry III , without a pitched battle of any sort , to capitulate and sign the very pro - Protestant ‘ peace of Monsieur ’ , or Edict of Beaulieu on 6 May 1576 . By ‘ secret treaties ’ that formed part of this peace settlement , many on the Protestant side were rewarded with land and titles . Francis was awarded the Duchy of Anjou ( along with other lands ) and thus became the Duke of Anjou . Courting Elizabeth I . At the same time , in 1579 , arrangements began to be made for marrying him to Elizabeth I of England . Alençon , now Duke of Anjou , was in fact the only one of Elizabeth ' s foreign suitors to court her in person . He was 24 and Elizabeth was 46 . Despite the age gap , the two soon became very close , Elizabeth dubbing him her " frog " on account of a frog - shaped earring he had given her . Whether or not Elizabeth truly planned marrying Anjou is a hotly debated topic . It is obvious that she was quite fond of him , knowing that he was probably going to be her last suitor . There are many anecdotes about their flirting . The match was controversial in the English public : English Protestants warned the Queen that the " hearts [ of the English people ] will be galled when they shall see you take to husband a Frenchman , and a Papist . . . the very common people well know this : that he is the son of the Jezebel of our age " , referring to the Duke ' s mother , Catherine de ' Medici . Of her Privy Council , only William Cecil , Lord Burghley , and Thomas Radclyffe , 3rd Earl of Sussex , supported the marriage scheme wholeheartedly . Most notable councillors , foremost among them Robert Dudley , 1st Earl of Leicester , and Sir Francis Walsingham , were strongly opposed , even warning the Queen of the hazards of childbirth at her age . Between 1578 and 1581 , the Queen resurrected attempts to negotiate a marriage with the Duke of Alençon , who had put himself forward as a protector of the Huguenots and a potential leader of the Dutch . In these years Walsingham became friends with the diplomat of Henry of Navarre in England , the anti - monarchist Philippe de Mornay . Walsingham was sent to France in mid - 1581 to discuss an Anglo - French alliance , but the French wanted the marriage agreed first , and Walsingham was under instruction to obtain a treaty before committing to the marriage . He returned to England without an agreement . Personally , Walsingham opposed the marriage , perhaps to the point of encouraging public opposition . Alençon was a Catholic , and as his elder brother , Henry III , was childless , he was heir to the French throne . Elizabeth was past the age of childbearing , and had no clear successor . If she died while married to the French heir , her realms could fall under French control . By comparing the match of Elizabeth and Alençon with the match of the Protestant Henry of Navarre and the Catholic Margaret of Valois , which occurred in the week before the St . Bartholomew ' s Day massacre , the " most horrible spectacle " he had ever witnessed , Walsingham raised the spectre of religious riots in England in the event of the marriage proceeding . Elizabeth put up with his blunt , often unwelcome , advice , and acknowledged his strong beliefs in a letter , in which she called him " her Moor [ who ] cannot change his colour " . At last , Elizabeth pragmatically did not judge the union a wise one , considering the overwhelming opposition of her advisors . She continued , however , to play the engagement game , if only to warn Philip II of Spain what she might do , if it became necessary . Finally , the game played itself out , and Elizabeth bade her " frog " farewell in 1581 . On his departure she penned a poem , " On Monsieur ' s Departure " , which , taken at face value , has lent credence to the notion that she may really have been prepared to go through with the match . Anjou in the Netherlands . Anjou continued on to the Netherlands . He did not arrive until 10 February 1582 , when he was officially welcomed by William in Flushing . In spite of the Joyous Entries he was accorded in Bruges and Ghent and his ceremonious installation as Duke of Brabant and Count of Flanders , Anjou was not popular with the Dutch and Flemish , who continued to see the Catholic French as enemies ; the provinces of Zeeland and Holland refused to recognise him as their sovereign , and William , the central figure of the " " Politiques " " who worked to defuse religious hostilities , was widely criticized for his " French politics " . He is now thought to have been the patron behind the " Valois tapestries " presented to Catherine , which presented major figures in Catherine ' s court against scenes of festivity . When Anjou ' s French troops arrived in late 1582 , William ' s plan seemed to pay off , as even the Duke of Parma feared that the Dutch would now gain the upper hand . However , Anjou himself was dissatisfied with his limited power , and decided to take control of the Flemish cities of Antwerp , Bruges , Dunkirk , and Ostend by force . He would personally lead the attack on Antwerp . To fool the citizens of Antwerp , Anjou proposed that he should make a " Joyous Entry " into the city , a grand ceremony in which he would be accompanied by his French troops . Death . The debacle at Antwerp marked the end of his military career . His mother , Catherine de ' Medici is said to have written to him that " would to God you had died young . You would then not have been the cause of the death of so many brave gentlemen " . Another insult followed when Elizabeth I formally ended her engagement to him after the massacre . The position of Anjou after this attack became impossible to hold , and he eventually left the country in June . His departure also discredited William , who nevertheless maintained his support for Anjou . Soon Anjou fell seriously ill with " tertian ague " , or malaria . Catherine de ' Medici brought him back to Paris , where he was reconciled to his brother , King Henry III of France in February 1584 . Henry even embraced his brother , whom he had famously called " le petit magot " ( " " little monkey " " ) . By June , the Duke of Anjou was dead . Anjou ' s premature death meant that the Huguenot Henry of Navarre became heir - presumptive , thus leading to an escalation in the French Wars of Religion .