1-345-478 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Marguerite of Valois, Queen of France. Marguerite of Valois (1553-1615) married Henry III of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, in 1572. The marriage, between the Catholic sister of Charles IX and the Huguenot Henry, was intended to assuage the religious strife convulsing France at the time, a hope dashed less than a week after the wedding by the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants. The marriage was not a success, and was eventually annulled in 1599, with Marguerite granted permission to keep the title of Queen.