François III d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville


François III de Longueville was the eldest son of Louis II d'Orléans, Duke of Longueville and Marie de Guise. He succeeded his father, who died on 9 June 1537, to the duchy of Longueville.

Life

François was born on 30 October 1535. His mother, Marie de Guise, was from the powerful French Catholic House of Guise. His father, Louis, was the son of Louis I d'Orleans, Duke of Longueville. He is the half brother of Mary, Queen of Scots.
His father Louis died on 9 June 1537. His mother Marie gave birth to Louis' posthumous child, also named Louis, on 4 August. The second Louis died very young.
On 18 May 1538, Marie de Guise married James V of Scotland, who had recently lost his wife Madeleine of Valois and wanted a second French bride to further the Franco-Scottish alliance. Marie entrusted care of François to her mother, Antoinette de Bourbon, and left for Scotland. Even when she left for Scotland Francis kept correspondence his mother. On 22 March 1545, he sent a piece of string to show how tall he was, and on 2 July 1546 he sent her his portrait. She would give birth to Mary, Queen of Scots on 8 December 1542, becoming widowed again six days after, on 14 December.
In 1550, Marie was able to return to France. Marie stayed for a year and was able to nurse François during his final illness. François died shortly before Marie returned to Scotland.

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