On 10 July 1559, after eleven days of agony, the king Henri II, son of Francis I, expires after having participated in a tournament held in front of his palace of Tournelles, situated on the present place des Vosges. He had organised the joust on June 30, 1559 to celebrate the marriage of his daughter with the king of Spain, and of his sister with the duke of Savoy. All the great ones of the kingdom are involved, including the sovereign, despite his forty years.

This participation no enchants nor his wife Catherine de Medici or his mistress Diane de Poitiers who attend both the tournament in the trib...

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