Claude of Valois
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Claude of Valois was born at Fontainebleau on November 12, 1547 and died in Nancy on February 21, 1575. She was the second daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici.
Claude was raised alongside her sister Elisabeth, future Queen of Spain and sister-in-law Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. She was married at the tender age of 12 to Charles III, Duke of Lorraine on January 19, 1559. Claude was victim of the unhealthy traits that Catherine appeared to pass on to her children (with the exception of Marguerite) and suffered from a hunchback and club foot.
This very discreet princess was the favorite daughter of her mother. She often left Nancy, the capital of Lorraine, in order to live near her in the heart of France. Catherine de' Medici also liked to visit her daughter in Lorraine. Against her mother's wishes, though, Claude did try to warn her younger sister Marguerite de Valois of the danger she would face as the new wife of the Huguenot King of Navarre on the night of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre.
Claude and her husband had nine children:
- Henry II, Duke of Lorraine, 1563-1624
- Christine of Lorraine, 16 August 1565 - 19 December 1637. Married Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
- Charles, 1567-1607, Cardinal of Lorraine and Bishop of Metz (1578-1607), Bishop of Strasbourg (1604-1607)
- Antoinette, 1568-1610. Married Jean-Guillaume, Duke of Julich-Cleves-Berg
- Anne, 1569-1676.
- Francis II, Duke of Lorraine, 1572-1632.
- Catherine of Lorraine, ? - 6 Mar 1618. Married Charles I, Duke of Nevers
- Elizabeth of Lorraine, 1574-1635. Married Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.
- Claude, 1575-1576.
Claude died in childbirth in 1575.
