Good to be queen?

Posted by Lorri Brown Aug 28, 2007

When I was reading up François I for this week’s article, I learned a lot about his personal life, including information about his wife, Queen Claude. Queen Claude married at the tender age of 14 and was a mother at 15. While it was not unusual for girls of the aristocracy to marry young and become mothers at a young age, I did find effect of this practice quite alarming, as I read about Queen Claude.

Because she married and began having children at such a young age, before her body had stopped growing, Queen Claude suffered from what some experts believe was a form of premature osteoporosis. She had a permanent limp and by the time she gave birth to her last child in 1523, even walking was difficult. Keep in mind that she was only 24 years old at this time! She died shortly thereafter.

King François I kept a string of mistresses handy, and was a known womanizer. There is speculation that Queen Claude died a premature death because of a venereal disease contracted through her husband. Despite his philandering, it was said when the queen died that François genuinely mourned his young wife.

Of course, these are all theories, but it does make me wonder, was it really good to be queen?